Posted by Gary Dodge on September 15, 2002 at 10:00:16:
In Reply to: Solder Problem posted by Tony on September 15, 2002 at 08:45:17:
Hi Tony,
What's happening is that you are getting things too hot or lingering in one place too long while soldering the back of your panel.
This allows the solder to flow from the back of the solder line to the front, only stopping when the solder reaches the board that supports the panel, leaving the line flat. You can usually tell this is happening because your solder seems to disappear as you are working. Solder never disappears, it just goes someplace else, in this case, to the front of your panel.
If you are unhappy with the solder in a particular area as you work the back of a panel, you can make one attempt at fixing things up. After that it is best to let the area cool a bit before making a second attempt at resoldering.
If you are working with 60/40 solder you might try 50/50 which is not as watery and will not run through as easily.
Gary Dodge
: I am sort new and have made a few pieces and they have turned out pretty good regarding the solder. For some reason the last couple of projects I solder the front and looks good then I turn it over and solder the back and when I am finished I turn it over and some of the solder lines have big flat areas where the bead was. I cant figure out what is going on now. I am not sure if I am holding the iron wrong or what THanks for your help.