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I finally had to admit that my soldering iron was the problem not the circuit board
My neighbor Dave who restores vintage radios for fun told me that cheap soldering irons cause more cold joints than bad technique. He showed me how his Weller station makes connections in one clean flow while my $15 iron leaves a mess every time. Do you think it's worth upgrading gear before blaming the parts or is that just an excuse to spend money?
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the_claire26d ago
Ha, tell that to my fourth ruined PCB that looks more like abstract art now!
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brian_jackson26d ago
Grab some solder wick and a decent flux pen - those two things saved me from turning half my projects into modern art. A little cleanup between attempts makes a HUGE difference.
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xenar1426d agoTop Commenter
Ha, I feel that on a spiritual level. It's like every time I try to fix something simple, it turns into some kind of modern art piece I didn't ask for. You know @the_claire, I've noticed this pattern in electronics and even in life - you start with a simple goal and end up with a complete mess, but somehow you learn more from the failures than the successes. Those ruined PCBs probably teach you way more about soldering than any perfect board ever would. I swear, half the reason I keep trying stuff is just to see what new disaster I'll create next. It's the struggle of every hobbyist, just trying to make a tiny light blink without frying everything in sight.
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