I was poking fun at mike for not using a comma after "flux" and also capitalizing Dude. Such a combination technically implies a name even though in context it makes sense that he's saying "Flux, dude!"
I agree on this video about 'anchoring the first pin' - but drowning the pins with solder and suck it off afterwards is not really how I handle these SMD / TSSOP devices; - Just add a little bit of flux to the PCB traces for the device you want to solder. - Carefully place your device on the fluxed traces. - yes, anchor the first pin like in this video but keep in mind the technique below: - Put a small ball of solder on your (preferred chisel-tip) welder and just place it on the outer area of the PCB trace. The solder will follow the trace to the pin and the all ever beautiful cohesive power will suck the solder underneath the pins of the device, making an instant clean solder, no bridges; clean. Just a dot of solder on your welding tip will probably allow you to nicely connect about three pins of the device. It's a much more economic way to use your solder too!
Watch out for the QFP chips with a central bottom pad. While some of those center pads are just for thermal dissipation others actually are important ground connections. On those that have important grounding requirements, your technique will not provide reliable results. On those where the central pad is only for thermal reasons, you may have to watch out for heat dissipation. Getting that bottom center pad actually soldered is nearly impossible using only a soldering iron. But one technique that could work is instead of soldering the single corner pin, use a low temperature solder and lightly tin the bottom pad on the PCB and the pad on the chip. A very thin coating. Then heat the PCB from the under side to re-melt the solder and make that the first connection to a QFP, not the corner pin. If you can get your hand on a small tube of solder bearing paste, then use a small drop of paste on the PCB pad instead of tinning the PCB pad and the chip. Still very difficult to make that solder connection with a soldering iron. if the PCB has thermal vias the transfer heat quickly through the PCB to the pad, that will make it easier. But the whole process will be quite a bit easier to do with a hot air gun. With a hot aid gun you can also do BGA chips. If you're doing a lot of QFP chips, buy a hot air gun and a small tube of solder bearing paste. You'll eliminate a lot of problems. Keep the solder paste in the fridge so it doesn't go bad (it will separate if you don't) and use it for those special chips.
I was told by a hand pocket watch maker, "never drink caffeine when dealing with small parts." It allows you to be more precise in your body movements.
+Nick Farrow Exactly. I do most of my manual SMD work before first coffee. Collin generally knows his stuff, but if I would have submitted this board for approval back when I was in school, my teacher would have given me a C at best, with the warning that the board may as well stop working within a year or so.
+Kaj Schulten Being hyper critical is in no way a good thing. He did a way better job in my book, than what I could do. Knowing how and watching someone do it is very different. Collin is defiantly not a muggle indeed.
I use painter's tape cut into thin strips to hold down large multipin devices before soldering. This lets you reposition and align the device before applying any solder at all.
In uni solder class we had 2 hours to solder and we had some really good chats with the people on our table. Couldn't help but notice, the table with the girls and guys together (only 4 chicks in the session, there were 25 guys) was the one having the cheerful convo. The guys just didn't talk...
No no no, don't solder like this! Use flux and don't go over all the solders with that solder wick it will damage the pads, pcb and the risk of shorts are really high.
I personally think you did great! If you think about it, flux is to move the heat across the solder surface point rapidly to get the solder to flow across that point. The points of heating are so small here that the only difference it would probably make is making a mess to clean up. Keep up the good work and I do like the comedy added. If anyone noticed?? LOL!
this de-soldering pump is really nice looking, i ended up buying one. could you maybe consider doing a video on de-soldering? (if you haven't already) maybe including some of the other methods like electronic/powered vacuum pumps?
I’m very noob about soldering, just two questions. 1) what solder do you use? (If you could link one) 2) what temperature do you use for solder wires! Chips, desoldering?
Getting set up to film this has to be a huge pain in the ass. The shots look great though - whatever camera & rig is being used to film him doing the actual soldering (while not getting in his way I hope) must be cool.
For those saying use flux, do you put the flux on the pads before you begin to solder? How precise do you have to be with the flux? When I'm soldering my solder gets really sticky and sticks to my tip.
I found out the hard way that brushing the solder wick crosswise on ic chips with extra fine legs just mangled them. I brush the wick parallel with legs now.
Soldering components is so much harder than I expected it to be. I grew up using a soldering iron to make stain glass projects, but I’m finding now that I’m trying to solder electronic components it’s much more difficult.
with your final example no exposed pins i have found tinning everything seperatly and then setting the chip down to solder with a hot air station makes for an easier and cleaner looking install
Hi Collin! Love your tutorials! One question, I noticed that you used the Hakko soldering station for this (SMS) project. What temperature did you set your Hakko to? What soldering tip did you use? Thanks much!!
This video have good explanation with it. The problem is the quality of soldering. Technically, idea and theoretical explanation is very good but the actual soldering is the problem. Try to improve soldering, the way you teach it verbally.
+Sebastien Bournival In my college lab, we've always used 650°F on our HAKKO-888 stations. My professors basically recommended that initially, keep the temp down a bit while you get used to how SMD soldering feels and then you can turn it up a bit (I use 700°F now) when you feel more comfortable and can make quicker connections. Otherwise you'll put too much heat in your components.
+Red Ambassador 650 celsius?! Don't you mean 650 fahrenheit? 650 celsius is WAY too hot, I've never had to go much past 400C for even the most stubborn soldering jobs.
Derp. I was being stupid... Yeah, Fahrenheit wouldn't make any sense. Matter of fact, I checked the Hakko website and the FX-888D has a temperature range of 120° - 899°F (50° - 480°C). So, yeah, obviously it can't go up to 650°C. Thanks for correcting me!
I need suggestions for how to deal with very unsteady hands. I have considered trying to build a remote control arm/robot with filtering to remove the shake frequencies. Or has someone already invented that?
