Using a Solder Pot to Solder a Small Board

April 19, 2019

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Have you ever run across needing to solder multiple small PCB boards at once? If so, you know how much of a hassle it is to do them one by one. There are some ways that make it easier to do. For instance, using a solder pot. Using a solder pot to solder smaller Thru-hole boards is easier than doing them by hand soldering. All you need is a wide solder pot, a 63/37 or SAC305 (Lead Free) bar solder, and Rosin flux.

Here is an example of a solder pot that can be used for this task:

Let's walk through the steps:

Put all the components into the PCB board.
Dependent on what your working on, it is better to attach the components without removing the excess pins. For example, if you placed in a capacitor do not cut the legs short. Just bend slightly to prevent the components from moving out of the pins
Place the bar(s) in
Using the soldering bar of your choosing place it into the solder pot. You may want to cut the bar into small pieces.
Heat up the soldering pot.
Now this will differ based on which pot you have. Generally you want the heat of the solder pot to be somewhere around 350°C. Once the solder does melt scrape the top of the solder to remove excess Dross "crud" on the top.
Dip it in!
Now you want to dip the board into the rosin flux, NOT THE SOLDER YET! It is important to keep in mind that the flux is going to help create a strong joint for the solder.
Dip it in again!
Now, you can dip the board into the solder pot. Be careful not to submerge the whole board. You want it to dip in just enough to cover the bottom of the board allowing all the pin holes to be filled.
Finally and ...!
Let the board cool. Excess flux can be removed with Alcohol. Most importantly, the final step is to clip off the excess pin legs.

Take a good look at the bottom of the board and check the connection pins. Apply solder to the joints you don't feel comfortable with. Other than that, you're done! Its that simple and allows you to do this for multiple boards if necessary.

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