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Intro to Soldering

Modified 2020-09-11 by Peyton Strong

To put the drone together, wires have to be connected to each other, to sensors, and other electrical components. To do this, connections are formed by heating and cooling the mallieable metal known as solder. The soldering iron is the tool to heat the solder. Remeber, solder can get very hot and fling out. It is necessary to have eye protection, as well as to not breathe in soldering fumes. To make the soldering of two wires together easier, use helping hands or long-nose pliers. Tinning is what you do before you solder, which is coating a metal with solder to help it join and flow electricity better to another wire. Here’s a video that shows how to properly tin a wire.

Vocabulary:

Soldering is when two metals (solder and metal) are melted together. You use solder (show solder), to join wires.

Tinning is what you do before you solder, which is coating a metal with solder to help it join and flow electricity better to another wire.

Important Safety Tips:

  • The soldering iron is hot, only apply to needed components

  • Solder can fling out and is necessary to have eye protection

  • Do not breathe in soldering fumes

  • The metals that the solder is next to is also hot, so use helping hands or long-nose pliers

Here’s a step by step on how to tin a wire:

  1. Twist the loose wire ends into a tight twist.

  2. Hold the wire stably in place with helping hands or a plier.

  3. Apply a solder dot onto the iron (to increase heat transfer from the iron to the wire).

  4. Apply the iron onto the wire about to be tinned. Wait a few seconds for the wire to heat up.

  5. Apply the solder onto the wire NOT THE IRON , and let the solder melt and flow into and on the wire.

  6. Wipe away any excess solder with the iron being careful to not fling it too aggressively so to avoid burning someone/something.

  7. Remove the iron and clean it.

  8. Let the wire cool.

A pre tinned wire is a wire tinned at the factory. It looks shiny on the tip and the end cannot be frayed. For this courses’ purposes, you should cut the pre-tinned end, and strip the wire casing, and continue self-tinning as seen above.

Useful Resources and References

  1. Detailed instructions of each component and tinning

  2. Soldering Tutorial for Beginners in 5 easy steps

  3. How to Tin a Wire

  4. Glossary