sudomod

https://youtu.be/dV-W23lONI4?t=584

At that Time Stamp, wermy attaches his L and R button wires, but doesn't apply any solder. What did he do there (it looks like it's much easier)

Thanks,
iGmO

The solder is already on the board. He reheated on the other side of the board to make it molten and pushed the cable through.

Ah, I see it now.

He basically cheated by filling the hole with an appropriate amount of solder and then reheating it later.

Are there any concerns with doing it that way? Is it a bad practice?

I am practicing Soldering Techniques right now because I do not currently have that skill but, I wish to learn it.

I know that there is a price to pay. I have gotten a few prototyping boards and some perf board to practice/learn with.

I also got some some wire from USB cables and from Radio Shack (22gage)

I have had some projects in the past that made me THINK about learning to solder.

Gameboy 0 is what I am cutting my teeth on, I got some material to practice with from Radio Shack (yes, there is actually still a real Radio Shack in the area I live in).

So tonight, I fired up the iron for the first time, I tinned it with some Rosin Core solder and decided that I was just going to try to solder the ends of a wire to a prototyping board.

First initial impression, holy shit these solder pads are WAY to close. My hand is so jittery that I can't possibly make a connection without causing shortcircuits between pads/circles on the circuit board. I can't keep the wires in place, AND solder them at the same time, even with a helping hand holding the board.

The videos make it look easy because they are zoomed way in and the parts look way bigger. The video makers also have virtually no tremor in their hands.

I have 95% of the parts of a gameboy zero build, and I am practicing on a piece of practice board to make sure that I don't mutilate something that is difficult to replace.

Thankfully, the surface mount pads that Helder provided on his most recent PCB are very large and seperated.

What I worry about is soldering the USB wires that are extremely close together without shorting something, or ruining something previously completed.

grab a third hand tool
i got a crappy one for like 8 bucks at my local electronic store.

it holds the wires in place so you can place them on the pad and use one hand to hold the solder and one for the iron.

once i figured out the best way to use it.
it helped quite a bit

iGmOthemagus wrote:Ah, I see it now.

He basically cheated by filling the hole with an appropriate amount of solder and then reheating it later.

Are there any concerns with doing it that way? Is it a bad practice?

You could create a cold solder joint doing it that way, if you don't keep the iron on the contact point after pushing it through.

Dale

iGmOthemagus wrote:Ah, I see it now.

He basically cheated by filling the hole with an appropriate amount of solder and then reheating it later.

Are there any concerns with doing it that way? Is it a bad practice?

I wouldn't call it cheating. In my experience it's much easier to have the board held up by helping hands and have fresh solder on the tip on the Soldering Iron... With the through holes pre soldered I touch the tip of my Soldering Iron to one side and tread the wire through the other. The solder on the tip of the iron makes it much easier. Also, if anyone is new to soldering, tinting(I think it's called that) the wire tips is basically a must. Just twist up the tips really nice and coat them with solder. I know that' pretty basic but just in case....

I need any basic tips that you can offer. I am learning to solder solely for this project.

I got a couple of perf boards and prototyping boards to learn on, before I work on boards that I spent real money on.

My first 3 solder joints, I thought were FREAKING PERFECT!

Nice shiny, cone shape, not intruding to adjacent pads.

The next 50, blew chunks, I dripped solder, I shorted shit, etc.

My hand is very jittery.

I recommend looking on YouTube for lessons. I'm sure there are lots there.
If you find your hand is shaking, find something to rest it on.
Soldering is like any skill, made perfect via practice. You're on the right track!

As far as shorting connections go, sounds like your soldering iron tip is too large. I would look into a smaller one. (assuming your iron has replaceable tips).

Regarding wermy's method in his video... no disrespect to him at all, but there are better methods that i would be implementing.
After cleaning the board with alcohol - Tinning both the wire and the hole, putting the wire though, applying heat from iron, then adding more solder to flow the joint.Then removing the iron and allowing the joint to cool without disturbing the wire/board connection.
The last application of solder in that process adds additional flux that helps to prevent a cold joint (cold = joint that doesn't conduct electricity as well as it could).
This will take longer than wermy's method. But its what I would consider 'text book' soldering.