Page 402 - Hacking Roomba

Soldering and appendix

Safety Basics

f you’ve never built a circuit before, don’t worry. The techniques are
straightforward and can be picked up in an afternoon. Most circuits in
Ithis book can be sketched out on a solderless breadboard, but if you want
something that can withstand vibrations and heavy use, then soldering your
circuit is the way to go. A soldered circuit can last for decades.
in this appendix
At its most basic, soldering is the technique of joining metallic parts together
with some sort of molten metal. The molten metal fuses the two parts Basic tools you need
together, almost like glue. This molten metal is called solder and is an alloy
with a low melting point compared to most metals. The tool used to apply
solder is a soldering iron: a pencil-shaped device that can apply high heat to Safety
very specific locations. A typical soldering iron can get up to 800ºF at its considerations
tip, yet be cool enough on its handle for you to hold it in your hand.
Soldering
This appendix demonstrates some basic techniques for building and solder-
ing circuits by hand. It doesn’t cover the more complex techniques like components
soldering printed-circuit boards or surface-mount devices, although the
techniques presented here can carry over to them. Soldering wires
When you feel like you are ready to tackle more complex soldering Static safety
projects, an excellent resource is the ever-growing set of tutorials
from SparkFun at www.sparkfun.com/commerce/hdr
.php?p=tutorials. Another great set of soldering resources
from do-it-yourselfers can be found on Instructables at www
.instructables.com/tag/keyword:soldering/.

Tools Needed

If you’re starting from scratch and want to build a basic electronic circuit
assembly lab, get the following tools from Jameco:

Weller WP25 soldering iron, Jameco part number 170587
Soldering iron holder, Jameco part number 192153
Solder, lead 0.031˝, 60/40, rosin flux core, Jameco part
number 141795