CPE479

CLASS PRESENTATION
ON

SOLDERING
TECHNIQUES
BY
GROUP 3

PRESENTED TO
DR. (MRS) K.B ERAMEH
NAME MAT NO
IDOYE PRAISE ENG1905085
YADI VICTOR IDUH ENG1905086
IFIDON DANIEL ENG1905087
IGBINOSA COLLINS ENG1905088
IGBINOSA EPHRAIM ENG1905089
IGOGO ELOOGHENEZINO (miss) ENG1905090
USHA IGYO ENG1905091
IJOKOR TAMARAKRO ENG1905092
IKADE DAVID ENG1905093
IKIODA SURAJ ENG1905094
IKPEFUA PEACE (miss) ENG1905095
IMOISILI MIRACLE ENG1905097
KASALI KADIJAT (miss) ENG1905099
LUCKY-IJEH FREEMAN ENG1905100
MADUKWE ANOINTING ENG1905101
MBAM CHINEDU ENG1905102
MOFFAT INUIFAK ENG1905103
NNACHI UKANNA ENG1905104
NWACHUKWU GAIUS ENG1905105
UCHENNA DAVID ENG1905106
OBAMWONYI DESTINY ENG1905107
OBIEZU PRINCEWILL ENG1905108
OCHADE DANIELLA (miss) ENG1905109

1
 INTRODUCTION
What is soldering?
Soldering is the process of joining two or more electronic parts together by melting
solder around the connection. Solder is a metal alloy and when it cools it creates a
strong electrical bond between the parts. Solder usually has lower melting points than
the adjoining metal.
Even though soldering can create a permanent connection, it can also be reversed
using a desoldering tool. Desoldering is simply the removal of solder and components
from a circuit board for troubleshooting, repair or replacement. Learning how to solder
with proper soldering techniques is a fundamental skill for circuit design
Types of soldering
1. Soft soldering.
2. Hard soldering.
Soft soldering:
It is a process for joining small intricate parts having low melting points which
damages when soldering process is carried out at high temperature. It uses
tinlead alloy as filler material. The melting point of filler material should be
below 400°C. It uses gas torch as the heat source.
Hard soldering:
In this process, hard solder connects two pieces of metals by expanding into the
pores of the work piece by high temperature. The filler material possesses high
temperature above 450°C. It comprises of two parts namely silver soldering
and brazing.
• Silver soldering: It is a clean process useful for fabricating small fittings,
doing odd repairs and making tools. It uses an alloy containing silver. Silver
solder is not good at gap filling hence fluxes are recommended for precise
silver solder.
• Brazing: It is a process of joining two pieces of base metals by creating
melted metallic fiber that flows by capillary action across the joints and

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 cools to form a solid bond through atomic attraction and diffusion. It creates
a strong joint. It uses brass alloy as filler material e.g. aluminum.
Tools used in soldering.
There are different tools used in soldering. They include:
1. Soldering Iron: A soldering iron is a hand tool that plugs into a standard 220v
AC outlet and heats up in order to melt solder around electrical connections.
This is one of the most important tools used in soldering and it can come in a
few variations such as pen or gun form. For beginners, it’s recommended that
you use the pen style soldering iron in the 15W to 30W range. Most soldering
irons have interchangeable tips that can be used for different soldering
applications.

Soldering Iron Types

i. Temperature-controlled iron: A soldering iron with electronic
temperature control is highly recommended. Irons without temperature
control can reach temperatures that are high enough to irreversibly
damage the tips. Since temperature is not proportional to wattage with
this type of iron, the wattage rating is relatively unimportant. A higher
wattage iron results in a faster temperature recovery time between
soldering operations (40 W to 60 W units seem to work well).
ii. Non-temperature-controlled iron: A low wattage (10 W to 25 W)
pencil-type (not gun-type can be used but is not recommended. This type
of iron must be unplugged when not in use to save the tips. The
temperature is proportional to wattage and most of these types of
soldering irons will reach temperatures that can destroy tips quickly.

