How To Remove Solder Bridges / Excess Solder  

Hi , thank you for your comment, much appreciated. Homemade braid is amazing especially if you get fine stranded copper wire from scrap earth cable etc . Add flux to it before use and it transforms it to a different level . Thanks again for watching, take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment and for your support of my channel , very kind of you. I'm glad you find the videos enjoyable. , I will always put new ones up when I get some time and hopefully these will also be useful for people with their soldering issues. Thanks again and good luck with all of your soldering projects in the future, take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful. I might make a video just showing this homemade braid as like you say it is really good . Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video, hopefully it was of use to you . Your support is very much appreciated and good luck with all of your soldering projects, take care 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , very much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment. Flux definitely does improve your solder braid , I'm glad you agree. Good luck with all your future soldering projects , thanks again for your support 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , very much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment and supporting my channel , very much appreciated . I'm glad you enjoy the videos , hopefully they can help a few people out with their soldering / desoldering issues, if they can then that's great. I will always post more when I get some spare time. Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment , much appreciated. Your right practice will make everyone better as you get to know the consumables and tools you require for each job . Thanks again 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , your support of my channel is very much appreciated . I'm glad you find the videos useful , that's great to hear . Thanks again and good luck with all of your soldering projects in the future 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , much appreciated . Hopefully this video and others on my channel can help a few people out with their soldering / desoldering issues , if they can then that's great . Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and for commenting , very much appreciated. I'm glad you found the video useful , if I can help anyone out then I'm happy . Thanks again and good luck with all of your soldering projects 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 Are you using a temperature controlled soldering station. If you are what temperatures do you normally operate at?

Hi , thank you for your comment. I normally when doing lead free soldering would use about 340 - 350 degrees centigrade and for leaded I'd go down about 20 degrees from this . My iron that I prefer is a Weller TCP S which isn't adjustable but you can buy different temperature tips that obviously make it adjustable this way . It's an old school iron but I love it still . I also use Metcals which are great irons as well and In my opinion these are the 2 best makes of soldering irons Hope that helps , thanks again for supporting my channel , take care 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 Thank you for the quick response on temperatures. I used to use the one temp irons. I would often end up lifting pads and traces. i ended up getting a harbor freight Schneider corded soldering station. i am not too sure how well it will work. It is temperature controlled. also, inexpensive.

Hi . The main thing I've seen people over the years do is to use a larger tip on their iron than they need to for the job in hand i.e when they are soldering a 0402 size resistor ( a tiny part ) and they've used a pretty big tip . Because the pads for these devices are also tiny the extra large tip can wipe them straight off. I hope you get on ok with your new iron , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , very much appreciated . I've posted many different soldering videos on RU-vid showing all sorts of ways to sort out problems , hopefully they can help a few people out . We all get better with practice as you get to learn about solder sizes , fluxes , different tools and processes . You will get there . Thanks again , take care 👍

@mrsolderfix3996 by some miracle, I managed to reposition and hot air attach the tiny resistor. The other was tiny bridges between two pads and another tiny capacitor. I spent an hour getting nowhere, then with one stroke of the iron, all the solder re-attached itself to respective capacitor and two separate pads. Not sure I could repeat it haha. One last question, I found it very difficult trying to use a soldering iron to re- position the tiny resistor; I couldn't see it clearly through the gel flux. I had to use the hot air to be able to melt the flux, position the cap and then attach it, abandoning the iron. Is this because I need a clear flux from the beginning?

Hi , thank you again for your comment . I'm glad you solved your problem in the end , great news . The more you practice you will see major improvement in your skills , just keep at it . Hopefully some of my tips can help a few people . If you are buying a flux to use definitely go for a liquid flux , not a gel flux . Not a fan of gel ones to be honest . Thanks again for your time , good luck with all your future soldering 👍

Hi , thank you for your support of my channel , very much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoy the videos , and I will post more whenever I get some spare time . Thanks again , take care 👍👍

Hi , thank you. I've done a complete posting on RU-vid showing the homemade braid that's how good I believe it is . Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for supporting my channel , very much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoy the videos , hopefully they can help a few people out with their soldering / desoldering issues. Thanks again and good luck with all of your soldering projects in the future 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , much appreciated . I'm glad you enjoyed the video and my UK/ Australian accent . I'm actually UK , but I used to watch some Australian TV programmes , must have picked something up from that 😂. Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you. I'm glad your enjoying the videos . I will keep posting more when I can ( I'm sometimes a bit busy ) and hopefully I can keep aiding people . Thank you for all your support , it's much appreciated and good luck with everything , take care 👍

Hi , thank you . I'm glad you enjoyed the video and hopefully you found it useful . All your comments are very much appreciated, take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your support of my channel , very much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoy the videos . If I can help a few people with their soldering issues then it's all worth it . Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment, much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed the video, hopefully it can help a few people out with their soldering issues . Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your support of my channel , very much appreciated. I'm glad the videos have been useful for you , if I can help anyone then it's all worthwhile. The more you solder the more confident you get and I know you will get there , so keep going , then eventually I'll be watching your videos . Thanks again and all the best 👍

Hi , thank you for your support of my channel , very much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoy the videos . I will post more when I get some spare time. Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , your support is very much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for your support, much appreciated. I will post more videos when I get some spare time. Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment , very much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoy the videos , hopefully they can help a few people out with their soldering , desoldering issues. All I want to do is help a few people, if I can then I'm happy . Thanks again , take care 👍

Thank you again for taking time out to respond to my earlier comment... not everyone does that... thanks again for all your kind help and efforts to teach people like me.

