How TO Perfect Solder Joint 🤫 | FPV Drone | Pro Soldering Tips & Tricks
I have been wanting to make this video for months now. finally I mustered up the energy to make it happen. I hope this can help a lot of new Solderers getting into the world of FPV.
INtro - 00:00-07:23
Prep/application/removal - 07:23 - 14:22
Soldering Wires to Baords - 14:22-18:23
Capacitor adding - 18:23-21:33
Plier assistance - 21:33-23:37
Small board Soldering - 23:38-25:40
Outro recap Tips & tricks - 25:40-28:12
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TS100 - bit.ly/2PhoOma
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4S - bit.ly/2NBN185
ETHiX is my brand and we are aiming to refine and simplify this amazing hobby. Please check us out - ethixltd.com
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_MUSIC _
Outro Tune
Blue Raft Maker
_ Kwad Gear _
- NEW* Frame - bit.ly/37KiVFM
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- FC - bit.ly/2HvqCWh
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- NEW* ALL UP WEIGHT - 596g -
_ Packing Gear _
Back Pack - bit.ly/329rVDr
GoPro carry case - bit.ly/2waTigV
_ Radio Gear _
- Radio - X9d (I am not sure what is compatible anymore
Be on the lookout for something new.)
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(Antennas)
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_ Battery Charging Setup _
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_ New VLOG SETUP_
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_ Tools/parts _
- Prop Ratcheting Wrench - amzn.to/2O86evS
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- Field Soldering Iron (literally, best thing I have ever purchased)
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- Solder - amzn.to/2uJ89z3
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#drone #Howto #Solder
Steele: "ok first I wet the tip...now I wiggle the bottom and move fast enough so I can come in sideways..." My girlfriend: "What are you watching??"
Hahha
Snap i didn't think of it like that 😃👊
Steele: " The hardest part about this is in and out"
Don't forget to go in and out as quickly as possible 17:56
dont forget too clean the tip between each connection
I’m pretty lucky to win a weller soldering station at a giveaway at my school. Nobody knew what it was so I got it
That is pretty awesome Kevin.
That is freaking dope!!!
Lucky!
i have a 30 year old one
Heck at my school I was lucky to enter a giveaway for a pack of pencils
So this is what I learned: -get your tip wet, don't go in dry -quickly get in, quickly get out -touch it, and it's on. Noted. --call it bad names- -you want a tip size that isnt too big or too small. Too big and you'll just complain you can't get it all on there, too small and you leave everyone dissatisfied. -And make sure to get it to 850 degrees. *That's hot* Update: Instructions unclear, tip stuck in rotor.
*Flimsynder* - And important not to forget 'health and safety': ' - _be sure to wipe your tip clean, after you've pulled it out_ ' ! BTW - ' _Touch it it's on, touch it it's off_ !' I didn't get that bit!?
dont be to rough when the tip is in contact.
I just finished my first soldering, I had to solder my power cable that I had torn off, now the new cable is well placed on my circuit but when I power my drone with the battery, all the printed circuit becomes very hot. An idea ?
If tip does not penetrate, wiggle it a bit.
Solid vid. Couple of thoughts: the purpose of the wet sponge is not 'cleaning' the tip; that's what the scrunchy copper wire ball is for. The wet sponge is for reducing latent heat in the tip to avoid overheating components. If soldering pads, XT60 pins etc., don't use the sponge, because you want lots of heat. If soldering small components (capacitors for example), or soldering in an area of a PCB which has small components close to the soldering site, clean the tip with the copper ball, give it a good wipe with the sponge to cool the tip, then *promptly* re-wet and apply solder. I do use a flux pen ('rosin pen'). The flux removes oxidation from the parts being soldered and keeps them from re-oxidizing while cleaning/re-wetting the iron, all of which allows more rapid adherence and promotes flowing of the solder; this in turn means it isn't necessary to heat-saturate the parts to achieve a properly-fused joint. Proper use of rosin core solder requires that you add solder to both components before attempting a joint, which is fine in many cases, but often leads to an over-application of solder, and you either have to wait for the parts to cool (and start to re-oxidize...), or risk overheating the parts when you connect them. Last item: lead wont vaporize at less than 1700C; the smoke from soldering doesn't contain lead. I avoid breathing it on general principle, but there's no need to worry about "lead poisoning" from solder smoke. Washing your hands after handling solder is a good idea, however :)
Accurate info. Good to see some intelligent comments!
