Introduction

In your project work, one of the most common problems you will encounter is with the electronics.

Troubleshooting faulty soldering can be time consuming and very frustrating.

The soldering license will help you quickly perform all the most common soldering tasks.

Once complete, keep your soldering license on your keys as a demonstration of your skills, and as a reminder of how things should be done.

Keep track of your progress

There is a task sheet to help you keep track of your progress and to evidence the work you have done.

The task sheet can be found here

Make sure you have a quick read through so you know what needs to be evidenced.

While you are waiting.

There will be times during this project when you are waiting to use a drill or a soldering station.

While waiting to use equipment there are several tasks you can be getting on with.

Drilling.

Introduction

Your PCB comes straight from the PCB etch tank, and will need to be drilled before you can place your components.

The board requires you to use both a pillar and a PCB drill neatly in order to advance to the next step. You will also need to be able to change the drill bits in both machines, as well as precisely machining the holes.

Tutorial

Make sure you take a photograph of your drilled board for embedding in the task sheet.

Soldering the Resistors and Diode

Introduction

The components have been deliberately packed in tightly together - parts to be meticulously soldered into place to ensure that when tested with a multi-meter, they all work correctly. You will need to learn your resistor values too, as well as which way around a diode goes.

Tutorial

Wire links

Introduction

Often in a project, several of the key components are not actually mounted to the PCB itself, and will need to be attached with wire links, using either single or multi-core wire; at other times you will use this for completing tricky PCB designs. You will need to be able to neatly create and solder these in order to complete this part of the task.

Desoldering

Introduction

There are three methods for removing solder available in school; you will need to demonstrate all three for your license, by desoldering an 8-pin chip carrier (for PIC chips and other ICs). You will need to master using solder wick, a manual solder pump and an electric solder pump, and to leave the pads clean at the end.

Track repairs

Introduction

When making PCBs with fine tracks, sometimes the finished board can have small gaps that need to be bridged, or as a result of excessive soldering and desoldering, they can become damaged. You will need to make two repairs (both along a straight line, and round a corner) in order to complete this part of the challenge.

Multimeter testing

Introduction

When your board is completed, you will need to be able to demonstrate that your PCB works by using a multimeter to ensure your resistors are all working, to show the overall resistance of the components in the circuit and to show that there is continuity throughout your PCB.

Using a virtual multimeter

Introduction

You can practice using a multimeter in Circuit Wizard.

This will help you to learn how to use a multimeter, and also give you a prediction of the values you should actually measure on your soldering license.

You'll need this circuit wizard filewhich you should save to your area. Then simply follow the tutorial below.

Tutorial

Resistor colour codes

Introduction

Resistors have coloured bands on them, to tell us the value of their resistance.

The next slide will teach you how to identify a resistor's value using the colour codes.