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 2. Soldering station: A soldering station is a more advanced version of the basic
standalone soldering pen. It offers more flexibility and control. The main
benefit of a soldering station is the ability to precisely adjust the temperature of
the soldering iron which is great for a range of projects. These stations can also
create a safer workspace as some include advanced temperature sensors, alert
settings and even password protection for safety. The base of the soldering
station comes in two types: 1) Digital 2)Analog as shown in the pictures below:

3. Soldering Iron Tips: At the end of most soldering irons is an interchangeable

part known as a soldering tip. There are many variations of this tip and they
come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Each tip is used for a specific
purpose and offers a distinct advantage over another. The most common tips
used in electronics projects are the conical tip and the chisel tip.
Conical Tip – Used in precision electronics soldering because of the fine tip.
Because of its pointed end, it’s able to deliver heat to smaller areas without
affecting its surroundings.
Chisel Tip – This tip is well-suited to soldering wires or other larger
components because of its broad flat tip.
NB: The tip of the iron should be a shiny silver color. If it’s black, it is due for
replacement.

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4. Brass or Conventional sponge: This is used to keep the soldering iron tip
clean by removing the oxidation that forms. Tips with oxidation will tend to
turn black and not accept solder as it did when it was new. A conventional wet
sponge can be used but this tends to shorten the lifespan of the tip due to
expansion and contraction. Also, a wet sponge will drop the temperature of the
tip temporarily when wiped. A better alternative is to use a brass sponge as
shown on the left.

5. Soldering Iron stand: A soldering iron stand is very basic but very useful and
handy to have. This stand helps prevent the hot iron tip from coming in contact
with flammable materials or causing accidental injury to your hand. Most
soldering stations come with this built in and also include a sponge or brass
sponge for cleaning the tip.

6. Solder: Solder is a metal alloy material that is melted to create a permanent

bond between electrical parts. Inside the solder core is a material known as flux
which helps improve electrical contact and its mechanical strength. There are
three types of solder, they are:

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• Rosin core: 60/40 Sn/Pb (M.P. 361-376°F) and 63/37 Sn/Pb (M.P. 361°F)
solders are the most common types used for electronics assembly. These
solders are available in various diameters and small diameters are most
appropriate for small electronics work (0.02” -0.05” diameter is
recommended).
• Lead-free: Lead-free solders are used as more environmental-friendly
substitutes for leaded solder, but they are typically not as easy to use mainly
because of their higher melting point and poorer wetting properties.
• Silver: Silver solders are typically used for low resistance connections but
they have a higher melting point and are more expensive than Sn/Pb
solders.
Solder comes in a few different diameters. The thicker diameter solder (0.062″)
is good for soldering larger joints more quickly but it can make soldering
smaller joints difficult. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to have both
sizes on hand for different projects.
The flux is used to prepare the surfaces of the conductors prior to soldering.
Flux removes oxidation from the conductors and maintains oxide-free surfaces
at elevated temperature during the soldering process. This allows all surfaces to
“wet” properly.

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7. Helping Hand (Third Hand): A helping hand is a device that has 2
or more alligator clips and sometimes a magnifying glass/light
attached. These clips will assist you by holding the items you are
trying to solder while you use the soldering iron and solder. A very
helpful tool to have in your workspace.

8. Wire Cutter: The wire cutter is a very handy little soldering tool.
Use it to cut long component legs, or to strip the end of a wire.

9. Solder Sucker: The solder sucker, or solder pump, is a mechanical

vacuum pump. It sucks the solder away from the solder joint.

7
 SOLDERING TECHNIQUES
Soldering techniques are ways or styles in which soldering can be done. There are
basically two techniques of soldering, they are (i) through-hole soldering and (ii)
surface mount soldering. (Buschow, 2001) Through-hole Technology soldering
(THT)
Through-hole soldering refers to the mounting scheme used for electronic components
that involves the use of leads on the components that are inserted into holes drilled in
Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) and soldered to pads on the opposite side either by
manual assembly (hand placement) or by the use of automated insertion mount
machines. It is called through-hole because the components we are using have wire
leads which pass through holes in the PCB before being soldered.

Advantages: The bonds created between THT components and the board are far
stronger than SMT bonds, making THT the ideal choice for components that will
undergo mechanical and environmental stress or high heat, such as connectors and
transformers. THT components are also easy to swap out, making them perfect for
prototypes and testing.
Disadvantages: Since THT component leads are fed through the board, the PCBs
must be pre-drilled, which is both expensive and time-consuming. It also restricts
components to one side of the board and limits the available routing area on
multilayer boards since the holes must be drilled through all the PCB’s layers.
THT’s soldering process often makes the resulting solder points less reliable than
SMT solder. Additionally, the THT assembly process is more involved and
therefore more expensive than SMT.

