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6/28/2025, 1:51:00 AM
>>11829032
>Am I doing something wrong here
Yes:
>>buy a cheap iron, solder and flux
Don't cheap out on those, multiple people have said this, especially on the iron. This is not some elitist or gatekeeping thing, it makes a big difference.
>>press solder on the board and press iron on the solder
Also wrong, you use the iron to heat up the components you want to solder and press the solder to the now heated components, not onto the iron. See >>11826814
If your iron isn't making good contact you can use a small dot of solder on it to aid in heat transfer, but you are not supposed to melt the solder onto the iron itself.
>>solder refuse to melt after several seconds
Your iron is either not hot enough or your tip has corroded. You need to clean the tip frequently during soldering with a damp sponge or soldering wool (Do NOT use normal steel wool) and when you are done you need to melt solder onto the tip before putting it away to keep it coated. This helps protect the tip from corroding. If it's a cheap iron like you said it's likely not worth fixing the tip if it has corroded.
>>but somehow hot enough for the heat to transfer up to where I'm holding it, becomes too hot so I back off
From where? The iron? That should NOT happen, toss that faulty shit away if it is. If you mean the component itself, how close are you holding it? Even then, if you have been holding the iron long enough that the heat travels up and burns you, you are holding it down way too long and risking damaging the component if you haven't already.
>>solder immediately melts, but because I was pressing down the iron makes a mess of the solder point, have to clean it up
I don't even have any idea what's happening here, but it definitely sounds like at least you iron is trash if not also the solder. Are you using lead-free solder? That stuff is terrible. Try 63/37 solder, it has a much smaller range where it melts compared to the more common 60/40.
>Am I doing something wrong here
Yes:
>>buy a cheap iron, solder and flux
Don't cheap out on those, multiple people have said this, especially on the iron. This is not some elitist or gatekeeping thing, it makes a big difference.
>>press solder on the board and press iron on the solder
Also wrong, you use the iron to heat up the components you want to solder and press the solder to the now heated components, not onto the iron. See >>11826814
If your iron isn't making good contact you can use a small dot of solder on it to aid in heat transfer, but you are not supposed to melt the solder onto the iron itself.
>>solder refuse to melt after several seconds
Your iron is either not hot enough or your tip has corroded. You need to clean the tip frequently during soldering with a damp sponge or soldering wool (Do NOT use normal steel wool) and when you are done you need to melt solder onto the tip before putting it away to keep it coated. This helps protect the tip from corroding. If it's a cheap iron like you said it's likely not worth fixing the tip if it has corroded.
>>but somehow hot enough for the heat to transfer up to where I'm holding it, becomes too hot so I back off
From where? The iron? That should NOT happen, toss that faulty shit away if it is. If you mean the component itself, how close are you holding it? Even then, if you have been holding the iron long enough that the heat travels up and burns you, you are holding it down way too long and risking damaging the component if you haven't already.
>>solder immediately melts, but because I was pressing down the iron makes a mess of the solder point, have to clean it up
I don't even have any idea what's happening here, but it definitely sounds like at least you iron is trash if not also the solder. Are you using lead-free solder? That stuff is terrible. Try 63/37 solder, it has a much smaller range where it melts compared to the more common 60/40.
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