How do you solder your sensors?

[shazbot]

I finished the wiring along with soldering for my BME280 sensor and pi zero last night, but it was quite tricky to get it right. Which got me thinking how you "really" should solder it?

I used regular jumper wires which I removed the head/pin from it and soldered the copper wires directly. Would it be better to utilize the pin? I've looked around for similar projects but they mostly use it with a breadboard or such, which I wont be using. Sorry if this is a trivial question

Wires in question: https://www.adafruit.com/products/758

[joan]

In my case, poorly, but normally good enough to make an electrical connection.

I tend to solder on header pins so I can use standard jumper wires to connect the sensor to the Pi.

Practice is said to make perfect, it has no sign of happening with soldering in my case.

[BMS Doug]

I finished the wiring along with soldering for my BME280 sensor and pi zero last night, but it was quite tricky to get it right. Which got me thinking how you "really" should solder it?

I used regular jumper wires which I removed the head/pin from it and soldered the copper wires directly. Would it be better to utilize the pin? I've looked around for similar projects but they mostly use it with a breadboard or such, which I wont be using. Sorry if this is a trivial question

Wires in question: https://www.adafruit.com/products/758

I use these dupont crimp terminals. Shop around for the best price and don't forget to add the appropriate shells (or use heat shrink insulation).

[shazbot]

Thanks for the replies! Would this be a better "solution" then to cut my jumper wires? https://www.adafruit.com/products/288

[BMS Doug]

Thanks for the replies! Would this be a better "solution" then to cut my jumper wires? https://www.adafruit.com/products/288

Ah, I think that I misunderstood your original post.

I mostly use 40 pin ribbon cable and split off as many cores as desired, it all sepends on what you are doing.

sometimes it is easier to do things as you were originally, I do have the same style of dupont lead hanging around as well as plenty of ribbon and some single solid core. the advantage of making your own is that you can choose the exact length needed without worrying too much about wastage.

[Burngate]

One disadvantage of not using a standard 40-pin header, as provided on the normal Pi's, is that you can't use a ribbon cable to connect to a breadboard, but if you're not wanting to use a breadboard, it's not a disadvantage.
Another disadvantage of not using a header is that you can't unplug soldered wires, but if you want it permanently connected, again it's not a disadvantage.

One advantage of soldering directly to the Pi is it ends up much thinner.
If you were to keep the pins on the wire and solder the pins to the Pi, you'd lose that advantage.

Using that solid-core wire would be ok if you aren't wanting much movement between the Pi and the sensors - but if there is movement, solid-core wire is more likely to break, either somewhere in the middle (which can be difficult to find, inside the insulation) or just by the soldered joint.
Flexible multi-core wire is just that - more flexible, less likely to break.

I would do exactly as you have done, except that I might have bought the ribbon without the pins attached.
But, having been soldering stuff for half a century, I've forgotten pretty much all of the problems I had when I started out (at Yorkshire Television I was known as the Dry Joint King)
Still, perhaps the following might help.

Start by stripping more insulation off the end of the wire then you think you need - about a centimetre is good.
Don't remove it all the way - use that bit of insulation to twist the wire. It gives the twist a nice professional look, but more to the point it makes it more likely to slip through the hole in the board.
It's sometimes worth tinning the wire (putting some solder on it) before putting it through the hole - it holds the wires together, stops them fraying apart, and makes sure there isn't going to be a dry joint.

Soldering a wire to a board requires at least five hands - one to hold the board, one to hold the wire, one to hold the solder, one to hold the iron, and one to answer the phone that always starts ringing in the middle of things.
So get a vice to hold the board.
Poke the wire through the hole and bend it so it doesn't fall out.
Apply iron then solder.
Switch off your phone.