I bought a big roll of solder back in the 80s. It Still hasn't run out, and I modchipped well over 500 playstations back in the 90s aswell as car audio repairs 🙂
Thanks for posting this vid! My first soldering iron was temp controlled for ~$20 on amazon (came with five different tips). It worked reasonably well - I did several of my first kits using that cheap iron. I think the best thing for getting good at soldering (even if you don't have expensive tools) is just to get started. Get lots of cheap kits and practice till you feel comfortable.
I was pretty much the same. I had an old one for wiring guitars but when I got serious about amd I'd just have an kit on the go all the time, I still design my pcbs to use through hole mostly and save smd for repairs on broken crap. I just perfboard 99 percent of the time though. Haha
First iron I used was an enormous Weller - it was my Dad's, 1950 vintage. I miss that iron, especially when I need to put or melt a blob on a tube radio chassis. Now I just drill a hole in the chassis and bolt down a tab. Looking on old boards I built with it as a kid, I'm amazed those fat blobby joints didn't short together. I considered myself a graduate of 'solder school' when I got through an entire task without burning my fingers even once. Not gonna say how old I was when that happened. Loved this PSA, Mr. O'Stuff. Very thoughtful.
I wanted a soldering iron for Christmas and received a wood burning tool. Used a file on smallest bit and started solding with that. If you want to solder you will find away. I even found out what flux was at a hardware store. So yes doesn't matter how you start out it us how far you want to go and if you really want learn from mistakes and knowledge other people can give you.
When I was younger, all my electronics kits were assembled using the cheapo Antex soldering irons, as temperature controlled irons were extremely expensive. I also used a big reel of lead solder that my Dad "borrowed" from his work, and I still have that today, 40+ years on! Not much left on it now though.
A few years back I had our Scout/Venturer Groups building line following kits. Not having enough soldering Irons for the entire group I picked up four cheap ones from Princes Auto, I think It was myself and the other leaders that used them. I will have to dig them up and see what wattage and temperature they work at, we did manage to get most of the kits working. In the past I have used cheap light dimmer switched to lower the temperature of cheap irons.
Princess auto does also have a 25W and 40W iron listed in their catalogue. I just picked this one for the video because it comes as a kit. And it was on sale at the time.
To be fair to PA, the online description of that kit doesn't mention electronics. It says "For general-purpose jobs, including small electrical parts, jewellery, hobbies and crafts". I don't know about jewelry, but if I was replacing a blown speaker, or installing fog lights on a car, I expect it would do the job admirably. BTW - the listing also gives some specs: 60W, max temp of 480C, 400 second (!) warm up time.
I did solder a LED Clock kit yesterday, i did use this: 25 to 30 watt soldering iron. A roll of solder tin. A cheap but sharp and nice ebay component leg cutter plier. That's it, its all you need :) And add a Aneng 8008 multimeter too as described unerneat. Wire stripper? I use a snap off blade knife for that, works fine. I was a MIG welder before and even did run MIG welding robots too over 30 years ago now, i loved turning up the heat a lot on the manual MIG welder to the point of other welders hated me and asked me why i did turn up the power and welding speed so they had to turn it down again, because they could not weld that way LOL. I got the IQ of 140 and one also learn the limits of what one can do by working with welding robots. I just did love the optimal fast settings so i could do the manual work the fastest way possible with satisfying results. If you can't work like a robot, well, i'm sorry you had to readjust the MIG welder guys :) But back to soldering again. A perfect soldering iron for things i would say is 30 watt, i just like the heat, you can do it with a 25 watt too, but that is crap on somewhat thick speaker wires. With the 30 watt iron you put the soldering iron on the components and at the same time also the soldering tin, do not waste time heating the components first, do it the same time, make sure you get even heat on both, if not cool down the component a little, then do it