How to solder with a soldering iron training. How to learn how to solder correctly with an electric soldering iron: operating rules. Here's how to solder wires

For beginners, we have already discussed how radio components are designated and how to determine the pins of microcircuits. But now let's touch on the issue, what you need for soldering, since it is always up to date.

Soldering iron

The first thing we need is, of course, a soldering iron. The best option for both price and power is a 60 W soldering iron.

Rosin

Rosin, ideally - solder wire, which is a long, thin tin tube, similar to a wire, wound on a reel, in the cavity of which there is rosin.

Those. when soldering, in this case, we do not need, as in the old fashioned way, to lower the tip of the soldering iron, now into the rosin, now into the solder, but all this happens simultaneously at one point. More on this below...

You can purchase all the necessary components at your nearest radio store.

If you do not have a soldering station, which is initially ready for soldering immediately after switching on, but a regular soldering iron, then before work (especially if it is new) you need to prepare it in a special way - tin it, otherwise it will not solder. Now let’s look at what “tinning” means.

How to tin a soldering iron?

Take a file and apply it flat to the cut of the soldering iron tip. Now we sharpen in the same plane, periodically looking at the tip, until it becomes flat, smooth and shiny.

After this, we lower the heated tip into rosin and immediately into solder (into tin). There will be almost no solder sticking to the tip, so immediately after this procedure we apply the tip to a small board, preferably of natural origin (not chipboard), preferably spruce or cedar (resinous), but in principle, any will do, you’ll just have to mess around longer.

So, we repeat this procedure (rosin → solder → board) until the cut of the tip, prepared in advance with a file, made of yellow-gray heated copper, becomes silvery and shiny from the solder evenly covering it. This is what is called “tinning”, in this case a soldering iron.

This is what a tinned soldering iron tip should look like.

Now we will learn to solder wires (after tinning it) to a brass tin, also tinning it from the beginning.

Dip the soldering iron tip into rosin, then into the solder, and immediately, with the plane of the tip parallel to the plane, we bring it close to our brass test subject, without allowing the rosin to evaporate, we press it, then we grind it, we grind it, in general, we tin it. If the rosin has evaporated or spread, we repeat the process, and gradually, gradually our tin is covered with high-quality solder adhering to it. If the material is clean or without strong oxides, then such tinning occurs quickly.

If solder wire is used, then we lean the tip of the soldering iron against the tin, and bring the tip of the solder wire to the point of their contact, trying to touch more of the tinned part of the soldering iron, and rub it against this part so that the tin and rosin enrich the contact point.

How to tin a wire?

Now let's tinker with the wiring. Carefully remove the insulation just enough so that we have enough space for soldering, and for the location of the heat-shrinkable tube (or other insulator) so that later no short circuits (short circuits) arise...

It is easier to tin the wire, because Usually, the metal under the insulation is clean, not oxidized. We dip it in rosin, placing the tip of a heated soldering iron on top of it and slowly pull the wire out from under the soldering iron after the rosin melts and starts smoking. This is done, as you probably understood, so that the molten rosin envelops the contact part of the wire. Now we enrich the soldering iron tip with solder, touching the tin, and bring the tip to the rosin adhering to the wiring.

If the wire is copper and clean, tinning will occur immediately.

If not, you may have to repeat the operation or use a special solder paste instead of rosin. chemical, (like soldering acid, if anyone is familiar) which allows you to tin, for example, even iron.

This is what solder paste looks like.

How to solder a wire?

We have a tinned experimental brass tin and a tinned wire, which we now have to connect, seal with heated solder and then cool in order to forever maintain their electrical connection, which we do by bringing the tinned part of the wire to the tinned part of the tin.

We bring the soldering iron tip enriched with solder to the place of their contact so that the solder covers the tinned parts of the soldered parts well. This will be facilitated by the rosin involved in the process. If something doesn't go well, dip into it. Once the parts are in the molten solder, try not to move them anymore. You can lightly blow on the solder area until the shine of the solder darkens slightly, indicating that the solder has hardened.

That's it, congratulations! You did it.

Tweezers

When soldering, do not forget that all elements are subjected to high temperature.

To avoid burns and achieve maximum comfort, we use tweezers.

One of the most reliable methods of connecting wires and parts is soldering. How to solder correctly with a soldering iron, how to prepare a soldering iron for work, how to get reliable connection- more on all this later.

In everyday life, “ordinary” electric soldering irons are used. There are those that operate from 220 V, there are from 380 V, there are from 12 V. The latter are characterized by low power. They are used mainly in enterprises in areas with increased danger. They can also be used for domestic purposes, but they heat up slowly, and the power is not enough...

