General Soldering Tips from H&N Electronics

Soldering need not be a chore. You must start with a good soldering iron which has a clean tinned tip. You can use a Tip Tinner to help keep your iron clean and tinned, like our Lead Free Tip Tinner to tin and keep your iron clean and tinned. Make sure your iron is hot enough for the job you are doing. Check the Specs on the solder and see what temperature you will need. You can find the temperatures of our solders on the solder pages, 96/4 and 60/40 - 91/9. You can also check the Spec Sheets (see note below) on the flux, temperature, metals used on etc. Your iron should be hot enough that you do not spend a great deal on time on the solder joint. But your iron must not be so hot it chars the flux, once a flux chars, it is useless and will not work. A torch is much harder to use because of the excess heat which can char a flux. If using a torch then practice, practice. Use the correct solder for the job, check our solder pages for help. If soldering two items together it will help to tin the items (apply flux then apply small amount of solder to both items) then apply flux to both and solder together, may need to apply more solder to complete. If you have not soldered a lot then practice, practice is important, before working on a important item. Make sure you are also using the correct flux for the job. Reference: List of Flux and Solder we carry. These items are needed to make great solder joints: Correct heat, correct flux, correct solder, patience and practice, practice.

After applying flux to the items to be soldered, make sure the soldering iron tip has a small amount of solder on the tip, then hold the iron on the objects to be soldered. You must form a bridge of solder between the iron and the items in order to have good heat transfer. As soon as the small amount of solder on the iron starts to flow onto the object, apply more solder as required to complete the joint. It is a good flux that makes soldering easier. The flux performs three functions. First it cleans the metal that is being soldered, then it makes the solder flow properly, and provides a protective barrier against re-oxidation and heat scale.

Supersafe™ and all of our fluxes start this cleaning action as soon as they are applied, thus making soldering easier. We recommend you use plain warm water to remove excess flux on circuit boards and other items if excess flux remains.

For soldering Model RR rail and other general soldering, as long as an excess amount is not applied and joint is heated properly, flux will be neutralized and need not be washed off. We are confident you will find soldering much easier if you use Supersafe™ Flux, and keep your iron tip tinned with Lead Free Tip Tinner. Help in choosing correct flux for the metal you are soldering.

Note on Spec Sheets: These sheet for the most part are written for industrial use, but are very informative about how anyone also can use the flux, temperature range metals etc. The note on Shelf life is there because it is required by the government for work on Aircraft, electronics, cables and others. For general use all our fluxes last years beyond the noted shelf life.

Technical Advice

It is expressly understood that any technical advice furnished by H&N Electronics with reference to the use of its products is given gratis and H&N Electronics assumes no obligations or liability for the advice given or results obtained. All such advice is given and accepted at the Buyers risk.

 Disclaimer
The information contained in this web site is based on data considered to be accurate. All products sold by H&N Electronics are intended for use by persons having technical skills, at their own discretion and risk. Since conditions of use are outside our control, we can not assume liability for results obtained or damage incurred due to misuse, nor can we assume customer liability.

Other tips on Solder and Soldering:

General Tips

Aluminum Soldering

Hard to Solder Metals

Why do I need a Flux

So you are not an expert