Hello all,

Can anyone share some tips on how to solder ground pins on the router. I mean those serial port pins which are marked with dotted circle on the PCB. The problem is that soldering metal just don't want to stick to it. There is no problem with other pins and soldering them are very fast and smooth, but not the ground pin. I've searched the internet and found that this is common problem, but still didn't find good tips on how to solder them. So maybe some of you can share the ideas of soldering ground pins.

I had similar problems using my 8W iron. Seems like the big ground plane dissipates the heat too fast. Using a 20W iron took about 2-3 s to heat it up sufficiently for soldering a wire.

tin the pad first, by using really thick solder flux. Then proceed as normal.

I was working with 25W iron, but it was really not enough. Only problem was very thin tip of the iron. Maybe that is the problem. Now I'm considering to buy 60W soldering station. It would be easier to vary temperatures I think.
About tinning the pad first. Yes, I've done that, but still had lots of problems soldering. I still believe that heat dissipation and thin tip of iron is the cause.

Full ACK