8
Surface Mount Technology soldering (SMT)
Surface Mount soldering is a method for producing electronic circuits in which the
components are mounted or placed directly onto the surface of Printed Circuit Boards
(PCBs). An electronic device so made is called a Surface-Mount Device (SMD). In
industry, it has largely replaced the through-hole technology construction method of
fitting components with wire leads into holes in the circuit board. By employing SMT,
the production process speeds up, but the risk of defects also increases due to
component miniaturization and to the denser packing of boards. In those conditions,
detection of failures has become critical for any SMT manufacturing process. An SMT
component is usually smaller than its through-hole counterpart because it has either
smaller leads or no leads at all. (Wikipedia, nd)

Advantages: SMT can be placed on both sides of the board and in higher
densities, allowing for smaller, more powerful PCBs. Since holes do not need to be
drilled, you have lower bare board costs and faster production times. SMT
components can be placed up to ten times faster than THT components. The solder
is much more reliable and can be done quickly and evenly in reflow ovens. SMT
has also proven to be more stable and perform better under shake and vibration
conditions.
Disadvantages: SMT’s largest downfall is that it can be unreliable when used as
the sole attachment method for components that undergo mechanical and
environmental stress and high heat (Telan, 2017).

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SOLDERING PROCEDURE NECESSARY TOOLS
This is the recommended minimum complement of tools for soldering; a
miniature needle-nose pliers, miniature side cutters wire strippers, solder removal tool
(solder sucker), water bottle safety glasses, etc.
Helpful Tools
They are lamp with magnifying glass, vise or circuit board holder, third hand
device, heat sink clips, fume absorber, etc.
A. Warm-up; Allow the soldering iron to reach adequate temperature. The
recommended temperature setting is between 600 and 750°F. Some tips may have
recommended operating temperatures that should be observed.
B. Clean Tip; A clean tip promotes heat transfer and helps to prevent unwanted
“solder bridges” from forming. A heavily oxidized tip will make it impossible to
solder properly.
The steps to maintain clean tips are as follows:
1. Moisten sponge.
2. Wipe tip on sponge.
3. “Wet” tip with solder –just enough for a very thin coating.
4. Repeat if necessary to obtain a clean, shiny tip surface. Also, repeat between each
solder operation to maintain a clean tip .
C. Prepare surfaces to be soldered;
1. If soldering to a bare copper (non-pretinned) printed circuit board (PCB), the
copper should be cleaned using fine steel wool or other fine abrasive. All oils and
remaining abrasives should be removed with light soap and water followed by an
alcohol rinse. The copper should have a bright, shiny appearance prior to soldering.
2. If soldering to magnet wire or other wire with varnish insulation or with
oxidized surfaces, fine grit sandpaper can be used to prepare the surfaces to be
soldered. Solid Wire; solid wire should be used for jumpers on pc boards or for any
point-topoint wiring.
2. Use pre-tinned wire for best results.
3. 22 –28 ga. solid copper wire is recommended and 22 or 24 ga. is most common.

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Safety Concerns in Soldering
1. Never touch the metal part of the soldering iron while it is turned on. This can
result in severe burns, and is generally unpleasant.
2. Never leave the soldering iron resting on the table. It will burn the work surface
and potentially start a fire.
3. Soldering can build up a mighty appetite, but it is wrong to eat while soldering.
Some solder has lead in it, a known carcinogen; which is unhealthy to ingest.
So before eating, it is advisable to turn off the soldering iron, take a break, and
wash hands with soap and water.
4. Breathing in the fumes from soldering is also unhealthy. Always use some sort
of ventilation fan to minimize human exposure.
5. While arguably not necessary, it is recommended to wear safety glasses while
soldering. Solder has been known to splash and splatter. Albeit a rare
occurrence, getting burning hot solder in the eye can be an unpleasant
experience (or bits of cut wire, for that matter).
6. After soldering, it is pertinent to wash the hands with soap and water.

