Soldering Help

 While you will get all kinds of advice, the actual test is to begin practicing on different size wires, using perhaps different solders as well. Personally, I did NOT find my soldering skills to be any good until I found a good soldering station, good solder (in my case, I usually use Wonder solder), and a way to hold the object being soldered. Further, the proper heat of the iron and the tip used for the job are as important as anything. Don't bother with cheap tools expecting great results. 

  When you see that you're ready from practice, then it is the right time to move on to the project at hand.  

Soldering has become second nature to me, especially with the right tools. De-soldering on the other hand can vary by the way of what technique may be best, i.e., exactly what kind of solder was used to begin with, how sturdy (heat wise) are the traces, and how much solder do you need to remove. 

  Hakko has made very fine soldering tools and de-soldering tools as well. I am sure that my end product is partly due to this.

rodman99999,

 Many thanks for posting the article about the 5 family types of solder. It explains so much more than I knew previously. Wonder Solder was a longtime choice for me, but after reading this, I must seek out some of the other products available. In the past, I have tried various solders products and many times was disappointed with the performance as a whole. I have had an interest in silver bearing solder, but again the results were dull looking joints. 

 Maybe you can point me in the right direction about a silver bearing solder and temperature that might best for a given choice. 

   Cardas has been recommended in the past, so I will give it another go. Last time, joints didn't look good, but I have found that ALL the previous solder must be removed before you can trust the results of resoldering a joint.

  Some of the newer products have solder that is simply hard to work with (high melting point). That is a recent change in the last few years, but it doesn't happen too often. Figured that it was just hi temp no lead solder, but after reading the paper, I see that I was wrong. Glad it was put forth.