John K Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 I really like watching the James May series on the Beeb where he puts stuff back together. I know this is a sad reflection on me, that my idea of excitement is watching an old guy reassemble stuff and drink tea, but hey ho... And he is very precise and obviously a bit mechanically OCD but... His soldering is dreadful. Really really poopy. You are supposed to solder (at least this is how my electronics engineer dad taught me) by putting the two items to be soldered together, heating them both with the soldering iron and then applying the solder to the point where the three items meet. If everything is at temperature, the solder will flow into the joint (the same as end solder plumbing fittings). You never stroke the solder like I've just seen him do..! This makes me irrationally angry... Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 Yeah, love the program too, and occasionally, it's true, you do need three hands soldering, but generally, if you do, it's either because you're doing it wrong, or haven't prepared well enough. Of both items to be soldered together are properly tinned, and the joint is properly "Close fitting", you then just need to reapply heat to allow the solder from the two parts to flow together, lots of extra solder for gap filling shouldn't normally be required. (Not on wiring like this, there are some legitamate occasions where you would copiously fill a joint, though). Tinning, this is the process where you apply heat from the soldering iron to one of the items to be joined, before applying some solder to it, to pre wet the area of the joint. As James said, strictly speaking, the heat applied to the component should be what melts the solder, rather than the heat of the iron just melting the solder on to the joint. Areas of metal to be joined, it should go without saying, must be clean, free from grease and oxidisation etc. Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted January 21, 2017 Posted January 21, 2017 And yes, watching James solder has a similar effect on me as seeing Clarkson putting tools back in James tool box does on James!! Quote
Northwarks Posted January 23, 2017 Posted January 23, 2017 I do love the series tho' and his nattering and building ... Quote
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