Strip a small amount of insulation off the ends of the wire, about 5mm is fine
Make hooks in the end of the wire to pass through the holes in the switch tabs (if there are holes)
Clip the switch and wire into the helping hands to hold everything in position
Soldering
Warm up the soldering iron to about 600ยบ F
Wet the cleaning sponge lightly (a moist folded piece of paper towel will do in a pinch)
Tin the tip of the soldering iron by touching some solder to the tip of the hot iron. The solder will melt and you’ll see a bit of smoke as the flux inside the solder burns off, cleaning the tip.
Wipe the iron quickly on the damp sponge. The tip should be nice and shiny.
Hold the side of the tip against both components that need to be soldered together. You want to heat them up so that when the solder is applied, it melts, flows and makes a chemical bond with both components.
In a few seconds the components should be hot enough for you to touch the solder to the metal of the components and have it melt and flow nicely. Keep your iron against the components the whole time, taking the solder away first, then removing the iron last.
Good soldering takes practice. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and always ask someone who is good at soldering to critique your work while you are learning. It probably takes just 10 or 20 joins to get a feel for how to solder, then maybe 100 or 200 more to become pretty good at it. Give yourself a chance to learn this new skill and you’ll quickly have it down.
Testing
Once you’ve soldered your wire to the switch, allow them to cool before touching them. Next, take them off of the helping hands and inspect the join. Is there not enough solder to hold things in place? Is there a huge unsightly blob of solder that prevents you from seeing that it flowed properly? Try to avoid either of these situations. Wiggle the join to see if it’s solid. If it jiggles or breaks you probably had what is known as a “cold join,” in other words you didn’t heat the components up enough to bond with the solder. Reheat and apply a little more solder to give it another try.
If the join looks good (ask for help if you’re not sure) then test it using your multimeter’s continuity function. Most multimeters have a setting where an audible beep will be heard when the two probes are touched together, or touched to any parts of a circuit that are connected together with no resistance. Check that you’re in the right mode by listening for the beep when you touch the probes together. Then touch one probe to the end of the wire, and the other to the metal leg of the switch. If you hear a beep, the two components are electrically connected. If not, you may need to heat the join again until a good bond is made.
Lab-Soldering
Parts
Getting Started
Soldering
Good soldering takes practice. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and always ask someone who is good at soldering to critique your work while you are learning. It probably takes just 10 or 20 joins to get a feel for how to solder, then maybe 100 or 200 more to become pretty good at it. Give yourself a chance to learn this new skill and you’ll quickly have it down.
Testing
Once you’ve soldered your wire to the switch, allow them to cool before touching them. Next, take them off of the helping hands and inspect the join. Is there not enough solder to hold things in place? Is there a huge unsightly blob of solder that prevents you from seeing that it flowed properly? Try to avoid either of these situations. Wiggle the join to see if it’s solid. If it jiggles or breaks you probably had what is known as a “cold join,” in other words you didn’t heat the components up enough to bond with the solder. Reheat and apply a little more solder to give it another try.
If the join looks good (ask for help if you’re not sure) then test it using your multimeter’s continuity function. Most multimeters have a setting where an audible beep will be heard when the two probes are touched together, or touched to any parts of a circuit that are connected together with no resistance. Check that you’re in the right mode by listening for the beep when you touch the probes together. Then touch one probe to the end of the wire, and the other to the metal leg of the switch. If you hear a beep, the two components are electrically connected. If not, you may need to heat the join again until a good bond is made.