soldering alternative?

[Rozi[nante]]

a solder just heats up the wire/melts it, and when it cools down, the wire hardens onto the pcb right? couldn't i just use a cigarette lighter or something? i mean it's for a spare ps1 pcb to connect to some stock hori stick.

[nGuman]

Well soldering is more accurate. AFAIK by using a cigarette your probably going to burn the PCB as well.

[yoooooon]

also, it's not wire that melts. solder melts at a much lower temperature than standard copper wire--go get a soldering kit, it's not too expensive.

[ulovemikeroch]

;5256046']a solder just heats up the wire/melts it, and when it cools down, the wire hardens onto the pcb right? couldn't i just use a cigarette lighter or something? i mean it's for a spare ps1 pcb to connect to some stock hori stick.
No, solder is a metal bond. You use Solder WITH wire, as in you use the solder to "glue" the wire to the point. A soldering iron allows you to do precise soldering because it's a very pointy/fine tip, a cigarette lighter is just an open flame. A soldering iron is basically a stick or metal with a pointy top and a handle, and the metal gets hot. A hot stick of metal really, and you use that to melt the solder.

[Rozi[nante]]

No, solder is a metal bond. You use Solder WITH wire, as in you use the solder to "glue" the wire to the point. A soldering iron allows you to do precise soldering because it's a very pointy/fine tip, a cigarette lighter is just an open flame. A soldering iron is basically a stick or metal with a pointy top and a handle, and the metal gets hot. A hot stick of metal really, and you use that to melt the solder.

i got the completely wrong idea of what solder was, thanks. you really cleared it up for me.

[Shin Ace]

If you need to solder 2 speaker wires together, a lighter will work fine. For actual parts, including switches, use an iron.

A lighter also has the disadvantage of leaving soot on the surfaces and therefore not as good of a joint.

[Dreamcazman]

Have a look at Slagcoin's (http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/pcb_wiring.html) awesome site or check Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldering). They'll tell you everything you need to know about soldering.