We are pleased to have Cris Erving, founder of Eggtimer Rocketry with us on this episode!
We discus the Eggtimer products, and also give lots of tips and tricks to help you figure out how to solder one together!
Some pointers:
) If you're a beginner, use a 20 watt soldering pencil for best results. This one from Weller is a nice one:
Weller soldering pencil
Fancy temperature controlled irons are nice, but not if you are a soldering newbie! the wrong temperature settings will either not work well, or can destroy the electronic components you are trying to solder.
2.) Practice soldering things together first. Cris says go ahead, and use the eggtimer kit for practice. If that thought makes you nervous, then get one of these surface mount soldering practice kits.
Surface Mount solder training kit.
IMPORTANT:Â We'd suggest reading your excellent Eggtimer Rocketry kit manual all the way through to get a feel for what you are practicing for!!
3.) To ensure success, use as little solder as possible! The bigger the blob, the more likely it will flow to another pin, and short out your connections!
4.) Do not overheat. Some parts can be damaged by having the soldering tip touching them for longer than 30 seconds. In fact, this is a nice simple video that is pretty good:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qps9woUGkvI
Good luck!!