I found the electronics engineer. The most important one is the bit where you don't want to heat-saturate the parts. Your flux will help with that if applied correctly. ESC and motors will hate this saturation method, even 1/8th scale offroad RC components fail easily with too much heat.
Great info. Thank you 👍
watching Steele soldering for 30min? oh yes! 🙌
For me, you explained it the best compared to others. Not that others are bad.
Good video Steele. This is a necessary skill that can be quite expensive to learn by trial and error. You provided some timely tips that will reduce the learning curve for new guys. I appreciate the time you took to prepare this video.
For those who have trouble tinning wires, dip the wire in flux, add solder to the iron, then touch the flux-covered wire end to the solder blob on the iron and it will pull the solder right in. Any time you have issues with getting a joint hot enough, use flux. It’s your friend.
Few additions cause this is actually a good soldering tutorial! Steele doing it right! So with solder fumes, the fumes are actually the resin core melting, you definitely dont want to breathe that as you can actually develop asthma over time from it, but there is no lead directly in the smoke...but make SURE (like before you do anything else) that you wash your hands after handling leaded solder! It is absolutely essential. A wick is alright, the problem is it seems to oxidize pretty quick and does a poor job...the best 25 bucks I've spent in a long time is on the Engineer SS-02 solder sucker, seriously I can redo pin headers with this thing...get it! A fume extractor is a pretty decent investment as well. Other than that, practice! Get some practice kits that are cheap, its very concering to me the poor soldering skills of so many people, that is a massive liability as people trust their kwads way too much and soldering joints can and do fail under heavy vibration load. Also the reason that pads lift is because of poor quality substrate of the pcb and poor quality adhesive...thats another reason to buy quality products, so you know they are (hopefully) using quality pcbs with properly adhered copper. You can still lift small pads so caution is always necessary(they are tiny little islands of copper, after all, they heat up and melt the adhesive), but in general it will be much stronger!
Epic write up and pointers man. I am gonna have to look into that solder suckers. I have a fume extractor but I need to put a more powerful motor on it. That shit is weak :(
@@MrSteeleFPV Thanks my dude! I know you got that EE degree which probably helps, but your solder skills are actually awesome, so thanks for taking the time to make a good detailed video! Lol I actually designed and 3d printed my fume extractor, I know you hate 3d printed shit, but I put that 35mm delta fan in there...shit pretty much hovers! Also btw open invitation to come climb at vertical endeavors in MN if you ever make it up here!
Adding to this excellent advice, silicone mats are soo much better than carpet for soldering esp. As they often have many slots and embedded magnets for holding tiny drone screws!
@@MrSteeleFPV I can definitely vouch for the Engineer SS-02. Contrary to most solder pumps, it doesn't have a teflon nozzle, but a silicone one that conforms a bit better to whatever you push it onto and gives it a ton more suction than a regular solder pump. Best solder pump I ever got.
One tool that completely changed how I solder is a nice set of _reverse action tweezers._ Those things are amazing!
One of the qualities of MrSteele I love is his OCD and cleanliness. I greatly appreciate the tips he shared here to keep things tidy, secure, and minimal. As a beginner, learning how to solder is great, but there's also a style and touch to it that is important to this hobby. Thanks Mr Steele!
VERY Good tutorial! I would like to mention that blue tack really helps in securing components to place when you solder. It's cheap and really handy.
Thank you sir for the helpfulness of this video. Your fpv videos are one of the biggest reasons I'm into this awesome hobby.
Awesome guide i genuinely learnt some stuff here! been binge watching your videos for a couple of days now in between flights & I'm improving each flight thanks to the stuff I'm learning which boosts my confidence and takes me one step closer to life depression free. Thank you for inspiring me.
