Solder and Soldering?

Come on Zac! Looks like you are using the cheapest soldering iron available on Potting Electronic Components module of the professional motorsports wiring course. No talk of soldering iron temperatures or type of solder or solder flux to use. In my background I potted tons of electronics and we eventually got away from rosin cored solder in favor of fluxless solder and no-clean flux because the rosin core solder would corrode the connections after awhile not properly cleaned.. Admittedly I was soldering equipment that went into hazmat sites but still. You spare no expense on tools and equipment or effort everywhere else in the process and it looks like you are using one of those 15w soldering irons that plug right into an outlet. At least with a good Weller or Metcal (which I was honestly expecting to see here) you have a wide assortment of tips to select and precise temperature control.

I really dont want to sound like I'm insulting the work here because I've been genuinely impressed with this course so far. Just honestly a bit taken aback here as soldering is something I've done an extreme amount of and I also know a bit about the specific topic being discussed here and Zac's using a soldering iron that was probably cheaper than the pliers he's propping them up off the bench with. I just expected a bit more from a teacher who's told me to measure and count individual wire strands and add the Circle Mils to make sure I have the appropriate open barrel crimp to use.

All that being said, I once installed a mod chip on a PS2, which required some surface mount soldering, using the most blunt tipped iron (hey I was college at the time) and was able to get it done so I wont say that you cant perform quality work with subpar tools.

Next, I want to see Zac dremel the epoxy away on a sensor that had the wires ripped off by a torn serpentine belt, solder to the accessible strands and re-pot it. (I'm almost sure he's done it)

Hi Fred, fair point. I can't recall the specifics as that course was recorded several years ago now but I'm pleased to inform you we do have a professional solder station in the shop. We haven't addressed soldering in detail since it has very limited uses in a proper professional level motorsport wiring harness. I am aware that there are situations where solder is a requirement but these are relatively few and far between. We will consider if and how we can incorporate some further detail on soldering though. Thanks fro your feedback and I'm glad you've found the course to be predominantly useful.

Andre, I really appreciate your reply here. I hope I didn't come off as insulting in any way. I'm really impressed by the quality of work from Zac and his ability to explain the course material.

I'll acknowledge that at the end of the day we're just soldering some wires to some terminals and the task does not need to be made overly complicated with excess verbose language and dialogue.