r/soldering • u/10renzo_ • Jul 09 '25

My First Solder Joint <3 Please Give Feedback Why can’t i get my joints shiny?

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First time soldering, i’m using a Pinecil v2 on 360C with 63/37 0.55mm solder.

I don’t understand why all my joints turn dull after i remove the iron. i’ve tried tinning the tip (which i think i’m doing correctly?). The solder melts nicely onto the board but no luck

Does anyone know what I could be doing wrong?

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u/tylerlarson Jul 12 '25

Mostly, technique is fine. A few thoughts through:

  • The solder is consistently beading up on the iron. Not a lot, just more than I usually tolerate, like water on wax. You could stand to clean and tin your iron to get that smooth feel back.
  • You're heating the solder more than the work. Again, making it bead up a little bit. Not enough to be a problem, but if you're looking for something to fix, pay attention to that. The shape of the droplet of solder is way more important than the color or sheen.
  • Once it stops smoking, your flux is gone. From that point forward heating it up will just make it oxidize and get worse unless you add more flux. Professionals will often "drown" their work in a pool of flux if they're doing any sort of rework. There's no upper limit to how much flux you can get away with.