Reddit mentions of Kester solder 44" Rosin Core #66/44 .8mm 1 lb. Spool

Sounds like your soldering iron isn't hot enough, or your using thicker solder than what should be used for small electrical wiring. This is the solder I use for everything. I would also recommend a soldering iron with variable temperatures if you can afford it, like this one. And I do believe your connections are touching on the driver. That would be causing your mono issue.

You definitely want to get a soldering station. So something that can control the temperature of the of the iron. The reason being is the ones that just plug into the wall usually fluctuate between extremely hot and very hot which can become if you’re trying to solder next to very delicate transistors on the pcb.


I know people say you can get away with the cheapest everything but that’s usually not the case at all and sometimes dangerous to your health.


Getting good solder, tip tinner, brass sponge, flux pen, and a fan with a carbon filter will do you great things.


The fan is extremely important when your desoldering as that will give off a tonne of chemicals.


This is what I personally have


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00BSW69LI/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074J6R1KQ/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001W2XZOS/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FZPGDLA/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NS4J6BY/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1


The soldering iron is overkill if you’re just using it for trains

Something like this?

Sorry to bug on a sales thread, but you saved me a thread on /r/mechanicalkeyboards