🙌. Fpv got me through some of the darkest times in my life man. Perseverance is key :). Keep enjoying the hobby 🙏🏼
One of the most informative soldering tips videos I have seen. Thanks
WOW thank you so very much for your awesome and informative tutorial. I learned so much from it and although I have soldered many things in the past they have never been perfect joints. But thanks to you I now have more confidence in soldering and how I can create nice clean joints. So thank you so very much once again!
I thought I knew it all, but after your video I can kindly say I was enlightened. Thanks for making and sharing this !
When I started in May 2020 I watched so many videos about soldering and I wanted to come back to this video and let you know: this video changed everything for me and I thank you💯
Thank you for this! Sincere, my new hire involves soldering skills. I'll be looking into your vids to enhance not only my skill set, but also to broaden my tool belt! Again, thank you, Sir!
Great hands-on instruction vid, just what I wanted. Thanks!
This video could not come in better time for me. I fly FPV for almost a year now, but I'll build my first quad this week and I only had little practice with soldering. So thank you very much!
Super chilled "tutorial". Thank you for the awesome video! :)
Very helpful and to the point, thanks steele 🤜
A BIG thanks, for clearing up some of the points that I have struggled with.
This was a really great tutorial and advice video using your technique. Lots of perfect angle shots of your work too, made it easy to understand.
Ther sheer amount of people i have helped by sending them this video, all wanted to thank you mr steele
Ultimately this was pretty helpful, thank you
Ive been soldering for a bit and I still learned some stuff. One of the best skills someone can learn.
I didn't realize solder creep up the wire making it stiff. I learned something too as well!
Tell Dad, thanks for passing it down to the next generation; well made video!!...I began planning my first race drone build today and "bam!"...you released an incredible soldering video...thanks for sharing!!!🕺🏾
Thanks 4 the soldering secrets!! & I do keep my tip moist!!🤓🤙
Thanks i have just practiced your technique and already i have improved. i thought i was pretty good but now much better.
Love this soldering iron, I use it as well and have been for some time. Would be awesome if you made a video on tuning! Thanks as always for the super informative videos.
This was great - I consider myself to be fairly experienced (but not an expert) at soldering and I learned a few really good tips, thanks!
Awesome tutorial mate, well thought out and put together.
Nice tips. I’ve watched tons of soldering vids, I am learning soldering by working on micros and tiny whoops since I live in the city…but I learned some new things from this. No flux given.
I've been using the solder wick completely wrong. Thanks
👍 nice one dude I’ve been soldering for years but it’s alway a good idea to watch someone else. The only way we learn new tips and tricks 🤓
That 28 mins and 37 seconds to please Albert went super fast I was glued to the screen haha great video on showing how it's done, I'm starting to build me first 5 inch this week so cramming as much helpful. Info as possible 😂😂
30 mins. 28:37 mins to be exact.
Yep hit a 4 by accident lol
Better?
A fume extractor works great to draw that smoke away from your work area. Also, a wad of sticky tack works awesome to hold stuff in place while soldering. Great video! Oh and flux helps solder stick to surfaces like magic.
Thanks for the video mate, brilliant, thanks for teaching me 👍 bless you
Best solder slinger I ever done seened! I think the wiggle wiggle is the key I have been missing in my soldering. Thanks Mr. Steve! P.S. Your natural hair looks fire, people are ridiculous!
🙌🥖🤷♂️😹
It's very useful! Thanks for sharing! 😄👍👏👏💯
Great info found here.. as usual. I appreciate ya young brother.
Awesome. I haven't known many people that has soldered as long or longer than myself. I did a lot of repairs for friends and their parents from Jr. High until the present. So you know what a big deal everyone makes because you understand something they don't. It kinda dwindles into either as you approach your 40's 😏👍.
I use lighter fluid for cleaning excess flux on boards, works just as well as isopropyl alcohol and also evaporates leaving no residue and is often more easily available from convenience stores etc. Head magnifier with a light is a must for when I'm soldering, things are getting so tiny these days, especially trying to solder the boards in micro quads & whoops. I use one which can take two lenses at once, so I can flip one up for variable magnification.
