# Soldering & Electronics Bench
There are 3 fully kitted out electronics test benches at CCI as well as a number of on-demand soldering kits that can be setup anywhere.
# What is on the electronics bench?
There are a number of electronics benches available with soldering facilities as described above, as well as other test equiptment:
- [Rigol MSO5072 Mixed Signal Oscilloscope](https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/MSO5000/)
- [Rigol DS1202Z-E Digital Oscilloscope](https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-oscilloscopes/1000z/DS1202Z-E/)
- [Rigol DM3058E Bench Multimeter](https://www.rigolna.com/products/digital-multimeters/dm3000/)
- [Rigol DP831 Linear DC Power Supply](https://www.rigolna.com/products/dc-power-loads/dp800/)
- [Rigol DP711 Linear DC Power Supply](https://www.rigolna.com/products/dc-power-loads/dp700/)
- [EXTECH EX310 Hand-held Multimeter](http://www.extech.com/products/EX310)
# What is on the soldering bench?
There are a number of [Hakko FX-951 temprature controlled soldering stations](https://www.hakko.co.uk/fx-951-soldering-station.html) available, the soldering irons are only to be used for lead free soldering, CCI provides lead-free rosin-free solder.
There is no cost to using the soldering irons at CCI, the tips, solder, wire, and other common consumables like LEDs, resistors, headers, etc... are provided within reason.
# How to soldering properly
For the beginner who just started physical computing, there is always an unavoidable challenge - "How to solder?" On this page, we will try to show you the basic knowledge of how to solder, what equipment we have, and what the general process you can do in CCI.
If you wanna learn more details, Adafruite has a nice instruction [Adafruit Guide To Excellent Soldering](https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-guide-excellent-soldering)
### Tools you can find in CCI
If you want to know more about the tools, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-1phA_vKDg) is another video about handheld tools for electronics.
## Preparation
1. Wear the PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)/Safty goggles (You can find them in the draw under the electronics benches)
2. Turn on the soldering iron (You will hear the bib sound when it reaches the state temperature), clean it, and tin the tip
3. Make sure the joints are clean
4. Immobilize the joint
5. Steady the board
* Breadboard
For the new chips, you might need the assistance of a breadboard. Cut the right amount of pins and insert them into the board - Long Pins Down
* Stripboard/Portboard
It's better to draw a diagram before you start, which could easily figure out how much stripboard you need (Don't waste!) and you can cut the board down to the size by the PCB Guillotine.
For the stripboard and protoboard, you need a third hand to provide the board moving around while soldering.
## How to solder
Once all of the components are immobilized, you are ready to soldering. It only takes 4 easy steps to get a nice solder joint. Here is a video for ["How to soldering properly!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKbJxytERvg&t=196s)
[](https://wiki.cci.arts.ac.uk/uploads/images/gallery/2024-02/WcZZjzLbv9pXD8Ky-apply-solder-wire.jpg)
## Example of Soldering Joints
A good soldering joint should be:
* Smooth, bright and Clean
* Neat concave fillet
* Complete, solid solder wetting
What does wetting mean?
Solder wetting refers to the stage in the process where the solder metal bonds with the metal surfaces on the printed circuit board (PCB) or component. This process involves the solder transitioning into a molten, fluid state, allowing it to properly adhere to the component for creating an effective solder joint.
#### Here are some common soldering problems while you are soldering
[](https://wiki.cci.arts.ac.uk/uploads/images/gallery/2024-02/FPelr67bayiWqwdl-screenshot-2024-02-12-at-15-31-02.png)
## Check the Connection with the Multimeter
Switch the multimeter to the buzzer Molde, which helps you test the continuity of your circuit. If you heard the buzzer sound, it means the two parts attached to your probe are connected.
[](https://wiki.cci.arts.ac.uk/uploads/images/gallery/2024-02/Ht1zwOmixFJQ6pz9-screenshot-2024-02-13-at-15-31-33.png)
However, you don't want some extra continuity in your circuit, such as -- solder bridge, which might cause a short circuit and damage your work.
Make Sure there is no short circuit on your board before you power it!
#### This is what Solder bridge looks like
