It's fun to see how people spend time criticizing other's job thinking that they are somehow been helpful. Filear, I really appreciate you taking the time to make this video. For those who think they know more or can do better, please post a video response (if it's not too much work to do).

I'm trying to self-teach on how to solder, and this video with 1080p and the narration really helped a whole lot. One of the best videos I found so far, so thank you!

Don't ever "shake off extra solder", use a brass solder tip cleaner (looks like a brass brillo pad). Flicking off excess 700 degree liquid metal is never a good idea.

I take it back. It's a good soldering tutorial. A guy made a response to "you-are-not-doing-it-right" comments and it is "if you disagree with the way I do it make a video and post it ... so I can write negative comments under it.". It's OK if the joint is only held by solder ... unless you work in NASA. It's OK to solder a pot like that - don't worry I have tens of pots soldered like that from 15 years ago - they are still strong. There are some good tips in this video to get started. If you want to do a professional soldering - you wouldn't be learning it from youtube, right?

I was taught to make a good MECHANICAL connection first before applying solder to make a good ELECTRICAL connection.

Easily one of the best vids I've seen on the topic!!! I actually think I have it now. The tinning of both components seems to be one of the main steps that can make or break the whole deal. Thanks Bro! Much appreciated.

Might want to watch the Pace, Inc. Tutorials on soldering, 1-9. They are really the best thing on KZfaq for soldering.

Other than neoc03s suggestion (which seems to make alot of sense) this video was exactly the simplified sight training for the basic "how to" information i was looking for. Its clear and demonstrates the main guidelines that are needed to get started and practice.. Far too many instructables are too assuming in their content. Or they are full of information that leaves a cloud of details that overcome the basics they are attempting to display. I'm embarrassed to admit that the first few videos had me buying flux for solder that already contained it and trying to brush small connection points that were in areas that any overflow could cause shorts..i was under the impression i had to create a barrier between the two points and then laying solder in clumps that in the end i found myself forced to take a micro-file to...i had managed to run through about 8 inches of solder with probably upwards of 15 failed attempts that left unstuck balls of solder next to a surface that they were intended to adhere to..and leaving me frustrated and confused...After viewing this i had the 12 wires connected with precise, solid joints that i am confident will last. Great video...i will be using it regularly as i am now confident that the partners i am working with will benefit from it with a quickness that will save us alot of time. Thanks a bunch!

Thanks to this video, I just recovered some very important files from a broken flash drive for a loved one. We were able to save quite a bit of money. Thank you.

nice one i learnt where i have been going wrong. no one round here know how to solder so glad i found your video. cheers mate

Glad I found this. Was doing everything wrong....and I have a job to do today soldering wires for my son's radio.

never been a fan of just sticking wires together. Depending on the size of the wire I have a few different ways I like to twist or braid them together. Then solder them. Especially in thinks like cars an boats. More secure in my opinion. That mechanical connection will also make sure you get the best electrical connection. Then the solder and tape/shrink will reinforce the physical connection.

You should apply a little solder to the soldering tip to create a "heat bridge" to help with heating up the wire so you can get the wire you are trying to tin come up to temp quicker. This will prevent a lot of the melting insulation away. Also you could increase the temp on your solder station to help with the transfer of heat to the wire.

This helped me a lot thanks. I was stupidly heating the solder and not the wire or lug that I was trying to solder it to. I went to the UK equivalent of Radio Shack and when I had soldered before I was using solder with a flux already mixed in but the only stuff they had came with separate flux. This made it a lot harder. Thanks loads for this post.

I second the annoyance at all the know it all backseat driver experts. It's true what previous dude said, if ya'll are such amazing gods gift to soldering then why are you watching elementary how to videos? I played college basketball and stopped watching how to bounce the ball and run when I mastered dribbling. I commend the video and the guy in it for helping us DIY learn. Thanks for putting up with the "soldering legends," in order to contribute to our wiring situations.

Thanks, there's some really great tips in there and I appreciate how you showed how things would look if done incorrectly. Even as someone who's been soldering a long time I got some good tips and refreshers, I think I'm gonna make a fan like that so I don't have to breathe in any more solder.

Thank you so much for this video! Previously, I was only told how to solder, so it's good to be able to see it. Your picture quality is excellent too, so it makes it a lot easier to understand. I was having a lot of trouble attempting to solder... I'm now inspired to try again. =]

this is the best advice I've found on KZfaq. thanks for the help, man.

5 STARS :) , Short video time,straight to the point,added text. I LOVE IT :)

You make it look easy when it's not as easy as you make it look.. Haha I'm a mechanic and have the need for soldering from time to timeand it took me longer to learn how to solder than anything.. Thanks for the video man this helps a lot

Thank you for making this video. I am just starting to tinker and am excited to try this out.

