ELECTRONICS WORKSHOP

PRACTICE NOTES
WPR421S

NUST
WPR421S
 1. SAFETY

1.1 SAFETY FIRST ALWAYS! DEATH IS PERMANENT

A review of safety must surely be the first thing discussed in a trouble-shooting chapter. Some of the
voltages found in televisions and high power transmitter equipment can be fatal! Only 50 mA flowing
through the body is painful; 100 mA to 500 mA is usually fatal. Under certain conditions, as little as 24
V could kill you.

Make certain that you are 100% familiar with all safety rules and the dangerous conditions that might
exist in the environment you are working in. In the Electric/Electronic working environment dangerous
conditions may exist where you don't expect them, since electricity is not visible. Treat every
component as potentially dangerous.

1.2 SOME ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC SAFETY RULES

 Avoid working with two hands on live circuits (Body cannot become a conductor).
 Include a conveniently located ground-fault current interrupter (GFCI) or circuit breaker in the
workbench wiring.
 Use only grounded plugs and receptacles.
 Use a GFCI when working outdoors, on a concrete or dirt floor, in wet areas, or near fixtures or
appliances connected to water lines, or within six feet of any exposed grounded building feature.
 Use a fused, power limiting or isolation transformer when working on AC/DC devices.
 Switch off the power, disconnect equipment from the power source, ground the output of the
internal DC power supply, and discharge smoothing capacitors when changing circuits.
 Do not subject electrolytic capacitors to excessive voltage, meaning voltage or reverse voltage.
 Test leads should be well insulated.
 Do not work alone!
 Wear safety glasses for protection against sparks and metal fragments.
 Always use a safety harness if working above ground level.
 Wear shoes with non-slip soles (Safety boots) that will support your feet when climbing.
 Wear rubber-sole shoes or use a rubber mat when standing on the ground or on a concrete floor.
 Wear a hard hat (builders safety hat) when someone is working above you.
 Be careful with tools that may cause short circuits.
 Replace fuses only with those having proper ratings.

1.3 IN CASE OF ELECTRICAL SHOCK

 Do not PANIC.
 Quickly remove the victim from the source of electricity by:
1. Interrupting the current (Open switch or circuit breaker, unplugging the electric cord or cutting
the wires with a well-insulated tool.).
2. Separate the victim from the electrical circuit using an insulating material e.g. dry stick, rope,
leather belt, coat, blanket etc.
CAUTION: DO NOT TOUCH THE VICTIM OR THE ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT UNLESS THE
POWER IS OFF.
 Call for assistance, since other persons may be more knowledgeable in treating the victim or can
call for professional medical help while first aid is being given.
 Check the victim's breathing and heartbeat.
 If breathing has stopped but the victim's pulse is detectable, give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
until medical help arrives.
 If the heartbeat has stopped, use cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but only if you are trained in the
proper technique.
 If both breathing and heartbeat have stopped, alternate between mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and
cardiopulmonary resuscitation (but only if you are trained).
  If the victim has burns, cover your mouth and nostrils with gauze or a clean handkerchief to avoid
breathing germs on the victim and then wrap the burned areas of the victim firmly with sterile gauze
or a clean cloth.
 Keep the victim warm using blankets or extra clothing, with his legs raised slightly above head
level. These will prevent/reduce shock.

1.4 NEAT WORKING AREA

 A neat working area requires a careful and deliberate approach when setting it up.
 Test equipment and tools should be set out on the workbench in a neat and orderly manner.
 Connecting wires from the test equipment to the circuit under test should be placed so as not to
interfere with testing procedures.
 Before power is applied to a circuit, the area around the circuit should be cleared of extra wires,
components, hand tools, and debris (cut wire and insulation).

