Ed, The solder needs to flow into the thru-plated hole. Use good solder, preferably a 63/37 alloy, although a 60/40 will do as well. The flux should be of the mildly activated type. Diameter should not be greater than .020 inches (I prefer .015) so you have control over the amount of solder applied. If your solder is old, throw it away and use new solder.
Watch as the solder flows - it should flow out onto both the solder pad and the component lead to an almost invisible edge. Globbing on more solder will not help, but certainly will mask a poor solder connection. If you get excess solder applied, wick the excess off and re-solder with a bit of additional flux. 73, Don W3FPR EMD wrote: > Hi Fred, > > Thanks and the same to you for finishing your K2. That looks like a > real fun project. I would someday like to build a K2 but I think my > next project will be the 4 band K1. I have a lot to learn and I enjoy > putting things together and it keeps me busy. > > I will pick up a magnifier, I wear glass with bifocals and I end up > taking the glasses off and doing the soldering up close and personal > with my PCB about 12 inches away from my face. I did buy a nice light > that helps in reading finding parts out of the bags. > > I had a question about soldering. Does the solder need to flow over > the lead on both sides of the PCB or is one side with a clean > connection okay? > > Anyhow thanks for your thoughts, > > Ed, KE7HGA > On Feb 19, 2009, at 12:28 PM, KC9QQ (via Nabble) wrote: > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
