HOW TO SOLDER! (Beginner's Guide)

Have you ever wanted to learn how to solder but were overwhelmed by all the information? If so, you found the right video! Chad and Brandon are here to break down the basics of soldering in a quick and easy-to-understand way. Almost all hobby electronics, basic repairs and maintenance require some level of soldering. Learning this skill is one of the best ways to up your DIY game! Follow along with your electronics, or get started with one of our kits listed below!
Electronics featured in this video:
Flip-Flop PCB
hackmakemod.com/products/bjt-...
BB830 Breadboard
hackmakemod.com/products/brea...
Arduino Nano Micro-controller
hackmakemod.com/products/ardu...
Our Tools:
Soldering Iron
www.amazon.com/Weller-WES51-A...
Solder
www.amazon.com/Kester-Solder-...
Today’s Hosts:
Chad Kapper
/ @bncfilms4939
chadkapper...
Brandon Balizet
/ @bncfilms4939
brandon_bal...
Christian Kapper
/ pokemonkapper
koala.symph...
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HackMakeMod Theme Music by:
Nightime Burnout and CapnCole
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Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
00:35 - Safety tips
01:13 - Getting header pins and Arduino ready for soldering
01:36 - Soldering tools and types of solder
03:13 - Tinning the tip of solder iron
03:53 - Soldering header pins on Arduino
05:57 - How to fix bridged solder
08:37 - Cleaning electronics after soldering
09:46 - Soldering components to PCB
15:31 - Join and tin two wires
#soldering #DIY #DIYelectronics #electronics #repairs #learning #technology #techtips #techyoutuber #newvideo #maker

[@StariusPrime]

This is the best beginner tutorial on soldering I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe it’s not the first result that appears in KZbin’s search.

[@supermansuperman9066]

Total bull.

[@sudharaniinti]

As a beginner myself, I found this video incredibly informative and I must say, this video is a "Must Watch" for every Beginner in Soldering.

[@weirdojo2392]

really happy i happened to stumble into it then!!

[@swisscheeze3919]

I took an electronics class at my local community college 20 years ago and learned how to solder. Our final project was a PCB that turned out to be a volt meter. Still use that volt meter I built to this day.

[@chriskaprys]

I've been thinking about doing this as well, because after countless hours of reading and watching videos and trying to solder with the same / similar gear as in this video, I have yet to "convince" any solder to stick to a pad on a pcb, let alone marry a component leg with the pad. Spent 4 more hours on it a couple days ago and came away shedding actual tears of frustration and feeling like soldering is some kind of hoax 😅So far all the videos I've watched and forums I've read, soldering "just works", and any discussion of troubleshooting quickly devolves into arguments over technique and equipment, or talking about it like it's esoteric witchcraft.

[@JohnPickup-CDHS-ze6qd]

I just recently joined the "Guys with No Girlfriend" club. It's nice to be here fellas! Let's get soldering

[@illtimedwillinc7934]

Sucks to suck

[@Gh0_-st]

lmfao this shit is funny af

[@JohnPickup-CDHS-ze6qd]

@@Gh0_-st lol

[@nightynine4061]

I am a guy in the wife and no kids club who enjoys learning about solder?

[@JohnPickup-CDHS-ze6qd]

@@nightynine4061 well technically you don't have a girlfriend. So you're in!

[@junglist77x]

hands down the best soldering tutorial i've seen..

[@georgematus5960]

Growing up I think I had a soldering iron in my hand before a binky. Soldering is life. And I can say this is a wonderful video on life.

[@DrewWutsit]

I wish I could have been so lucky. I am 26 and I just bought my first soldering iron on Amazon today, waiting for it to get here...I've been wanting one since I was old enough to comprehend electricity and batteries...I'm so excited. I dropped $250 to get EVERYTHING lol now I'm just here doing some research before I begin, and checking to see if I should buy any last minute things like a surgical knife and a scraper, small things like that. This is one of the most impulsive purchases I've ever made, as I woke up this morning and thought (not for the first time) "I should learn to solder." But I feel like its going to be one of the most impactful on my life as well.

[@general_prodigy]

​@@DrewWutsithey man, any updates on how your soldering is going? Did ya start any project?