You need to choose the one that fits comfortably in your hand

Power selection

The power of the soldering iron is selected depending on the nature of the work:

IN household It is enough to have two soldering irons - one low-power - 40-60 W, and one “medium” - about 100 W. With their help, it will be possible to cover about 85-95% of needs. But it is still better to entrust the soldering of thick-walled parts to a professional - this requires specific experience.

Preparing for work

When the soldering iron is plugged in for the first time, it often starts to smoke. It's burning out lubricants that were used in the production process. When the smoke stops coming out, turn off the soldering iron and wait until it cools down. Next you need to sharpen the tip.

Sharpening the tip

Next, you need to prepare the tip for work. This is a cylindrical rod made of copper alloy. It is fixed using a clamping screw, which is located at the very end of the heat chamber. In more expensive models the tip may be slightly sharpened, but basically there is no sharpening.

We will change the very tip of the sting. You can use a hammer (flatten the copper as you need), a file or emery (just grind off the unnecessary). The shape of the tip is chosen depending on the intended type of work. It can be:

Flatten it into a spatula (like a screwdriver) or make it flat on one side (angled sharpening). This type of sharpening is needed if massive parts will be soldered. This sharpening increases the contact surface and improves heat transfer.
You can grind the edge of the tip into a sharp cone (pyramid) if you plan to work with small details(thin wires, electrical parts). This makes it easier to control the degree of heating.
The same cone, but not so sharp, is suitable for working with conductors of larger diameter.

Sharpening with a “spatula” is considered more universal. If it is formed with a hammer, the copper will be compacted and the tip will need to be adjusted less frequently. The width of the “shovel” can be made larger or smaller by trimming it on the sides with a file or emery. With this type of sharpening you can work with thin and medium-sized parts to be soldered (rotate the tip to the desired position).

Soldering iron tinning

If the soldering iron tip does not have a protective coating, it must be tinned - covered with a thin layer of tin. This will protect it from corrosion and rapid wear. This is done the first time you turn on the instrument, when the smoke has ceased to be emitted.

The first method of tinning a soldering iron tip:

bring to operating temperature;
touch the rosin;
melt the solder and rub it along the entire tip (you can use a wooden sliver).

Second way. Moisten a rag with a solution of zinc chloride and rub the heated tip on the rag. Melt the solder and rub it with a piece of table rock salt over the entire surface of the tip. In any case, the copper should be covered with a thin layer of tin.

Soldering technology

Almost everyone now uses electric soldering irons. Those whose work involves soldering prefer to have a soldering station, “hobbyists” prefer to make do with ordinary soldering irons without regulators. Having several soldering irons of different power is enough for different types of work.

To figure out how to solder correctly with a soldering iron, you need to have a good understanding of the process in general, then delve into the nuances. So let's start with brief description sequences of actions.

Soldering involves a sequence of repeated actions. We will talk about soldering wires or radio parts. These are the ones you encounter more often on the farm. The actions are:

This completes the soldering. It is necessary to cool the solder and check the quality of the connection. If everything is done correctly, the soldering area will have a bright shine. If the solder appears dull and porous, this is a sign of insufficient temperature during soldering. The soldering itself is called “cold” and does not provide the required electrical contact. It is easily destroyed - just pull the wires in different directions or even pick it up with something. The soldering area may also be charred - this is a sign of the opposite error - too high a temperature. In the case of wires, this is often accompanied by melting of the insulation. However, electrical parameters are normal. But, if the conductors are soldered when installing the wiring, it is better to redo it.

Preparation for soldering

First, let's talk about how to properly solder wires with a soldering iron. First you need to remove the insulation. The length of the exposed area may be different - if you are going to solder the wiring - power wires, expose 10-15 cm. If you need to solder low-current conductors (the same headphones, for example), the length of the exposed area is small - 7-10 mm.

After removing the insulation, the wires must be inspected. If there is varnish or oxide film on them, it must be removed. Freshly stripped wires usually do not have an oxide film, and sometimes varnish is present (copper is not red in color, but brownish). Oxide film and varnish can be removed in several ways:

Mechanically. Use fine grit sandpaper. It is used to process the exposed part of the wire. This can be done with single-core wires of fairly large diameter. Process sandpaper thin wiring is inconvenient. Stranded ones can generally be cut off.
Chemical method. Oxides are highly soluble in alcohol and solvents. Lakovoe protective coating can be removed with acetylsalicylic acid (regular pharmacy aspirin). The wire is placed on the tablet and heated with a soldering iron. Acid will corrode the varnish.