Thanks for the vid, I need all the help I can get. 👍
It's even better to learn Quad soldering tips and tricks from a pro like Steele!
Pretty good job at explaining the process.
Thanks dude I needed this 2years in and all my xt60 connections have sucked and now I know its because I'm using lead less and now i need to get some 50/50!
This is the best guide on soldering i have ever seen, and i am a youtube vet.
So you're another pro, i guess.
Somewhere in Texas a certain man who has his house in a certain video game is nodding silently in agreement. ^^
People really did learn something today lol. Good tutorial!
@@L..E01 Yea, you learned how to damage what you paid for - before first use. Amazing!
@@mqrichfpv2748what?
Great video just what I was looking for to the point,and helps me out awhole lot with my project,thanks
Thanks, very helpful. Nicely done
I really needed this! Thanks bro!!👊😎
Correct me if I'm wrong but the fumes DON'T have any lead in them whatsoever as leads got a boiling point of 1700 degrees and the fumes are just the Rosin... Now you still shouldn't necessarily breath those in as some people are allergic to it but if you are not and you are only soldering occasionally it won't do any harm UNLESS the solders got an acidic core and not a Rosin core, those fumes will fuck you up fairly effectively... Also, normally closed metal tweezers (dunno how to properly call them) are way easier to handle than needlenose pliers as you don't need to apply constant pressure to hold the wire Great video - still learned quite a bit even though I thought I had soldering down quite well 👍
I'm pretty sure the smoke is the resin burning off. I always thought that if you got too much smoke that iron was too hot, but I'm not the expert
Averell Dalton AFAIK the precautions against inhaling lead are still helpful, and the flux in any solder can cause respiratory issues if you don’t ventilate properly. First time I soldered, I was coughing for a while after. The issues are likely acute, but I refuse to be the person to discover that a chronic problem can develop. Also, using your knowledge of the world, when has inhaling anything besides water vapor (unflavored) been safe?
Don't worry about fumes... just make sure that your not blowing air on your work... trying to use a fan to blow air across your work piece makes the joint cool too quickly resulting in brittle joints.. Very important in something that's subject to high vibrations like drones..
Ahhh. that makes sense. I was told not to leave solder on the end of the tip when you are done and to thoroughly clean before storing because the acid in the flux core would eat away at the tip of the soldering iron causing it not to work as effectively.
Paximo2000 that’s very wrong. The metal should not be exposed to the air for long periods of time after taking its first solder, and especially not when it’s hot. You want to leave solder on when not in use, just make sure you apply it with enough time for the chemicals to burn off once you’re done.
a chisel sharpening stone is best to solder on . it gets rid of the heat better . great flying
Thanks for the video. I learner a lot.
Seriously useful video, thanks Steele
Thanks for this!
You have the best soldering station! I have it too, very solid!
Great tips, dude! Thanks a lot! 😊
Great vid. Thanks!!! Been in the market for a new soldering machine. So bought this one. Thanks for the tips.
Great vid. Apreciated.
I know I'm a year late in da game lol but since I'm new to fpv and can't solder for tish this is the BEST solder tutorial I have seen on all of YT !!!!! and I'm not just saying that because the jedi of fpv is doing it lol I'm scared to death of soldering I'm not gonna lie it looks so hard and I'm scared I'm going to end up with a T-1000!!!! Seriously though this vid makes me want to solder something just to try.....knock on wood 4× I hope I don't break my quad now lol great stuff man👍
Been soldering since the 80s when I got my first RC10. Back in the day I bought a RadioShack 100w trigger style soldering gun. That beast lasted me 30 plus years. Hold the trigger for 5 seconds and solder melts, hold the trigger 5 more seconds and you can tin a 12guage power lead in the blink of an eye. Hold it down for more than 20 seconds and that bastard starts glowing red hot. I can tag a power lead to damn near any ground plane in no time without the part bleeding heat away. But a year ago the tip was finally going bad, I replaced the tip with some off brand junk and the damn beloved 30+ year old soldering gun started to eat itself. Lucky for me I was able to buy a new old stock duplicate gun and I hope it lasts me another 30 years. It makes quick work, and that is key to avoid heat soaking parts, of damn near anything. My latest kick is building Lithium Ion packs and my solder gun makes tagging 12 guage wire to the cells about as quick as spot welding. The 100w gun is not useful for fine detail work so I have a second Soldering gun of lower wattage with a fine tip for all the pins. As for solder, I have a 60/40 rosin core reel from Radio Shack that I bought 8 years ago that I am only just now to the half way point of using it up. The stuff works so damn well I will be sad when I am out of it. When Radio Shack eas going out of business I went by mine looking to buy up all they had on close out. Sadly somebody already beat me.