1.5 PERSONAL SAFETY

 Do not wear jewellery items that hang loose. It may come into contact with electricity that can
shock you.
 Avoid loose-fitting clothing, which may hook onto equipment.
 Always switch the power off before touching any exposed electrical connections
 Obey any safety warnings on equipment and/or in operation manuals.
 Wear safety glasses whenever prescribed.
 Handle soldering irons with care, as it may be hot.
 Do not shake solder from soldering irons. It may burn someone.
 Handle with care the splayed ends of braided cables.
 Avoid looking into the open ends of optical fibre cables.
 Do not fool around in the workshop - do not play pranks on other workers/students, the outcome
is often unpredictable.

2. INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS

Electronics components are divided into two categories Passive components and Active components

Active components are devices or components which produce energy in the form of voltage or
current. Example- operational amplifiers, transistors, diodes, generators, batteries, etc.

Passive components are devices or components which store or maintain but cannot generate Energy
in the form of Voltage or Current. Example- capacitors, inductors, resistors etc.

2.1. BASIC COMPONENTS USED FOR BUILDING ELECTRONIC CIRCUITS

Resistors

They are electronic components used to control current flow; they are available in different types and
values. There are fixed and variable resistors.

Capacitors

They are electronic components consisting of two plates separated by an insulating layer and they are
capable of storing electric charge. They are also available in different types and values.

Diodes

They are semiconductor electronic components with two electrodes, an anode and cathode. They
allow current to flow in only one direction. They are found in different types like: silicon diodes, the
zener diodes, the schotky diodes and the light emitting diodes (LED).
Transistors

They are three layer semiconductor devices, which can operate as a switch and as an amplifier. They
are also found in different types like PNP and NPN.

Integrated circuits

They are semiconductor devices, which contain a chip comprising many transistors in a complex
circuit.

Breadboard

It is the tool on which the circuits are built temporarily for test purposes. The breadboard consists of a
moulded plastic body, which has a number of holes in the top surface, through which component pins
may be easily inserted. Underneath each hole there is a clip, which holds the component lead tight
enough so it doesn’t fall out. These clips are interconnected, so that by pushing leads of different
components into two holes of one group you have made an electrical contact between the two leads.

[1]

What's up with the name?

You are probably wondering how on earth a piece of plastic that fits in your hand relates to the large
slab of wood used to bake or cut bread.

Image by Culinary Geek

It turns out that many years ago, for engineers working on electronics before 1970 they did not have
what we call a solderless breadboard. Instead, they would build electronics by literally hammering
nails into a wooden board that is used for cutting bread on, hence the name breadboard.

Once it was cut to the right size, the electronic parts would be nailed or glued to the board and electrical
connections made by soldering or wrapping wire around the nails

2.2. FIXED RESISTORS

Fixed resistors, as their name implies, have a specified value fixed during manufacture. Such resistors
have only two connections, the current flows in one end and out the other, and it does not matter which,
unlike many electronic components, resistors have no special polarity.

The principal parameters for a resistor (whether fixed or variable) are:

 Resistance value, which may be expressed in ohms (Ω), thousands of ohms (kilo-ohms or just kΩ),
or millions of ohms (mega ohms or MΩ).
 Power rating in watts (W).
 Resistance tolerance, expressed as a percentage of its set value, e.g. ±5%
 Temperature coefficient, expressed as the amount by which the set value will change with
temperature, variously expressed as parts per million (ppm) or percentage change per degree
Celsius (%/°C).

Up to a resistance tolerance of 1 % and a power rating of one watt (1 W), resistors are labelled by a
colour code. From 0,5% tolerance and 2 W rating, the values are given in figures. There are exceptions
to both these conventions.