In the case of varnished (enameled) wires, you can do without stripping - you need to use a special flux, which is called “Flux for soldering enamel wires”. It itself destroys the protective coating during soldering. Just so that it does not subsequently begin to destroy the conductors, it must be removed after soldering is completed (with a damp cloth or sponge).

If you need to solder a wire to some metal surface(for example, a ground wire to a loop), the preparation process does not change much. The area to which the wire will be soldered must be cleaned to bare metal. First, all contaminants (including paint, rust, etc.) are mechanically removed, after which the surface is degreased using alcohol or a solvent. Next you can solder.

Fluxing or tinning

When soldering, the main thing is to ensure good contact between the parts being soldered. To do this, before starting soldering, the parts to be joined must be tinned or treated with flux. These two processes are interchangeable. Their main purpose is to improve the quality of the connection and facilitate the process itself.

Tinning

To process the wires you will need a well-heated soldering iron, a piece of rosin, not large number solder.

We take the stripped wire, lay it on rosin, and heat it with a soldering iron. While warming up, we turn the conductor. When the wire is completely covered in molten rosin, put a little solder on the soldering iron tip (just touch it with the tip). Then we remove the wire from the rosin and run the tip of the tip along the exposed conductor.

Tinning wires is a mandatory step when soldering

In this case, the solder covers the metal with a thin film. If it is copper, it turns from yellow to silver. The wire also needs to be turned a little, and the tip must be moved up/down. If the conductor is well prepared, it becomes completely silver, without gaps or yellow paths.

Flux processing

Here everything is both simpler and more complicated. Easier in the sense that you only need the composition and a brush. Dip the brush into the flux and apply a thin layer of the compound to the soldering area. All. This is simplicity.

Difficulty in choosing flux. There are many varieties of this composition and you need to select your own for each type of work. Since we are now talking about how to properly solder wires or electronic components (boards) with a soldering iron, we will give several examples of good fluxes for this type of work:

For soldering electronic components (printed circuit boards), do not use active (acid) fluxes. Better - on water or alcohol based. Acidic ones have good electrical conductivity, which can disrupt the operation of the device. They are also very chemically active and can cause destruction of insulation and corrosion of metals. Due to their activity, they prepare metals very well for soldering, so they are used if it is necessary to solder a wire to metal (the pad itself is processed). The most common representative is “Soldering Acid”.

Preheating and temperature selection

If you want to know how to solder correctly with a soldering iron, you need to learn how to determine whether the soldering area is hot enough. If you use a regular soldering iron, you can navigate by the behavior of rosin or flux. At a sufficient level of heating, they actively boil, release steam, but do not burn. If you lift the tip, drops of boiling rosin remain on the tip of the tip.

When using soldering station based on the following rules:

That is, at the station we set it 60-120°C higher than the melting temperature of the solder. As you can see, the temperature gap is large. How to choose? Depends on the thermal conductivity of the metals being soldered. The better it removes heat, the higher the temperature should be.

Soldering

When the soldering area is hot enough, you can add solder. It is introduced in two ways - molten, in the form of a drop on the soldering iron tip, or in solid form (solder wire) directly into the soldering zone. The first method is used if the soldering area is small, the second - for large areas.

If you need to add a small amount of solder, touch it with the soldering iron tip. There is enough solder if the tip turns white and not yellow. If a drop hangs, this is too much, it must be removed. You can tap the edge of the stand a couple of times. Then they immediately return to the soldering zone, running the tip along the soldering area.

In the second case, we insert the solder wire directly into the soldering zone. When heated, it begins to melt, spreading and filling the voids between the wires, taking the place of evaporating flux or rosin. In this case, you need to remove the solder in time - its excess also does not have a very good effect on the quality of soldering. In the case of soldering wires this is not so critical, but when soldering electronic elements on boards is very important.

In order for the soldering to be of high quality, everything must be done carefully: strip the wires, warm up the soldering area. But overheating is also undesirable, as is too much solder. This is where you need measure and experience, and you can gain it by repeating all the actions a certain number of times.

Device for more convenient soldering - third hand

How to learn to solder with a soldering iron

To begin, take several pieces of single-core wire of small diameter (you can use installation wires, those used in communications, etc.) - they are easier to work with. Cut them into small pieces and practice on them. Try to solder the two wires together first. By the way, after tinning or fluxing, it is better to twist them together. This will increase the contact area and make it easier to hold the wires in place.

