Re: [tcmaker] Delicate Soldering Skill needed

[Chris Thorp]

Do you know what size (eg 0402) the components are or what pin pitch (eg 1mm pin-to-pin spacing) for ICs or connectors?

-Chris

Sent from my mobile device. Please excuse any terseness/typos.

On May 15, 2013, at 5:23 PM, Matthew Johnson <ma...@omega.org> wrote:

Hello Everyone:

I need to do some delicate surface mount type soldering.  I've done some soldering for cables and the like, but no component soldering. Has anyone here done SMDs?  Would you be able to help me out on what to do and how to practice?  I'd like to practice before working on something that isn't easily replaceable.

  -Matt


Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-mount_device

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[er...@greendragon.org]

I've done SMDs, but it was a while ago, and I still have some PTSD related
to it (kidding).

I'm sure other folks have more recent experience, but let me know if I can
help.

Some SMDs are just too small to work with without robotics. They really
weren't made for manual soldering, normally you reflow them... basically
glue the components to the board with a solder/flux paste, then once
they're all more or less in place you heat them in an oven with good
temperature control (IE not your average home oven) and as the solder
melts the surface tension tends to align the parts with their pads.

There are some tricks you can use to make SMD rework possible with
patience and a decent quality soldering iron, but really a hot air setup
or an actual SMD rework station are much easier.

I don't *think* anyone at the HF has built a reflow oven, or at least I
haven't seen one around...

Erik

[Paul Sobczak]

To do this kind of work you can watch some youtube videos, get a small tip iron and most importantly some flux and a bit of copper braid, you don't need anything else except some patience and practice, that is how I learned to do this stuff. I would give you a had but I am not in MN at the time being.

Wayne and Layne has a "I can solder smd" kit that might help pump up your confidence as well.

Other than that start on your board of if you want grab some scrap boards and practice there, again practice makes perfect.

 

[Erik Mitchell]

I have tried to solder on some pretty small resistors to add a USB
port to a router/access point that I have. I found I wasn't able to do
it with the magnification capability that I had, and am hoping to get
a stereo microscope at some point in the future so that I can get it
done.

-Erik

Erik K. Mitchell
erik.m...@gmail.com

[er...@greendragon.org]

You can learn to solder and work with many SMD devices with practice, and
if you're good at it, more power to you... on the other hand, if you can
reliably place and solder 0402 and smaller devices, and solder package
leads with 0.5 mm spacing without a lot of bridging, you're possibly an
android of some type, and should consider filming your own TV show :)

I'll shut up now and let the more experienced folks talk.

Erik

[er...@greendragon.org]

Oh yeah, one more thing.

These are useful for SMD work (and inspecting end mills and inserts for
damage, acting as an optical center, checking out coins, observing
problems with your extruder head, and the list goes on):

http://www.amazon.com/Carson-Digital-Microscope-Optical-Orange/dp/B001GIJZX8

Works under Windows and Linux (dunno about OSX) and if you can handle not
having depth perception for placing components, is a nice cheap solution.

Erik

[Steve McGrath]

I feel like I should jump in and point out that our electronics lab is equipped with both a stereo microscope and hot air rework station. I can provide basic instruction in their use, though so far I have not done any SMD soldering myself.

-McSteve

[Chris Thorp]

I've also found that you want a tip that is small but not too small otherwise it gets tricky to get the solder "ball" on the tip to wick into the joint.  I also really recommend electronic-grade paste flux because it helps hold the parts down and stays in the joint better.  Also, good tweezers, magnification, and standard lead solder w/ full strength RA flux.

If you don't have a temperature controlled iron, take a look at Adafruit or Sparkfun.  Excessive heat burns off your flux before you can complete your SMD soldering job.

I know I've listed a lot of tools, but there isn't a single one of these tools or supplies that would make or break the success of an SMD soldering project.  Each one adds some incremental ease or improves the odds for success.

Paste flux:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/SMD291NL/SMD291NL-ND/1160000

My two favorite tweezers for SMD:
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?vendor=0&keywords=erop7sa&stock=1
http://www.digikey.com/scripts/dksearch/dksus.dll?vendor=0&keywords=EROP2ASA

-Chris

[er...@greendragon.org]

It's probably also worth asking the intent of the original poster... are
you planning on learning SMD rework for a particular project, or as a
general skill to have, or to fix something?

Erik

>> <mailto:ma...@omega.org>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Hello Everyone:
>> >>
>> >> I need to do some delicate surface mount type soldering. I've
>> done some
>> >> soldering for cables and the like, but no component soldering.
>> Has
>> >> anyone here done SMDs? Would you be able to help me out on
>> what to do
>> >> and how to practice? I'd like to practice before working on
>> something
>> >> that isn't easily replaceable.
>> >>
>> >> -Matt
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-mount_device
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
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>> >> Groups "tcmaker" group.
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[Chris Thorp]

I think that is eminently reasonable. Just for background, I had 0402,
0.5mm pitch flex PCB ZIF connectors, QFNs, and other assorted bits at
that scale in mind when discussing tools.

If you're doing just a couple parts up around 0805 or 1210, you usually
can get away with a fairly normal iron, toothpicks, and regular solder.

-Chris

[Pete Bergstrom]

The Twin Cities Robot group is meeting at the Hack Factory tonight, and there's a guy who is most likely willing to show you how to do this. He's said that he's coming, and he'll have his soldering stuff along as well as some boards to disassemble for parts (which might give you some practice parts and boards). Ask for Bill.

Pete

On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 5:23 PM, Matthew Johnson <ma...@omega.org> wrote:

Hello Everyone:

I need to do some delicate surface mount type soldering.  I've done some soldering for cables and the like, but no component soldering. Has anyone here done SMDs?  Would you be able to help me out on what to do and how to practice?  I'd like to practice before working on something that isn't easily replaceable.

  -Matt


Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface-mount_device

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