That remark, on checking controller before doing any soldering, is real time saver, thank for sharing

It always looks so easy watching somebody else do it! One thing I've learned, don't buy the cheapest equipment you can find and expect good results.

A good solder sucker is also a must, great for when you accidentally bridge the pins with too much solder. I also clean pins with a bit of IPA and a tooth brush after soldering to remove any excess flux

Great example.. Thanks so much !! Just got my Matek F405-WMN board today and had no clue where to start.

Thx Lee! Great lesson. In the states we say ‘sodder’. Of course we are cousins only separated by a common language.

Appreciate the tips on soldering the pins to the board. Simple and precise, much appreciated.

As always, I appreciate your content! Great information and this is helping me get through my first wing build!!

Am i the only one that has watch this video like 10 Times even while sordering that board to make sure of doing it right 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 i'm knew soldering and that board is my first one that i have and also my first time soldering as well .

Another great resource & soldering master on KZfaq is ..... Livyu ..... he does micro-soldering . Repairing esc’s , fc’s , pdb’s & other types of electrical components . Another great teacher .. Thank You Sir ...

great tip makes it much easier is the quality of the welds

Man the things you learn. blue tack. I've suffered through tweezers with magnifying glasses and all types of jigs and holders. blue tack - how idiot simple. Thanks for the tip. Great videos!

I definitely agree, switching over to high quality solder (MG Chemicals Solder in my case) has, without a doubt, made my solder joints pleasing to the eye. A flux pen is also a great addition to the kit if you’re still struggling!

Not sure if you mentioned it (don't think I'm the target audience for this one) but the biggest mistake I have made (and still make) soldering pins up is not doing a dry fit and finding I don't have room for the extra room the connectors need in addition to the pins. Always worth doing a dry fit and making sure you use horizontal/vertical pins as appropriate.

Great tutorial! Very useful tips!

These kinds of videos are really helpful! Thanks for sharing your tips! Soldering isn't my fav but with good solder and clean iron tip it is really much easier! Greets, Mario

Thank you so much for this. Was really very helpful as I do struggle a lot when it comes to soldering

Fantastic tips, Lee! Thanks a lot! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

Very clear as always. I also rub the pads first with a hard Rubber/Eraser to get any gunk/oxidation off. Also it's worth investing in a Solder sucker or Solder wick for when the solder manages to bridge 2 pins, or you need to get excess solder off the joint.

Awesome Lee, thank you. This would be great as just a regular solder tutorial ( for people who dont even fly, i just mean in general , perhaps another video aimed at general soldering? ) You really are a great teacher. Also, agreed, I was using cheap solder and having a nightmare I couldn't work out what was going on why my joints didn't look like other peoples. I tried the TBS solder and I think its brilliant. Like you say, world of difference, it can't be said enough.... Use good solder newbies =) !

Perfect tutorial Lee. Like you say, with the correct gear, good solder joints are easy and straight forward to do. Following the advice in this video nobody should have any problems. Only things I would add is that make sure your soldering iron in powerful enough for the job, the solder should flow pretty instantaneously, if your having to hold your iron on the joint for along time your iron is not hot enough. That could be that maybe you have just set the temperature too low, or, the iron itself simply cannot output enough heat to heat both the solder, the pad and the wire at the same time. This problem will show up when trying to use an underpowered iron with a fine tip, the finer the tip, the less heat it can hold, so if your iron is not powerful enough to maintain the temperature you will have problems. And like you say, decent solder is a must, it really does make the world of difference. Go for good old leaded solder, and get a good brand which contains a good and constant amount of flux in the cores. Some of the cheap stuff available on places like eBay are often hit and miss with the flux. Sadly these days, big name companies like RS Components no longer sell leaded solder to the general public, which is a shame, because if you want to insure you get a good quality solder, RS was always the place to get it. Farnells will still sell it to the general public, but you have to answer a few questions before they will do so. I just told them I was an electronics engineer, and that I was going to use the solder for pcb repairs - apparently that is allowed by the new regulations. When you do find a source for good solder, I would advise buying a load of it if you can. Just in case they clamp down even harder on the sale of the good stuff.