When soldering is reliable several times, you can increase the number of wires. They will also need to be twisted, but you will have to use pliers (two wires can be twisted by hand).

Normal soldering means:

After you have mastered soldering several wires (three...five), you can try stranded wires. The difficulty lies in stripping and tinning. You can only clear it chemical method, and tin, having previously twisted the wires. Then you can try to twist the tinned conductors, but this is quite difficult. You will have to hold them with tweezers.

When this is mastered, you can train on wires of a larger cross-section - 1.5 mm or 2.5 mm. These are the wires that are used when laying wiring in an apartment or house. Here you can train on them. Everyone too, but working with them is more difficult.

After soldering is completed

If the wires were treated with acid fluxes, after the solder has cooled, its residues must be washed off. To do this, use a damp cloth or sponge. They are soaked in the solution detergent or soap, then remove moisture and dry.

You know how to solder correctly with a soldering iron, now you need to acquire practical skills.

One of the most reliable methods of connecting wires is soldering. This is a process in which the space between two conductors is filled with molten solder. In this case, the melting temperature of the solder must be lower than the melting temperature of the metals being joined. At home, soldering is most often used with a soldering iron - a small device powered by electricity. For normal operation, the power of the soldering iron must be at least 80-100 W.

What you need for soldering with a soldering iron

In addition to the soldering iron itself, you will need solders, rosin or fluxes; it is advisable to have a stand. While working, you may need a small file and small pliers.

Rosin and fluxes

To get good connection wires, they must be cleaned of contaminants, including oxide film. While mono-cores can still be cleaned manually, multi-core conductors cannot be cleaned properly. They are usually treated with rosin or flux - active substances that dissolve contaminants, including oxide film.

Both rosin and fluxes work well, but fluxes are easier to use - you can dip a brush into the solution and quickly process the wires. You need to put a conductor in rosin, then heat it with a soldering iron so that the molten substance envelops the entire surface of the metal. The disadvantage of using fluxes is that if they remain on the wires (and they do), they gradually corrode the adjacent sheath. To prevent this from happening, all soldering areas must be treated - the remaining flux must be washed off with alcohol.

Rosin is considered universal remedy, and fluxes can be selected depending on the metal you are going to solder. In the case of wires, this is copper or aluminum. For copper and aluminum wires take flux LTI-120 or borax. A homemade flux made from rosin and denatured alcohol (1 to 5) works very well, and it’s also easy to make with your own hands. Add rosin to the alcohol (preferably dust or very small pieces of it) and shake until dissolved. Then this composition can be used to treat conductors and strands before soldering.

Solders for soldering copper wires with a soldering iron use POS 60, POS 50 or POS 40 - tin-lead. For aluminum, zinc-based compounds are more suitable. The most common are TsO-12 and P250A (made of tin and zinc), grade A (zinc and tin with the addition of copper), TsA-15 (zinc with aluminum).

It is very convenient to use solders that contain rosin (POS 61). In this case, there is no need to pre-treat each conductor in rosin separately. But for high-quality soldering, you must have a powerful soldering iron - 80-100 W, which can quickly heat the soldering area to the required temperatures.

Auxiliary materials

In order to properly solder wires with a soldering iron, you also need:

Alcohol may be required to remove flux, and electrical tape or heat shrink tubing for insulation. various diameters. These are all the materials and tools without which soldering wires with a soldering iron is impossible.

Soldering process with an electric soldering iron

The entire technology of soldering wires with a soldering iron can be divided into several successive stages. All of them are repeated in a certain sequence:

That's all. In the same way, you can solder two or more wires, you can solder a wire to some contact pad (for example, when soldering headphones, you can solder the wire to a plug or to a pad on a headphone), etc.

After you have finished soldering the wires with a soldering iron and they have cooled down, the connection must be insulated. You can wrap electrical tape, put it on, and then heat up the heat shrink tube. When it comes to electrical wiring, it is usually recommended to first wrap a few turns of electrical tape, and then put a heat-shrinkable tube on top, which is heated.

Differences in technology when using flux

If active flux is used rather than rosin, the tinning process changes. The cleaned conductor is lubricated with the compound, and then heated with a soldering iron with a small amount of solder. Further everything is as described.

Soldering twists with flux - faster and easier

There are also differences when soldering twists with flux. In this case, you can not tin each wire, but twist it, then treat it with flux and immediately start soldering. The conductors don’t even need to be cleaned—the active compounds corrode the oxide film. But instead, you will have to wipe the soldering areas with alcohol to wash away the remnants of chemically aggressive substances.