[@DrewWutsit]

@@general_prodigy Hi there! Thanks for checking up on me! So far I have fixed a whole bunch of fraying cords around my house and for family and friends, and have taken apart and cleaned my friends' controllers, etc. My friend also had me change out the EM10 filter on his DS, turned out to not be the problem, then I switched out the charging port and it worked again! That was a huge win for me :D I think my personal favorite so far is this, I took an old fan from my old pc, and soldered it onto a USB cable for my PS4, and it keeps it nice and cool. Its surprisingly strong. I also use it for clearing the air when I use lead based solder.

[@DrewWutsit]

I haven't started any big projects yet because I haven't had much in funds, but im thinking about getting some learners circuit boards and work along starter kits to get me into actually learning the fundamentals and properly teaching myself.

[@JohnPickup-CDHS-ze6qd]

I wasn't just born with an iron in my hand, but I was actually birthed by a soldering iron. Half my blood is solder

[@joshnart]

Such a neat and professional teacher I need such a teacher in my life Very patient and understanding ❤❤

[@itsyagirlapes]

Honestly the best beginner's tutorial for soldering. Subscribed instantly!

[@shemanto_sharkar]

Most concise video I ever found for soldering! Thank you very much. I liked the way of jumping into the main topic without wasting any time, it was engaging conversation and learning💖💖

[@HackMakeMod]

Glad it was helpful!

[@noemiapereira6670]

excellent teacher, and the method of having someone inexperience do it and correcting the procedure and passing more info. Wonderful.

[@prajwalhn311]

Damn man! This might just be the most concise yet extremely informative video on soldering!! What's better is the way you people conveyed the information! I'm pretty sure your channel is going to grow leaps and bounds... Keep it up guys!

[@saintawful7127]

I too am not a fan of long intros. Started strong and maintained it for a great video. Thanks!

[@brucehampton1545]

Very true. Right to the point and an apprentice there learning as well helped so much.

[@sma7530]

I needed to know why my soldering was so poor. What you showed about heating the components, NO ONE I watched showed that in their tutorials - I sat down and spent 2 hours or so watching various soldering tutorial videos yesterday and did not see that (solder) nugget of advice. Thanks

[@eaglet260100]

This was so helpful, Chad you explained everything so good I think using your tips next time I attempt soldering it's going to be easy. Thanks again 😊

[@darrenrigby5687]

Great tutorial, no waffle, and glad to have witnessed the beginning of the journey for Brandon. Thanks, guys.

[@sepplee5812]

I soldered a hundred times before but I still learned a lot, great video, very easy and fun to watch. Thanks!

[@MakerPipe]

Such a great video! The b-roll and close-ups were super helpful. Awesome job guys!

[@billytk1225]

Beautiful camera angles to show exactly how the iron, solder, and wick work. Loved the video!

[@UrsaringerMAGEM]

This makes so much sense! this tutorial is amazing! I've been struggling to understand the soldering process for years, and it's finally starting to click! thank you!

[@InternalErrorX]

I'll be starting my first soldering projects soon and this video seriously made me more confident to go into it! Thank you.

[@facyali]

Perfect tutorial, thanks for sharing the knowledge.

[@gabrielf.martinezvalois4023]

The best tutorial on soldering I've ever seen in years! Really well done, with nice camera work with macro lenses for the close ups! Thanks guys you rocks!

[@themonstersandbox3569]

Excellent video! I have many years of experience doing what I’d call basic soldering and there are still many tips and tricks I’ve learned from this! 🤘🏻

[@ChadKapper]

Wow! That’s a huge compliment… Thank you

[@Pretty_Boy6]

I did Learn, I learned about the Soldering Iron, Solder it's self and whatever you are fixing/ Working on. This was very helpful and thank you.

[@petechapman8202]

Very good, I've just bought my first iron and I'm about to change the left switch with a right one taken from an older mouse. This vid is just what I needed.

[@The_Lemngo]

Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to creating new projects with these tutorials. Keep up the great work you 2!

[@vishsure2155]

I was struggling with soldering until I saw this video ! The way Chad explained it was so perfect and seeing Brandon doing the soldering first time in the video gave me confidence 😅. I was struggling to solder headers to a i2s DAC until I saw this video ! The key for me was to understand that - Soldering iron needs to be at a higher temp than solder’s melting point and - Using Soldering Iron to touch the solder pad hole on pcb along with header for 2-3 seconds before bringing the solder ! Just the perfect and First Video to watch for anyone trying to learn how to Solder ! You guys made my day and I did my first ever perfect solder and now listening to awesome music on 3£ i2s DAC connect to my 17£ Raspberry Pi ! Awesome and Kudos Again !