Many of the colour-coded resistors which you will normally encounter are likely to have a tolerance of
5% or greater, and will have four coloured bands, as shown in Fig.1; the fourth band may be close to
the other bands. Colour-coded resistors of 2% or less may have more than four bands, such as the
example shown in Fig.1
Table 1: Resistors colour coding table

Figure 1: 4-band code and 5-band code

The colours used on resistors are interpreted according to Table 1. These colours and their basic
numerical meanings are recognized internationally for any colour coding used in electronics, not just
resistors, but some capacitors, diodes, cabling and other items. It will pay you to memories them,
especially in relation to the first three bands. They are not the same colours as used in Snooker!
Noting the way in which the resistors are shown in Fig.1, and reading from left to right, two examples
of interpreting the bands are as follows:
Band 1: brown = 1
Band 2: black = 0
Band 3: red = 2 (102 = 100)
Band 4: gold = 5%
Indicating a resistor whose value is 10 x 102 = 1000 = 1 kΩ, with a tolerance factor of 5%.

Band 1: red = 2
Band 2: yellow = 4
Band 3: black = 0
Band 4: black = 0 (100 = 1)
Band 5: red = 2
Indicating a resistor whose value is 240 x 10 = 2400, with a tolerance factor of ± 2%.

The 'E' series values

Standard resistor values may at first sight seem to be strangely numbered. There is, however, a
beautiful logic behind them, dictated by the tolerance ranges available. These comprise tolerances of
±0,5%, ± 1%, ±2%, ±5%, ± 10% and ±20%, and are respectively known as the E192, E96, E48, E24,
E12 and E6 series, the number indicating the quantity of values in that series. Thus, if resistors have a
value tolerance of 5%, for example, a series of 24 values can be assigned to a single decade multiple
(e.g. values from 1 to 9, or 10 to 99, or 100 to 999 etc.) knowing that the possible extreme values of
each resistor overlap the extreme values of adjacent resistors in the same series.

Work it out for yourself for the following 24 values, which comprise the E24 (5%) series:
1,0 1,1 1,2 1,3 1,5 1,6 1,8 2,0 2,2 2,4 2,7 3,0 3,3 3,6 3,9 4,3 4,7 5,1 5,6 6,2 6,8 7,5 8,2
9,1

The E6 (20%) series simply has six values, as follows:

1,0 1,5 2,2 3,3 4,7 6,8

Any of the numbers in a series can be applied to any decade multiple set. Thus, for instance, multiplying
2,2 by each decade multiple (1,10, 100, 1000 etc.) produces values of:
2,2 (2Ω2), 22, 220, 2200 (2k2), 22000 (22k), 220000 (220k), 2200000 (2M2)

Note an interesting point about the alternative way of expressing the decimal comma for some of these
numbers, as shown in brackets, the use of n k and M. This is another answer to a printing problem! The
decimal comma in a number may not always be printed clearly, and the alternative display method is
intended to help avoid misinterpretation of component values in circuit diagrams, pans lists and
especially on the components themselves.

These value series apply not only to resistors, but to capacitors and inductors as well. For the latter
components, µ (micro), n (nano), p (pico) may be used in place of the decimal comma, e.g. 2µ2, 2n2,
2p2.

Common types of fixed resistor:

• Carbon film/ceramic: normal requirements.
• Carbon film/ceramic: increased operational demands.
• Carbon film/ceramic: precision resistors.
• Carbon film/ceramic: low drift/high reliability.
• Metal oxide film (forms as above): heat resistant to 175°C.
• Wire-wound resistors: different constructions for high loads and specialized applications.
 3. CAPACITORS
This section highlights simple points about different types of capacitor, including tips and points which
you may not find in other books, but which are good to have explained in layman's terms. Common
circuit diagram symbols for fixed and variable capacitors are shown in Fig.1.

A capacitor is a component, which has the ability (capacity) to store electrical charge (hence its name,
although in some non-electronic applications it may be known as a condenser). Having electrical
capacitance, capacitors in this sense can be thought of as a type of battery, but, unlike a battery, they
do not depend on a chemical reaction for this function to occur. Rather, they take advantage of a
convenient fact of nature that prevails when two metal plates are placed close to each other, but not
touching, and a voltage source is connected across them.

