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 HOME » BASIC SOLDERING GUIDE – HOW TO SOLDER
ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS
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Basic Soldering Guide – How to

Solder Electronic Components
BY SANTOSH DAS | LAST UPDATED ON AUGUST 21, 2019
Basic Soldering Guide on How to Solder Electronic Components to
Circuit Board (PCB).
Basic Soldering Guide on How to Solder Electronic Components to
Printed Circuit Board (PCB). This is a Detailed and Complete Soldering
Guide on Automatic Soldering for Mass Production and Hand Soldering
for Rework and Repairing of PCB.
 Table of Contents:
 Basic Soldering Guide – Introduction
 Soldering Material
o 1. Flux
o 2. Solder (Wire, Bar, Paste, Balls, Preforms)
 o Video: Types of Solder Wire
o 3. Electronic Components
 Soldering Tools and Equipment
o Video: Best Soldering Station
 Wave Soldering Process
 Reflow Soldering Process
 Hand Soldering Process
 Basic Soldering Guide : Key Points to Note
o Video: How to Clean and Tin Soldering Iron Tip
 SMD Hand Soldering Process
 Video: How to Reball an IC
 PCB Assembly Process Flow Chart (PCBA Process)

Basic Soldering Guide – Introduction

Soldering is basically a technique to join two metals using a third metal
or alloy.
Proper soldering technique and quality of solder are the lifeline of any
Solder Joint and PCB Assembly. Quality of solder and the soldering
technique decides the life and performance of any electronic equipment,
appliance or gadget.
In electronics PCB Manufacturing, Assembly and Rework, the metals to
be joined are the leads of the electronic components (thru-hole or SMD)
with the copper tracks on the PCB. The alloy used to join these two
metals is solder which is basically tin-lead (Sn-Pb) or tin-silver-copper
(Sn-Ag-Cu). Tin-lead solder is called leaded solder because of the lead
present in it while the tin-silver-copper solder is called lead-free
solder because no lead is present in it.
The solder is melted using either a wave soldering machine or a reflow
oven or a normal soldering iron and this molten solder is then used to
solder wires or electronic components on to the PCB or Printed Circuit
Board. After assembly of electronic components the board is called PCB
Assembly or PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly)
Few other terms such as brazing and welding are often linked with
soldering. But one should remember that soldering, brazing and welding
are different from each other. Soldering is done using solder while
brazing is done using a lower melting-temperature filler metal. In
welding, the base metal also melts while joining two metals whereas this
is not the case with soldering and brazing.
Let us now start this Basic Soldering Guide.
Soldering Material
Let us first discuss in detail about all the basic soldering material and
consumables needed.
1. Flux
Flux plays a vital role in any soldering process and electronics PCB
Manufacturing and assembly. Flux removes any oxide and prevents
oxidation of metals and hence helps in better soldering quality. In
Electronics PCB Assembly process, flux removes any oxide and
impurities from the copper tracks on the PCB and oxides from the leads
of the electronic components. These oxides are biggest resistance in
good soldering joint and by removing these oxides, fluxes play a very
vital role here.
There are basically three types of Flux used in soldering:
1. R Type flux – These flux are Non-Activated and are used where
there is least oxidation.
2. RMA Type Flux – These are Rosin Mildly Activated Flux. These
fluxes are more active than R-Type fluxes and are used at places
where there is more oxidation.
3. RA Type Flux – These are Rosin Activated Flux. These are very
active flux and are used at places that have too much oxidation.
Some of the fluxes available are water-soluble. They get dissolved in
water with no pollution. Also there are No-Clean Flux which require no
cleaning after the soldering process.
 Types of Flux Used in Soldering

The type of flux to be used in soldering depends on various factors such

as Type of PCB to be assembled, type of electronic components used,
type of soldering machine and equipments used and the working
environment.
2. Solder (Wire, Bar, Paste, Balls, Preforms)
Solder is the life and blood of any PCB Assembly. The quality of solder
used during soldering and PCB assembly decides the life and
performance of any electronic machine, equipment, appliance, mobile
phone or gadget.
Different alloys of solder are available but the real ones are those that
are eutectic. Eutectic solder is one that melts exactly at the temperature
of 183 Degree Celsius (Sn/Pb). An alloy of tin and lead in the
ratio 63/37 is eutectic and hence 63/37 tin-lead solder is called eutectic
solder.
Solders that are non-eutectic will not change from solid to liquid at 183
Degree Celsius. They may remain semi-solid at this temperature. The
nearest alloy to eutectic solder is tin-lead in the ratio 60/40. The favorite
solder for electronic manufacturers have been 63/37 for years. It is still
widely used across the world.
Because lead is harmful to the environment and human beings, the
European Union imposed RoHS (Restriction of Hazardious
Substances) and took the initiative to ban lead and other harmful
substances from electronics. It has been decided to get rid of lead from
solder and electronic components. Hence, more and more electronic
companies in the world are shifting to RoHS. This has given rise to
another form of solder called lead-free solder. This solder is called lead-
free because there is no lead in it. Lead-free solder alloys melt around
250°C (482°F), depending on their composition. Most common lead-
free alloy is tin / silver / copper in the ratio Sn96.5/Ag3.0/Cu0.5 (SAC).
Lead-Free solder is also called “No-Lead” Solder.

