I've soldered before but I was always terrible at it so I'm trying to learn how to "properly" solder. I've found a bunch of articles (and videos) online and I thought I was knew what I was doing, but...
I bought a new cheapo RadioShack 15-watt soldering iron and holder (metal rings plus a sponge).
According to what I've read, you should always keep solder on the tip to prevent oxidation and after soldering a joint you should wipe the tip on the sponge and then put new solder on the tip.
I tried soldering a couple of joints (with my new iron) and then wiping it on the sponge but it made the solder on the iron cool down and the solder stayed on the iron. On top of that, it made my tip look all nasty!
Here are my questions:
1) Why does my iron look so nasty after soldering two joints? (Go here for a bunch of high-res pictures) Was I using my sponge incorrectly? This is a brand new soldering iron!
2) How do I solder two wires together or how do I solder one wire to an LED? Do you twist the wires (or wire+LED) together? ...otherwise it seems like you need four arms (one to hold each wire close to each other, one to hold the solder, and one to hold the iron!)
Thanks for any help!
I bought a new cheapo RadioShack 15-watt soldering iron and holder (metal rings plus a sponge).
According to what I've read, you should always keep solder on the tip to prevent oxidation and after soldering a joint you should wipe the tip on the sponge and then put new solder on the tip.
I tried soldering a couple of joints (with my new iron) and then wiping it on the sponge but it made the solder on the iron cool down and the solder stayed on the iron. On top of that, it made my tip look all nasty!
Here are my questions:
1) Why does my iron look so nasty after soldering two joints? (Go here for a bunch of high-res pictures) Was I using my sponge incorrectly? This is a brand new soldering iron!
2) How do I solder two wires together or how do I solder one wire to an LED? Do you twist the wires (or wire+LED) together? ...otherwise it seems like you need four arms (one to hold each wire close to each other, one to hold the solder, and one to hold the iron!)
Thanks for any help!