At the moment that the voltage is applied, electrical charge is transferred to the plates at a rate
dependent on the voltage level applied, the nature of material from which the plates are made, their
total area, their distance apart, the nature of the material which lies between them, and the amount of
resistance existing in the connection path (including the capacitor's internal resistance). If the voltage
is applied for sufficient length of time, eventually there will be virtually the same voltage across the
plates as available from the source

Figure 2: Typical capacitor symbols

When the voltage source is removed, the plates will retain their charged voltage differential until a
conductor of some sort is connected across them. As soon as there is a conducting path between the
two plates, the charge begins to flow from one to the other, trying to return to the previously uncharged
state. The discharging rate is governed by the same factors as controlled the charge rate. Given enough
time, all of the electrical energy stored across the plates will reduce to zero. And what happens to the
electrical energy itself? Principally, it is converted into heat in the discharging conductor and capacitor's
internal resistance, although in extreme circumstances some could be converted into light or radio
energy.

A capacitor's ability to be charged by a voltage and to hold the charge indefinitely allows it to be used
in electrical and electronic circuits in a variety of ways:

 To simply store a voltage until it is needed.

 To smooth out fluctuations in voltage levels.
 To transfer changing differences in voltage levels between one side of the capacitor and the other,
in other words, to allow alternating (AC) voltages to be transferred whilst preventing DC voltages
from flowing from one part of a circuit to another.
 To limit the power value of alternating currents being transferred from one part of a circuit to another
(though at a loss of waveform shape).
 In conjunction with other components, such as resistors for example, to determine the rate at which
voltage changes occur at a particular point in a circuit.
 To shorten or extend pulse lengths.

The amount of electrical charge that a capacitor can hold is known as its capacitance value and depends
on three main factors:

 The area of the two plates which form it.

 The distance between the plates.
 The material, which separates the plates (called the dielectric).
The unit which is used to define a capacitor’s’ capacitance value is the Farad. It is named after another
electrical pioneer in the nineteenth century, Michael Faraday. He was a Londoner, born 22-9-1791, died
25-8-1867.

A capacitance value of one Farad is a unit of charge, which, in practical terms, is far too large to be
useful in everyday electrical and electronic circuits. For convenience, the unit is usually divided and
expressed in sub-units, such as:

 Microfarads: one millionth of one Farad, and usually written as µF (Greek 'mu' followed by a capital
F), although it is common for it to be written as 'µF' or 'mF', since many keyboards do not have the
Greek symbol readily available. The use of 'mF', of course, is very misleading because 'm' is the
abbreviation for milli rather than micro. It is also common, where the meaning of the term is implied,
for it to be written simply as 'µ', in component lists for instance. Verbally, these abbreviations are
often pronounced as 'mew' or 'muff. For example, a 10 µF capacitor might be referred as having a
value of 'ten-mew' or 'ten-muff.
 Nanofarads: 1000-millionth of a Farad and usually written as 'nF', although the 'F' may be dropped
where it is implicit in the context. Verbally, the abbreviation might be pronounced 'en-eff or just 'en',
i.e. a value of 10 nF might be pronounced as 'ten-en'. The use of the term 'nuff’ is unlikely.
 Pico farads: one million-millionth of a Farad and usually written as 'pF', though again the 'F' might
be dropped when it is implicit. Pronunciation is usually 'puff (as in 'puff a cigar'), although it might
sometimes be heard as 'pee', i.e. 'ten-pee' for 10 pF.

3.1. Capacitors types

Capacitors are manufactured as having one of two very basic characteristics, they are either:
 Polarized or
 Non Polarized

Polarized capacitors, as their name implies, are very particular about which side (plate) is connected to
a relatively positive voltage. Connecting them the wrong way round can have dire results, a matter
which is discussed later.

Non-polarized capacitors can normally be connected into a circuit either way round, although there are
some circumstances where the relative position of the output electrode foil is placed in relation to other
parts of a circuit. The coloured ends of some polystyrene capacitors, for example, can indicate this type
of polarity, although it is not a true polarity as referred to with regard to polarized electrolytic or tantalum
capacitors.

