I have read up on some basic soldering practices, and have an extremely basic understanding of how soldering works. I work on small film cameras but I have been wanting to try out some electrical repairs and have had inconsistent results thus far.

My main trouble points right now are very small pads (maybe about 1.5mm x 2mm or so) on thin flexible circuit board that need to be rewired. The wire in question is common 26g wire, nothing special or specific.

I’m using Sn63/Pb37 0.8mm flux core solder which has been fine for other applications thus far, with my iron set to 320C.

I have used both a fine conical tip, and standard conical tip and haven’t had satisfying results with either so far. It’s extremely difficult to execute proper soldering technique in such a tight little space. The pads are fully desoldered and clean, and the wire and iron tip are both tinned prior to any contact with one another.

I do not currently own any flux, but I was thinking that maybe applying a tiny bit of flux to the pad will make the solder stick to the pad more easily when it is applied.

One last bit of difficulty: the tongue of the flexible circuit board is (very carefully) pulled out of the camera but still attached, so it’s basically floating in the air and only a bit of pressure can be applied without moving it.

I don’t expect anyone to do my homework for me, I understand soldering is a skill that needs to be developed and you can’t always take shortcuts, but it has been difficult for me to find info regarding this specific type of situation so if anyone could point me in the right direction I’d greatly appreciate any help.