Reddit mentions of SainSmart ToolPAC PRO32 Mini Smart Soldering Iron Tool Set Auto Sleep Mode and Fast Heating Intelligent Welding Tool with STM32 Chip with 2 Solder Tips

It's hard to tell because you used way too much solder, but it looks like you may have cold joints. Thick solder makes it easier to use too much, if your solder is wider than 1mm look into something narrower, I like 0.6mm. (60/40 rosin core preferably.) As for the joint, what you want to be doing is heating both pieces with your iron and then letting the solder melt onto the joint; that's a hot joint. If you just melt the solder onto the joint with your iron, that's a cold joint and you don't want it; they're much more brittle. You can put a dab of solder on the iron tip to help heat transfer (the faster you heat the pieces, the faster you can solder the joint and stop dumping heat into the components) but that solder is not for making the joint.

If you need to go back and fix those joints, invest in a solder sucker to remove it. (Or if you don't mind spending the six bucks, do it anyway, because that extra solder didn't help and can only hurt.)

There's a good series of EEVBlog videos on soldering if you want a more in-depth look at removing the "noob" part from "noob soldering job," Dave does a good job of explaining.

Lastly, if your iron looks like this, consider upgrading to a variable temperature iron like a TS100 (great for field repairs if you make an XT60 adapter for it) or this cheap Stahl, they're both worth the money. (The TS100 is the better of the two, and will work well enough for most small jobs to be your primary iron.) Those cheap pencil irons are pretty worthless, though they'll certainly work if that's all you've got.

Weller WESD51 has been my go-to soldering station, but if you have money, Hakko is awesome. I also like the Weller heat gun, it comes with a curved deflector for heat shrink. The TS-100 pocket soldering iron is awesome for a tool bag. (Someone also hacked the firmware so you can play Tetris on the 96x16 OLED.)

Paladin (now Greenlee) crimpers are great. I have the 8000 series crimper with the 2699 "HDTV" die. It has sizes for most of the BNC connectors I need to crimp. Also get a quality coax stripper, I have a CST Pro, but I actually prefer the LC CST. Normal wire strippers and a curved wire cutter (like this) are must-haves, too.

Small diagonal cutters are great to have, I have the Xcelite 1178M, but the Hakko CHP-170 are cheaper and just as good.

If you have any fiber, get some IBC cleaners. They have different tips for various ferrule sizes. I usually end up carrying one for LC and one for SMPTE. A fiber scope is nice, but a bit overkill if you ask me. A laser is good enough for most of what I do.

A drill with a long phillips bit is essential for racking equipment, as is some sort of flashlight. I like this one because it has a magnet on it, which is perfect for sticking to rack rails.

Speaking of screwdrivers, a set of precision screwdrivers is handy. A friend of mine has this very expensive set. I have this one from Wiha and it's really good. Plus you get free needle nose pliers.

I've never had a problem with the EZ RJ45 crimpers, at least when using EZ RJ45 plugs.

[[How to set up an electronics lab on the cheap]] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HicV3Z6XLFA)

Some notes:

[[These TS100]] (https://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-ToolPAC-Soldering-Heating-Intelligent/dp/B0183RJIUE) perform more like a $300 weller iron, but can be had for as little as $55 from banggood if you already have your own power adapter (such as from a defunct laptop).


Do not buy the cheapest soldering station on hobby king. Get at least the yihua 908.

Don't use a wet sponge, buy some brass wire tip cleaner. Get some tip tinner and a jar of rosin flux as well.

Avoid lead free solder whenever possible. If you have to use lead free, look for low temperature eutectic solder.

2n5817 schottkey diodes are super handy because they only drop .2V instead of .7V and they switch faster as well.

Use a hollow needle set for desoldering if solder wick isn't doing the job, those solder suckers are complete garbage.


IRF520 are resiliant logic level power mosfets, good to have if you want to switch a large load with an arduino/avr.

Get some LM317 and LM337 voltage regulators.

If you don't have the cash for a proper bench supply, use some 9V batteries and the aforementioned voltage regulators.

If you anticipate building a power amplifier at some point a few TIP3055 (NPN), TIP2955 (PNP) are good to have on hand.

If you want to venture into the world of AVRs without relying on the arduino IDE and library get a USBasp for as little as $5.

I find myself using a lot of 10uF ceramic capacitors. Consider getting a bunch of them from a mainstream component supplier like Arrow.

Instead of getting one of those shitty USB microscopes get a clip-on smartphone microscope lens and gooseneck smartphone mount.