Capacitors are manufactured in a seemingly bewildering array of sub-types, basically named in

respect of the nature of the dielectric material used between the plates:
In this course we will look at only two sub types of capacitors which are;
 Electrolytic (polarized)
 Ceramic (non-polarized)

3.2. Identity coding

The electrolytic capacitors have their capacitance value clearly printed on them however as for ceramic
capacitors a 3-digit coding is commonly used to mark some ceramic capacitors. The first two digits
correspond to the first two digits of the value, whilst the third digit is a multiplier which gives the number
of zeroes to be added to give the value in pF, e.g. 103 = 10000 pF = 0,01 µF.

Which brings us to the sometimes-misunderstood use of pF, nF and µF. An nF value is 1000 times
greater than pF, and 1000 times less than µF. Therefore, the following typical conversions apply to
some values seen on capacitors:

1nF (or 1n) = 1000pF

10nF(or 10n) = 10000pF = 0,01 µF
100nF (or 100n) = 100000pF = 0,1 µF
 4. BASIC ELECTRONIC HAND TOOLS FOR CIRCUIT CONSTRUCTIONS AND
MEASUREMENTS

Assembling electronics project and making it works is a good start in helping one to learn
troubleshooting methods as well as becoming familiar with your tools, test equipment, electronic
schematics and component colour codes.

It's hard to do a good job of electronics construction unless proper electronic tools and knowledge of
using them are adequate. Some of the basic tools that should prove useful are as follow;

Long nose Plier

A 4-inch long nose plier will come in handy when you need to hold components that have short leads
that need to be soldered onto the PCB but will be too hot to handle with bare hands. It will also be useful
to hold the component that needs to be de-soldered from the board.

Side-Cutting Plier

A 4-inch side cutting plier will come in handy as one of the electronic tools when one need to trim off
excess component leads on the printed circuit board. It can also be used to cut wires into shorter length
before being used.

Wire Stripper

Wire stripper is used to strip off wire insulator from its conductor before it is used to connect to another
wire or soldered into the printed circuit board. Some wire stripper or wire cutter has a measurement
engraved on it to indicate the length that will be stripped.

Breadboard

It is the tool on which the circuits are built temporarily for test purposes.

Different types of cables

 BNC (Bayonet Neill–Concelman) Cables

 Banana to banana cable
 Banana to crocodile
 5. PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD FABRICATION

PCB fabrication is called etching in other words. The process starts from designing a circuit in the
software program called Proteus. It is then printed in a paper called a film paper.

Five procedures to follow when etching a board

1. Exposing – the process whereby the UV light transfer the artwork to the board.
2. Developing – the process whereby the etch resistant coating on the board is being removed from
the area where there is no artwork.
3. Etching – the process whereby the exposed copper is removed from the board, leaving the etch
resistant coating beneath it.
Stripping – the process whereby the etch resistant coating is removed from the board, leaving the
artwork in copper.
5. Silver tinning – the boards are tin plated to protect the copper from corrosion, to give the shiny
appearance and improve solder ability.

6. SOLDERING

The first and most important aspect of assembling any electronic project is undoubtedly that of soldering
which is a delicate and precise skill that is only ever mastered with experience. There is no short cut to
acquiring the necessary expertise and it takes a certain amount of practice in order to produce a
consistently satisfactory solder joint. However, like riding a bicycle, soldering is an art which once learnt
is never forgotten, and the purpose of this booklet is to outline the techniques of soldering and de-
soldering which we hope will set the hobbyist or novice technician firmly on the road to successful
electronic assembly in the future.

The principle behind soldering sounds quite simple: the idea is to join components together to form an
electrical connection, by using a mixture of lead and tin (solder) which is melted onto the joint using a
soldering iron. If you have never picked up a soldering iron before, then this guide will show you
everything to help you start soldering with confidence. We also hope that the guidance given will help
those involved in other areas of industry - computer technicians, for example, who may be forced to
undertake occasional electronic repairs or modifications, will benefit from the advice given in this guide.

