Pinecil Guides to Soldering

Guides for Soldering & Maintenance

General Soldering Guides

• Why have different tips?
• Easier method to solder SMD, and a clever Cleaning method
• How to Solder SMD & Small Components - Mr. Solder
• Pace Basic Soldering lesson 1-9
• How to Desolder/Correct mistakes
• Ultimate soldering guide
• Switching to Lead-free solder
• Beginner's Guide to Soldering - Mr. Solder
• Fine SMD Soldering
• Soldering Comic book

Does Solder type and Flux matter?

• Does Solder quality matter?
• When to use Flux
• 63/37 or 60/40 Solder?

How do I keep the Tip Clean?

• Clean & Care for Tips
• How to Clean Soldering Tips
• Sodering Tip Maintenance

What Temperature should I use?

1. General Formula: add 120°C to the melting point listed on the solder label, and adjust up/down as needed for different tasks.

• Example: the solder says 220°C melt point, then 220 + 120 = 340 °C
• One could also try these common working temperatures below, start lower and increment by 5 °C until you get a comfortable working temperature (thicker wires & situations dictate more or less).

Common Working Temperatures

* For Lead solder: 300°C - 320°C

* For No-lead solder: 350°C - 365°C

2. If there is no listed melting point, refer to google or a chart like below for your specific type of solder alloy:

• Melt Points for No-Lead & Leaded Solder
• Solder Temperature Chart

3. Adding a small amount of solder to your tip before starting increases the thermal mass of the tip and could help. See the soldering guides for demonstrations of this.