Soldering tech.

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun May 30, 2004 8:38 am

I'm looking to hook up a Piezo buzzer on my scoot to remind me the turn signal is on. I have to solder the 2 wires to a circuit board. Now I can solder wires togeather but this is something I haven't tried before.
I have a dual wattage soldering gun and some fine wire, but I need a few clues how to do this without melting the board. Any hep? (I know it's spelled "help", I'm just talking like a biker

)

Cuda68-2 · Post by **Cuda68-2** » Sun May 30, 2004 8:55 am

First you want to "TIN" everything. The Iron and the wire. The board will no doubt have some solder where the wire is to be attached. Use the iron to heat up the wire while it is held against the board. Solder will travel in the direction of the heat or towards the iron. So as the solder on the wire melts and solder on the board melts together it will travell or flow to the iron. So place your rolled solder wire against the board contact point to ensure the extra solder is applied to right location.

Testiculese · Post by **Testiculese** » Sun May 30, 2004 11:04 am

And it only takes a 1/2 second to heat it enough to apply the solder. Use about 600 degrees. You can solder a parallel port onto a board in less than 20 seconds.

Practice on some old electronics first.

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Sun May 30, 2004 12:50 pm

And ditch the stupid gun. For something that small, it won't do you any good and will only hinder you in just about every way. For a large project, the gun would be just fine, but don't even use it for something as small as this. Go to your nearest radio shack and pick up a little $8 hand-held soldering iron. They're cheap, easy to handle, and do a decent job. Make sure you get acid free solder and a little tube of flux.

Take you a toothpick (or Q-tip) and apply enough flux to cover the area you're going to solder. Don't go hog wild with the stuff either. This will help protect the PCB from getting burned by the solder. After you've soldered your connections, clean off any excess flux with some rubbing alcohol.

Duper · Post by **Duper** » Sun May 30, 2004 1:38 pm

0_o soldering gun????? eeewwwwwwww.....!

hehe.. I've been a bit spoiled by my MetCal's at work. That and the Wave Flow I operate.

Wood, Test is right, practice a little. It's really pretty easy. Don't sweat it bro.

Apply the solder to the side where the wire is sticking out, not the side it enters the board. The "Wetting" or the solder weld should look like Mount Fuji when you're done on either side and not a Hershey's Kiss.

the side of the board that has the insulation should have only a little bit of solder higher than the board's face.

Here
for some pictures of what it should look like.

We actually have these books at work to train our ppl in soldering.

Don't hold the iron on the wire or you will melt the insulation.

woodchip · Post by **woodchip** » Sun May 30, 2004 3:19 pm

Thanks for all the input. I went to radio slut and listened to their piezo buzzers and the loudest one I wouldn't hear with the pipes growling, helmet on and ear plugs in. So I think what I'll do is try for a strobe mounted on the handle bars that'll flash when the signals on. Same soldering leads involved so hooking up should be same same.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Sun May 30, 2004 5:45 pm

Easier solution: replace one lightbulb per side with a "reverse-bleeper" light bulb. That way it'll go BEEP BEEP quite loudly whenever you are indicating a turn. Even cars around you will hear it - and start furiously looking for a car reversing at them! Great on the freeway at 60+MPH.