Features of soldering stranded wires

The soldering technology described above is suitable for monocores. If the wire is multi-core, there are nuances: before tinning, the wires are untwisted so that everything can be dipped in rosin. When applying solder, you need to make sure that each wire is covered with a thin layer of solder. After cooling, the wires are twisted into one bundle again, then you can solder with a soldering iron as described above - dipping the tip into solder, heating the soldering area and applying tin.

When tinning, multi-core wires must be “fluffed”

Is it possible to solder copper wire to aluminum

Aluminum cannot be combined directly with other chemically active metals. Since copper is a chemically active material, copper and aluminum are not joined or soldered. The point is too different thermal conductivity and different current conductivity. When current passes, aluminum heats up more and expands more. Copper heats up and expands much less. Constant expansion/constriction in varying degrees leads to the fact that even the best contact is broken, a non-conducting film is formed, and everything stops working. That's why copper and aluminum are not soldered.

If there is such a need to connect copper and aluminum conductors, make a bolted connection. Take a bolt with a suitable nut and three washers. At the ends of the connected wires, rings are formed according to the size of the bolt. Take a bolt, put on one washer, then a conductor, another washer - the next conductor, a third washer on top and secure everything with a nut.

There are several other ways to connect aluminum and copper lines, but soldering is not one of them. You can read about other methods, but bolted is the simplest and most reliable.

To get started, you need to decide what kind of soldering iron you have. The most common are rod and pulse soldering irons (guns), so in this article more attention will be given to them.

A stick soldering iron is so called because it looks like a rod or writing pen. It is held in the same way as a handle, but not at the base of the rod, by the handle. Most often the handle is wooden, plastic or rubber. Soldering irons with ceramic handles are less common.

Under no circumstances should you hold on to metal parts, as they will heat up during operation. Many people make the mistake of grabbing the soldering iron near the tip (the working part at the end of the rod). It ends with burns. Therefore, such a mistake is not made a second time, although there have been cases.

A soldering iron gun is easier to deal with. It must be held by the pistol grip.

These two soldering irons differ in the type of heating. The rod heats up all the time after being plugged into the outlet. And the pulse gun heats up only when the trigger is pulled. Most models of pulse soldering irons have a light bulb under the tip that illuminates the details of the circuits.

We prepare everything you need

It all starts with preparing the workplace and tools. Remove everything unnecessary from the table and turn on the light. You will need: a soldering iron, solder (tin or lead), flux (rosin), tweezers or pliers and a sponge.

Tin and its alloys are considered low-melting solder, and lead is considered refractory. Although it all depends on the alloy. If you bought a soldering iron with a power of 5 to 40 W, use low-melting solder.

Solder is needed to connect circuit elements together. But you need to not just drip it onto the soldering area, but make sure that the solder gets into the gaps between the contacts. This results in higher conductivity and strength.

Rosin is needed to prevent the oxidation of metals by isolating them from oxygen. Beginners, by the way, can use solder with the addition of rosin.

Turn on the soldering iron and wait a couple of minutes until the tip warms up. Then apply some solder and flux to it. Moisten the sponge with water and wipe the sting. This cleans the soldering iron of old, oxidized solder.

During soldering, you will have to repeat this procedure periodically. Just don’t keep the wet sponge on the tip for too long - the soldering iron will cool down and you’ll have to start over.

How to solder correctly

Now that everything is ready, you can get started. It will be better if you practice on something first before you start soldering what you want.

Beginners are advised to start with this exercise:

Take a piece of wire and divide it into 12 identical pieces. Then we solder the ends together to form a cube. The pieces of wire should be bare (you can take an already bare wire or simply remove the insulation). You can only take them with pliers or tweezers.

This will help you get into the habit of never taking parts. bare hands and keep them motionless until the contact cools down.

Once your cube is ready, take it in your palm and squeeze it. Not a single contact should come apart. If it still comes apart, repeat the exercise again.

Once you get the hang of connecting the elements, you can try tinning. To do this, take a piece of PCB and try to draw tracks on it. It is not necessary to somehow process the textolite before this. Without processing it’s even better - it will teach you to control the process.

Modern boards are very small, so tinning must be done under a microscope. Otherwise, you will simply go off the edges of the path. After a couple of attempts at tinning, regular soldering will seem like kindergarten to you.

