issuing with soldering to contact board.

[irishluck]

I absolutely cannot get my solder to stick to the center copper on this contact board so I can solder the driver to it.

Can anyone help me out here? Why aint this working?

Im using 60/40 solder. Have always used it and never had an issue.

in the picture, im trying to solder the red wire to the center of the contact board.

 

[crazyspaz]

Have you tried just dropping a blob of solder on the contact point? If that doesn't work, try
sanding the spot you are trying to solder to. Not sand as in smooth it out, sand as in rough it up a bit. If that doesn't work, then I don't know what to tell you...

 

[irishluck]

I did try to plop a small glob but that didnt work. Ill try the roughing it up.

 

[Speedy78]

Hold the heat there longer. Its connected to the large copper pad on the other side right? It may be sucking away the heat. There is no need to worry about damaging anything as its just a contact board.

 

[Zeebit]

Use some flux.

 

[Flaminpyro]

If you have cleaned the copper and it's still not working for you then try this> http://laserpointerforums.com/f39/solder-flux-68199-2.html#post983856

What is the wattage of your iron ? sounds like you have done this before to some extent, are you getting it hot enough ?

 

[ultimatekaiser]

they've basically said a solution, but here...let me try to explain so you understand why.

What is causing it to not stick is that the pad is exposed to the air, developing an oxide layer on top of it. by roughing it up a bit or using some flux on it as pyro suggested, you remove this oxide layer, allowing the solder to bond with the metallic pad. It wont wet the surface if the pad is oxidized or cooled too far.

Use a tiny bit of flux or a very light fine scratching or sanding on the pad (without wearing it off completely) to remove the super thin oxide film on top of it, tin your soldering iron, and then heat the pad a second or so, then apply the solder so it wets the surface it should flow right on. if you ever have to heat something with an iron longer than a few seconds, then generally something is wrong.

Hope this helps :beer:

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

Get an eraser pencil and go over it with that. It's much gentler than sand paper. Then apply some flux
and use a good hot iron or a high wattage gun.

 

[Flaminpyro]

Actually an eraser is a better thing to use than sand paper as it will not damage the copper

This is what I use to clean circuit boards with, it is a rubber and silicon carbide block the carbide is approx 400 to 600 mesh and is
bound tight in the rubber so it scrapes the surface and the rubber cleans away the crap as you just rub the spot you want clean.

You can see where I have been drawing old HP resistor leads across it to clean them, it's a pretty handy tool to have if you do a lot of soldering

This is made for the job and you should be able to find them on line at soldering supply places.

 

[ultimatekaiser]

Yeah it works pretty well for mass soldering. People like cleaning contacts with them in pcs too. The rubber can leave a residue on it though so I use custom a fine abrasive paste of sorts instead. Whatever works!

 

[The Lightning Stalker]

I always just use isopropyl alcohol to remove the residue. I like the eraser pencil because it can get into
small places very easily and when it breaks or gets worn down it can just be sharpened again like a
pencil. The big eraser is better for cleaning component leads like on the resistors though.

Even a pink eraser will work, but not very well. The white ones with the grit in them are the thing to look
for.

 

[Blord]

You are not heating the contact point enough. The gold plated surface should have no problems with any solder. Or you solder station is failing. Make sure the solder tip isn't become loose from the heating element.

 

[KRNAZNBOY]

Does your solder have a flux core? Try heating the pad and the pressing the solder into the junction between the pad and.the iron tip. If the solder flows and sticks, then you can solder the wire to the pad!

Good luck
-Matt

 

[irishluck]

Well the problem wasn't with the solder gun or anything. Everything was melting just fine and what not but it just wouldn't stick to the copper. I had tried it about 5-6 times. Went back and had picked off the clear layer it had made.

The solder I use has a flux core actually. But always have a can of flux around just in case.

The solution I had though was basically roughing up the copper pad some though and it stuck fine!

Never really had that much of a problem soldering to copper.