General Tips

Good soldering starts with good tools and settings. No amount of effort or dedication will overcome the wrong setup!

• Solder at 720F / 380C. For irons without a temperature readout, this is often ~70% power. This is hot enough for both leaded and lead-free solder (which OEM GCC boards use). Solder should melt within 1 second.

• Use the right tip (shape + size) for this application: A ~1.5mm (1/16”) chisel-style tip. Many soldering irons come with a pointed (cone) tip pre-installed - don't use it! They make poor thermal contact and often burn/damage components without transferring enough heat to the actual solder.

• Use small diameter solder: 0.4mm/0.015” or 0.5mm/0.020” is recommended. 0.75mm/0.030” can work in a pinch. Anything larger will be very difficult to work with.

• Use plenty of flux when desoldering, especially while using a solder sucker (most wick has its own flux). Note, many flux pens require you to push down firmly on the “marker tip” before they will start flowing

• Add fresh solder to an existing joint before you desolder it, especially the first time a component is desoldered (most electronics use lead-free solder which does not flow nearly as well as the leaded variety)

• Depress the tip when using flux or flux cleaner pens. The tip will retract, allowing the liquid to flow more freely.

“I’m burning the board / destroying pads.”

• Turn your iron temperature UP, NOT DOWN. At least 720F / 380C is recommended - hot irons work quickly and complete the job before heat has a chance to damage surrounding/underlying components. (700F / 370C is good for leaded solder, but GCC boards use lead-free solder so higher temps are needed)
• Use a chisel-tip, roughly ~1.5mm (1/16”) wide. Hoof and curved tips also work well. Avoid pointed (cone) tips for through-hole soldering.
• TIME kills pads/components, NOT temperature. Turn your temperature up and hold your iron for less time! It should only take ~1 second to melt solder and ~2 seconds to solder the entire joint. Heating longer than this will damage pads and components. Low temps makes the problem worse by forcing you to dwell longer!
• Apply more flux. Flux burns off in visible plumes while soldering. Not seeing any plumes is a sign that you've burned off all the flux and need to add more.

“My desoldering wick isn’t doing anything.”

• Use good desoldering wick! I’ve tried many varieties and many perform very poorly. The wick listed above is a top-performer.
• Add more flux. Wick comes with flux already applied, but adding more will help greatly. Dip the end of your wick in flux before using, or apply flux directly to the target area.
• Press the wick into the solder joint with your soldering iron tip. The wick should be between the iron tip and the solder joint. Hold the iron there until you see the flux bubbling and solder being sucked up.
• Use a wider tip, or use the side of the tip. The more contact area you can get, the better! Pointed tips often just poke through the wick and don’t transfer heat well enough (and may not work at all). Just be careful not to accidentally damage any nearby components.
• Don't be afraid to use a lot of desoldering wick. Even if it's not full of solder, wick won't work well once its flux has been burnt off. When in doubt, try a fresh section of wick.