As always nicely done Lee. I greatly appreciate your tutorial on soldering. I obtained all the materials and equipment you showed. It's taking some practice, but I'm doing better. I now have a new definition for emulate. It's trying to copy someone that is proficient but without the skill. ;-)

Cynel 60/40 solder is great, I've tried quite a few different brands and I like that Cynel stuff the best, always gives me nice shiny solder joints.

Thanjs Lee! Just what I need. Great video.

a good idea is to alternate pins to keep the heat down when your soldering

Thank you for the very informative and practical video.

Fantastic video, as per usual

Wow, I definitely learned a few tricks. Thanks!

Thanks I needed this video

9:50 just add extra flux, don't be greedy with the flux

Thanks for sharing, greetings from Mexico.

Spoiwo lutownicze i wszystko jasne. Greetings from Poland 😊

Cynel from Poland. ❤️And Regards from Poland! 😁👍

A couple of tips from someone with professional board rework. Those flux pens imo aren’t great. Get yourself a tub of NC-559-asm. A couple of your pin joints look like the solder hasn’t actually flowed to the pads properly and that’s what causes the pear shape. You should see a nice fillet on each pin if done correctly. Good flux will help with this too.

Nice tutorial.

Couldn't be better timing, just started my endurance quad build, first build in 6 years. New FC, making up flight packs etc, and need to brush up my skills and get some tips. The link to the 63/37 is useful, I have a bit left but will need a new roll soon.

I wonder if the pin that was troublesome was a ground. I find the ground connections always seem to sink the heat away. Also, good magnification is a huge help. I do all my soldering under a microscope. You can really see the solder flow and cold joints are pretty obvious

an you show us what kind of onnector you usede streight or 90 deg on the matek 411please you make great ideo thanks

I've been building quads for 3 or so yrs and I still struggle with soldering... thanks for the video.

Lee: Another excellent training video! Do you have any tips on surface mount soldering? I have found this area dumbfounding! - Jim

Thanks for the great info, as a Retired Marine A6E/F-18 pilot it's humbling now how much work necessary for all my mechanics to keep the the ac ready to fly.

I have best results when I pre heat everything with a heat gun on low.. that allows you to keep your solder iron in contact for as short as possible if not you are heating the board and wires with the solder iron... getting it up to temperature before soldering makes a world of difference especially on the large pads for power

For the record, I have been using lead free solder and not all lead free solder is created equal, and just because it's got lead in it does not mean it's going to be good, good quality lead free solder works just fine (it's really tough to actually get leaded solder in Australia)

I have been soldering for over 40 years and always love 50/50. 60/40 is ok but not as good. Still have some old paste flux that my grandfather had that I use from time to time. Even if its rosin core solder some times its not good enough. Have some new wax flux as well that doesn't smell as bad. I normally dip the end of the solder in the flux to get a little on it when needed. Loved my resistance soldering "scissors". Loaned them to someone to solder some heavy cable ends on and never got them back. Not any much good for the hobby other than maybe putting battery or esc connector on.

Nice video. What temperature is your soldering iron set at?

+1 on the solder. I've used Chinese stuff before and immediately went back to using 60:40 from CPC (a UK supplier). A couple of points though: - You probably should have mentioned which desolder pump to buy (i.e. not the crappy cheap aluminium units) and how to use it properly. - Rosin flux cored solder works better than "no clean" but the board needs washing in isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) afterwards to prevent the rosin from attacking the joints. - I've found Matek boards seem to need the Louis Rossman® approach, i.e. lots of flux. - Joints should be shiny and not dull grey; an example of both would probably have been a good idea. - Irons need time to recover between joints. Decent irons are usually quite quick but cheaper models like my thermally balanced Antex can take a couple of minutes. - And lastly don't eat or drink whilst soldering!

That solder was made in Poland. I use it as well, briliant stuff.