Before embarking on any form of ambitious electronic project, it is recommended that you practice your
soldering technique on some new components using clean strip board (or proto-board) or a printed
circuit board, and select a simple and straightforward constructional design as a starting point. Become
acquainted and comfortable with your chosen soldering iron, which is likely to become as familiar to
you as a favourite pen. Learn how to balance it and apply it with precision. Try soldering an assortment
of resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors and integrated circuits. By achieving success with a modest
electronic project, typically the PSU/Pulse generator/Logic probe project you are building in PRJ110S,
this will be a great confidence booster and more importantly it will introduce you to some of the manual
soldering skills which ought to be mastered before proceeding to more ambitious assemblies.

6.1. SOLDERING IRONS

Pick up any electronics catalogue and you can be forgiven for being bewildered by the vast array of
soldering equipment, which is available, which includes irons, controllers, workstations and de-soldering
equipment too. A large range of soldering irons is readily obtainable - which one is suitable for y ou
depends on your budget and how serious your interest in electronics is, but there is something for every
pocket distributed by a variety of retail, industrial and mail-order outlets.

Electronics catalogues often include a selection of well-known brands of soldering iron, including the
popular Antex range and the well-established Adcola and Litesold makes, and Weller is an extremely
popular brand used in industry and education. A very basic mains electric soldering iron can cost from
under N$ 60-00, but expect a reasonable model to be approximately N$120 to N$150 - though it's
possible to spend into three figures on a soldering iron "station" if you're serious about the subject!

.
When choosing your soldering iron, certain factors, which you need to bear in mind, include:

Voltage: for the Southern Africa market, "mains" irons run directly from the mains at 220V AC or will
obviously be set for other voltages (110V AC) depending on the country. However, low voltage types
(e.g. 12 V or 24 V) generally form part of a "soldering station" and are designed to be used with a special
controller made by the same manufacturer (see later).

Wattage: typically, irons for general electronics work may have a power rating of between 15 to 25
watts or so, which is fine for most electronic assembly tasks. It should be noted that a higher wattage
does not mean that the iron runs hotter – it simply means that there is more power in reserve for coping
with larger joints. This also depends partly on the design of the "bit" (the tip of the iron).

Consider a higher wattage iron simply as being more "unstoppable" when it comes to heavier-duty work,
because it won't be drained of its heat so quickly. This can be very useful when a large variety of
soldering tasks may be undertaken, as the higher wattage will assist with producing large solder joints
successfully. This brings us to the next consideration:

Temperature Control: the simplest and cheapest types don't have any form of temperature
"regulation". Simply plug them in and switch them on! Thermal regulation is "designed in" (by physics,
not electronics!): sometimes they are described as "thermally balanced" as they have some degree of
temperature "matching" - in other words, they warm up as quickly as they lose heat during use, so in a
primitive way they maintain roughly a constant temperature. This type of iron is perfectly acceptable for
hobby or less demanding professional use.

Unregulated irons form an ideal general-purpose iron for most users, and they cope reasonably well
with printed circuit board soldering and general inter-wiring. However, most of these "miniature" types
of iron will be of little use when attempting to solder large joints (e.g. very large terminals or very thick
copper wires) because the components being soldered will draw or "sink" heat away from the tip of the
iron, cooling it down too much and preventing solder from flowing properly. This is where a higher
wattage may prove more useful.

A proper temperature-controlled iron will be quite a lot more expensive - retailing at say N$ 600 or more
- and will have some form of built-in thermostatic control, to ensure that the temperature of the "bit" (the
tip of the iron) is maintained at a fixed level within reasonable limits. This is desirable especially during
more frequent use, since it helps to ensure that the temperature does not "overshoot" in between times,
and also guarantees that the output will be relatively stable. Some irons have a bimetallic strip
thermostat built into the handle, which gives an audible "click" in use, and some may include an
adjustable screwdriver control within the handle as well.

