Chris Chung posted this helpful image over at the HP museum forums:


(https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-gui ... n-problems)

(My first major soldering experience was with my UK101 kit. It didn't work, so I resoldered every joint, without really knowing what I was doing, and then it did work!)

That's the big project for this year, learning how to solder things smaller than my thumb (don't ask). Basically, you want it to look like a cone, I guess.

Thanks for the image!

I would say that yes, both the joints marked "OK" are just that. They would certainly work, but I would shoot for better. The one on the left doesn't have enough solder, and the one on the right has too much, in my opinion.

I would say the perfect solder joint on a PCB has more of a gradually sloped shape than a perfect cone.

I agree with you.

Is the type of solder even specified in the article? I don't remember after skimming through it once...

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65Org16:https://github.com/ElEctric-EyE/verilog-6502

I have a lighted magnifier and examine all solder joints after finishing the board. It's amazing how I'll always find a few joints that look sketchy even though they looked OK without magnification. Too much or too little solder are most common, and cold joints are less common.

I also examine everything - although I prefer to do it just after each soldering "session", e.g. one IC socket or one set of resistors. I feel it's less risk of overlooking a joint that way. I use lots of light and lots of magnification. And yes the solder joint should look somewhere in between those two "ok" joints also in my opinion - that sloped cone shape KC9UDX describes (or at least I believe we're thinking the same).