Hi , no problems. I appreciate everyone who supports my channel as when I started I didn't think anyone would watch my videos . I can't always respond quickly but I do try to answer the comments as people have taken time to watch and comment . Thanks again and I hope you get on ok with all of your soldering projects in the future 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and commenting , much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and for your comment, very much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment, much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment, much appreciated. I think it's great that we all find different ways to make our own desoldering braid. I presume you want to know how to remove an smd Power Mosfet ? If so I've posted a video on RU-vid showing a great rework technique where I use 2 soldering irons . If you have 2 irons and this is what you want to do this video might be interesting for you . Thanks again and good luck 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment and watching the video , much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed it and hopefully it can help a few people out with their soldering problems, thanks again 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 Your welcome, I thank you again...

All the best 👍

I'm hunting for a favorite flux, and I'm noticing a pretty huge difference in the temperature at which various fluxes will start smoking and sputtering. I like rosin flux for some things, but for other things, I like a little higher temperature without quite so much smoke and noise! :). But the money thing is a genuine issue, regardless!

Hi , thank you for your comment , much appreciated. If this video can help anyone it's a bonus . I always like to hear the way people make their flux ( I've never tried it ) but the one I've always used looks like it is becoming discontinued so I will have to search for a new type. Thanks again for all your support , it means a lot , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment. I've always used a great flux SMFL200D , which I get from Farnell or RS Components but it looks like they might be discontinuing this particular product . So I to may be looking for a new flux . I've always used liquid fluxes so this is what I'm on the look out for. Good luck 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 hi, great videos! Have you looked at the liquid fluxes from BLT? I wondered if they were on your radar?

Hi , thank you for your comment , much appreciated .To be honest I hadn't even thought of BLT Circuits . I do get stuff from them as well like solders , paste etc so I will look . I've just always used the same flux which I got from Farnell or RS Components. Thanks again for your suggestion, take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment . If I'm working on boards that are saying 3mm thick instead of the standard 1.6mm I have a number of ways I try . I hold the board upright in a THIRD hand jig I hold a soldering iron tip ( hotter one than normal ) on one side of the hole with a solder sucker ( heated electronic one if I have access to one )on the other . This works every time as heat is being put in from both sides . If you don't have a heated one and only a normal sucker I will pre heat the area using my hot air gun then use 1 iron and a manual solder sucker or solder braid . This will often work . If the solder only part wicks out I then turn over and wick from the other side . I usually have success with this but may need a few goes of reloading with fresh folder etc before sucking out the blockage . Lastly I have heated up joints and pushed small probes or cocktail sticks through ( something the solder won't adhere to ) this has worked for me as well . A hotplate can help as well to preheat your board with roughly 140 degrees Celsius then use traditional dewicking methods , but I appreciate not everyone has access to these. Sometimes it is challenging but there's always a way . Hope that helps .

Hi , thank you for your comment . If you look closely at the point you mention you will see it's all one piece of copper ( component pad and test point ( via ) so it's supposed to be joined . I would have to get a scalpel out to separate them 🙂 thanks again for your time , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for supporting my channel , very much appreciated. I'm glad the videos have been useful to you , I've tried to improve the quality as I've gone along ( sound , picture etc ) hopefully it shows . The more soldering you do you get to learn about different size solders , tips , temperatures , tools etc so you become better and better as you go along . I mention all about these points in various parts of some of my videos , so keep going. I've never made homemade flux so can't really comment but I know a lot of people do make their own so I guess some of it must be ok . Thanks again for watching the videos and good luck in the future with your soldering , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment. The microscope I use is a stereo long reach scope from GT Vision ( England ) , their own branded one. All my filming though is done by adding a macro lens onto my phone camera. Very simple but pretty effective , giving you different angles than a scope camera can . Hope that helps , thanks again 👍

It does help. Thank you. Your videos are fantastic.

