>> time to start soldering!
- what she did
- how she did it
- what to do next time
Now that all the pieces were placed, I could start soldering. With all the time I spent planning the pieces the day before, I feared for the worst and assumed I’d take the whole day again.
guess what, I didn’t! it only took me 4 hours!
I actually only soldered once previously, so this was kinda like review. My dad lent me his soldering kit, which even had a solder remover (which was a strip of.. I think copper). Once ventilation started up, I started soldering.
Even though it kept oxidizing, I found soldering satisfying. There was a definite learning curve; I kept soldering too high and it would get stuck on the wire. As it went on I became a bit more merciless and pressed harder near the bottom of the wire.
PCB didn’t like that, but it got the job done.
I kept getting the solder stuck together (which would short circuit everything and be fried) so that wasn’t fun. Had to remove a lot of it (which was also a pain) and redo the section.
Here’s what it looked like at the end!
I got the PCB soldered up with every piece and soldered the wires, speakers and bluetooth together.
Otherwise, it was fun! Definitely recommend. Just wear a mask.
TLDR: what did I learn?
- soldering is hot. Hold the damn thing away from the nibs.
- ensure wire is taken off FIRST. It’ll get stuck.
- don’t add too much solder. It’ll get stuck and get fried.