petehall347
the brandy coffee man
multilayer boards are sometimes rather difficult to rework . unlike single layer .
Soldering skills
- Thread starter OldStuff
- Start date
add solder to it. it will mix in with the old and make the heat flow thruout for easier removal.
especially important if lead free solder was used originally.
Absolutely!
And the use of surgical Hemostats as heat sinks can be a real parts saver too
Here is a quick video for ya on the use of a heat sink to preserve the component your soldering;
yes they are. i have different ways of dealing with different situations.
i will add solder to the bottom and add solder to the top and as long as the leads are not folded over tightly, i will pull the legs out one by one and clear the hole after the part is removed. this also allows for solder removal that no one talks about and that is heating the pad and blowing it thru with a quick blast of your own breath.
if the leads are folded over, i may clip out the old part and then remove the legs and continue as above. gotta be able to adapt.
petehall347
the brandy coffee man
temperature controlled soldering station makes it lots easier than a fixed iron . mine also has hot air and can be used to preheat the board a little .
i've debated buying a hot air station. the last time, hot tweezers won out.
I have heard the advice about heating the work not the solder (of course), but be aware that if you hold the tip there too long, you can damage a component easily, and also that the heat travels rather efficiently along the trace to the next component, so don't forget that you may be heating that up too.
I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but:
I've found that sometimes (very often, in my case) lightly and briefly touching the solder to the tip of the iron is not really a problem, and for me, it's preferable to holding the iron against the component and waiting for something to happen. If I think about it more carefully (I haven't soldered in the last month or so) I hold the solder wire to the component leg and bring the tip of the iron in contact with the the leg and wire at the same time, or the leg first and then to the wire. It's really quick, just enough for the wire to "take", and I don't see any harm in it. It flows where it needs to go.
Here are some other randomly ordered points as they occur to me:
Clean the tip and re-tin it before soldering each component. Obviously all the guides tell you to do this, but specifically, don't get lazy about cleaning.
Look carefully at the joint right after you make it, also when you finish go over everything you've done to confirm to the best of your ability that all the joints are good.
You don't need a soldering station. Nice to have maybe, but not essential. I still haven't got around to getting one, and I'm not even sure I want one. I've managed multiple projects without.
Hakko isn't the only option.
If you want a blue and yellow colour scheme, which you don't, Hakko is the only option.
A chisel tip is worth experimenting with. I used conicals for years, but switching to a chisel tip for most jobs, even sometimes for quite tight spaces, gave very good results. I almost only use the chisel tip now.
Everyone says use a solder sucker for desoldering. If you don't find those easy, you're not alone. I use desoldering braid, which I find far easier. (Also a gun, if I want to remove many items at once, but those are expensive.)
I've had mixed results with the third-hand type tool. I'm not very good at getting it to hold well. I often don't use it at all, and get by with Blu-tak and other improvised methods.
A proper roll of solder wire and a good stand with weighted base for holding it will make life easier. I'm using a stand that has space for a roll of desoldering braid next to the solder wire.
If you have access to Goot (Taiyo) equipment, it's pretty good. Like I said, Hakko isn't the only option.
Tweezers and needle-nose pliers are essential, forceps are really useful. You also need cutters for snipping away protruding component legs after soldering. The type with a silicon jaw attachment that keeps hold of the cut part instead of launching it eyeward or sending it to the floor for you to step on later is cheap and indispensable.
I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but:
I've found that sometimes (very often, in my case) lightly and briefly touching the solder to the tip of the iron is not really a problem, and for me, it's preferable to holding the iron against the component and waiting for something to happen. If I think about it more carefully (I haven't soldered in the last month or so) I hold the solder wire to the component leg and bring the tip of the iron in contact with the the leg and wire at the same time, or the leg first and then to the wire. It's really quick, just enough for the wire to "take", and I don't see any harm in it. It flows where it needs to go.
Here are some other randomly ordered points as they occur to me:
Clean the tip and re-tin it before soldering each component. Obviously all the guides tell you to do this, but specifically, don't get lazy about cleaning.
Look carefully at the joint right after you make it, also when you finish go over everything you've done to confirm to the best of your ability that all the joints are good.
You don't need a soldering station. Nice to have maybe, but not essential. I still haven't got around to getting one, and I'm not even sure I want one. I've managed multiple projects without.
Hakko isn't the only option.
If you want a blue and yellow colour scheme, which you don't, Hakko is the only option.
A chisel tip is worth experimenting with. I used conicals for years, but switching to a chisel tip for most jobs, even sometimes for quite tight spaces, gave very good results. I almost only use the chisel tip now.