[@morteza_nw3239]

Funny and enjoyable tutorial, i like the way you two teaching, keep moving

[@Nick-qn5nf]

I've been watching a bunch of these & this one was my favorite so far, good job!

[@FilipowskiPol]

The best video about soldering. Thanks!!!

[@HackMakeMod]

You are welcome!!

[@carlytorres21]

Great Video. I’ve been soldering for a while but still learned some tips from this content.!!

[@MadaoAU]

this is just perfect on the methodology. I just started getting into it. Only thing I would say is to just have a full list of what a person needs to have in order to be able to do everything you showed. I want to learn so I can do Retro Console mods and take care of electronics / Motherboards.

[@Jazzynet100]

I have missed seeing you Chad, glad this popped up on feed.

[@fishbarbeque8540]

This is the type of video that stays in my watchlater its SO HELPFUL!

[@leyliefjiko6343]

I already know some basic soldering, adding this to improve my knowledge on soldering. Thanks for info, I really meant it

[@CarHub_69420]

As a middle schooler this was really helpful for my project

[@WKfpv]

This was a very well explained soldering video. Well done guys

[@ringoffire0]

Good teacher, good student. Solid vid

[@hellorune2425]

Best tutorial I've found so far!! Thank you

[@sherryroberts7716]

I'm so interested in soldering. As a female growing up back in the day, we were never given courses like "shop" or auto mechanics. We were taught sewing and homemaking. But I've always wanted to learn. I heard somewhere along the way that you need different types of solder for different metals. Is that true? And if yes, what are they comprised of and how do you know which metal takes which solder?

[@programmingelectronics]

Great video! Love the animations - really drives home the idea!

[@brianwilson2538]

WOW one of the best learning videos i have ever watched. thanks!!

[@c_blade]

great tutorial much appreciated!! just started soldering and found this video very helpfull.

[@justjavii]

Really great video guys thank you very much for the information

[@letsdiyeverything8010]

Good easy to follow tutorial! Just noticed the PCB kit for sale on the site as well

[@shahidmir106]

Really good to learn so many good ways to do soldering. Thanks for that.

[@user-rn3eb2jn5t]

I just started learning soldering and desoldering recently and I got most of the tools like the iron, solder, ipa, just need flux then I'll start practicing on some old circuit boards I have lying around. You teach well and this video is both awesome and inspiring, thanks! :)

[@gerrylast]

Most electronics solder comes impregnated with flux . Used to be 5 channels up the core as I recall. Read up. As for extra flux though, yes, I used that technique on surface mount builds and quad pack, micro bga placement, but that tends to be hot air placement .

[@gerrylast]

By the way, those recoil desolderers can pack a nasty punch and pros tend to use braid or an electronic suction system.

[@sudhasmitasahu8267]

ur a legend bro I was able to get my soldering for my class down first try after watching this and wasn't getting it before,,, keep up the good work 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@CoreDreamStudios]

I loved this how-to, as a hobbyist, this has helped me. Subscribed.

[@iancharnas]

The perfect soldering tutorial does not exi- Amazing video! Chad, you completely nailed every important point. When we're learning, it's easy to think solder is like hot glue... and when our circuit doesn't work, we can't figure out why because bad solder joints can be super hard to spot. If you follow Chad's tutorial though, you'll never have a bad solder joint ruin your project.

[@joshwalters5875]

I just want to hang out with these guys! Such great energy!

[@timmy3822]

Thanks for this video, seriously. I've been doing some basic mods on old Game Boys but have been reliant on stuff you can just drop in and out, meaning I can't do a lot of cool stuff because it involved soldering. This has given me the confidence to go ahead and look at getting my own basic soldering set up. I won't necssarily be doing fancy stuff like populating entire PCB's, but I need to be able to solder wires to junctions to power them and change old coin batteries in game cartridges that have died.