Hi , thank you, very kind of you 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment. I've just posted a video just concentrating on home-made solder braid . I love it so much this braid just thought I'd give it its own RU-vid posting. I haven't posted a video on RU-vid about through hole repair but I may do one in the future if I can . Thanks again for all your support , take care 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 thanks for the solder braid video. Surprisingly I just ran out yesterday of both thick and thin so I will be using your method today. Gosh it’s a small world. Take care and thanks for sharing your time and knowledge Artie 😊

Hi , no problems, thank you for supporting my channel, take care 👍

Hi , I use mainly a fluid called Ultrasolve ( Farnell , RS Components etc sell it ) , also one called Flux off . The cloths are GTek dry wipes ( grove sales , England ) which are great . Hope that helps , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your support , much appreciated 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment , much appreciated. I use a fluid called Ultrasolve . It's especially for cleaning flux off PCB's and Is the best cleaning solution I have ever used. I've posted a complete video on RU-vid showing how I clean my boards , the fluids I use and the cloths I prefer . All the info is in that video . May be of use to you . Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment . If in the UK try Farnell , RS Components, Rapid Online plus there's others . In America try Mouser or Digikey . All these places do plenty of different Widths . I personally favour 1.5mm , not a fan of wider ones than that . Hope that helps , thanks again 👍

IT does help a lot thank you man, also last thing i tried doing my ps5 controller and i did a got job but on the pcb three holes the solder wont go into the holes i put the iron to the component and fill with solder and nothing happens it just keeps tinning my iron and it wont solder the component in its almost like it wont go in the hole on the pcb to secure the part. do uk why that would happen. Beginner here@@mrsolderfix3996

Hi , thank you for your comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the video . All the best with your soldering projects , thanks again

Hi , thank you for all your support of my channel . Always good to see your comments , very much appreciated. Take care , thanks again 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment, very much appreciated. I usually decant my flux into a small container and then apply using a dipped plastic cable tie. Hope that helps , thanks again 👍

Hi . The flux I use is non corrosive so whatever I can't remove can safely sit there in the future ( which with my normal cleaning methods shown in one of my other RU-vid postings ) is very , very minimal if any at all , even underneath components . Certain soldering situations are impossible without flux so anyone trying to desolder must use it. Thank you for your comment 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 I make my own flux by dissolving colophony in 99% alcohol. In the dry state there will certainly be no problems with leakage currents or increased capacities. To remove all resin residues you would have to wash the whole PCB in alcohol. ¶ I was only able to desolder glued components with hot air.

Hi , it's always good to hear about people making their own flux . I hear lots of different types but I personally have never tried making any . Maybe one day I will . Thanks again for all your comments , take care 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 This isn't witchcraft. The advantage is that you can set the desired consistency yourself. Good luck.

Hi , that's why I've always liked liquid flux as if I need a thicker mix I just leave some in the air for approx 15 minutes and it becomes nice and tacky . I always use as the job I'm doing demands this way . I will definitely try and make some one day though , thank you for your suggestion , all the best 👍

Hi , the flux I have always used is SMFL200D , but unfortunately this has just been discontinued after many happy years using it . I have a new similar one to trial , if I like how it works I will post about it on RU-vid. Thanks for your question , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment. I normally use a fluid called Ultrasolve and if I can't get that I use one called Flux off . I've posted a complete video on RU-vid showing all about these 2 cleaning solutions . If you need any info it's all in that video . Thanks again 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 thank you

Hi , no problem . Thanks again for supporting my channel 👍

Hi , thank you for your support of my channel , very much appreciated. If I'm soldering with leaded solder I generally use about 330 degrees centigrade and if I am using lead free solder about 350 - 360 degrees centigrade. I may vary these slightly for the odd component but overall I would keep to these temps. If I'm desoldering with a hot air gun this can vary quite a bit depending on the PCB layout , ground plains etc but normally I would use about 370 - 380 degrees for lead free and 350 - 360 degrees for leaded . Hope that helps , thanks again , take care 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 Excellent. Many thanks.

Hi , no problem , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment. I have a stereo long reach microscope purchased from GT Vision, England. It's their own branded one that I really like . Branded models like Meiji cost 4 to 5 times more . The camera I just attach a macro lens to my phone ( nothing special ) but get good results . Hope that helps , thanks again 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment . I normally always use Weller TCP S soldering irons with either PTP7 or DD8 tips. Quite an old school iron but I love them and have no trouble even doing 1005 size components ( tiny ) I also use Metcal irons occasionally which are also really good ( but pretty expensive as are the spare tips ) These to me are the best 2 makes of soldering iron there are available . Hope that helps , thanks again 👍

@@mrsolderfix3996 Thanks for the information! Love your videos. Great work, so keep them coming. :-)

Hi , no problem , thank you for your support , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for watching the video and your comment , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your support , much appreciated , I just wish I could earn what Brain Surgeons earn 😂 we can all get better the more soldering we do , hopefully I can help a few people out with some of their issues . Thanks again , take care 👍

Hi , thank you for your support, very much appreciated. The desoldering wick I used in the video was made by a company called Easy Braid Co , no clean , lead free ( cat no LF-B-5AS ) and it was 1.5mm wide which personally is the width of braid I prefer. Hope that helps , thanks again 👍

Hi , thank you for your comment . I have shown how to solder fine pitch devices in a few of my videos . Go to one I posted not long ago ( how to solder smd - part 4 ) there is a perfect example in that video of what you need . It's near the end of the video so you might want to skip to that point . A very clear video , it should help you out . Thanks again , good luck 👍

Hi , thank you for your support, very kind. I'm glad you enjoy the videos , hopefully they are useful for people to sort out there soldering problems . Good luck and thanks again 👍