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 DESOLDERING
If you make a bad connection or have to replace a component, you must melt
the solder and start over again, simply melting the solder and then attempting to pull
the part, while the solder is still wet, this is called desoldering.
The aim is to remove all the solder from a component and detach the
component from the PCB without damaging the component or the PCB, either from
excessive heat or from rough handling (Coombs, 1979).
Depending on the part and type of joint it may be possible to simply re-melt the
solder and remove the part, or it may be necessary to remove the solder from the joint
so the part can be freed. Tools for removing solder are:
1. Soldering iron: A soldering iron is a hand tool that heats up in order to melt
solder
2. Solder (copper) wick: Solder wick is a copper braid which is applied to the
joint and heated with a soldering iron. As the solder in the joint is melted it is
drawn into the solder wick like a sponge and is removed from the joint.
3. Solder sucker: A solder sucker is a spring loaded syringe or rubber bulb. The
tip of the solder sucker is placed near the joint as the joint is melted by a
soldering iron. When the sucker is operated a vacuum is created which draws
the molten solder from the joint into the body of the sucker.
4. De-soldering tool: A de-soldering tool is a type of soldering iron with a hollow
tip and is connected to a pump or vacuum source. The tip of the de-soldering
tool is placed onto the joint, typically over a component lead, and once the
solder has melted the pump is operated to draw the molten solder away.
Other tools used for desoldering include: Heat guns, also called hot air guns,
desoldering pump, removal alloys, removal fluxes, heated soldering tweezers and
various picks/ tweezers for tasks such as pulling at, holding, removing, and scraping
components.
How to Use Desoldering Tools
1. Soldering Iron: To use the soldering iron, heat up the solder with the iron. Slide
the iron up the pins to bring the majority of the solder away from the joint.

12
 Using pliers, gently pull at the components to remove their pins from the pin
holes while they are still hot. It's a good idea to pull by their leads as opposed
to on the components themselves to maintain the quality of the component.
NB: To get excess solder out of holes, stick something like a safety pin or
needle through to clear out the through-holes. Using the tip of the soldering
iron will remove the copper plating from the PCB.
2. Solder Sucker: To use the solder sucker, pre-heat the joint, apply the tip of the
sucker directly on the joint, then press the button to suck the molten metal
away, if you wait too long, the molten metal will solidify

SUCKER

3. Soldering Wick: To use soldering wick, place wick on solder bond, Heat wick
with soldering iron, wait until solder is fully absorbed up into wick (slowly
rolling iron up the wick can help).

4. DeSoldering Pump
To use the desoldering pump, heat up the solder you want to remove with a
soldering iron (some desoldering pumps also come with attached irons). Press
down on the plunger (If your pump has a bulb, just squeeze the bulb). Once the
solder is molten, place the tip of the desoldering pump against the solder that
you want to remove and release the plunger or bulb. Some desoldering pumps
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 have a release button so that you don't have to hold it the whole time and
remove free component. Repeat steps above to remove any excess solder and
dispose of the solder inside the pump by repeatedly pressing down and
releasing the plunger.

Desoldering Techniques
Desoldering requires application of heat to the solder joint and removing the molten
solder so that the joint may be separated. Desoldering may be required to replace a
defective component, to alter an existing circuit, or to salvage components for re-use.
Use of too high a temperature or heating for too long may damage components or
destroy the bond between a printed circuit trace and the board substrate. Techniques
are different for through-hole and surface-mounted components. (Paul, 2005)

Desoldering Through-holes
A component with one or two connections to the PCB can usually be removed by
heating one joint, pulling out an end of the component while the solder is molten
(bending the other lead to do so), and repeating the process for the second joint. Solder
filling the hole can be removed with a pump or with a pointed object made of a
material which solder does not wet, such as stainless steel or wood. If a multi-pin
component need not be salvaged, it is often possible to cut the pins, then remove the
residual ends one by one.
Components with more connections cannot be removed intact in the way described
above unless the wire leads are long and flexible enough to be pulled out one by one.
For a component such as a Dual-In-line Package (DIP), the pins are too short to pull
out, and solder melted on one joint will solidify before another can be melted. A
technique sometimes used is the use of a large soldering-iron tip designed to melt the
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solder on all pins at once; different tips are required for different packages. The
component is removed while the solder is molten, most easily by a spring-loaded
puller attached to it before heating. (Paul, 2005)
NB: For through-hole mounted devices on double-sided or multi-layer boards, special
care must be taken not to remove the metal connecting the layers, as this will ruin the
entire board. Hard pulling on a lead which is not entirely free of solder (or with solder
not thoroughly molten in the case of a soldering iron tip heating all pins) may pull out
a via.
To remove and recover all components, both through-hole and surface-mount, from a
board which itself is usually no longer needed, a flame or hot air gun can be used to
rapidly heat all parts so they can be pulled off. Parts may be damaged, and toxic fumes
emitted, if excessive temperature or prolonged heating is used.
Desoldering Surface mount
If they do not need to be re-used, some surface-mount components can be removed by
cutting their leads and desoldering the remnants with a soldering iron.
If they may not be destroyed, surface-mount components must be removed by heating
the entire component to a temperature sufficient to melt the solder used, but not high
or prolonged enough to damage the component. For most purposes a temperature not
exceeding 260 °C (500 °F) for a time not exceeding 10 seconds is acceptable.
The entire board may be preheated to a temperature that all components can withstand
indefinitely. Then localised heat is applied to the component to remove, with less
heating required than from cold. The most usual tool is a hot air (or hot gas) gun with
a nozzle of appropriate size and shape to heat the component, with nearby components
shielded from the heat if necessary, followed by removal with tweezers or a vacuum
tool. Removal of multi-pin components with a soldering iron and solder removal tools
is impractical, as the solder between the component and the pads remains in place,
unlike solder which can be removed from a hole. (Paul, 2005)
Hot air (or gas) may be applied with tools ranging from some portable gas soldering
irons such as the Weller Portasol Professional which can be fitted with a narrow hotair
nozzle, set to a temperature not controlled but approximately correct, to an industrial

