On Sunday, 7 October 2018 18:36:07 UTC+1, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Sun, 7 Oct 2018 16:08:34 -0000 (UTC), Cursitor Doom
wrote:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/128859...posted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/128859...posted-public/
As you can see, the "world's worst" tag was no exaggeration!

There may be hope for you yet:

1. How many watts is your soldering iron? It looks like the mess
made by too low power or too fine a tip. 75 watt seems about right.

2. Is the soldering iron temperature controlled? If yes, raise the
temperature and work fast. Mine runs at 750F (400C) for 60/40
lead-tin. If no, go shopping and buy a decent adjustable temperature
controlled soldering station. Get a fine tip for fine work, and a
thicker tip for the big stuff (so that the tip doesn't go cold as soon
as you touch the work).

3. Are those 3300uF 25V caps 85C caps or 105C? The photo looks like
85C. If so, they'll last about 6 months inside a hot oscilloscope.

4. Clean the enamel off the wires with sandpaper before you solder.
Tin the wire ends before attaching to a lug or PCB rivet.

I've dragged some of the local hams into my palatial office and
demonstrated how easy it is to solder properly with a decent soldering
iron. They're usually amazed at how well THEY can solder using my
equipment. That's when I discover that they're using something from
Radio Shack or that came with their childhood wood burner kit. I just
did a quick scan of what's available on eBay and noticed that they now
have OLED display aftermarket temp controllers for HAKKO soldering
irons. I'm tempted:
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=soldering+station+temperature+controll ed
Also, if you don't have a hot air SMD workstation, this might be a
good time to get one because they often include an adjustable
temperature controlled soldering iron.


It's also fair to say that even with a right piece of junk one can solder properly if you have the skill. In a drawer somewhere I have a 1950s Solon where the tip hangs loosely, but it still solders ok.


NT