First time soldering PCB board, is this correct?

[roswell]

I've never soldered components onto a PCB board before, and I'm concerned because I'm not seeing the solder come through to the front on some of the joints. Is that an issue or will this work? Thanks you guys. Mark

[bloxstompboxes]

The IPC standard for sodlering through hole, if i remember correctly is 50% of the barrel filled. However, these are simple low voltage effects. You should be fine to leave them as is, but you can either try to turn the heat up on your iron or add solder to the pad from the other side. If you turn up the heat then you risk damaging the board/pads. All in all, your soldering looks pretty good.

[roswell]

The IPC standard for sodlering through hole, if i remember correctly is 50% of the barrel filled. However, these are simple low voltage effects. You should be fine to leave them as is, but you can either try to turn the heat up on your iron or add solder to the pad from the other side. If you turn up the heat then you risk damaging the board/pads. All in all, your soldering looks pretty good.

Thanks. Iron is set at 650F; I'm using Radio Shack 62/36/2. Maybe I'll try knocking it up to 700.

[bloxstompboxes]

There is a pad on the right hand side in the image above that has barely any solder on it at all. You definitely want to reflow that one again.

[armdnrdy]

I can't see the full image of the component side but....it looks to me that all of the traces are on the "trace side."

This didn't need to be a double sided board. It doesn't matter if there is no solder making it through to the component side.

The connections are being made on the trace side.

[duck_arse]

I'd say that as long as your heat/solder technique means the solder wets the whole of the underside pad nicely, the thru-hole will look after itself.

[bloxstompboxes]

I can't see the full image of the component side but....it looks to me that all of the traces are on the "trace side."

This didn't need to be a double sided board. It doesn't matter if there is no solder making it through to the component side.

The connections are being made on the trace side.

Right, he could solder through the topside and, as long as the pads/barrells have continuity to the traces, he would still be fine if they weren't completely filled. As perfectionsts, or for those who are selling something that they advertise as superior to what the big companies are building, we like things to be done all the way. Not saying what he has done is wrong though, of course. All Boss pedals, for example, that I have seen are just one sided and just have pads and no barrels. It's all a matter of how anal a person is I guess and if they want it to be perfect... even if it doesn't have any affect on the items performance.

[mcknib]

An quick and easy thing to do - to check your solder joints are solid is just hold it up to a light and see if you can see any light peeping through

I usually just hold it up to a window obviously during the day! As everyone says your soldering skills look good you've got some nice shiny joints there

[CodeMonk]

You're soldering looks ok.
You have plated through holes so you should have good connections.

On the other hand, I'm a bit anal about that myself.
If its a solder pad and its got a part on it/going through it, it should have solder on it. no matter what side of the board its on.
There is also a mechanical stability improvement with solder going all the way though and covering the pads on both sides.

But just so you see where I am coming from, I spent a lot of time working in electronic manufacturing where I not only did wave soldering (which when done properly, flows the solder from the bottom pad, all the way through the barrel and on the pad on the other side), but a lot of hand soldering as well.
I've worked on commercial, military and aerospace (even at JPL for awhile) stuff, so I'm really anal about my soldering.
Probably to a higher degree than what is needed for pedals. But I still do it that way because that's the way I was trained.

Also, not trying to be a dick here, but either have the solder go all the way through on all the pads, or none of them, just for the consistent look factor.

Here is some reference material you may find intereting:
http://workmanship.nasa.gov/insp.html
Or more specific as it may apply to pedals here:
http://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20books/frameset.html  (Have a look at Section 6 for through hole soldering specifics)


Edit:
Not long ago someone, possibly on this site, said that pedals should be built to mil spec (don't ask me which one, I forget; there are loads of different levels).
But basically they said they should be built to levels that military inspectors would pass them.
At first I thought "Thats a bullshit idea, its just a pedal".
Then they talked about how pedals are treated.
You toss them in the back of your car, the truck, in the van, back of  truck, trailer, whatever.
Then they may bounce around in whatever mode of transport you choose, while going down some road with more potholes than a war zone.
Then you spend the night stepping on them, kicking them, dropping them on the floor, having some idiot puke or spill beer on them.
I don't think its a bullshit idea anymore.

If you are just a bedroom warrior, you can probably relax though.

[roswell]

Great feedback, thanks everyone. Hope to finish this up soon; been busy painting enclosures