[@OhhDilusions]

very nice video, ive never soldered before but i feel more comfortable doing it my first time because of watching this video

[@montes71able]

Thank you, every other video really doesn't explain some the points you made. I actually learned something. 😮

[@sirfyaz1886]

Thanks guys. Such a great tutorial. 👍🏽

[@java427]

Best soldering video I saw on KZbin

[@kathyleighlewiski5351]

THANKS FOR THE REFRESHER COURSE. I GO FOR A JOB INTERVIEW TOMORROW & I DID FORGET ABOUT THE HEAT SHRINK. 😊

[@RWQFSFASXC2023]

I never thought of it before,but now I'm really interested ❤️

[@RohitSingh-qy2nt]

Literally the best video on soldering

[@MyNameisStorm]

Insanely helpful, thank you!

[@faris9327]

great tutorial you showed what the flux does and what the copper wire does and typical settings for soldering, these should be mentioned everywhere how we suppose to know all those details, thank you!

[@carlos10571]

I’m glad I stumbled upon this video. I need to solder my broken in-ear monitors.

[@cthomasmobile]

This is a very well done and helpful video

[@fedoralexandersteeman6672]

Wauw! I needed to replace the capacitors of some retro hardware but didn't feel I was doing very well though unsure what exactly I did wrong. This video really nailed it for me and I can't wait to give this a try! 👍🏻👍🏻

[@blkckoud60]

Great video as i am learning the process.

[@DarrenSteele-mx3ks]

This was so enjoyable!

[@manoharsagunthalla9215]

It’s really useful! Thanks for detailed information and tips

[@bncfilms4939]

Great Video! Learned So Much!

[@user-sf1gn1iu5j]

Really friendly course i have ever seen🎉

[@841577]

Excellent video! I learned a lot. Thank you!

[@frenchbulldog09]

Thank you so much!!! I tried and failed for months, but I was finally able to solder successfully after watching this video. 🙏🙏🙏

[@HackMakeMod]

Excellent! congratulations!

[@WHMAGuy]

Excellent tutorial for beginners!!

[@zanny-boyauthentic9216]

Much appreciated. Great video tutorial

[@darylsamuel90]

Thanks for the detailed video!

[@philmunanyi6229]

This is such an amazing content, i learned a lot. thanks guys

[@MsMGolden]

Replacing a battery in my keyboard and I have to use a soldering iron. I was nervous but you made it very simple. Thanks!

[@rickyal9810]

This is why KZbin is so great, thanks guys!

[@Skydive4ever]

Great video, I've been soldering for a long while now but i still leaned a thing or two. Thanks :-)

[@pcicy7344]

This is the best youtube channel I have found in a while!

[@vishsure2155]

This is the best video I have ever seen on Soldering !! Just so wonderful and well Explained !!!! Kudos to you guys 🎉

[@HackMakeMod]

Thanks! Glad you liked it!

[@vishsure2155]

I was struggling with soldering until I saw this video ! The way Chad explained it was so perfect and seeing Brandon doing the soldering first time in the video gave me confidence 😅. I was struggling to solder headers to a i2s DAC until I saw this video ! The key for me was to understand that - Soldering iron needs to be at a higher temp than solder’s melting point and - Using Soldering Iron to touch the solder pad hole on pcb along with header for 2-3 seconds before bringing the solder ! Just the perfect and First Video to watch for anyone trying to learn how to Solder ! You guys made my day and I did my first ever perfect solder and now listening to awesome music on 3£ i2s DAC connect to my 17£ Raspberry Pi ! Awesome and Kudos Again !

[@samaeldrakul4191]

thankyou Brad n Chad, awesome video 🎉 very helpful thankyou

[@LeDribFPV]

Great stuff. Have you tried the style of tip that’s round with a single slash cut? I think it’s called a “single round”… It’s my favorite. You can use the flat side to get the advantages of chisel too, or flip it 180 and use the sharp edge to get more precision like a conical tip

[@ChadKapper]

I am embarrassed to say that I don’t think I ever tried that tip. I know which one you’re talking about so I will give it a try! I’m always excited to learn something new. Thank you!

[@d614gakadoug9]

Some people really like that style. I've used them but never become enamored with them. They aren't bad as a sort of combo tip - small enough at the end for quite small work but big enough farther back for larger stuff.

[@dondayelbano3262]

This was very helpful to me as a beginner.

[@farougshiyab]

Great learning session

[@chapman7804]

Thanks for your content I’ve learnt a lot from you keep up the great work

[@georgeburton1093]

You just gave me the confidence to start my project

[@DanielHerbert77]

There can never be too many how-to-solder videos online.