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rework station with many facilities including hot-gas blowing, vacuum part holding,
soldering iron head, and nozzles and fitting specific to particular component packages.

VEROBOARDING

Veroboard (brand of stripboard) is a pre-formed circuit board material of copper strips

on an insulating bonded paper board which was originated and developed in the early
1960s by the Electronics Department of Vero Precision Engineering Ltd (VPE). It was
introduced as a general-purpose material for use in constructing electronic circuits -
differing from purpose-designed printed circuit boards (PCBs) in that a variety of
electronics circuits may be constructed using a standard wiring board. Veroboards are
made with rows of copper conductors that form default connections, which may be
broken into isolated segments as required. This is similar to the pattern of default
connections on a solderless breadboard. (Russell, 2006)
As with other stripboards, in using Veroboard, components are suitably positioned and
soldered to the conductors to form the required circuit. Breaks can be made in the
tracks, usually around holes, to divide the strips into multiple electrical nodes enabling
increased circuit complexity. This type of wiring board may be used for initial
electronic circuit development, to construct prototypes for bench testing or in the
production of complete electronic units in small quantity.
Two forms of Veroboard are produced with hole pitch of 2.54mm (0.1 in) or 3.5mm
(0.15 in). The larger pitch is and was considered easier to assemble, especially at a
time when many constructors were still more familiar with valves and tag strips.

16
Stripboard is used to make up permanent, soldered circuits. It is ideal for small
circuits with one or two ICs (chips) but with the large number of holes it is very easy
to connect a component in the wrong place. For large, complex circuits it is usually
best to use a printed circuit board (PCB) if you can buy or make one. Stripboard
requires no special preparation other than cutting to size. It can be cut with a junior
hacksaw, or simply snap it along the lines of holes by putting it over the edge of a
bench or table and pushing hard, but take care because this needs a fairly large force
and the edges will be rough. You may need to use a large pair of pliers to nibble away
any jagged parts. Avoid handling stripboard that you are not planning to use
immediately because sweat from your hands will corrode the copper tracks and this
will make soldering difficult. If the copper looks dull, or you can clearly see finger
marks, clean the tracks with fine emery paper, a PCB rubber or a dry kitchen scrub
before you start soldering. (Wikipedia, nd)
Placing components on stripboard
Components are placed on the non-copper side, then the stripboard is turned over to
solder the component leads to the copper tracks. Stripboard layouts are shown from
the component side, so the tracks are out of sight under the board. Layouts are
normally shown with the tracks running horizontally across the diagram. Placing
components on stripboard requires care. The large number of holes means it is very
easy to make a mistake! For most small circuits the best method is to very carefully
place the chip holder(s) in the correct position and solder in place. Then you can
position all the other components relative to the chip holder(s). Minor position errors
left and right will not usually be a problem because the component will still be
connected to the correct tracks. However, up and down position errors must be
avoided because just one hole too high or too low will connect the component to the
wrong track and therefore the wrong part of the circuit. Some people like to label the
holes with letters (up/down) and numbers (across) to give each hole a 'grid reference'
but this still requires careful counting of holes.