Mostly false tutorial. You don't solder wires like that. The tin itself only barely hold stuff together. Wrap those wires in hooks(there's 200 page NASA article about this) around each other so that you can pull them while they stay together and have most contact are as possible. Same goes with that potentiometer. Any joint that is only held by solder is going to break in time. Also, if that is not possible(e.g. wire to flat PCB plane) you cannot possibly hold them steady enough. It will always create poor solder structure. You got that helping hand there, just put both components to each of those clamps, have them rest on each other without any force, and then tin them.

Very nice video. helped a lot! but wouldn't you recommend turning the pc fan to "suck" the air away and not blowing it towards your body?

Well done! Thanks for the video as we gained some very useful tips! Best of luck!

The second time when the solder builds up he said "And if junk starts builing up. You see some bubbles" Just drop the iron. That was funny.

Really love you and all your videos man thank you for your efforts.

Good video... I like how u get straight to the point not like other solder videos that have long intro’s

For the longest time I was scared to have my iron really hot. It helps so much

nice info, thank you very much, i meet some dificulties because it wont stick, do we really need to put some flux when soldering?

I've never solder before, your video is really good, really clear and straight foward, good use of my time watching you video I learned a lot. Thank you

very helpful - thank you ...you make it seem so simple :)

I learned a lot from this video, thank you for this easy tutorial. My soldering skills are terrible, now I know why.

Tin(-ing) the wires prior to soldering, I learnt from this video. Thanks.

This video deserves many "Thumbs up" really. I want to build some Interconnect cables as a DIY project and there are various parts to the project. I will your video as my guide to get the soldering part done. I heard that when soldering wires, its not a bad idea to attach a metal heat deflector (looks like small a needle nose pliars) to thew wire so the wire does not get damaged from the heat. Don't know if that's just some fancy snake-oil thing though

That "helping hand" is what I always needed but couldn't find. The main rule of soldering is that you're always at least one hand short

Thank you soldering man ! You helped me a LOT !!! : D

Worked perfectly. Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the video it really helped me for my project 🙏🏽

Thank you. This is exactly what I needed.

So if my soldering iron tip gets bubbles I should drop it on the floor? Wouldn't swinging it by the cord and smacking it against the wall be more efficiant?

is it a good idea to use a small flame solder for wires? i tend to use flux but the copper still suffer a bit of oxidation, i sometimes use an 8mm or 10mm, no solder can heat that.. i also have a big gas oprated copper slant welder where it heats a lump of copper and use that to heat the wire, but that still oxidize the wire sometimes.. how do i stop this? i do use flux, not helping

Great video. Thanks for the information bud

Would you suggest a tin sucker or one of thoose strips that you kinda moves the tin over to? Sorry if my explanation is bad.

so what are good temps to have your soldering iron at if you have a ajustible soldering iron?

extra tips on soldering from experience: Wear eye protection if you dont have a magnifying glass and have to look real close at the components solder almost hit my eye when it just flinged off. point the fan away from your face because then your just blowing all the smoke to your nose... dont fling solder if it lands on your clothes it will melt them instead buy a solder tip cleaner either brass or stainless steel. DO NOT DROP THE IRON thats the most important thing ever. when soldering the two wires together leave a bit of room between the plastic casing and the wire just solder most of the tip and leave room. Use the right tip for the job the more mass the object has the bigger the tip you need. Desoldering pumps are good for beginners because you will probably add too much solder when first starting, Flux(use water based on electronics not acid one) is used to attract solder and to clean the parts so solder can get "absorbed" quicker.

Heres a good ??... if you are replacing a couple of small gauge wire on a small PCB (+ & - from battery pack) the old solder is removed, will it make a difference if you use lead/tin solder, but the old may be lead-free? Thanks

Great video!

Man! You are real good. Great video!

Thank you for this. Best video on the net

did you wrap two rolls of solder together that you are using?

Excellent! Great tutorial. You rock!

Hi, do you know what is wrong with me soldering station, its an RS 200-7693. 50W. The problem is it heats up to the required heat and melts 1mm solder onto the soldering tip. When i try to solder and touch the soldering joints, it seems to go cold and the solder goes hard, when i release the tip, you can see it starting to melt the solder on the end of the tip. Nigel

hi im going for my IPC certified and today i was soldering a solid wire to U1 and to U2 and man it was horrible cause i end up burning the insulation cove on the wire and damaged the legs on the U1 and i was wonder if you can make a video showing how to do it Thank you in advance.

@Slidinsidewayz2009 In my 43yrs of living, it's always been pronounced "sodder", even by my electronics teachers at two different high schools and my Father-In-Law. Maybe it's a regional, U.S. or generational thing. I've never heard anyone say "soLder" up until today. BTW, great vid. It's been a while since I've done this and I have to do it to rewire a couple of turntable tonearms. Nice refresher!!!

Thank you for great explanation !