You also need to practice a little with insulated wires. For example, you decide to repair your headphones. Multi-core wires are used there. Each vein is separately insulated, not counting the general insulation. And in order for there to be at least some contact, the insulation must be removed.

Doing this manually is time-consuming and inconvenient, but you can use a soldering iron. Take some solder and then apply it to the end of the wire. The insulation should burn off. Do this so that the ends are not too long. In this case, the solder must completely envelop them so that contact is everywhere.

Try to apply solder carefully so as not to touch other elements of the circuit. Especially if you are soldering something on printed circuit board. Ideally, solder and rosin should be minimum quantity. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said: “ perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when nothing can be taken away».

Precautions

This is the most important part to start with. Some points were indeed mentioned throughout the article - they will be described in more detail here. Plus other rules.

Hold the soldering iron strictly by the handle.
Handle parts exclusively with pliers or tweezers. This way you will save not only yourself, but also the parts, because there may be skin discharge (oil or sweat) or static electricity on your fingers.
Do not look at the board at a right angle. This is not only a matter of vision, but also of solder and flux vapors. The fumes rise, and if you inhale them, you may develop respiratory illness. You can buy or make a homemade hood - just take a 12-volt computer cooler and a power source.
Ventilate the room in which you solder. Vapors can stick to furniture or clothing. Therefore, it is better not to solder in the bedroom, nursery or kitchen. If there is no space in your apartment, find a corner by the window.

These were a few basic rules that must always be followed.

Conclusion

The knowledge you gained in this article is enough to learn how to solder. This is enough for minor household repairs. Then you can learn on your own through trial and error.

Soldering is known to every person. And for the result to meet expectations, several important rules must be followed.

Soldering- a process in which some metals are combined with the help of others, from more fusible ones. This happens at high temperatures (180 - 300°C) by introducing between parts solder(an alloy of lead and tin), which has more low temperature melting. As a result of its hardening, a durable, one-piece and highly electrically conductive material is formed. Heating is done using a soldering iron. There are various types soldering irons, solders and fluxes.

For home use It is best to purchase the most common soldering iron with a voltage of 220V and a power of 40W.

Typically, metal surfaces are coated with a layer of oxide, and must be cleaned before soldering. But surfaces can oxidize again. To prevent this from happening, and to make the surface of the molten solder more fluid, use flux.

The most common type of flux is rosin. It is made up of resins coniferous trees and has an amber-yellow color. Thanks to it, the soldering area is not subject to corrosion and does not allow electrical leakage.

Soldering and choosing a soldering iron

To choose the right soldering iron, I suggest you familiarize yourself with its types:

Soldering iron from 3 to 10 W - for microcircuits;
From 20-40 W - a household option, suitable for example for radio equipment;
From 60 to 100 W - for soldering thick wires;
From 100 to 250 W - for large items, such as a radiator.

It is best to choose a soldering iron with a built-in temperature sensor.

Safety precautions

Soldering is an unsafe process, and before you begin, you must follow all safety regulations.

Before starting work, put on good safety glasses - this will protect you from getting solder in your eyes;
The soldering iron can only be held by the handle;
A heated soldering iron should not touch the insulation of the supply wire, as this can lead to, and, as a consequence, a fire;

It is also impossible to overheat the soldering iron - we check this by touching the rosin - a light smoke should appear;
Take care of a soldering iron stand - they are on sale;
When soldering electronic devices, the power wires must be disconnected. For example, electronic circuit can be turned off, but connected to ground. And if the body of the soldering iron is not grounded, or has weak insulation, then this can lead to an arc of several kV;
Do not inhale fumes when soldering - they are harmful to the body. Ventilate the room before and after work. It is better to use technical premises for this;
Wash your hands and face thoroughly after work. It is better to wear long sleeves.

Soldering technology

5 rules for a good result

To obtain a high-quality result, it is necessary to ensure equal temperatures of the surfaces being soldered. That is, it is not enough to heat one surface and apply it to another. When the tip heats up low, the solder will only soften a little, but will not melt. If it is high, there will be excessive evaporation of solder.
If something doesn’t work out the first time, you need to let the details cool down! You can’t blow on them or cool them artificially. The time is selected through experiment. It is advisable to first practice on something, for example, on copper wires before starting the main work.
Flux is applied immediately before soldering. For 1 drop of solder, just lightly touch the rosin.
We apply the tip to the soldering area with the entire spatula!
Solder should be distributed evenly over the entire surface. And the sting is well cleaned of oxides.

Only practice will help you learn to solder well. Follow safety precautions and don’t be afraid to experiment!