FYI. This is the ideal condition of a wire installation onto a PCB. As hobiests, we often don't follow this guideline. This is Class 3 electronics, (below) which is Military Grade specs. Class 2 is Commercial Grade. Class 1 is things like kids toys that they're going to break anyway. Then when the child starts bawling over the broken toy the parent sometimes has to buy a new one. As hobiests you might see the wire laid over to the side directly out of the solder joint. Eh! It works. And being that we're not children we're not prone to breaking our projects. And even though you've managed to break yours, I'm not implying you're a child; just another member who has room to grow in understanding construction of electronic devices. Like I said, laid directly over won't be a problem as long as you don't tug on it or wiggle it about. Broken strands ? ? ? It could be an issue; but if your project is seeing very tiny voltages and amperages then worrying about broken strands is a moot point. Just don't be tugging or wiggling on the wire.

 

FYI. This is the ideal condition of a wire installation onto a PCB. As hobiests, we often don't follow this guideline. This is Class 3 electronics, (below) which is Military Grade specs. Class 2 is Commercial Grade. Class 1 is things like kids toys that they're going to break anyway. Then when the child starts bawling over the broken toy the parent sometimes has to buy a new one. As hobiests you might see the wire laid over to the side directly out of the solder joint. Eh! It works. And being that we're not children we're not prone to breaking our projects. And even though you've managed to break yours, I'm not implying you're a child; just another member who has room to grow in understanding construction of electronic devices. Like I said, laid directly over won't be a problem as long as you don't tug on it or wiggle it about. Broken strands ? ? ? It could be an issue; but if your project is seeing very tiny voltages and amperages then worrying about broken strands is a moot point. Just don't be tugging or wiggling on the wire.
View attachment 330849

It might be OK for the military, but if that were a live wire connected to a pcb on a domestic appliance in Europe, that would fail electrical safety regulations.

 

thanks everyone for the wealth of responses! I'm going through them all now. My initial takeaways:
*on perfboards stick with solid core hookup whenever possible
*times it is not (I need stranded hookup from DSUB soldercup to perfboard) I should have solder filet both on under/overside of perfboard (NEVER KNEW THAT!) or use method where insulated wire is pulled through adjacent hole on board to relieve strain (thats also brilliant - although unsure if 22awg insulated wire will fit that space).
*test out suggested wire strippers
Thank you again. I can post pics too....

 

Question:
for solder to wick to the top of the perfboard, I need to actually apply solder to top of pad while iron is still below? Or it should naturally flow to top by maintaining heat&solder to base of pad?

 

Or it should naturally flow to top by maintaining heat&solder to base of pad?

It should flow from the bottom to the top.

 

It should flow from the bottom to the top.

OK. I must need to switch out my tip. There is an angled looking tip that might be best. As it is, I'm using fine point tip and its not transferring enough heat I'm guessing. Because I've soldered leads to a lot of these through hole boards and nothing come out the top haha. Granted I only heard of this "plated through hole" today, but one would think it would have happened at least once by accident.

 

Because I've soldered leads to a lot of these through hole boards and nothing come out the top haha. Granted I only heard of this "through hole" today, but one would think it would have happened at least once by accident.

Solder came through every hole on this board:

I used a 700F 1/32" conical tip in a 48W Weller soldering iron.

 

OK. I must need to switch out my tip. There is an angled looking tip that might be best. As it is, I'm using fine point tip and its not transferring enough heat I'm guessing. Because I've soldered leads to a lot of these through hole boards and nothing come out the top haha. Granted I only heard of this "plated through hole" today, but one would think it would have happened at least once by accident.

There's an art to soldering. One thing you need to understand is heat management. TOO MUCH heat can lift pads off the board. Too little heat can result in poor wetting. Wetting is the act of solder molecularly bonding with the lead and pad. Thermal connection between the iron and board/lead is important. Tinning (putting a very small amount of solder on the iron tip) will help with thermal transfer of heat. A very thin pointed tip doesn't do this well. A MASSIVE tip can transfer too much heat too quickly, which can lead to problems down the road. If you have multiple tips use the next size up tip. Tin the tip before you contact the board/lead. Once contact has been made you add small amounts of solder till the joint is fully formed. Avoid excess solder. With regards the wire, dwelling too long with heat can cause wicking up the inside of the wire up under the insulation. So don't be slow about it but don't be too fast either. Like I said, it's an art. Anyone can solder, not everyone can do it well.

Flux: Flux can help with the flow of solder. On through hole components like resistors, caps - etc - it's a valuable aid. With wire you have to be careful. Too much flux and you'll get wicking so fast you won't believe it. And there are different types of flux. Going off memory, and I'm sure others will know of other types of flux; Rosin flux, most common, "No-Clean" flux, which as the name implies doesn't require cleaning. Water soluble flux, which again name implies it can be cleaned with water. There are other types of flux.

Solder: There are different varieties of solder. Tin/Lead 60/40 and 63/37 types, solid solder, rosin core solder, which has a core of rosin flux in the middle of the solder, Silver Solder of varying mixes of metals, silver being the major component, High Temp(erasure) solder for use in high heat applications which also requires a hotter iron.

THEN THERE'S: solder irons. Some are basic plug and solder, others are temperature variable. If using a variable temp iron use the correct temperature for the solder you're using.

There's a lot more to soldering than just melting some metal onto a joint. Good luck in your journey. It's one we've all experienced. And gotten a lot better with practice. Once you've got it down it will be second nature to you. Like breathing. Oh, and avoid the fumes from soldering. Not CRITICAL, just good advice. I've spent years with fumes in my face and there's hardly been any changes to my health. But no sense in risking it. A small fumes fan can take the fumes away from your face. Just don't blow the fan directly on your soldering. You'll cool the joint and make soldering a lot more difficult.