[@HackMakeMod]

Agreed!!

[@d614gakadoug9]

Yes there can! Some of them are horrible while supposedly teaching people how to avoid soldering errors. This is GOOD one.

[@Mongolicious]

A tip: if you cut the leg that close to the joint after soldering, make sure to reheat the joint in case you damaged it while cutting. Might not be a problem now but might become one in a while.

[@matovuragenius]

The video was very helpful thanks.Keep it up

[@devashishmallick5974]

Wow, i have watch more than 7 videos but this is the best tutorial.

[@VincentWestberg]

Really good video. I thought that was how to do but I honestly had no clue. I will be working on a soldering project sometime in the next few weeks

[@calicoesblue4703]

Thank You for this Guys.

[@chriskaprys]

Thanks for this. Recent subscriber. I appreciate the teaching style in lots of your videos, and this is a useful introduction. I'd love to see another version with more failure / problem-solving as an alternative teaching strategy, where a student gets to experience "what if it's not working?" with a tutor guiding them through what variables in the process they can change. From trying to learn soldering through reading and watching videos, I get the impression that it's somewhere between a skill and an art, such that someone with lots of experience of successful soldering finds it difficult (often without realising) to describe or teach what is essentially a matter of muscle memory and "feel". Like an olympian trying to explain to a non-athlete the nuances they've embodied after years of practise. This seems to breed frustration between both the expert and the amateur, because for those who already have the knack, the process and feel seems very obvious. Whereas those (like me) who struggle to get the most basic aspect of soldering to work, and reach out for help, immediately run into either condescension, dismissal, or, more often, a barrage of conflicting tug-of-war arguments over what the problem / solution might be (e.g. wrong solder, wrong flux, wrong wick, wrong tip, too hot, too cold, too long, too short, etc.). I think it's tougher than many people realise to teach something that has a "knack" to it. Thanks, HMM!

[@HackMakeMod]

Excellent feedback! Thank you for taking the time to articulate this very valuable suggestion!

[@andreelb]

Great video! By far, my #1 tip for soldering beginners, is to use flux for every joint. It just makes soldering so much easier! Even though the soldering wire comes with a flux core, I've always found it helpful to add extra flux. It makes the solder flow much better, achieving a much better joint!

[@ChadKapper]

I agree! Thank you for sharing your experience!

[@jwalker08]

do you add the additional flux directly to the joint?

[@HackMakeMod]

Yes 👍

[@andreelb]

More specifically, add it to the pad & wire before applying solder or heat. Paste - heat - solder.

[@d614gakadoug9]

NO! A thousand times NO! Sometimes extra flux is a big help, but if you use good cored solder and have developed good technique it is rarely necessary. It makes a big mess. One thing you need to do with cored solder is learn to feed it to the joint so that the flux "leads" (goes ahead of) the solder. I was watching part of a "don't do this" soldering video a couple of days ago and the person consistently fed solder so that the first thing it contacted was the molten solder on the tip. BAD! You want it to contact the things being soldered first, only just touching the tip.If you do that the flux spreads and flows where it is needed. This error is also apparent in this video too - the solder hits the iron first, and sort of slops down to where it is needed. Poor quality solder can have voids in the flux core which does make getting good joints very difficult without using additional flux. I used to use Ersin solder which had three or five separate flux cores. Ersin became Multicore and was acquired by Henkel. I do like a little extra flux, as a low solids content liquid, for tinning wires. It penetrates well among the strands and can make tinning go much faster. I have on occasion applied flux to an entire board. This has usually been on boards with unusually heavy copper and/or thick laminate, where getting good fill of the holes is difficult.

[@redeydrgn87]

my dudes an amazing intro video i was afraid of soldering but wanted light n my 3d printers but after this it so dam easy thank you so much for making such an easy to follow video that also made me not feel like an idiot and by going step by step showing what the process is 😊

[@mohamednehmedo]

this was amazing I learning alot from this video thank you from egypt

[@timtom276]

thank you, it was very accessible and informative, I would like to learn from you

[@j3tridge]

Thanks! Its very helpful!

[@kauzge]

Best soldering tutorial on KZbin

[@gimickz5951]

Thanks guys! Verry helpful