17
An example of components being layed out on a veroboard

Cutting stripboard tracks

Most stripboard circuits will need to have some tracks cut to break the connection at
that point. This is always necessary under ICs, except for the rare cases where
opposite pins must be connected. The tracks are cut with a special track cutter tool or a
3mm drill bit. Places where the tracks must be broken are usually shown with a cross
(X). The cuts are made on the underside (copper side) so extra care is needed to
identify the correct hole. It is best to cut the track after soldering because the solder
joints will make it easier to identify the correct position. Place the track cutter on the
correct hole and twist it to and fro using moderate force. The aim is to break the
copper track, not drill a hole through the board! Inspect the cut closely to ensure there
is no fine thread of copper left across the break, because even the tiniest piece will
conduct.

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 BREADBOARDING
The breadboard most commonly used today is usually made of white plastic and is a
pluggable (solderless) breadboard. It was designed by Ronald J. Portugal in 1971.
(Jones, 2017)
A breadboard is a construction base for prototyping of electronics. In the past, a literal
bread board, i.e. a polished piece of wood used for slicing bread, in which copper
wires or terminal strips are nailed to the board so that components can be mounted on
it.

A wooden breadboard used in 1927. Source: Wikipedia

The modern solderless breadboard is a perforated block made of plastic with
numerous tin-plated nickel-silver alloy spring clips under the perforations. These clips
are often called tie points or contact points and are used to hold the components. The
number of clips is often given in the specification of the breadboard. Under the clips
are metal strips which connect pin to pin inside the breadboard. (Wikipedia, nd) The
spacing between the clips (lead pitch) is typically 0.1 inches. Typically the spring clips
are rated for 1 ampere at 5 volts and 0.333 amperes at 15 volts (5 watts). The edge of
the board has male and female dovetail notches so boards can be clipped together to
form a large breadboard.
Breadboard is used to build and test circuits quickly before finalizing any circuit
design since it is solderless. The breadboard has many holes into which circuit
components like ICs and resistors can be inserted. It has strips of metal which run
underneath the board and connect the holes on the top of the board.

19
To use the bread board, the legs of components are placed in the holes. Each set of
holes connected by a metal strip underneath forms a node. A node is a point in a circuit
where two components are connected. Connections between different components are
formed by putting their legs in a common node. ICs are placed in the middle of the
board so that half of the legs are on one side of the middle line and half on the other.
Similar prototyping tools (i.e. stripboards (veroboards) and printed circuit boards
(PCBs)) which are used to build semi-permanent soldered prototypes or one-offs
cannot easily be reused, breadboard prototypes can however be reused. A variety of
electronic systems may be prototyped by using breadboards, from small analog and
digital circuits to complete central processing units (CPUs).
However, modern circuit designs are generally developed using a schematic capture
and simulation system, and tested in software simulation before the first prototype
circuits are built on a printed circuit board. Integrated circuit designs are a more
extreme version of the same process: since producing prototype silicon is costly,
extensive software simulations are performed before fabricating the first prototypes.
Nevertheless, prototyping techniques are still used for some applications such as RF
circuits, or where software models of components are inexact or incomplete. (Russell,
2006)
Types of Breadboard
• Breadboard consisting of only terminal strips but no bus strips
It consists of the terminal strips (i.e. main area) which holds the electronic
components. In the middle of a terminal strip of a breadboard, there is a notch running
in parallel to the long side. The notch is to mark the centerline of the terminal strip and
provides limited airflow (cooling) to Dual In-line Package ICs straddling the
centerline. The clips on the right and left of the notch are each connected in a radial
way; typically five clips in a row on each side of the notch are electrically connected.
The five rows on the left of the notch are often marked as A, B, C, D, and E, while the
ones on the right are marked F, G, H, I and J. When a dual in-line pin package (DIP)
integrated circuit is plugged into a breadboard, the pins of one side of the chip are
supposed to go into row E while the pins of the other side go into row F on the other
side of the notch. The columns are identified by numbers from 1 to as many the

20
breadboard design goes. Breadboards are designed to accommodate 17, 30 or 64
columns in the mini, half, and full configurations respectively. (Russell, 2006)

