Soldering

Soldering in electronics is a method of joining components permanently to a printed circuit board (PCB). Frequently, bad solders and cold solder joints are a cause the boards to not function properly. It is, therefore, very important to know how good solder connections look like and how to make them.

Here's a few videos to start that introduces how its done:

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Important tools required for soldering:

Solder, Tweezers, Flux, Isopropyl Alcohol, Solder wick

Kinds of soldering: 

→ Wire soldering

→ PCB soldering → Surface mount & Through holes

Steps to do before soldering:

1) Make sure to have all required tools nearby

2) Turn on soldering station (600^oF - 700^oF)

3) Tin solder tip 

Important things:

→ Having enough solder on board (nice volcanic-slope shape),

→ Do not put solder tip too long on board (may damage board and/or electrical component),  

→ Use the appropriate solder tips

→ Takes practice and good grip to solder properly

→ Regularly clean the solder tip

Common soldering problems: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering/common-problems

Two kinds of flux:

1) Rosin flux: Sticky but allows solder to flow better. Need to be cleaned with IPA properly else old dried flux will "eat" on the board

2) No clean flux: Flux that doesn't need cleaning after usage. Let's solder flow but not as nicely as Rosin flux does

Amazing resources for SMD soldering without reflow: https://store.curiousinventor.com/guides/Surface_Mount_Soldering/