Basic Soldering Tutorial

Everything you need to know to start soldering through-hole components (which are the kind you'll find in most 80s computers and earlier).
0:27 Necessary tools: Soldering station, tips, solder.
6:24 Basic technique and a few safety issues.

Connect with Noel's Retro Lab:

[VELTN-RGB]

"Out of all the soldering videos I've seen in youtube, yours is the only one that really helped me as a beginner. Super informative, thanks a ton!"

[MrGeekGamer]

I discovered your channel today after seeing a post you made in comp.os.msdos.programmer in 1994 and randomly Googled your name. Looks like the kind of content I will enjoy too!

[cajuncoinhunter]

That tip you showed was a 3.2MM chisel tip, I use that one but my fav is 2.4mm and 1.6mm I get those T-18 type tips from Home Depot here in the states for 6 dollars delivered to my door.... Kester is the best by far, I bought a 1 lb roll of .031 for 10 bux, yep angel hair fine, but I take 3 foot off the roll and double it then twist it, perfect size for me on SMD and thru hole types.... Great video Mon

[canangagasan]

Thanks for this video, which has precisely the level of detail needed by my current soldering (in-)abilities. So far I did not dare doing any soldering on my C64. But already during the conversion of a Competition Pro USB to be used with the C64 many of the things you showed and explained came up. So, keep up the good work!

[davidkroeker]

Thanks so much for making this video! It's exactly what I've been looking for to give me some basic tips and good technique to get started without sitting through hours and hours of instruction. I appreciate the comments below regarding temperature as well.

[HothEchoBase]

Very detailed walkthrough. Thank you for taking the time to put this video together!

[hansford]

Very informative video, really useful for a beginner.

[SteveHacker]

Not only excellent content and educational material, but also excellent ASMR!

[OGGamingABC]

Fun tip, he works on electronics with the year that starts with 19. For newer years, the thin tip soldering iron tip gets used more often.
I prefer lead over flux for connecting points, the brand doesn't matter
It's just the amount of lead.
You just have to avoid the lead fumes. Don't inhale it

[YesiPleb]

When I solder through-hole (TH) components into place, I push the legs through the holes and held them apart and cut them short THEN I solder them. Bending the legs away from each other helps hold the component in place while soldering and cutting them before soldering prevents putting any shock onto the solder joint. Check out my recap video of a BBC Master in my video titled "Recapping a BBC Master & disassembly of a Master PSU" :)

[paoloselvini]

Thank you, indeed very well explained. Now, when another episode about DE-soldering techniques? It would be at least as informative and useful as this one.

[robotnaoborot]

Thanks a lot! That was very helpful. I actually have to solder something here and there from time to time and I always was terrible at it because nobody ever taught me how to do it properly. Now I really hope I would do better!

[charleswiltshire]

Echoing what everybody else is saying - but - thank you for creating this video, now I see where I've been going wrong! I'm enjoying the rest of your content too.

[HairyDalek]

Thanks for this - to me, soldering is a mystery, and at best I can call my attempts as “bodging”. Anyway, after watching this, and some of your other videos, I thought I’d risk a composite mod on a Spectrum I have. It worked, and I managed to end up with a pretty neat looking fix too. Just waiting for a keyboard membrane now. Eventually, I’ll pluck up the courage to replace the capacitors!

[CPMG]

Informative video, thanx. On a side note, I love your Nostromo T-shirt. Alien fan here too.

[CitroenGS]

Very interesting. I self learned it by tryong to do it, but would have like to learned it this way...

[paszTube]

Thanks so much, very clear explanation and demonstration. I want to recap a ZX Spectrum but have nearly 0 electronics repair skills. Before I start on the real thing I want to practice on stuff. Any tips on some kind of starter DIY project? A friend already suggested the Atari Punk Console, but perhaps there's something I could use with my retro computers (I have Amiga's, C64's, a C128, TRS 80 Coco and ZX Spectrum).

[ignaciojgarcia]

Very useful but I find more difficult desoldering. Maybe you could give us some hints for that as well

[svenpetersen]

Nice tutorial. Well, the „old toothbrush“ is not a good idea. You are using a proper ESD safe brush, which is good. A toothbrush might produce some electrostatic charges, so it is a potential circuit killer. The esd brushes are available for not a lot of money. Also an ESD mat is a good thing to use for all electronics tinkering. They don‘t cost a fortune, either.

[aussie_retro_dude]

Great video 👍 . What is the mat that you are working on ? Can most de soldering be done with solder wick ? Are magnification glasses a good idea?