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To remove SMD ICs more easily with a soldering iron, you can create a tool to help with it. Cut a lengthy piece with a curved end at the front (looks a bit lik
by _Microft 6mo ago
To remove SMD ICs more easily with a soldering iron, you can create a tool to help with it.
Cut a lengthy piece with a curved end at the front (looks a bit like a finger) from an aluminum can and sand away the inner coating and print on the outside.
Then work the curved end between IC and PCB and start heating the contacts left and right while continuing to move the tool further in once the solder at a leg melts.
The legs with solder on them will not attach to the aluminum and you have the IC off the board in no time.
For soldering the author might consider “drag soldering”, i.e. put a small blob of molten solder on the legs and keep moving the tip of the iron over the legs on one side. Keep doing that until there are no bridges left.
- userbinator 6mo agoOr you could just use a hot air gun, as the author did. IMHO trying to work with SMD using an iron is a losing battle.
- _Microft 6mo agoI’ve considered that before but never actually got one. For soldering SMD a small hotplate was a difference like day and night already. How cheap could I get away with when buying a hot air station/gun?
- axoltl 6mo agoThe Quick 861DW has been a hobbyist favorite for a long time, and comes in at ~$300 (USD)
- userbinator 6mo agoAn 858-style station costs roughly 1/10th of that and should be fine for hobbyist use; many commercial repair shops use them too.
- tripdout 6mo agoOr similar/clones, like the Atten ST-862D.
- wpm 6mo agoI paid $60 for mine on Amazon. YIHUA 959D. Save the hundreds of dollars for a good desoldering gun for thru-hole stuff.