Soldering and Desoldering Tips and Tricks

Video Walkthrough

How do I turn on the soldering irons in PRLTA 103?

How do I solder through-hole components by hand?

• Soldering through-hole components video from EEVblog
• How to solder - through hole soldering tutorial from sparkfun

How do I solder surface mount components by hand?

Capacitors, diodes, inductors, resistors

• How to solder SMT 0805 components video from ItsInOurKernel
• Surface Mount Soldering 101 video from CuriousInventor

DPAK-style components (MOSFETs, voltage regulators)

• Soldering DPACK components video from EEVblog

Integrated circuits (ICs)

• Soldering large ICs video from EEVblog
• Surface Mount Soldering 101 video from CuriousInventor
• Soldering QFN and QFP package video from Nick Leijenhorst

How do I solder surface mount components using a reflow oven?

This method involves applying solder paste to the pads on the PCB, manually placing your surface mount components into the solder paste, and baking the board in a special oven to solder the entire PCB at once. This method is not really easier than hand soldering for one-off PCBs; you are trading one set of challenges for a different set. If you are interested in using solder paste and the reflow oven to solder your components, please contact Osama Jameel in PRLTA 109.

How do I desolder components?

• How to desolder components using solder wick video from w2aew
• How to desolder components using a solder sucker video
• Desoldering a SMD IC with basic tools video
• Desoldering a SMD IC with a hot air station video

How can I practice soldering without damaging my project?

A great way to practice is to find an old PCB at Goodwill (inside a printer, scanner, camera, floppy drive, etc.) and practice desoldering and soldering components on the board. You can also find old circuit boards in the cabinets in the front of PRLTA 103.