My new stereo scope.

[Jamie]

I received and assemble my stereo scope for component work
on these small 0102 items.
Then I jump right in on a radio that is sitting my my bench for
a repair in the mixer section of the receiver..
I suspected a problem here since references the service manual
kind of pointed me to that location via the symptoms and the fact
that I found a spring ground arm that some how came off its solder
paid and was lying across the components..
So I made the move to get this stereo microscope (47x) so I could
take a closer looky..
What I found was cracks in the feed through holes and a couple of
component solder cracks..
Now, these can only be seen under the micro scope and not with a
5x over head light. I'm just wondering if my scope is just seeing
shadows or are they real cracks ?
When I lower the power a bit or look at slightly different angle I
don't see them as cracks so much..
As it is, I'll have to mod a tip just to touch them up to see if
they do mend together..
It's a bitch when things get small, kind of reminds me when I take a
leak!

 

[mc]

Stereo microscopes are very useful. The Bausch & Lomb Stereozoom 4 is
abundant on eBay. Those who are mechanically inclined may want to make
their own stand and just purchase the "pod" and eyepieces.

 

[Arfa Daily]

I received and assemble my stereo scope for component work
on these small 0102 items.
Then I jump right in on a radio that is sitting my my bench for
a repair in the mixer section of the receiver..
I suspected a problem here since references the service manual
kind of pointed me to that location via the symptoms and the fact
that I found a spring ground arm that some how came off its solder
paid and was lying across the components..
So I made the move to get this stereo microscope (47x) so I could
take a closer looky..
What I found was cracks in the feed through holes and a couple of
component solder cracks..
Now, these can only be seen under the micro scope and not with a
5x over head light. I'm just wondering if my scope is just seeing
shadows or are they real cracks ?
When I lower the power a bit or look at slightly different angle I
don't see them as cracks so much..
As it is, I'll have to mod a tip just to touch them up to see if
they do mend together..
It's a bitch when things get small, kind of reminds me when I take a
leak!

I too use a stereo 'scope for tiny work. If you think any of the joints look
bad now, wait until you've made some of your own. They will look perfect
under x5. Under x40, it will look like you have used a poker heated in a
fire, and plumber's solder and flux !!

Seriously though, it does take a bit of getting used to, and whilst the
thru' plated holes are probably not perfect, and the soldered joints might
well appear, or even *be* cracked, it is unlikely, in my experience, that
they will be bad to any degree that actually renders them faulty. Trust me,
if you see a genuinely bad joint at this magnification, there will be no
debate as to whether it is an optical anomaly.

If the unit is post June 2006, and made using crap lead-free solder, then
this is pretty much what the soldered joints look like under a microscope,
anyway. As far as soldering this tiny stuff goes, if you just use a standard
needle tip such as is available for the Antex 15 watt irons here in the UK,
and the finest gauge solder wire that you can get, it's perfectly possible
to actually solder whilst looking through the microscope. It takes a bit of
practice, but is perfectly do-able. The one that I have has a small halogen
spotlight on a multijointed arm. This is very useful for moving the
illumination around, and often will help you to spot bad joints by
illuminating them from a different angle.

Arfa

 

[msg]

Arfa Daily wrote:

As far as soldering this tiny stuff goes, if you just use a standard
needle tip such as is available for the Antex 15 watt irons here in the UK,
and the finest gauge solder wire that you can get, it's perfectly possible
to actually solder whilst looking through the microscope.

<snip>

Do you use airflow nearby to prevent contaminating the optics while
soldering?

Michael

 

[Arfa Daily]

Arfa Daily wrote:

<snip>

Do you use airflow nearby to prevent contaminating the optics while
soldering?

Michael

Can't say I've ever thought about that, to be honest, but perhaps now you've
raised it, I might ...

Arfa

 

[Jamie]

I too use a stereo 'scope for tiny work. If you think any of the joints look
bad now, wait until you've made some of your own. They will look perfect
under x5. Under x40, it will look like you have used a poker heated in a
fire, and plumber's solder and flux !!

Seriously though, it does take a bit of getting used to, and whilst the
thru' plated holes are probably not perfect, and the soldered joints might
well appear, or even *be* cracked, it is unlikely, in my experience, that
they will be bad to any degree that actually renders them faulty. Trust me,
if you see a genuinely bad joint at this magnification, there will be no
debate as to whether it is an optical anomaly.

If the unit is post June 2006, and made using crap lead-free solder, then
this is pretty much what the soldered joints look like under a microscope,
anyway. As far as soldering this tiny stuff goes, if you just use a standard
needle tip such as is available for the Antex 15 watt irons here in the UK,
and the finest gauge solder wire that you can get, it's perfectly possible
to actually solder whilst looking through the microscope. It takes a bit of
practice, but is perfectly do-able. The one that I have has a small halogen
spotlight on a multijointed arm. This is very useful for moving the
illumination around, and often will help you to spot bad joints by
illuminating them from a different angle.

Arfa

well I do have a rework station with a assortment of tips how ever, the
smallest one I have still looks like it's going to be challenge getting
in on the side to reword a couple of SM caps and 2 feed through holes
with out hitting something adjacent.
I may need to reform a top at an angle or maybe try using my tweezers
iron to solder still even then, I'll need to mod the fingers a bit..
good thing I have a small set of machine shop tools to work with
I also have a plating machine that I can use to nickel plate the tips
once I decide on a shape and size.