again add more solder. You will know by ruining components how long time you can use LOL. So do the minimum time making a good flow. 30 watt soldering iron i think that is the best allround one, it is the perfect iron that can do anything electronics vice, it is powerful enough for everything you need if you only plan to have one iron. Just use the minimum time to do the work with a smooth glossy surface. I do like to use lead soldering tin with inbuilt flux. It just get so smooth. I did buy several kilos of it from China when i realize it might be gone some day. But you can do it with modern non-lead soldering tin too, but don't expect the same good flow mirror glossy surface all right. 30 watt can solder 6mm thick speaker wires too but you got to have a little help from a heat gun. It can't solder car radiators. Get a 125 watt old wood shaft soldering iron for that. How old it is who knows, 1930's i guess. I found mine on the scrap along the road when 16 years old almost 40 years ago.. but you might not see them irons anymore.. but who knows they just last last forever and another 16 year old might find mine this way too on the scrap in the future :) Because it is useless for most i guess. I never use it, but i love it for those rare heavy duty jobs soldering start cables for cars, or soldering a car radiator where one just need that power, with also a heat gun LOL. I did put new mounting ears on a copper car radiator on a now veteran 1971 car who has such on it, today they has aluminum, don't try soldering those, it wont work, forget aluminum and ordinary soldering. So yeah, the only use for that 120 watt soldering iron for me is to extend start wires on cars using it for subwoofers or similar. A friend did bring a 15 watt soldering iron to me and said he did dislike it using it on kits like this and asked if it was anything wrong with it, and i tried to solder with it but yeah, useless, in my eyes you can't get anything more useless than that LOL. On SMD and small components yeah fine, but useless for anything else. I take SMD with the 25 watt too, no problem, just hold the component in place with a snap-off blade knife or a tweezer right after putting fresh solder on the iron and be fast before the flux effect dry up. I won't recommend doing SMD with a 35 watt iron if you are a beginner, try get a 25 watt one, it is the perfect all-round iron. But in my eyes, i miss that 30 watt soldering iron, my first soldering iron, i was not fully satisfied with the 25 watt one, but i also got a 35 watt one if i need. I did buy the 25 watt and 35 watt models because i did not want something with lack of power, and do use the 25 watt still, i had to check what was in my electronics tool box. It is a little underpowered in my eyes when soldering thicker things, did like 30 watt better, yeah, i has 35 watt too, it is a little overpowered but just compensate doing things faster makes that as good in my eyes, this is for me, may not be good for you. You might hate 35 watt on kits, like the welders at my workplace, beware :) Just grab a 25 watt for kits like this, or even a 30 if you find, its just more versatile. The tip of the soldering iron, i hate the round ones, i had them one time, they are useless, get a tip that is like a 3mm screwdriver, you can use it vertical or horizontal depending on how much heat you want to apply, it just makes the soldering iron much more versatile and fun. Yeah, you get the hang of it kid, try soldering something before doing it on the kit, use some wires or component legs as a test ok :) Beware of the IC circuit components and also electrolyte capacitors, none of them like heat much. Transistors too but they got longer legs. Diodes, resistors work fine, i can't think of one i did ruin. Get a multimeter too, to test resistors and capacitors before you solder them. Aneng 8008 is a good cheap one on ebay. EEVblog did test that real good and he was so impressed of the accuracy that it almost got him convinced, it was so so SO close. But he is very very VERY hard to satisfy to say that :) I do like that and did use a Fluke 87 before, still has it but LCD is weak again. EEVblog sure love that Fluke 87 multimeter, but it does cost a arm and a leg. I say the Aneng 8008 fully does replace my Fluke for non high power stuff. I got a cheap ebay LCD transistor tester, but yeah, you don't need to test everything, i tend to not test transistors on kits because i don't bother, i has yet to come across one that don't work. The Aneng 8008 has a nice screen, more