[SRBakker]

Hi all -

I’m toying with buying a Bottlehead kit to play with, specifically a S.E.X., next time they go on sale.

I’ve messed around with some DIY before, but just cables and such. I do not feel that I am particularly great at soldering.

I’m curious what the skill level required would be? Is this something worth trying to learn on, or should I mess with something simpler first?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LarryM]

As long as you're patient and methodical, you'll be OK. I'd recommend studying up on soldering first, however. Check out You Tube videos. Good solder technique is a must.

My first kit was a Bottlehead Foreplay: I took my time on it and it turned out fine. The BH folks claim their kits can be built over the course of a few evenings, but my experience is that it takes longer than that. But it's a pleasant project to spend a week or so of evenings on.

 

[SRBakker]

As long as you're patient and methodical, you'll be OK. I'd recommend studying up on soldering first, however. Check out You Tube videos. Good solder technique is a must.

My first kit was a Bottlehead Foreplay: I took my time on it and it turned out fine. The BH folks claim their kits can be built over the course of a few evenings, but my experience is that it takes longer than that. But it's a pleasant project to spend a week or so of evenings on.

Thanks, that's good to know. I've been working on a keyboard which I think should serve as decent prep. Now, if only Bottlehead would hurry up and have a sale!

 

[HiFan]

Thanks, that's good to know. I've been working on a keyboard which I think should serve as decent prep. Now, if only Bottlehead would hurry up and have a sale!

Dave from EEVblog recently posted videos on soldering skills. His tutorial on this is among the best (in correctness).

 

[SRBakker]

Dave from EEVblog recently posted videos on soldering skills. His tutorial on this is among the best (in correctness).

I will certainly check them out. Thank you!

 

[drteming]

This is an excellent resource for soldering specifications: http://www.sal.wisc.edu/docs/Soldering Basics.pdf

 

[carlman14]

I'm a little late here... but I agree with the other comments. As long as you can follow directions and have basic soldering skills, you'll be ok. The manuals they include with kits are VERY detailed, so you just have to be sure to read all of it as you're going along. For reference, I had never done anything like this before, and I finished a crack build in a weekend. The folks on the bottlehead forum are also super helpful and supportive. So if you get stuck, they are always willing to help!

Just wait until you build your first kit... then you'll get sucked into the rabbit hole of mods. It's super fun.

 

[DenverW]

He's right about the mods! I'm doing pretty much all of them and having quite a bit of fun!

I haven't done a SEX kit, but I did a crack. The instructions are excellent, and I only had a few times of getting confused. Most of it was me not understanding the wording of something, such as screwing in a nut on the other sit of the panel. Be very slow and methodical on the instructions. Once I ended up soldering something early, when the manual just said to attach. No biggie, but little mistakes take more time than just being slow and careful. I would mark off each step as I did it. Unit worked on first try. Later I added the speedball upgrade, which initially had a few high voltages but was fixed after I reflowed some solder. The guys on the bottlehead forum are very quick to respond and pretty helpful.

I would say, if you haven't don't anything like this to perhaps do the crack kit first. Its a great test run on soldering, and if you do speedball later it will get you familiar with soldering and putting together PC boards.

Also, make sure you have a few basic tools around, such as wire cutters and stripper, something to do measurements for wire length, needle nose pliers, magnifying glass, permanent black marker, as well as the right type solder and station. I'm happy I did the kit just from what I learned from doing it.

 

[Darkblade48]

I'm also a bit late to responding to this post, but I'm working on a SEX myself, and the instructions are very thorough.

As mentioned, as long as you can do some basic soldering, you will have no problems with the kit. Just take your time and slowly work through it. I'm working on it excruciatingly slowly, as most of the prep work (painting, priming, etc) took several days to get just right.

 

[PointyFox]

The biggest mistake you can make soldering is overheating a part.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

The biggest mistake you can make soldering is overheating a part.

Or underheating it. If the parts are not hot enough you get a cold solder joint which is mechanically weak and will likely fail.

Soldering is trivially easy. You want to get the parts hot enough that solder flows but not hot enough to burn the part. It is much easier than it sounds.

To practice, just get some stranded wire and something to hold it steady. Heat the wire with a broad-tipped soldering iron and hold the solder to the wire, not the soldering iron. When the solder flows on the wire, that's what you're looking for.

For small parts and connectors a 15W soldering iron is plenty for every general task.

 

[tomb]

There's no substitute for experience. You need to practice soldering. I've been doing it on and off for about 55 years, now, since I built my first slot car chassis. Even now, building dozens of amplifiers and DACs - there's something new I learn almost every time I do it.

That said, there's no substitute for good equipment and materials, either:

1. Find a good soldering unit, preferably a soldering station for electronics.
2. Use the correct tip - preferably a small chisel type.
3. Use a good solder - Kester 63/37 (eutectic) with rosin core is great. 0.025 inches/dia is a good size for starting.
4. Use a good de-soldering braid.
5. Make use of the new brass wool instead of the old wet sponge - works wonders.

There are a lot of other finer points to soldering, but these are the biggies.

 

[bagwell359]

There's no substitute for experience. You need to practice soldering. I've been doing it on and off for about 55 years, now, since I built my first slot car chassis. Even now, building dozens of amplifiers and DACs - there's something new I learn almost every time I do it.

That said, there's no substitute for good equipment and materials, either:

1. Find a good soldering unit, preferably a soldering station for electronics.
2. Use the correct tip - preferably a small chisel type.
3. Use a good solder - Kester 63/37 (eutectic) with rosin core is great. 0.025 inches/dia is a good size for starting.
4. Use a good de-soldering braid.
5. Make use of the new brass wool instead of the old wet sponge - works wonders.

There are a lot of other finer points to soldering, but these are the biggies.

Good advice. Kester 63/37 rosin core is a great choice.

I do prefer solder suckers over braid. But I have both.

Also recommend hest sinks to protect discrete components.

Yes wet sponges are passe. I use tip tinner too.

 

[tomb]

Good advice. Kester 63/37 rosin core is a great choice.

I do prefer solder suckers over braid. But I have both.

Also recommend hest sinks to protect discrete components.

Yes wet sponges are passe. I use tip tinner too.

Agreed on the suckers. I have both, too. However, if you only have one - the braid is better, at least with our type of electronics. This is assuming that most uses are cleanup/touchup and perhaps removal of a lead or two (or SMD, period). If you need wholesale removal of multi-pin through-hole parts, then solder suckers can cut down greatly on removing the majority of the solder. Braid is still needed to cleanup and remove the solder from smaller holes.

 

[bagwell359]

Agreed on the suckers. I have both, too. However, if you only have one - the braid is better, at least with our type of electronics. This is assuming that most uses are cleanup/touchup and perhaps removal of a lead or two (or SMD, period). If you need wholesale removal of multi-pin through-hole parts, then solder suckers can cut down greatly on removing the majority of the solder. Braid is still needed to cleanup and remove the solder from smaller holes.

Interesting. It's the small holes where I like the suckers the most. The braid is more likely to lift pads too. When I did touch-up at HP, etc. we all used suckers, so I guess I'm biased.

I haven't used my braid in years. I like the no cost (after purchase) re-usable suckers. I also like the thin ones so you can get them in tight spots.

But, it's undeniable that braid can and does do the job.