Anti-static protection: if you're interested in soldering a lot of static-sensitive parts (e.g. CMOS chips
or MOSFET transistors), more advanced and expensive soldering iron stations use static-dissipative
materials in their construction to ensure that static does not accumulate on the iron itself, which could
otherwise accidentally damage certain electronic components. You will see these irons listed as "ESD
safe" (electro-static discharge proof). The cheapest irons are not ESD-safe but never the less will
usually perform perfectly well in most hobby or educational applications provided you take the usual
anti-static precautions when handling the components. The tip would need to be well earthed
(grounded) in these circumstances.

Bits: it's often useful to have a small selection of manufacturer's bits (soldering iron tips) available with
different diameters or shapes, which can be changed depending on the type of work in hand. You will
probably find that you become accustomed to, and work best with, one particular shape of tip for the
majority of your work. Usually, tips are iron-coated or nickel-plated to preserve their life and to maintain
good tip ' 'hygiene".
 6.2. HOW TO SOLDER

Turning to the actual techniques of soldering, firstly it's best to secure the work where possible so that
your accuracy isn't affected should the work happen to be moved accidentally. In the case of a printed
circuit board, various holding frames are fairly popular, especially when densely populated boards are
being soldered: the idea is to insert all the parts on one side (a process often known as "stuffing the
board"), hold them in place with a suitable foam rubber pad to prevent them falling out, turn the board
over and then snip off the wires with cutters before soldering the joints (see photos).

The frame saves an awful lot of turning the board over and back again, especially with large boards: all
the soldering can be performed in one "pass". Hence not only is the printed circuit board held firmly, the
individual components being soldered cannot move either. However, only the more serious constructor
is likely to go to the expense of purchasing a holding frame, and it is not uncommon for hobbyists to
retain parts in place by improvising in a variety of ways - including adhesive tape or blobs of Blue-Tack!
Other parts could be held firm in a modeller’s small vice, for example.

Solder joints may need to possess some degree of mechanical strength in some cases, especially with
wires soldered to, say, potentiometer or -switch tags, and this means that the wire should be looped
through the tag and bent over before any solder is applied. The downside of this is that it will be more
difficult to de-solder the joint (see later) to remove the wire afterwards, if needed. Otherwise, in the case
of an ordinary circuit board, components' wires can simply be bent to the correct pitch (distance apart)
to fit through the board, the component inserted flush against the board's surface, the leads splayed
outwards a little so that the part grips the board, and then soldered.

In the author's view - opinions vary - it's generally better to snip off the surplus wires leads first, to make
the joint and any neighbouring joints more accessible and also to avoid applying a mechanical shock
to the PCB, after soldering. However, in the case of diodes and transistors the, author tends to leave
the snipping until after the joint has been made, since the excess wire will help to sink away some of
the heat from the sensitive semiconductor junction. Integrated circuits can either be soldered directly
into place if you are confident enough, or better, use a dual-in-line socket to prevent heat damage. The
chip can then be swapped out at a later date if needed.

Parts that become hot in operation (e.g. some resistors) are best raised above the board slightly to
allow air to circulate. Some components, especially large electrolytic capacitors, may require a mounting
clip to be screwed down to the board first; otherwise the part may eventually break off due to vibration.
In the case of these or, say, PCB mounting power transistors, it is a good idea to bolt such components
firmly into place before soldering their terminals, in order to avoid placing a strain on the soldered joints
or the components when fasteners are tightened.

