Holding components in place

[rbcguitar]

OK, so Ive been breadboarding ideas forever, thought I should finally learn to solder, I got a kit from byoc and whilst soldering components they seem to want to fall out before i could solder them, other than bending leads somewhat, any other tips on how to keep them in place.

thanks in advance.

[ACS]

...other than bending leads somewhat...

That's what I do - 30-45° out in opposite directions...

[elshiftos]

I either bend just enough so the part doesn't fall out or rest the component side of the board on some soft foam.

[R.G.]

Nothing says you have to do all the parts at once. Do it in stages by height.

- Get yourself a sheet of cardboard bigger than the board.
- stuff in the lowest parts - lie-down resistors and diodes.
- place the cardboard over the components, then hold the board and cardboard like a sandwich holding the parts in place.
- turn the board over; solder the parts you have in; trim off long leads
- turn the board back over and stuff in the next highest, usually ICs.
- cardboard, sandwich, flip, solder, trim
- repeat the last two working to gradually higher parts

A layer of soft plastic foam on the cardboard adds some compliance so you can hold in things of slightly varying sizes.

[bean]

There is a simpler method which I've been using the past few months. Load all your resistors first. With each component, fold the leads over in as much of an opposite direction as possible. Clip each lead about 1-2mm from the hole. You can nudge the leads a bit one way or another if they look like they might intersect a trace. Now use something to hold the board (like helping hands) with the trace side face up. Solder all the leads that run horizontally (these leads will be closely oriented to the angle of your soldering iron). Once you do those, turn the board 90' clockwise and solder the remaining leads. Then load the caps and repeat the process. Then the remaining components.

It will cut your loading and soldering time in half once you practice it enough.

You can also try loading all the resistors and caps at once (this is the way I do it).

[mth5044]

I always go smallest to largest (height wise). That and bending leads its good enough for me.

[km-r]

i use masking tape...

[chi_boy]

...other than bending leads somewhat...

That's what I do - 30-45° out in opposite directions...

Same here.  Opposite or together.  Whatever is best for the nearby traces.  Nothing says you have to do ALL the same parts at the same time either.  I usually stuff 5-10 parts then solder and trim.  Sometimes less, but not too much more.

The helping hands thing works for me too.

Cheers,
George

[SpencerPedals]

For anything that bending leads will not work on, I use a small alligator clip to clip the component to something next to it.  I just work my way across a board in one direction and have yet to run into anything that would not stay by one of the two methods.

[R.G.]

The biggest time saver has nothing to do with holding the parts in. The biggest time saver is a lead bender.

A lead bender is anything that lets you automatically form the leads to the correct spacing. All of my PCB layouts use 0.400" between centers for resistors. You can take a piece of plastic or wood which is about 0.375" wide and place several resistors on it. Hold the bodies in place and force all the leads on one side down to the wood on that side. Then do the other side. All of them now have very close to 0.400" center-to-center spacing. Even better, while you're holding them on that bit of wood or plastic, trim the leads to just long enough to stick out the right amount through the PCB. Now you can put them in, compress the sandwich and solder all of them at once on the back with no interference from the un-trimmed leads. No clinching of leads is needed.

One or two popsicle sticks or tongue depressors makes a good lead former.

[e178453]

+1 for masking tape.  Not for an expensive IC or maybe even FET, might generate enough static taking it off to damage the component.  Tho when I worked for HP we had some special kind of  non-static tape for this purpose.

[mdh]

One or two popsicle sticks or tongue depressors makes a good lead former.

Or, of course, an odd bit of perfboard, with a section trimmed to 0.3 in, and another section trimmed to 0.4 in.  I have one of these around that I use when I'm feeling organized.

[reverbie]

there is a simple tool that crimps leads (think of the leads on a tantalum capacitor)...does anyone know what it is called?

allows the components to almost "snap" in to placement.

[frequencycentral]

Blu Tack

[jefe]

...other than bending leads somewhat...

That's what I do - 30-45° out in opposite directions...

+1 - easy, cheap (free), and effective.

[petemoore]

  The left hand can be used to hold the board and the component held with a left finger.
  Right hand adds the solder.
  Soldering iron stays rigidly put under the lights and exhaust tube.
  Lately I use a rubber band, component lead wrapped around the edge of the board, component lead bent perfect some other way, alligator clips, alligator clip with wire/weight hung so it gently pull-holds the hooked component in place, open lead of through-holed component tucked under a wire.
  "Cheat' and do some of the work above the board...make the necessary physical stability hypotheses.
  ...and my favorite...do the other end first, then alter an above method to do the hard end with the other end being held firmly in place...bending the leads, finding a way [like pre-tin everything first, then pin down the 'done' joint while it cools with very light pressure nearby] to add a touch of pressure so when the solder gives, the lead'll press through to a solid.
  Add too much pressure and just bend your perfectly bent lead so the trick don't work.
  Least desirable but a useful pinch trick..pin the wire that won't stay in place with a screwdriver, 'bake', hold, release, if you can overcome the thermal mass of the screwdriver [try using a small screwdriver/tip, small contact area, right-next to the joint, 'lump the pretinned wire so it'll still press in the joint when the solder gives], a last resort, but has gotten me out of an otherwise very hard to work and getting messier...tight spot once or twice.

[cpnyc23]

I use a pana-vise junior to hold the board.  I try to go from shortest to tallest (perf board not applying to the process).  There are certain components that require tape to hold in place or at the correct angle.   

Bending the leads so that they are parallel with the board helps to hold them in well.    R.G. is onto something with the lead spacing on boards - there is nothing better than knowing that you can just fold the leads to the proper angle (such as when pulling them out of my stock supply) and drop them in and get to work while the iron is hot.

The key for me, always make sure that when the solder cools, it isn't the only thing bonding component to board. 

-chris

[liddokun]

i use masking tape...

Same here. Holds well, and doesn't melt.

[jayp5150]

I just use my tweezers (forceps? The springy tweezers, whatever they are called) to hold resistors and stuff in.

For caps, I bend one leg, and clamp that to hold the part still, solder one leg, then clip and solder the other one.

For anything that I use a heatsink on, I clamp the heatsink to the board with the (you guessed it) tweevers. Holds it in place well enough to clip and solder.

I like how we all do things just slightly differently, and I'm about to comb this thread for time-saving devices.