 

Thanks! I will report back with pics. I can say I'm well practiced at getting clean, good solder joints below the board (ha), with jumper headers, DSUB connects etc . That said, I'm looking forward to the next level up in my soldering journey. At the end of the day what I'm most pleased with is - this forum and how helpful it is. Second, its a lesson to me in how important is to ask for help. I really was a bit embarrassed about this issue as someone "In the game" for 15+ years but if I don't ask I won't know.

 

thanks everyone for the wealth of responses! I'm going through them all now. My initial takeaways:
*on perfboards stick with solid core hookup whenever possible
*times it is not (I need stranded hookup from DSUB soldercup to perfboard) I should have solder filet both on under/overside of perfboard (NEVER KNEW THAT!) or use method where insulated wire is pulled through adjacent hole on board to relieve strain (thats also brilliant - although unsure if 22awg insulated wire will fit that space).
*test out suggested wire strippers
Thank you again. I can post pics too....

Even if it is still soldered both sides, it will still break if is moves because the lead in the solder has made the copper brittle.
My suggestion: use a crimp connector.

 

Even if it is still soldered both sides, it will still break if is moves because the lead in the solder has made the copper brittle.
My suggestion: use a crimp connector.

I've soldered a lot of wires without them becoming brittle. And I've soldered a lot of wires that were absolutely brittle. The brittle one's I've made were due to solder wicking up inside the wires then me trying to bend them. They don't bend well, they break. As for your comment about solder making the copper brittle, I've never heard that in over 40 years in the business. If you know something I don't, a link to such information would help me learn something new.

For years crimp connectors have been used. They're called "Ferrule Crimps". Mostly they're used for connections underneath screw terminals such as the likes of circuit breakers. Not in the case of circuit breakers, but in the notion that the ferrule is inserted beneath and between two clamping surfaces torqued down by a screw. I've seen them soldered to a board. But they stand straight up. If space is not an issue then such crimps are fine. But they don't lend themselves to being laid over to the side. Special circuit board configurations can accommodate a ferrule crimp laying on its side but it's also impractical.

The sort of crimps being discussed require a crimper. This is a link to such crimper. Not expensive, but very specialized. If you're only doing this once then it's a bit pricey. Looking at the link there are quite a few ferrule's available. Some for small holes, some for large. A "Range" of possibilities. And a lot that will likely never be used. But at least it gives you an idea of what's out there. Again, the problem with this is it stands straight up from the perf board. Yes, it supports the wire and is harder to break. In fact, it's more likely to break the board than the connection. In this case I wouldn't opt for this solution, though it IS a legitimate suggestion. And if you opt for soldering instead of crimping - wicking can just as easily occur.

If wicking is the issue then there's a better option; a heat sink that wicks heat away from the wire and stops the solder from traveling further up the joint.

 

I've soldered a lot of wires without them becoming brittle. And I've soldered a lot of wires that were absolutely brittle. The brittle one's I've made were due to solder wicking up inside the wires then me trying to bend them. They don't bend well, they break. As for your comment about solder making the copper brittle, I've never heard that in over 40 years in the business. If you know something I don't, a link to such information would help me learn something new.

For years crimp connectors have been used. They're called "Ferrule Crimps". Mostly they're used for connections underneath screw terminals such as the likes of circuit breakers. Not in the case of circuit breakers, but in the notion that the ferrule is inserted beneath and between two clamping surfaces torqued down by a screw. I've seen them soldered to a board. But they stand straight up. If space is not an issue then such crimps are fine. But they don't lend themselves to being laid over to the side. Special circuit board configurations can accommodate a ferrule crimp laying on its side but it's also impractical.

The sort of crimps being discussed require a crimper. This is a link to such crimper. Not expensive, but very specialized. If you're only doing this once then it's a bit pricey. Looking at the link there are quite a few ferrule's available. Some for small holes, some for large. A "Range" of possibilities. And a lot that will likely never be used. But at least it gives you an idea of what's out there. Again, the problem with this is it stands straight up from the perf board. Yes, it supports the wire and is harder to break. In fact, it's more likely to break the board than the connection. In this case I wouldn't opt for this solution, though it IS a legitimate suggestion. And if you opt for soldering instead of crimping - wicking can just as easily occur.

If wicking is the issue then there's a better option; a heat sink that wicks heat away from the wire and stops the solder from traveling further up the joint.

great info, thank you!

 

Technically, wires shouldn't be soldered to a PCB thru hole pad. A "board-to-wire" connector should be used, but for a hobbyist, I guess its ok.

 

technically you're being condescending

 

Technically, wires shouldn't be soldered to a PCB thru hole pad.

Technically, the standards say that you can, provided that the wire is physically fixed as well.

 

technically you're being condescending

sorry…I certainly didn’t mean to be.
It’s just not best practice.

 

I've soldered a lot of wires without them becoming brittle. And I've soldered a lot of wires that were absolutely brittle. The brittle one's I've made were due to solder wicking up inside the wires then me trying to bend them. They don't bend well, they break. As for your comment about solder making the copper brittle, I've never heard that in over 40 years in the business. If you know something I don't, a link to such information would help me learn something new.

It's very similar to what happens in brass alloys. Add 2% lead and you get "leaded brass" or "free-machining brass", which can be turned and the swarf comes off in small pieces rather than a long string. The lead melts first and solidifies last, and forms in the grain boundaries of the brass (or copper) and makes a natural breaking point.

 

It's very similar to what happens in brass alloys. Add 2% lead and you get "leaded brass" or "free-machining brass", which can be turned and the swarf comes off in small pieces rather than a long string. The lead melts first and solidifies last, and forms in the grain boundaries of the brass (or copper) and makes a natural breaking point.

Thanks for the insight. Much appreciated.