These tips are not complete, but just the problem areas that I think noobs get stuck on: - understand that different tasks require diffe...
These tips are not complete, but just the problem areas that I think noobs get stuck on: - understand that different tasks require different amounts of heat. The reason a task is difficult or you ruined a board could be due to your iron not getting hot enough or too hot (traces come up). - use flux, as others have said - have proper ventilation, even for lead-free systems, there are plenty of other toxins you are likely exposing yourself to - straight into your lungs - if you solder in an unventilated area. Dont think "it wont happen to me". - wear eye protection. tiny little beads of molten metal can and do fly up in random directions, especially when soldering wires. - if you burn yourself, hold the affected area under cold water for 20-40seconds, way longer than you think is necessary. burns keep burning after the heat source is removed. - get a good soldering iron if you are serious about doing it a lot. I am no expert, but I used a Metcal MX-500 for years. If you can afford it, do it. It was the cadillac of soldering irons. Don't get a $30 RadioShack model and wonder why you can't solder tiny SMT joints. - get a bright spotlight for doing fine work. to me, the light was more important than magnification. the magnifying glasses just got in the way, and stereo microscopes are probably too expensive for you/most of us.
Posted by gosub100 on Sep 5, 2026, 2:04 PM
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Raise real-world problems, find people facing the same issue, and discuss solutions.2,000 issues0 comments
pricing (Other)
Yeah, the plan is far too expensive for what it provides.
NewCrashed demand after one of the big AI labs (probably Anthropic because they focus way too hard on expensive frontier models) become inso...
New/dev/random is much too expensive for this.
Yeah, this always bugged me.
A year ago, I had the opinion that it'd be too expensive for developers to support offline mode, peer to peer, or community servers after...
The weird thing about this product is that its biggest competitor is "an old ipad." I feel like most of their target customer base alread...
There's a talk from Travis Kalanick recently on a podcast about this.
>nobody ever bought German cars for their low prices, except the Beetle Huh?
These tips are not complete, but just the problem areas that I think noobs get stuck on: - understand that different tasks require diffe...
These tips are not complete, but just the problem areas that I think noobs get stuck on: - understand that different tasks require different amounts of heat. The reason a task is difficult or you ruined a board could be due to your iron not getting hot enough or too hot (traces come up). - use flux, as others have said - have proper ventilation, even for lead-free systems, there are plenty of other toxins you are likely exposing yourself to - straight into your lungs - if you solder in an unventilated area. Dont think "it wont happen to me". - wear eye protection. tiny little beads of molten metal can and do fly up in random directions, especially when soldering wires. - if you burn yourself, hold the affected area under cold water for 20-40seconds, way longer than you think is necessary. burns keep burning after the heat source is removed. - get a good soldering iron if you are serious about doing it a lot. I am no expert, but I used a Metcal MX-500 for years. If you can afford it, do it. It was the cadillac of soldering irons. Don't get a $30 RadioShack model and wonder why you can't solder tiny SMT joints. - get a bright spotlight for doing fine work. to me, the light was more important than magnification. the magnifying glasses just got in the way, and stereo microscopes are probably too expensive for you/most of us.
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