Thanks for the video. One thing I saw you doing that I see very few other "experts" doing is constantly cleaning your tip. I see some "experts" working with very dirty tips. I used to use water but I thought I heard some people say that you should not do that. I use copper wool to clean my tip. One thing I noticed you doing that you did not mention is lifting up the iron when coming out of the puddle. This causes capillary action and will lift up the puddle and create a dome effect. I think that if you stir a little slower and left slower you get a smoother and shinier dome.
Most informative Sir, Most informative indeed!
I’m not new to soldering but I still mess up at times. Great tips 👍 I need a hakko for my bench one of these days. I’ve been using the ts100 forever and it works especially with the firmware update but I need something a little bigger for home.
Finally I can solder like Mr.Steeeve now 🔥
Helping hands and a hakko soldering iron tip cleaner also make things a lot smoother
That Ethnix build mat there looking legit 👌
Great video. I learned something today.
forgot that heat shrink on xt 60. lol been there!! i know it was just for demo though so youre good. great tutorial bro i see this helping lots of people judging by a lot of build pics i see on facebook i silently sit back and cringe at. never stop rippin my dude!
Ground plane can be such a pain because so much metal acts as a heat sink. But they are more forgiving. It is the power and signal traces that will always be less forgiving of too much heat being applied to the pad. DYS F4 AIO boards had some super weak esc signal pads that were easy to lift. Wetting the tip increases surface area which makes it easier to quickly transfer heat to the piece to be soldered and can reduce the time needed to get a piece tinned.
Very helpful. Thank you)
this is amazing bro! I wish you had this video in 2018 when I first found your channel and got started in FPV!
Thanks so much for this. On another video, the thinking was all the fumes is from the flux, the solder never gets hot enough to make lead vapor.
"thick and toasty" Nice.
very helpful. thanks!
That ETHIX build mat though. But for real needs to happen!
This video has really helped me out....
Could have needed this two months earlier - now my quad already looks like Frankensteins quad with its rediculouis solderpoints. Good video!
Hahahahaha, the best "how to" video I've seen ;) Thanks for all your dedication Steele... :)
Thank you this helps alot
This helps. My joints tend to suck because the people who taught me have me SUPER paranoid about not staying on the pad long. Looks like you're lingering on the pad a decent amount of time, whereas I barely touch it. Getting a new ESC tomorrow I will experiment with it. First time doing XT60 pads, kind of nervous. Definitely don't want to mess up the 4in1 before I get it in the air.
I found myself holding my breath, to avoid breathing in the smoke, while watching this. Lol
“Wet The Tip Steel!!! 😂 But in all serious thanks a lot I appreciate all the information couldn’t have got in the air without your videos
Thanks for the class
like you say bonus tip: when you solder the xt60 put BEFORE the heat shrink on the wires for the connector ;)
Thanx - Finally did my first successful soldered joint ;)
Video quality is on the up and up!
Thanks for the video 🙏
Thanks for the tutorial. As a side note, I built a cheap but effective USB PC fan to pull the fumes away from the work area. Cheap insurance to avoid breathing the fumes as much as possible.
Idk why but he is so relaxing to whatch while building😋
Great tips hommie
Great video!
Wettin the tip best advice ever
Happy Birthday Steele!
Im new to this.. mayb some are too.. some other tip's I got are get bluetac ( like molding clay ) to hold the wires or other stuff you want to solder on. Use a small desk fan to get a breeze away from inhaling the fumes.