#soldering techniques

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Surface-mounted components are becoming more and more common due to the obvious shortcomings associated with the use of through-hole soldering. However, the technique may seem a bit less straightforward as compared to the through-hole technique. Here are the necessary steps to carry out a surface mount.

Clean the printed circuit board

Perhaps always the first step in any type of soldering or desoldering, this is necessary to minimize the level of impurities in the board that may affect the outcome of the soldering. Cleaning can be done using a wide range of tools and agents.

Prepare the component

It is necessary to identify the point on the board where the component is to be soldered in and decide whether the number of pins on the component fits those on the board. The normal soldering preparation should then be carried out such as preheating.

Hold the component in place

Due to the small size of PCB components and the heat produced by a soldering iron tip, it is advisable to hold the component in place using a household tool such as a pair of tweezers and not with your bare hands. This will reduce the chances of accidental burns.

Apply some small solder drop

Wave soldering is one of the traditional techniques used to solder components onto PCBs in large scale. The technique is especially successful with the through-hole technology but requires minor adjustments to function with surface-mounted components. The technique has various steps:

Placing components on the board

This step makes the through-hole technology the most viable for this since the components can simply be held in place by bending the leads at a right angle. For surface-mounted components though, the components have to be glued to the board before being soldered. However, the technique is applicable to both methods and the components need only stay on the board.

Passing through solder

This is normally molten solder in a wave soldering machine. Due to the industrial application of the technique, wave soldering machines tend to be relatively expensive machines and normally out of reach for the average household consumer. This step involves passing the board over a wave of solder produced by components within the wave soldering machine. This causes the solder to flow into the holes where the leads pass through and thus effectively soldering the entire printed circuit board.

Fluxing and cleaning

Laser soldering is a relatively new technique that has the potential to replace regular soldering. In the laser technique, a laser beam is used to illuminate leads which then emits heat and raises the temperature of the material to melting point. At this stage, solder is applied, melts and seals joints, crack and holes within or along the leads. The main differences between laser and regular soldering include;

Heating

Regular soldering uses soldering iron, torches or guns to heat the surface and the tips. However, laser soldering makes uses of laser beams to illuminate the leads. The illuminated section of the lead heat up and transfer the heat to the rest of the component. This is carried on until the leads reach melting point. Once this temperature is achieved, solder is applied to the contact point, melts and flows into the joints. It is less messy than the regular soldering process.

Equipment

While the regular soldering process makes use of soldering irons and torches, a laser soldering device is required for laser soldering. This is a high precision device that blasts the laser ray required to illuminate the leads. These are still relatively uncommon but may become the mainstream soldering equipment in the near future.

Heat transfer vs heat emission

Wave soldering

Wave soldering is one of the traditional techniques used to solder components onto PCBs in large scale. The technique is especially successful with the through-hole technology but requires minor adjustments to function with surface-mounted components. The technique has various steps that include placing the components on the board, fluxing, passing the PCB through solder, and cleaning.

Laser soldering

Laser soldering is a relatively new technique that has the potential to replace regular soldering. In the laser technique, a laser beam is used to illuminate leads which then emits heat and raises the temperature of the material to melting point. At this stage, solder is applied, melts and seals joints, crack and holes within or along the leads. The main differences between laser and regular soldering include the heating mechanism and equipment used. Laser soldering is slowly becoming the industry standard for neatness and efficiency and is thus being embraced more.

Through-hole soldering