Figure3: How to solder

 6.3. THE PERFECT JOINT

The perfectly soldered joint will be nice and shiny looking, and will prove reliable in service. In general,
the key factors affecting the quality of the joint are:
 Cleanliness - dirt or impurities drastically hinder good solder coverage. Firstly, and without
exception, all parts – including the iron tip itself - must be clean and free from contamination.
Solder just will not "take" to dirty parts! Old components or copper board can be notoriously
difficult to solder because of the layer of oxidation, which builds up on the surface of the leads.
This repels the molten solder and this will soon be evident because the solder will "bead" into
globules, going everywhere except where you need it!
 Temperature - the right level to enable the solder to flow freely. The next step to successful
soldering requires that the temperature of all the parts is raised to roughly the same level, before
solder may be applied. Imagine, for instance, trying to solder a resistor into place on a printed
circuit board: both the copper PCB and the resistor lead should be heated together so that the
solder will flow readily over the joint

 Time - apply heat for just the right amount of time. The joint should be heated with the bit for
just the right amount of time - during which a short length of solder is applied to the joint. The
heating period depends on a combination of factors, including the temperature of the iron, the
size of the tip and the size of the joint - larger parts need more heat than smaller ones - but
some components (semiconductor diodes, transistors and IC's), are sensitive to heat and
should not be heated for more than a few seconds. An average printed circuit board joint can
be made within roughly two seconds or less. A common mistake is to use a soldering iron to
carry molten solder over to the joint - don't do this!

 Adequate solder coverage - enough to form a good joint without touching neighbouring areas.

Figure 4: A perfect joint

7. DE-SOLDERING

A soldered joint, which is improperly made, is likely to be electrically "noisy", unreliable and will probably
become worse over time. It may even not have made any electrical connection at all, or could work
initially and then cause the equipment to fail at a later date! Noisy joints can also introduce intermittent
problems that can be maddening to locate and resolve. By following the guidelines given and putting in
some practice, there is no reason why you should not obtain perfect results and eliminate most potential
problems. A joint that is poorly formed is often called a “dry joint". Usually it results from dirt or grease
preventing the solder from melting onto the parts properly, and is often noticeable because of the
tendency of the solder not to "spread" but to form beads or globules instead. Alternatively, if it seems
to take an inordinately long time for the solder to spread, this is another sign of possible dirt and that
the joint may potentially be a dry one.

A moderately complex circuit board can easily require 1,000 solder operations or more and it is
inevitable that occasionally one or two joints may be made imperfectly. They may appear to be adequate
given a cursory inspection but a closer look under a magnifier may reveal that some joints will have to
be re-made. Consequently there will undoubtedly come a time when you need to remove the solder
from a joint, possibly to replace a faulty component or fix a dry joint. Naturally, there are tools and
techniques that help with such tasks.
The usual way of removing solder from a joint is to use a de-soldering pump. These work like a small
spring-loaded bicycle pump, only in reverse! A spring-loaded plunger is pressed down until it locks into
position. It can be released with a thumb-press on a button which sucks air back up through a pointed
nozzle and any molten solder is drawn up into the pump. It may take one or two attempts to clean up a
joint this way, but a small de-soldering pump is an invaluable tool especially for PCB work. More
demanding users using CMOS devices might need a pump which is BSD safe.

The pumps themselves have a heatproof P.T.F.E. nozzle that may need replacing occasionally. Every
time the button is pressed, this action clears the nozzle but sometimes solder particles and swarf will
be ejected in the process, and it's a good idea to direct the nozzle into a small pot or old aerosol top to
catch the debris. Remove the spout and clean out the pump from time to time.

With particularly stubborn joints where the last traces of molten solder cannot be shifted, it can
sometimes prove effective to actually add more solder and then de-solder the whole lot again with a
pump. Care is needed, though, to ensure that the boards and parts are not damaged by excessive heat.
It is easy to apply so much heat in the de-soldering operation that the adhesive that holds the conductors
onto the PCB can eventually fail, causing the copper track to lift away. If this should ever happen,
remove the iron immediately and permit the area to cool (a freezer aerosol is valuable at such times).
It may well be possible to repair the lifted track using a droplet or two of Super Glue

Figure 5: De-Soldering technique

8. References

1. https://learn.adafruit.com/assets/35425