Before moving on to the specific topic of soldering, it is first useful to discuss ESD. ESD — or Electrostatic Discharge — is the sudden discharge of static electricity between two
objects. We routinely encounter ESD in
our daily lives. It’s that shock you feel
when you touch your car door in the dry
winter months or when you walk across a
carpet and then touch a door knob. This
charge can be in excess of 20,000 volts —
much more than it takes to destroy most
electronic components (Figure 1).
Because of this, preventing an electrical
charge from building up is important
when working with electronics, since
even a small potential can destroy
sensitive components.
To avoid building up any excess
charge, avoid loose clothing or clothing
that dangles down in contact with ESD-sensitive devices, and wear materials
made of cotton, rather than wool or
synthetic materials. Wearing a properly
grounded ESD wrist strap and/or heel
straps, and making sure that it is properly
grounded is also advised when working
with electronics. You can find these items on the Internet at
reasonable prices if you’re worried about accidentally
damaging components. In general, it is also good practice
to minimize handling of ESD-sensitive
devices whenever possible, since the
more you handle a device, the more
opportunities you have to accidentally
damage it with an electrical discharge.
Okay, let’s move on to soldering.
Soldering is the process of joining two
metals together by the use of a solder
alloy. It is one of the oldest known joining
techniques. The successful soldering
process produces a reliable solder
connection — one that has both a strong
physical bond and electrical connection.
The solder alloy utilized is a key
material used in the soldering process.
Solder used in electronics is a metal alloy.
A common alloy is the combination of tin
and lead in different proportions for lead
bearing solders, and tin, silver, and
copper for the lead-free solders. When
labeling or naming the different types of
solder, manufacturers use the chemical
symbols for each of the metals. For
This series of articles will serve as a step-by-step guide to hand soldering
electrical components. This first entry will be focused on the tools and
materials you will need, the basics of the soldering process, and some
terminology that needs to be defined before more specific topics are
covered. If you already have some experience with soldering, this will be
mostly review.
Basics of
Soldering
By Bob Wettermann and Nick Brucks
58 SERVO 12.2014
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Figure 1. Make sure you are
properly grounded.