• Solderless breadboard with dual bus strips on both sides

This type of breadboards have terminal breadboard strips which consists of around 56
to 65 rows of connectors, each row containing the two sets of connected clips (A to E
and F to J). The terminal strips are used to hold the components.
In addition to the terminal strips, it also has dual bus strips which usually provide
power to the electronic components. The bus strip usually contains two rows: one for
ground and one for a supply voltage. However, some breadboards only provide a
single-row power distributions bus strip on each long side. Typically the row intended
for a supply voltage is marked in red, while the row for ground is marked in blue or
black. Most manufacturers connect 25 consecutive terminals in a column, which
provides a circuit designer with some more control over crosstalk (inductively coupled
noise) on the power supply bus. (Russell, 2006)

• Advanced solderless breadboard

21
Some manufacturers provide high-end versions of solderless breadboards. These are
typically high-quality breadboard modules mounted on a flat casing. The casing
contains additional equipment for breadboarding, such as a power supply, one or more
signal generators, serial interfaces, LED display or LCD modules, and logic probes.
These breadboard modules can also be found mounted on devices like microcontroller
evaluation boards. They provide an easy way to add additional periphery circuits to
the evaluation board. (Russell, 2006)

Tips to Use the Breadboard

1. Always use the side-lines (bus strips) for power supply connections. Power the
chips from the side-lines and not directly from the power supply.
2. Employ colour coding; Use black wires for ground connections (0V), and red
for VCC and other colours for other power connections.
3. Keep the jumper wires on the board flat, so that the board does not look
cluttered.
4. Route jumper wires around the chips and not over the chips. This makes
changing the chips when needed easier.
5. You could trim the legs of components like resistors, transistors and LEDs, so
that they fit in snugly and do not get pulled out by accident

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Advantages of Using Breadboard
• The breadboard is used to build and test circuits quickly before finalizing any
circuit design, and it is very flexible for temporal circuit design.
• Unlike the veroboards and printed circuit boards, circuits designed on
breadboards can be modified and electronic components mounted on it can be
easily removed and replaced.
• Because the solderless breadboard does not require soldering, it is reusable.
This makes it easy to use for creating temporary prototypes and experimenting
with circuit design.
Disadvantages of Using Breadboard
• Solderless breadboards are limited to operation at relatively low frequencies,
usually less than 10 MHz, depending on the nature of the circuit.
• The relatively high contact resistance can already be a problem for some DC
and very low frequency circuits. Solderless breadboards are further limited by
their voltage and current ratings.
• Solderless breadboards usually cannot accommodate surface-mount technology
devices (SMD) or components with grid spacing other than 0.1 inches (2.54
mm). Further, they cannot accommodate components with multiple rows of
connectors if these connectors do not match the dual in-line layout—it is
impossible to provide the correct electrical connectivity.
• Very complex circuits can become unmanageable on a solderless breadboard
due to the large amount of wiring required. The very convenience of easy
plugging and unplugging of connections also makes it too easy to accidentally
disturb a connection, and the system becomes unreliable. It is possible to
prototype systems with thousands of connecting points, but great care must be
taken in careful assembly, and such a system becomes unreliable as contact
resistance develops over time.

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 REFERENCES

Buschow, K. H. (2001). Electronic Packaging: Solder Mounting Technologies.

Elsevier: Science and Technology, pages 2708-2709.

Coombs, Clyde F. (1979). Printed Circuits Handbook, Second Edition, New York:
McGraw-Hill.

Jerry, F. (2013). How to Solder: A Beginner’s Guide (pdf), softcopy available at

https://makerspaces.com/how/download/how-to-solder.pdf

Jones, David (2014). "Solderless Breadboard". International Journal of Electrical and

Electronics Engineering Discipline (IJEEE), vol. 7, no. 1 (January, 2014), pages 2-
4.

Linear Technology (August, 1991). "Dead-bug breadboards with ground plane, and
other prototyping techniques"(pdf). Available online at www.isim.olin.edu/
labs/breadboarding/doc2477652

Paul, Scherz (2005) Practical Electronics for Inventors, London: Palgrave Publishers.
Print.

Russell, L. W. (2006). Breadboard for electronic components or the like. London:

Receiver Building Handbook, page 83.

Telan, A. (2017). “Through-Hole Vs. Surface Mount: Contrasting Benefits and Uses”,
available online at https://telancorp.com/print_through-hole-vs-surface-mount

Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, “Breadboarding”, available online at

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breadboarding

Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, “Surface-mount Technology”, available online at

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-mount_technology

Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, “Through-Hole-Technology”, available online at

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Through-hole_technology

Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, “Veroboarding”, available online at

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veroboarding

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