Lead-Free Alloy Element Tolerances

Forms of solder:
Solder is available in various forms:
 Solder Wire
 Solder Bar
 Solder Preforms
 Solder Paste
 Solder Balls for BGA
Alpha Cookson is a leading manufacturer and supplier of all kinds
of flux around the world.
Video: Types of Solder Wire
3. Electronic Components
There are two types of electronic components – Active and Passive
Electronic Components.
Active components are those that have gain or
directionality. E.g. transistors, integrated circuits or ICs, logic gates.
Passive electronic components are those that do not have gain or
directionality. They are also called Electrical elements or electrical
components. E.g. resistors, capacitors, diodes, Inductors.
Again, electronic components can be in thru-hole or SMD (Surface
Mount Devices or Chips).
Soldering Tools and Equipment
As explained above, soldering can be done the 3 ways:
1. Wave Soldering: Wave soldering is done for mass production.
Equipment and raw materials needed for wave soldering are – wave
soldering machine, solder bar, flux, reflow checkers, dip tester,
spray fluxers, flux controller.
2. Reflow Soldering: Reflow Soldering is done for mass production
and is used for SMD soldering . Equipments and raw material
needed for reflow soldering are – Reflow Oven, Reflow checker,
stencil printer, solder paste, flux.
3. Hand Soldering: Hand soldering is done in small scale production
and repair and rework of PCB. Equipments and raw materials
needed in hand soldering are – Soldering iron, soldering station,
solder wire, solder paste, flux, desoldering iron or desoldering
station, tweezers, solder pot, hot air system, wrist straps, smoke
absorbers, static eliminators, heating gun, pick-up tools, lead
former, cutting tools, microscopes and magnifying lamps, solder
 balls, flux pen, desoldering braid or wick, desoldering pump or
sppon, overcoat pen, esd material etc.
4. BGA Soldering: Another form of electronic components are BGA
or Ball Grid Array. They are special components and need special
soldering. They do not have any leads, rather they use solder balls
under the component. Because the solder balls have to be placed
under the component and soldered, soldering of BGA becomes a
very difficult task. BGA soldering need BGA soldering and rework
systems and solder balls.
Video: Best Soldering Station
Wave Soldering Process
A wave soldering machine can be of different kinds, suitable for leaded
wave soldering and lead-free wave soldering but all of them have the
same mechanism. There are three zones in any wave soldering machine
–
 Preheating zone: This zone preheats the PCB prior to soldering.
 Fluxing zone: This zone sprays flux on to the PCB.
 Soldering zone: The most important zone where there is molten
solder.
There can also be a fourth zone zone called Cleaning Zone for cleaning
of flux after the soldering is done.
Process of wave soldering
A conveyor keeps moving across the plant. Employees inserts electronic
components on to the PCB that keeps moving forward on the conveyor.
Once all the components are in place, the PCB moves to the wave
soldering machine passing through the different zones. Solder waves in
the solder bath solders the components and the PCB moves out of the
machine where it is cleaned and tested for any possible defect. If there is
any defect, some rework / repair work is done by hand soldering.

Reflow Soldering Process

Reflow Soldering uses SMT (Surface Mount Technology) to solder
SMD (Surface Mount Devices) on to the PCB. In Reflow soldering there
are four stages –
1. Preheat
2. Thermal soak
3. Reflow; and
4. Cooling.
In this process solder paste is printed on the track of the circuit board
where the component is to be soldered. Printing of the solder paste can
be done using a solder paste dispenser or through stencil printer. This
board with solder paste and components of the paste is then passed
through a reflow oven where the components get soldered to the broad.
The board is then tested for any defect and if there is any defect, rework
and repair is done using hot air systems.

Hand Soldering Process

Hand soldering is basically done for small-scale manufacturing or repair
and rework. Hand Soldering for thru-hole components is done using a
soldering iron or a soldering station.
Hand soldering of SMD components is done using Hot Air Pencils
or Hot Air Rework Blower. Hand soldering of thru-hole components is
easier as compared to SMD Soldering.
Basic Soldering Guide : Key Points to
Note
1. Always keep the iron tip coated with a thin layer of solder.
(Read: How to Clean and Tin Soldering Iron Tip)
2. Use fluxes that are mild as possible but still provide a strong solder
joint.
3. Keep temperature as low as possible while maintaining enough
temperature to quickly solder a joint (2 to 3 seconds max for
electronic soldering).
4. Match the tips size to the work.
5. Use a tip with shortest reach possible for maximum efficiency.
Video: How to Clean and Tin Soldering Iron
Tip
SMD Hand Soldering Process
1. Method 1 – Pin by pin method Used for: Two-pin SMD
components (0805 caps & res), pitches >= 0.0315″ in Small Outline
Package, (T)QFP and SOT (Mini 3P).
 2. Method 2 – Flood and suck method Used for : pitches <= 0.0315″
in Small Outline Package and (T)QFP
3. Method 3 – Solder paste method Used for: BGA, MLF / MLA
packages; where the pins are underneath the part and inaccessible.
Read: Surface Mount Soldering Guide – SMD Soldering
Video: How to Reball an IC
PCB Assembly Process Flow Chart
(PCBA Process)
 PCB Assembly Process Flow Chart (PCBA Process)

Final Words
I hope you found this Basic Soldering Guide useful. If you have any
doubts or questions, feel free to ask below in the comment section.
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Santosh Das
 Santosh, founder of this Electronics Tutorial Website, is an Electronics Geek, Blogger
and Young Entrepreneur. He possesses vast experience in the field
of electronics, electronic components, PCB, Soldering, SMT, Telecommunication,
ESD Safety, and PCB Assembly Tools, Equipment and Consumables. Keep visiting
for daily dose of Tips and Tutorials.

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
21 RESPONSES
 Comments1
 Pingbacks20

1. Edward
 August 30, 2017 at 6:13 pm
There is also this flux cored solder.. With this you don’t have to use additional flux.. And I
think the solder works more efficiently that way.. You can include it in your list..
Reply
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