Is it better if you change the normal iron head with a cooper one?

top marks, very good, helpful, thank you mate

To make it transfer heat much more efficiently to whatever you're trying to solder. The cone shaped tip has a much smaller contact area to heat up a piece of wire or component lead in comparison to a glob of liquid solder on your soldering iron's tip. The other reason is to keep the tip from oxidising, a process which is accelerated by heat (oxidising is basically the same as rusting) and which will also make the iron much less effective at transferring heat to whatever you're soldering.

Thanks, it was very useful. For me, being new to this, a discussion of solder types would have been useful as well; I know there are more than one kind, and the "old" formula (so I am told) worked better than the new, the old having lead as I understand it.

@thijsloon Always use Rosin Core Solder, I have not ever used the lead free kind only leaded. I think the lead free solder is not quite as good or at least a little different, but it is being fazed out due to the hazards of lead. Lead free may need a little higher temperature? I just have so much lead solder around I haven't tried it yet.

excellent video.thank you!

Hi, thanks for this Vid, I liked the simple idea of the extraction fan. I wouldn't pay to much attention to the better than thou comments. If every thing in life was done by the book how boring it would be. I'm sure most the DIY viewers have gained by watching this. Cheers

It seems like I'm completely unable to heat solder through the wire to tin the wire. If the iron isn't touching the solder directly, it wont melt. It's a 40w iron if that helps. What could I be doing wrong?

When you trimmed up the wires...you were essentially taping off solder on the very end of the wire?

Thank you Very clear and easy to understand

Why can't I be able to tin my solder tips? I tried many tutorials in YT such as applying a layer of flux, coil the solder around the tip and lastly turn on the iron for the solder to melt right on to the tip which ends up miserably where most of the solder fell off while the remaining became black on the tip. Please enlighten me, cheers.

How physically strong is the connection between the two wires when they're not twisted together? What's the disadvantage to twisting the wires together and then soldering them. Thanks!

Why do I get pellets when soldering? Also, why the wires would not solder to the 3.5mm jack? Thank you in advance.

thank you so much. this was most helpful.

The reddish coating is like a lacquer, and needs to be scraped or sanded off before soldering. If not, the solder won't stick. This is not the same as 'tinning', which is done on stranded wire to keep the fine strands together and give mechanical strength. To tin, put a tiny drop of liquid flux on the wires first, then lightly touch the wires with a hot iron and small dab of solder. The flux will draw the solder through the strands and ensure a nice, uniform surface for your wire ends.

Very helpful for me about to try for the first time, thanks alot

Nice clear tips, thanks

Thanks for the tips mate

Good video. Easy to learn from. Thanks

Very helpful video, thanks!!

I'm frankly more interested in the Allen-Bradley Type J pot! Where do you find them at, and how much do they cost?

Nice idea with the fan. I have one I bought that works great but also has a carbon filter on the front to filter the fumes.

What is a good solder to use for your projects?

Thanks! great tips.

I'm pretty much a beginner in soldering, hobbyist I might add, but can you desolder solder glue? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but when I think of glue, I think that it's permanent.

I have one of those basic RadioShack 15-30 watt irons, and after about 5 uses my tips only heat on one side and it gets a big cavity in it. When I buy new tips I always tin them before and after use and I am usually using the 30watt mode. Why is this happening???

How did you get the pc fan power? My ps4 fan needs soldering on the motherboard so i am trying to run the fan on manually on its own?

great vid helped me fix my speakers.

Great vid!

Thanks for the video. As for the nay saying critics, any help is better than no help!

can you use a wire hanger as a soldering tip?

what type of soldering station are you using

04:25 When you have a board that sloppy should you reflow the joints and then clean off the old flux with a Q-tip with lemon juice?

so when do I use flux? And why arent you? im soldering tattoo machine wires and im told to first "strip away the reddish insulation" bfore soldering. is this the same as "tinning"/? In the other vid I saw he looked as if he was using the iron to burn away layer, but he was also using solder at the same time./??? thanx for post!

Good instruction, thank you.

When you tin the switch terminals, it looks like you just tin one side of it. It also looks like you're applying the solder to the tip of the gun and letting it drip onto the terminal, as opposed to how you solder two wires together..... right?

Thanks,good video.One thing that always helps ,is to first make a good mechanical connection with wires before you solder.

please tell me how did you get that fan

I can now hear music through the contact I soldered, thanks for the tips!

Does this mean that we could suader any wire to another with a power and it will work?

Great tutorial

Such a good instruction！ E-design's T-stand ceramic white for fine tip soldering iron is good.

Thnx man that helped a lot

Thank you so very much for the very informative video and instructions. It would be nice if we lived in a world of positive feedback instead of negative feedback!!! If any of the people below could have done a better job, then maybe they should post their master piece!! Other wise, be encouraging. And again, thank you for the very informational video!! Nice job!!

what's a good tempature for unleaded wire?