Quick note on soldering... I've always been an 'decent'
solderer, having used my own PCB's and pre-etched PCB's
(from Radio Shack) with the breadboard-like patterns.

However, since I started using PCB's made by a PCB house
(which are solder-coated copper on FR4), I've become a
soldering guru overnight.

Two days ago, I found an old Radio Shack PCB and transferred
the pet feeder to it.  I did clean up the board, but my
soldering has gone to what can only be classified as
poor.  Not sure why, but the moral of the story is that
the board type, and cleanliness of the parts will make
a major difference!

I'd recommend getting some "good" PCB's to learn on,
before tackling the junk stuff.  Now I'll leave it to
the experts to figure out which board type is good vs
junk.

Cheers,
-Neil.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: pic microcontroller discussion list
> [mailto:PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU]On Behalf Of Dave Dribin
> Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 12:14 AM
> To: PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU
> Subject: Re: [OT]: Soldering pin headers
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 09, 2002 at 11:50:13AM -0600, Dwayne Reid wrote:
> > At 04:34 PM 8/8/02 -0500, Dave Dribin wrote:
> >
> > >Yeah, I've pretty much determined I suck at soldering. :)
> >
> > Practice - lots of it.  In other words, keep doing it - even
> though you are
> > not getting perfect results.  You *will* get better at it.
>
> That's sorta the problem.  I only solder once every 6 months or so, so
> I never get a chance to really practice.  Oh well, maybe one day, this
> will become part of my day job. :)
>
> > Try 700F.  Flood the tip with solder, then shake off the
> excess.  What you
> > should now see is a nice, brightly tinned tip.  Touch the iron
> to the pin
> > and PCB, jab just a little bit of solder right where the tip touches the
> > pin, watch the solder start to move to the rest of the pin and
> trace.  Now
> > add just a tiny bit more solder.  Take the solder away - keep the iron
> > there for a split second longer, then remove the iron.
>
> Thanks, I will try your advice next time.
>
> -Dave
>
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>
>

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