Everyone says use a solder sucker for desoldering. If you don't find those easy, you're not alone. I use desoldering braid, which I find far easier. (Also a gun, if I want to remove many items at once, but those are expensive.)
I've had mixed results with the third-hand type tool. I'm not very good at getting it to hold well. I often don't use it at all, and get by with Blu-tak and other improvised methods.
A proper roll of solder wire and a good stand with weighted base for holding it will make life easier. I'm using a stand that has space for a roll of desoldering braid next to the solder wire.
If you have access to Goot (Taiyo) equipment, it's pretty good. Like I said, Hakko isn't the only option.
Tweezers and needle-nose pliers are essential, forceps are really useful. You also need cutters for snipping away protruding component legs after soldering. The type with a silicon jaw attachment that keeps hold of the cut part instead of launching it eyeward or sending it to the floor for you to step on later is cheap and indispensable.
Last edited:
JP
7480 74111110101115
Why?
I've been soldering for a some time now. In fact even on several McIntosh pieces. I really don't remember any of them having boards like this one before. I have a couple McIntosh pre-amplifiers, several McIntosh CD players, an McIntosh amplifier a McIntosh subwoofer and I have already worked on all of them. But then, I only re-capped, cleaned, lubricated them but never replaced resistors on them. That's probably why I never noticed these boards being so tight before. I can't really say I have any trashed Mcintosh equipment that isn't as good as the one I'm working on, so I guess this one is as good as any to practice on. I am almost finished with this board and I haven't had any problems with it yet (I did say yet). Once I figured out how to go about it, it was only a matter of taking my time. I know that I would MUCH rather take my time than have to fix traces. One other thing I have noticed is that a few of these resistors are slightly out of tolerance, so I figure if I want to keep them all working as long as possible, I better consider replacing all the resistors now. Either all my Mac's will be dead and buried or I might be pretty good at replacing resistors by the time I'm finished with them. Another thing I noticed about this mcIntosh board is that once you take the old solder off, reading the traces is easy. I know when one is attached to another. I have learned a new respect for McIntosh. I've been listening all day to a couple MAC's while I was working on this one and I could (almost) hear them cheering me on.
There are some items that I figure I should only heat up and solder as fast as I can, yet try to make sure I have a good solder and I don't damage the component. For some reason, small transistors are one of them.
I once posted and titled it: Ask one question, get ten different answers. I figure what works for one person may not work for another. Not a big deal.
petehall347
the brandy coffee man
yes it is always what works for you no matter what anyone else tells you
arts
Addicted Member
Here is the ultimate tutorial on hand-soldering. It was done a very long time ago, by one of the premier soldering equipment manufacturers at the time, and is still totally valid today. It was also performed by one of the best (and most famous!) voice artists in the industry.
www.youtube.com
Basic Soldering Lessons 1 - 9
These 9 videos will educate you on the basic soldering knowledge and practices used today.
www.youtube.com
Well, I watched lesson #1 Basic soldering and it had a lot of good information. I did a few more resistors this morning after I turned my iron up a little and it made a big difference, On most of them it cut my time in about half and the solder is coming out a lot faster. I forgot to try the flux, that will be next. I had one resistor that I'm not sure I would have even gotten out if I hadn't turn the heat up. It was really stuck in there.
mrehorst
Super Member
This stuff is great for cleaning and tinning the soldering iron tip. I keep it glued to the top of my soldering iron controller box.
And use one of these to clean the tip before touching the PCB with the the iron, whether soldering or unsoldering.
And use one of these to clean the tip before touching the PCB with the the iron, whether soldering or unsoldering.
arts
Addicted Member
If you are using an iron with a digital display, usually setting the temp somewhere in the 700°F to 750°F range is about right for most applications.
For boards with extremely fine traces, I'll often drop down to 650°F in order not to boil off the flux too quickly when using very small diameter (less than 0.020" ) solder.
mrhorst, I use a solder ball also, I really like it. It's easy to use and it keeps my tip shiny. At this point on this board I have a few resistors that are boxed in and really tight together so there is no way to try to pry them out from above. As you know, I have to pull the resistor from above, push down on the board while applying heat to the trace on the bottom. It wouldn't be so bad if they went so tight. I have to moderate the pull or I can tear the trace out. I have to wait until they start to move.
arts, I going to move to a smaller diameter solder and try that.
arts, I going to move to a smaller diameter solder and try that.
you need a set of these or similar
use the hook tool and hook it thru the lead, heat up the pad and pull it thru
look at the 2nd tool from right. the bottom. the hook. hook it under the lead and pull after the pad is heated
if there are traces on both sides, there are likely plated through holes so be careful. Its pretty easy to wreck the plated through hole when removing old parts.