beautiful than the Fluke, crystal clear and easy to read. and it has a Fluke 87 looking dial and layout of the buttons and sockets too. Yeah, i do actually recommend that one even if it is dirt cheap. And this comes from someone who had a Fluke 87 that did cost 500 USD in 1990, it was a coincidence i got a Fluke 87, this is the classical multimeter every pro wants for nostalgia. A friend did have a father and at his workplace they had one leftover, i got it for 100 USD in those days, still like 3x the price of a chap one. The reason i don't use it is because it does need a LCD rubber connector again. The Aneng 8008 was cheaper than a new Fluke rubber so i gave that a shot to try. I never used the Fluke for high power stuff anyways. I say Aneng 8008 is just as good for the very most things i can imagine using it for, it even has a frequency injector if you use oscilloscopes and such. That's it, do you need more than that, i would say no. But add a Aneng 8008 multimeter too. You don't have to.. but to get the very first kit you ever build working the first time is good encouragement for having this as work or hobby later on, just saying and i have experience with that. Because my first "kit" was when i was 15 and got a schematics in a electronics book with a stripboard/veroboard PCB (print card board) based DIY put together everything yourself FM radio where they did not have all the components i asked for at the electronic store so i got the equivalents that maybe possibly would work LOL. The book was borrowed from someone parents knew in another country and they wanted that book back. Plan was to make a very small FM radio, the smallest possible and sell them, back in 1986. Possibly i could get rich of doing that, who knows, i might have spent the money on Bitcoin later :) I did solder it like it should be, and delivered the book to parents that gave it back. I did a few days later get a battery for it, but i never got the crap to work, it never did make any sound. And the book with the schematics was now in another country LOL. And i did not write down the schematics and did not know how to error search things. I tried a lot but it did not make any sound and did make my enthusiasm so low that i almost gave up the hobby. I don't really know if i still has the kit, it might have got stolen from the shed if i put it in a cardboard box of old computer parts or something there. If i ever find it i shall get that to work :) The only thing that saved it so i still has a electronics hobby is that i actually made my very first FM radio with a multi kit called "Your little electronics engineer" or something like that, i got it for christmas when 11 years old in 1982 and has yet to find on ebay this kind of a LEGO style thing where multiple projects was inbuilt in the spring based mount almost like a big version of a breadboard like plate. But i actually got a FM radio to work on that and i knew i could make one. So my hobby was in danger if i had not been successful earlier i bet :) I still wonder what went wrong LOL. A bad component? A error mistake? Parts that did not actually work in that kit? Who knows. A DIY FM radio put together with parts that might work and a couple of coils and variable capacitors, yeah, i was too ambitious having _that_ as my first ever soldering "kit" :) Good luck to you on your first project kit build kiddo, don't make it too advanced, you want one that works the first time :) At least you got internet now and we had nothing back in those days :) So to have this as a hobby was once very hard.
A addition i did use yesterday is +6.00 reading glass, i has -1.25 vision so a +5.00 reading glass will work fine if normal vision, it gets you to focus 20-25 cm away. A +8.00 reading glass for me is nice to inspect things but not much useful for soldering, it gets you to 10cm distance. I has a loupe magnifier but i actually do like reading glasses better nowadays, unless i need to look for cracks or similar. Anther tip is when you has soldered everything good and cut all the legs then hold the PCB board vertical and redo fast all the solder points with the iron, it will look nice and suck up the extra solder, makes it look factory style visually :) And get a real thin nice sharp cutting plier made for electronics, the red cutter here is just not sharp enough so you has to twist it to gt off the legs, a real electronics plier looks different. It is flatter on the head, you will thank me for this info comparing them later on, it is a huge difference.
