Soldering a bunch of components at once

[toddvirgil]

So, I've heard a few people mention loading up all their resistors at once and then soldering them all in one shot -- this sounds fantastic to me, but I'm curious how you're holding them in place. Any ideas out there?

[induction]

Bend the leads.

[IvIark]

I stuff the board in groups of increasing depth, starting with links, then diodes then resistors etc.  Once all the components in the group are in place, I have a section of flame retardant cloth which I place over the components, then I place another small board on top of that and use an elastic band to keep the boards tight together.  Then I can just turn the board over and solder without having to worry about anything moving.

[GoranP]

I do it like Mark, only I use duct tape to hold components in place. Works fine but I've been meaning to upgrade to a tape-free method for a while now. elastic band may just be the ticket.

The only thing is that sometimes (if the board is loosely populated) greenies tend to wiggle too much for comfort.

[toddvirgil]

Ha, that's pretty brilliant. I didn't want to bend the leads because it makes for messy looking joints. Love it, thanks guys!

T

[IvIark]

Yeah most caps are awkward Goran (radial electrolytics moreso) but if you have room to bend them sideways and lay them fairly flat then you can comfortably use this method.  After resistors I'll solder the transistor or IC sockets which gives you a solid base at various points of the board to allow the separation between boards to stay reasonably parallel and give you some extra space for the caps.

I do tend to do caps in smaller groupings though, as long as I can do all the resistors in one go then I know I've saved myself a lot of time.  With larger value caps where the physical size gets quite a bit bigger, I tend to solder those in individually because there is rarely very many to have to do.  This is another instance where Panasonics are nice to use because the cap bodies are consistently small up to and including 470nF, it's only really the 1uF where they get a bit awkward.  Or if you use multilayer ceramics then you can comfortable do anything, including the 10uF values based on the tiny size of some I just received.

[IvIark]

toddvirgil wrote

I didn't want to bend the leads because it makes for messy looking joints.

Yes I don't like doing that either if I can avoid it.  Not only messy looking joints but you always get some hangover onto another rail and you run the risk of creating shorts.

It can get quite confusing when you have a 20 or 30 resistor board and so 40 to 60 individual leads facing you to solder, but I tend to go around the board soldering the ones that are most easily accessible, then put the iron down and go round snipping the leads that have already been soldered.  It just makes things easier to get the already soldered leads out of the way every so often so you get better access to the more awkward positions around the middle of the board.

[GoranP]

That's exactly what I do as well. Solder around the board whatever is easily accesible, snip snip, another easily accesible dozen of leads...

For me, the biggest PITA (not just with this method and one single thing I dislike about most of Harald's layouts) is having 3- or 2-row span resistors. Unless you have 1/8w ones you need to stand them up and no amount of tape or anything will hold them up straight.

[alltrax74]

To hold the components in place I use UHU Patafix.
It's flexible, so you can hold different sizes components at the same time, you can extend it for big surfaces, it's nice to be able to temporary stick the board on the desk while soldering...
I really like it !

[IvIark]

GoranP wrote

For me, the biggest PITA (not just with this method and one single thing I dislike about most of Harald's layouts) is having 3- or 2-row span resistors. Unless you have 1/8w ones you need to stand them up and no amount of tape or anything will hold them up straight.

That's exactly why I don't have standing resistors in my layouts.  I bought a set of 1/8w resistors so I could still lie the resistor flat with 3 hole spans but I only ever do that when there is little alternative other than to increase the number of rows which I often want to avoid with bigger circuits to keep things 1590B friendly.

[GoranP]

Please keep that tradition up...

And good tip Alltrax, I'll try that. You seem to have a use for everything UHU makes.

[alltrax74]

Right, love their products

No problem with the vertical resistors with the "Patafix", you can solder at once many different sizes components

[Geiri]

Mark, would you care to take a photo or two? I'm not exactly getting what you mean. I have been very tired today but photos would help! I always bend the leads BUT it's been *okay* ever since I got new clippers that are sharp as hell and make really nice cuts. I'd love to do it without having to bend the leads.

[Snare227]

I do something similar to what I think he is describing...

I have one of those "third hand" type of gadgets that you can pick up that basically a weighted base and  has two adjustable arms with alligator clips on them (and a magnifying glass that is movable)  You can get them at Harbor Freight for just a few dollars.  Well l I put in my layer of components and just leave the leads sticking straight out perpendicular to the vero.  Once the layer is in, I put a somewhat thick piece of foam rubber on top and then a scrap piece of vero on top and wrap it up with a rubber band.  It's basically like making a hamburger where the vero with the components in the clamp is the bottom piece of the bun, the foam to hold everything in place is the meat, and the scrap vero is the top of the bun.  The rubber band acts as the toothpick to hold it all together.  Then I'm able to flip it and solder, clip, solder, clip, etc.

I know a lot of people use side cutters to trim their leads but I use a pair of clippers intended for clipping fishing line.  Only a couple of dollars, and it's basically a large pair of toenail clippers and works quite well.

[toddvirgil]

thanks for all the tips everyone.. I tried it last night and worked like a charm, though my eyes get a bit crosseyed with all those leads pointing at me :) I might have to try some of that patafix next...

[IvIark]

Geiri wrote

Mark, would you care to take a photo or two? I'm not exactly getting what you mean.

Sorry mate only just noticed this.  I'll take a pic either tonight or tomorrow and post it.

[alltrax74]

Tod, I always precut the leads at about half long, it makes the soldering much easier and faster as the iron doesn't interfere with the leads

[toddvirgil]

Alltrax, thanks for the tip -- I tried your paradox method (though using something similar from 3m they had at my local craft supply) ... Wow. Brilliant -- I can't believe  I ever wasted time doing anything else. I had thirty components stuffed soldered and clipped in about 15mins. Thanks!

[toddvirgil]

Darned autocorrect. I meant patafix not paradox... Though if anyone has a paradox method, that sounds wicked cool.

[alltrax74]

Glad you like it