need help soldering

[EPYK]

ive done very minor soldering before. it was very bad and by no means the soldering i would like to do. i have a lil mod for my dell (file server). it is going to have two hdd, and an OS on each.... i hate going through the duel boot process so i am taking a y-splitter and adding a spdt toggle to the 12v.. thus powering the selected hard drive and leaving the other inactive.... but i dont want to do my regular crappy soldering.... please show me a good resource to learn how

[Airbozo]

I can offer a couple of tips:

Keep the iron CLEAN! Constantly wipe the iron on a wet sponge and re-prime the tip with a touch of solder.

Touch the iron to the item you want to solder and when it heats up, then touch the solder to it. You can tell when the item is hot enough if the solder flows as soon as you touch it to the hot part.

Pre-solder pads and wires. presoldering makes it easier to do the final solder since it takes less heat and bonds better.

Use a solder-sucker or wickwire to clean up messes or to remove too much solder.

have extra hands...

if it is not shiny it is not a good weld.

[GT40_GearHead]

and do some practice runs before to get the hang of it

[Airbozo]

and do some practice runs before to get the hang of it

This is the most important suggestion!

[GT40_GearHead]

I should know, I learned the hard way

[Airbozo]

Hehe, I often forget the "practice" it took me to solder almost as perfect as a machine. I can solder up a complicated board in my sleep and was doing SMT soldering before most SMT boards hit the market (that is some precise shee-ite).

When I started out I was helping my adopted dad repair amps and stereos and tv's. I once soldered the same board for almost 3 hours to "get it right". That is also how I found out heat is bad for circuit boards since too long on the trace and it lifts from the board. I also learned the fine art of using heat sinks to dissipate the heat from transistors while you solder to keep from ruining them (not such a big deal anymore).

[xdxforever]

and avoid melting the solder with the iron, make the wire's heat melt it then remove the iron. I suggest using the thinnest solder wire you have available.

[EPYK]

well i finally got it to work, it was deff. a learning experiance... i found it held better with solder paste

[Razors Edge]

Really there is nothing to soldering. You just have to practice on keeping you're hand straight and not wiggling too much.

Ussually I have a fastener that holds the thing im soldering in place, Then I stick the solder ontop of the wires and whatnot,and move the solder metal stuff ontop, as soon as it melts you pull off the metal stuff, and walla!

[Omega]

I can solder up a complicated board in my sleep and was doing SMT soldering before most SMT boards hit the market (that is some precise shee-ite).

My mom is 100% certified to do NASA-grade soldering (that is some precise shee-ite).

Too bad i suck balls at soldering, but then agian I don't have any need for it at the moment.