14:59 pin 1 is bottom left, pin with no pad pin 7 is bypass - you may have fat-fingered it looking for the datasheet, the board says LM386, and the datasheet in the vid says LM358 - easy enough mistake for anyone to make, have done it myself and had me going in circles
Uh yes ! I learned something.. whatever you do, do not buy a supermarket soldering iron. (also I wouldn't call the 25W Weller "cheap" .. that is a HQ brand name iron from one of the biggest iron manufacturers in the world if I am correct ?) Very educational, thanks ;:D
That pinout being wrong bothers me no end. I memorized many chip pinouts back in the day but it’s no longer that day. Might a 741 variant have been the intended part? Long, long ago I took metal shop in school and used a gigantic thing that looked more like a pointy chisel than anything else, heated in a big gas burner thing in the middle of the classroom. Then I took radio shop and we used those Weller guns. That got me hooked and I bought my first Radio Shack15 watt pencil iron. I still have one (not the same one) because like the Weller guns they just work. Making a good solder joint is as easy as making a bad one, you just have to know more and pay attention. I’ve delaminated my share of pads too learning those lessons. This episode was a damn fine primer on good practice with examples of what not to do. Be proud even if the project didn’t work.
As a student I remember scratching my head, staring at the water leak in the radiator of the Rover P5B that my mate had just invested in. Seemed like a bargain, even came with a spare gearbox, we quickly found out the reasons for the low cost of such a fine car. About to embark on a trawl through the local scrapyards in search of a possible replacement, my mate's dad turned up with the pointy chisel thing, and a blowtorch. Car radiators dissipate a lot of heat, it is their reason for existence after all, so a lot of heat is required to get even a small area hot enough to take solder. Lots of heat, lots of flux, plenty of solder, and job done.
I use a stainless steel kitchen scourer in a jam jar to clean my tip! Could the LM386 footprint be backwards? I do like my TS101. 30 seconds and it's ready to go.
Those heat guns are great for soldering to metal chasis' and stuff like that, but definitely not fine work :) . Those old Weller 25 /35Watt irons just never die. They may just be a heat balance and not a thermostat control, but they just work. Back when I use to do repairs on Satellite modems for ipstar, my training involved having the guys from Thailand come out. They would use the chunkiest irons, and be reworking SMD components with them, I don't know how the did it, but the would have a chunky, non-temperature controlled iron, and be able to replace 30 pin SMD's with near perfect results.
They might not be the best tool for every job but I managed to remove and reinstall an SOIC-8 with a Weller 8200. For anything smaller a regular pencil-style iron is probably better.
Hi, my canadian friend... A cheap lamp dimmer can reduce the power (heat) output of this soldering iron, if it gets to hot... Speaking of soldering tips.. I regulary grind my tips to the shape i want / need for the task and retin them.. Occationally i even make my own tips out of round copper or brass material.. I use a soft brass wire brush to clean the solder tips... Just personal preference... This dodgy electronic kit is again just another exaple of immature, asian products..The copy of the copy of a copy... xD Greets from Austria...
Instead of trying to repair that first bad joint where the pad lifted, I would have waited until soldering another component on the same pad and bent the second component lead to meet the first one, and make the joint there. Sucks that they bodged the IC pinout. My first iron was an Antex 25W, from more than 45 years ago, still have it, still working.
Never overpay for side snips. Ive had knipex side cutters explode on me after cutting about 4 quarter watt resistor legs. I keep sending back the same pair but now i just trim 3d prints with them.
@pileofstuff I bought a pack of ten black handle ones for 20 beans years ago and I'm on my last one. I emailed ya brother but if you're not interested then just disregard it.
A fake kit I found on Ebay a while back is laser driven wireless speaker kit. There is no way to make the laser diodes oscillate but strangely everything was in the kit that made it look legitimate. I'm trying to rebuild the batteries in my e-bike add a fuse box and signals. the guy that was to help me flaked out. now I can't figure out how to get it to work. Wish I could find someone to write me a map.
I left a comment here saying to give the person my email kent if they want some free gear that's decent. If they're on a budget, that is. Id just need to ask a few questions regardingwhat they have already and how serious they are.. I'm trying to downside a ton of components / gear. I have like 6 soldering stations, unopen hotair stations. Giving and selling. I have a super expensive scope I never use half the features of. Haha I have a similar red iron from years ago and Canadian tire still sells it but no spare tips. I was going to use it for my heatset insert thingy. Haha
