https://hackaday.com/2025/01/09/retrotechtacular-soldering-the-tek-way/ Skip to content Logo Hackaday Primary Menu * Home * Blog * Hackaday.io * Tindie * Hackaday Prize * Submit * About * Search for: [ ] [Search] January 9, 2025 Retrotechtacular: Soldering The Tek Way 11 Comments * by: Dan Maloney January 9, 2025 * * * * * Title: [Retrotechtacular: So] Copy Short Link: [https://hackaday.com] Copy [tek_solder] For a lot of us, soldering just seems to come naturally. But if we're being honest, none of us was born with a soldering iron in our hand -- ouch! -- and if we're good at soldering now, it's only thanks to good habits and long practice. But what if you're a company that lives and dies by the quality of the solder joints your employees produce? How do you get them to embrace the dark art of soldering? If you're Tektronix in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the answer is simple: make in-depth training videos that teach people to solder the Tek way. The first video below, from 1977, is aimed at workers on the assembly line and as such concentrates mainly on the practical aspects of making solid solder joints on PCBs and mainly with through-hole components. The video does have a bit of theory on soldering chemistry and the difference between eutectic alloys and other tin-lead mixes, as well as a little about the proper use of silver-bearing solders. But most of the time is spent discussing the primary tool of the trade: the iron. Even though the film is dated and looks like a multi-generation dupe from VHS, it still has a lot of valuable tips; we've been soldering for decades and somehow never realized that cleaning a tip on a wet sponge is so effective because the sudden temperature change helps release oxides and burned flux. The more you know. The second video below is aimed more at the Tek repair and rework technicians. It reiterates a lot of the material from the first video, but then veers off into repair-specific topics, like effective desoldering. Pro tip: Don't use the "Heat and Shake" method of desoldering, and wear those safety glasses. There's also a lot of detail on how to avoid damaging the PCB during repairs, and how to fix them if you do manage to lift a trace. They put a fair amount of emphasis on the importance of making repairs look good, especially with bodge wires, which should be placed on the back of the board so they're not so obvious. It makes sense; Tek boards from the era are works of art, and you don't want to mess with that. * [share_face] * [share_twit] * [share_in] * [share_mail] Posted in Retrotechtacular, Tool HacksTagged assembly, desoldering, eutectic, flux, pcb, retrotechtacular, soldering, Tek, tektronix, through hole, tinning Post navigation - Writing A RISC-V OS From Scratch Toner Transfer, But Not For PCBs - 11 thoughts on "Retrotechtacular: Soldering The Tek Way" 1. QBFreak says: January 9, 2025 at 12:12 pm I can attest to the value of safety glasses. I've had several close calls, and one tiny eye burn. In an ideal world, I'd wear them for all solder jobs, not just when I expected something to happen, but I haven't quite convinced myself to do that yet. Instead it's a lot of "doing something dumb, better close my eyes." I probably need to make the glasses more accessible from my primary workstation. Report comment Reply 1. cliff claven says: January 9, 2025 at 12:49 pm Protip: wear them all of the time. Get some so comfortable the you forget to take them off when you walk out. Really. Also: Zeiss lens wipes Report comment Reply 2. Julianne says: January 9, 2025 at 12:58 pm safety squint Report comment Reply 2. g says: January 9, 2025 at 12:14 pm But then of course you can't just leave the PACE versions unmentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIT4ra6Mo0s&list= PL926EC0F1F93C1837 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKX-GBe_lUI&list= PL958FF32927823D12 Report comment Reply 3. nik282000 says: January 9, 2025 at 12:47 pm So the first time I though it was a coincidence, but this has been the 4th or 5th video recently that I have watched and then seen featured on HaD. I wonder if YouTube has a group of users ear marked for generating views on technical content because they share their suggestions with a 3rd party platform, HaD. Report comment Reply 1. Eric says: January 9, 2025 at 1:14 pm Probably it comes up on user's feed, then user submit a tip to HAD who picks it up and does a page. O quite often see Youtube video of electronic hacks on my regular feed a day or 2 before it shows up on HAD. The soldering video popped up a few days ago as it was new and seemed to fit my preferences. As for old video I don't know how Youtube decides what older video to bring up. Once in a whole a 10+ year old video pops up on my feed. Report comment Reply 2. TG says: January 9, 2025 at 1:51 pm The almighty algorithm has probably created a category for this site by now and has spotted the accounts of many frequent users completely independently. Direct tracking is almost redundant nowadays, you will get sorted into the same box in independent websites without any kind of cross-site communication needed, just by your habits. I also get recommended youtoob videos featured on HaD about two weeks to a month in advance, it's not just you. Report comment Reply 4. LordNothing says: January 9, 2025 at 12:58 pm i always thought of soldering more as an artisanal skill. the science of soldering is more a matter for manufacturers than hobbyists doing projects. Report comment Reply 1. TG says: January 9, 2025 at 1:53 pm Yeah, much of this is irrelevant unless you need the cost shavings of mass production. But it's still interesting to the amateur, and might even give one a couple ideas of how to solder a bit better... Even if the extra efficiency isn't really necessary Report comment Reply 5. Steven Clark says: January 9, 2025 at 2:06 pm This is nice! It's got all those details I don't have anyone to ask about in person. Report comment Reply 6. Lord Kimbote says: January 9, 2025 at 2:07 pm My soldering skills were always worth crap. Once I was contracted by a hotel to interface their new PBX to their front desk system so LD calls from rooms could be automatically charged and the best solution I came with was to emulate a vt100 terminal in the front desk host feeding from a port of the PBX (programmed to send strings out). Turned out there were no ready-made RS232 cables for my solution so I had to make one myself. I had to bring the wife to do the soldering for me. Report comment Reply Leave a ReplyCancel reply Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy) This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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