Any advice to beginners?

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pandalovar100
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Any advice to beginners?

Post by pandalovar100 » Fri Jul 21, 2017 8:15 pm

I recently saw the mintyPi project as a suggested video on YouTube and have become really interested in assembling my own. However, my lack of work with electronics has me worried if I can even handle a project like this. I have never soldered any electrical component which is, of course, a necessity for building a mintyPi. I do have some basic equipment to get me started such as multimeter, clamp stand, and some spare wires. I really want to take on this project but don't want to go head on clueless. Any advice or suggestions would greatly be appreciated! :D

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dryja123
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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by dryja123 » Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:11 pm

I would strongly suggest you practice soldering a few things cleanly before you tackle this project.

To get started, pick up some perf board and start soldering wire to it. Once you've graduated by properly soldering wire, grab a junk PCB and start removing components and add the removed components to your test perf boards. After you get comfortable with that, grab a kit and get it up and running.

I know you're super stoked to give this project a whirl but if you don't develop a novice level of skill you're going to have a hard / impossible time that may discourage you from tackling projects in the future.

I started to learn how to solder this past May. Since I started I've invested at least 80 hours of practice. Despite my practice, I still hit a few snags with the mintyPi project that really got my heart pumping. (Like shorting my battery for a split second when soldering it to the Micro Lipo)

I strongly suggest that you grab a few soldering practice kits. Here's a link to a cheap $1.45 electronic dice kit that really helped me hone my skills: http://www.ebay.com/itm/292030828402

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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by MrDralixx » Sat Jul 22, 2017 7:51 am

dryja123 wrote:
Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:11 pm
I would strongly suggest you practice soldering a few things cleanly before you tackle this project.

To get started, pick up some perf board and start soldering wire to it. Once you've graduated by properly soldering wire, grab a junk PCB and start removing components and add the removed components to your test perf boards. After you get comfortable with that, grab a kit and get it up and running.

I know you're super stoked to give this project a whirl but if you don't develop a novice level of skill you're going to have a hard / impossible time that may discourage you from tackling projects in the future.

I started to learn how to solder this past May. Since I started I've invested at least 80 hours of practice. Despite my practice, I still hit a few snags with the mintyPi project that really got my heart pumping. (Like shorting my battery for a split second when soldering it to the Micro Lipo)

I strongly suggest that you grab a few soldering practice kits. Here's a link to a cheap $1.45 electronic dice kit that really helped me hone my skills: http://www.ebay.com/itm/292030828402
I soldered a lot when I was younger, but hadn't done it for about 2 decades until last year when I decided to build an electronics workbench and start up again. My kit to get me re-started actually, was from a soldering iron starter kit from Radio Shack. Made a little 8-button piano. Good practice soldering several types of components there. That is definitely a good route to go as well. I did the de-soldering practice on old computer parts my wife has been yelling at me to get rid of for a long time now. Lots of good stuff can be found in old CD/DVD drives (potentiometers FTW!), video cards, sound cards, and motherboards as well.

There's a great guide on soldering by abrugsch that you should really read. And maybe re-read. Personally, I'm more comfortable reading guides several times before trying something new.

Once you are comfortable with the soldering part, you're going to notice some pieces were easier to solder than others. That would be due to the thickness of the solder itself. I'm now up to 3 thicknesses I work with. I came across this article a while back and it helped me realize how to go about choosing what was best to use depending what I was doing.

http://store.curiousinventor.com/guides ... _of_solder

Anyway. Just my 2 cents to all of it. Hope any of this advice helps you.


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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by wermy » Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:13 am

First of all welcome! You're in good company - there are new users popping up every day on here who are also brand new to DIY electronics projects.

Lots of good advice already in this thread, I guess the biggest thing I'd add is *take your time.* Stop when you get frustrated or when it's late and you're tired, and come back to it later. Many of the issues people run into on here with this and other projects (lifted PCB pads, broken ribbon cables, broken screens, etc.) could have been avoided if people took their time and were more meticulous about things. The process of making stuff like this is half the fun, so why rush it? :)
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pandalovar100
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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by pandalovar100 » Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:37 pm

Thank you all for the help and advice! I'd just bought some practice soldering kits on eBay as mentioned by @dryja123.
Also, are there any recommendations for a soldering station? This one on Amazon seems like a good budget option. I'm also looking for a fume extractor since it's definitely not a good idea to be breathing any of the solder materials.

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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by MrDralixx » Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:28 pm

Weller makes great soldering equipment. The reviews for that alone should tell you how good it is. A couple of my friends have that one and it's a great piece. I'm planning on upgrading to that one at some point in the near future.

Instead of buying a fume extractor, why not work on your soldering skills some more and make one? You might have some of the equipment needed for this one already. :)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pocket- ... Extractor/

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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by abrugsch » Mon Jul 24, 2017 11:58 pm

MrDralixx wrote:
Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:28 pm
Instead of buying a fume extractor, why not work on your soldering skills some more and make one? You might have some of the equipment needed for this one already. :)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Pocket- ... Extractor/
The one at the hackerspace is just a server fan with some filter pad in front of it :ugeek:

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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by Dukana » Thu Jul 27, 2017 2:57 am

My technique is to work near an open window. Breathe in before I touch the solder to the iron, hold my breath, and when all that rosin smoke starts coming up, exhale to blow it away from me.

But yeah, wiring up a spare 120mm case fan would probably be a pretty smart idea.

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Re: Any advice to beginners?

Post by Helder » Thu Jul 27, 2017 5:32 am

For years I just blew on the iron slowly to blow the fumes away but now I have a fume extractor which great but a ceiling fan circulating the air in the room also works to some extent.
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