Soldering Tips

You guys may find these soldering tipsⁱ< useful?

1. Keep the tip of your solderingⁱ iron clean, use a damp sponge. 
2. Ensure the tip loaded with just enough solder. Too little or too much will cause problems.
3. If you have trouble loading the tip with solder, try cleaning it using flux.
4. Some fluxes will wear out your iron's tip quickly. If you can purchase harder wearing tips, do so.
5. Solder fumes can be toxic therefore make sure that your area is well ventilated.
6. Practice on some copper strip board to get the hang of things.

To get a good joint, hold the tip of the iron on the solder pad on the PCBⁱ and component for about 2 seconds. then apply a little solder. If you apply heat for too long the PCB will be damaged. A correct solder joint should look like Fig. A. If you apply too much solder or if the solder pad and component lead are not hot enough it can cause the solder to dry in a ball like mass. This is a bad solder joint.