60/40 has been the standard for a long time, however, recently I've heard about 63/37% that has different 3-phase properties which helps prevent cold solder joints?

I don't know have you ever tried the TS100 soldering iron, especially with D24 tip, but you will be impressed if you will.

I got myself a dirt cheap soldering iron and some alright solder. It was not easy, at least the battery and esc connectors were somewhat troublesome. I reckon that was in part down to a not great iron, but mostly beginner level skills. Then at some point I just completely lost any ability to make a clean solder joint or get the solder to run clear. Are there any special considerations needed to be taken with storing the solder. does it get bad/unusable if exposed to oxygen or something? I find strange that I got so much harder when I was more experience. I did also invest in a better soldering iron as I thought the old one was the culprit, but I think it became A culprit just because I could not get it done within a timely manner and the tip really scorched itself.

hae burned my 411 wte, anyone knows if i replace the 5 regulator

I need you helps guys. I need a FC with osd for DJI to see the battery voltage. Just need to know how to power up that FC, so it will be nice if I can power it from the battery. I'm going to use on an airplane but I'm not interested to plug servos

For some reason, the only FC I have difficulty soldering is the F405 wing. It just seems each one is a real pain to solder with ease. Even after fluxing and lightly sanding to remove any residue. Does any one else have the same problem?

Don't know if you'll see this comment since this video is a year old but should I put a capacitor on the Xt60 pads like i do on my drones? is there harm? or is it good assurance? thanks so much for your great videos and knowledge

Lee- what watt setting do you use? is it the same for small pins as for power cables?

The 63/37 solder is a bit better for beginners. It goes directly from liquid to solid without that inbetween state which can cause a disturbed joint. 60/40 is fine too. You just have to hold the wire still until it is completely solid.

can you buy generic pins for flight controllers or if they dont come with the board then you can't use them?.. so i guess you have to solder directly onto the board ,,just about to start my first soldering project on Mamba F405 flight controller and no pins in the kit but curious if people buy them separately and if so where please ? .. uK based ... Thank-you for the video and just getting back into the hobbie after a very long time so your videos and guidance have been an immense help .. as technology has changed and then sum from the glow fuel days !!- though miss the smell of a glow plug engine firing up..!!

Don't you use alcohol to clean the soldered parts when done?

Nice explanation. Were you soldering it for a Dart250g? The esc looks like the stock one. :) ps: I've noticed that you cut the black wire that is normally paired with the signal (white) wire. That's not what Matek recommends in the diagram, do you think it is not an issue?

How do you power up top board without USB cable ?

I really wish you would have shown the esc soldering. The "cartoon" version that Matek provides, does not show the esc control wires. Do the control ground and red get soldered onto the big pads as well? I can't seem to find a picture anywhere. The pictures I do find, have the top board back on and "all soldered up"! I am sure this is no brainer for people that have done bunches of these. I am a beginner as the video suggests.

What temp is your solder iron set too?

Where did you find those nice three row header pins? Those would be so handy!

on the 411 wte to fit into a drift

When soldering the matek h743, I found continuity between the positive power pad of the battery and esc. Is that pad?

So much helpful.... Move to new work place??

Thanks Lee for this video. My only struggle is that I don’t have a dedicated work bench.

U the best Pls make video on mission planner how to fix this issue potential thrust loss error I want to know how and why its tell this mesg Thaks youuu

Regarding the soldering battery leads, please consider being more aggressive about pushing the wire to the pad. The less solder between the pad and the wire, the better...

Hi , Am trying to build a bi-copter, wonder if you can let me know if the KK2 flight controller or the Omnibus F3 pro will be better as I know you are an expert on the subject .. Would like to know the difference n if the KK2 firmware is comparable to betaflight ?? KK2 will be more user friendly for me as it does not require any soldering of the pins ..

10 points for pronouncing solder properly. By the way I highly recommend the Miniware TS100 iron.

My solder just won’t melt!

One other tip. Don’t blow on a solder joint to cool it. It will oxidise it.