Made a mess of the soldering - Please help

Wireless Connectivity Ultra-Wideband
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Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a few DWM1001-Dev modules, and also a Raspberry Pi 3B, and trying to follow the documentation to build a gateway. I’m not very experienced at soldering - actually pretty much a novice. I bought a soldering iron kit and watched lots of tutorials on YouTube.

I tried to solder the 2x13 header pins onto one of the DWM1001 development boards but found it very tricky because the long pins seemed to get in the way. I pretty much made a mess of the whole thing. I checked the board afterwards to make sure it was still okay (checked that it worked as an anchor), and it was, so it’s not been damaged.

In order to try to salvage it I cut the long pins off. Please see the following picture. If you look really closely at the picture (it’s high resolution so you can zoom in super close) it seems that very few proper connections have been made.

DWM1001Dev2
DWM1001Dev23024×4032 2.07 MB

I have three questions please:

  1. What would be the best way forward? Can I just apply some flux and reheat the solder already there? I just want the connections to look smooth before I try to plug it onto the Raspberry Pi. I’ve subsequently ordered a flux pen and some de-soldering braid/wick, as some of the tutorials suggest this might help.

  2. What type of soldering iron tip would be best suited for the job? Conical, chisel, bent conical? And what size?

  3. Why do the header pins have to be with long pins and not normal length pins? I’m not going to be plugging anything on top, so why does it need to be stackable? I think it might make the soldering easier if the pins weren’t so long.

Thank you.

Much appreciated for your help.

Sunny

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Hi Sunny

You should look into getting some flux. Put a tiny dab on the pins before soldering. I personally prefer the tacky flux from chipquick. Modern solder often contains a flux core, but adding more makes the job a lot easier.

Also make sure to use a high enough temperature and to keep the iron against the pads long enough. You can look into using leaded solder. It’s not suitable for products (projects you want to sell) due to ROHS, but it’s still available on the hobby market. It’s a lot better and easier to use than (cheap) leadless solder.

What type of soldering iron tip would be best suited for the job? Conical, chisel, bent conical? And what size?

A chisel tends to be best, but make sure it’s not to big. Just slightly smaller than the pads. I think you might be using one of those huge conical soldering irons. Great for wood burning, but not fantastic for soldering. A temperature controllable iron / solder station is a great investment.

Why do the header pins have to be with long pins and not normal length pins?

This allows headers to be plugged on the top, handy for debugging. You should be able to reach the pads from the side.

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Hi Seppe,

Great thanks a lot. That’s very helpful. I will try what you have said.

Please can you tell me what is the size of the pad, or alternatively what size tip do you use?

Thanks

Sunny