Tried my hand at SMD soldering.

[bigone5500]

Seems easy enough. I used a small tip with the iron set at around 300C and .3 mm solder.

 

[hevans1944]

Yikes! Looks like you need a little more flux and perhaps a hotter iron, or maybe just a hot-air soldering device. The connections should be smooth and shiny, not pitted, lumpy, and irregular. Capillary attraction and surface tension are your friends.

 

[davenn]

Pretty good first attempt, Jared

there appeared to be plenty of flux, it can be seen all around the connections
you just need a little more practice making that nice smooth looking joint that heavens commented on
chances are that you were probably heating the joint and solder too long that produced that rough appearance


Dave

 

[HellasTechn]

Not bad at all.

Keep in mind that a flat slder tip might help you solder SMD's better !!!

There are many techniques for SMD soldering at youtube watch practice and learn !!!

This is what i used to do to gain experience on proper SMD removal and soldering:
I used pcb's from devices i no longer needed but knew that where working, i practiced removal and soldering then power on the device to see if it still worked. If yes then my attempt was sucessfull. if no then no worries it wouldnt hurt because like i said i used pcb's i didnt need.

Needless to say that i destroyed a number of boards before i learnd how to do that !

 

[bigone5500]

Thanks. I had the chips and adapter boards so I decided to give it a go. I used about a 1.5mm conical tip. I applied paste flux and used flux cored solder. I applied a small amount to one corner pad then placed the chip on the board. After getting the first connection, I soldered the opposite corner and blah blah...

I am going to get a hot air gun sometime. I have a cheap one in mind. We'll see if it does the job. But for now I will have to rely on pencil types.

This is the iron I used: Solder Iron.
This is the hot air gun I am going to try: Hot Air.

 

[davenn]

as a suggestion get some boards out of faulty DVD players, TV, monitors etc ... there is no shortage of SMD component
that you can experiment with desoldering and soldering back in ... great to experiment on and if you wreck something, its not a big deal
You will quickly learn how much heat is needed before components get damaged etc


Dave

 

[bigone5500]

as a suggestion get some boards out of faulty DVD players, TV, monitors etc ... there is no shortage of SMD component
that you can experiment with desoldering and soldering back in ... great to experiment on and if you wreck something, its not a big deal
Youo will quickly learn how much heat is needed before components get damaged


Dave

Thanks Dave. Good idea with the scrap boards. That way I don't have to check myself before I wreck myself...

 

[hevans1944]

Thanks. I had the chips and adapter boards so I decided to give it a go. I used about a 1.5mm conical tip. I applied paste flux and used flux cored solder. I applied a small amount to one corner pad then placed the chip on the board. After getting the first connection, I soldered the opposite corner and blah blah...

I am going to get a hot air gun sometime. I have a cheap one in mind. We'll see if it does the job. But for now I will have to rely on pencil types.

This is the iron I used: Solder Iron.
This is the hot air gun I am going to try: Hot Air.

I hope you didn't feel I came down too hard on you for your first SMD soldering attempt. Actually, it wasn't too bad for a first effort. But as others have said the key is practice, practice, practice. You have the right tools, flux and solder. A temperature controlled 60 W soldering iron for twelve bucks!? Outstanding! Your technique is correct, tacking opposite corner pins first. When you get the hot air gun, you will be able to re-flow solder and produce much nicer looking solder joints. It helps to have about a 4 or 5 diopter stereo magnifying headset and some really small tweezers. As @HellasTechn said, a flat-blade or spade tip will make for better heat transfer than a conical tip.

Please let us know how well the hot air gun performs. Forty-five bucks and change sounds like a very good price. I have been looking for a soldering station with hot air and vacuum for SMD board re-work, but all I've found so far cost several hundred dollars, upwards to several thousand if equipped with fancy board holders and bottom heaters and other do-dads for production work.

 

[bigone5500]

I hope you didn't feel I came down too hard on you for your first SMD soldering attempt. Actually, it wasn't too bad for a first effort. But as others have said the key is practice, practice, practice. You have the right tools, flux and solder. A temperature controlled 60 W soldering iron for twelve bucks!? Outstanding! Your technique is correct, tacking opposite corner pins first. When you get the hot air gun, you will be able to re-flow solder and produce much nicer looking solder joints. It helps to have about a 4 or 5 diopter stereo magnifying headset and some really small tweezers. As @HellasTechn said, a flat-blade or spade tip will make for better heat transfer than a conical tip.

Please let us know how well the hot air gun performs. Forty-five bucks and change sounds like a very good price. I have been looking for a soldering station with hot air and vacuum for SMD board re-work, but all I've found so far cost several hundred dollars, upwards to several thousand if equipped with fancy board holders and bottom heaters and other do-dads for production work.

No offense taken sir. I like constructive criticism as long as the person is not being plain rude. I still have a few tools to purchase but for now I best not buy anymore as my wife may hand me the pen and say sign here...(divorce papers).

 

[HellasTechn]

This is the hot air gun i use :
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ProsKit-SS-...ep-mode-NEW-/261557724007?hash=item3ce60e2367
It is a good quality reliable tool

I also recommend you buy and use a digital thermometer in combination with the hot air gun !
This is the one i use and it is good enough:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/KT-300-50-C...Q-Meat-Oven-/360636905060?hash=item53f7a27664

Also my last suggestion is a Proskit MA-016 headband magnifier:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-ProsK...ssembly-New-/181205821478?hash=item2a30b56826
Also an excellent tool you will need for sure.