I do SMD boards now and I just solder all components with 0.2mm solder, I don’t use an oven. I notice that all of the adhesive I can find for SMD stuff is heat curable.
What alternative options do I have for gluing my SMD components prior to work if I am soldering then? Can any form of glue be used or will certain ones damage components?
Why bother with glue at all? You still have to position the chip properly. Put a daub of solder on one of the pads, hold the chip in place and touch the iron to the lead on that pad. Within a second or two, the chip is “glued” to the board. Using glue seems like extra, unnecessary work.
Put some solder paste on the pad. I use zeph paste. It’s sticky and like glue. Even better that is it doesn’t run like glue. Touch the pad with your iron and it turns instantly into a joint.
Better yet get a hot air gun and temperature controlled soldering station for $100 from ebay. Search 852D+
The hot air gun will make life so much easier if your component isn’t aligned straight or you need to remove it.
I have a hot air gun but its 400 degrees + (not designed for soldering) and it kills most things.
I have a temperature controlled iron atm, but couldn’t find a cheap temp controller hot air gun anywhere. I will search for that name and see what I find.
Any recommendations for a hot air gun and pastes other than those 2?
I’ve used both a hotplate and hot air gun (i.e., for paint stripping) many times to successfully solder boards with solder paste. My hot air gun has 2 heat settings - I use the low setting. You have to be judicious with the application of heat, but it seems to be possible to approximate the recommended temperature profiles many datasheets contain.
As for adhesive, that’s only really needed if you’ve got components on both sides. Actually, even then, you can normally get away without it, since the surface tension of the molten solder tends to hold most SMD components even when they are upside-down.
I think the reason I killed stuff with my paint stripper hot air gun last time was because I was using lead free solder back then, and way overdid the heat.
I have ordered some 62% tin, 36% lead 2% silver paste and will have a go at using that and my air gun again over the weekend to solder up some of my SMD boards waiting to be done and let you know how it goes.
How long will solder paste last once opend roughly, and best temperature/conditions to store it in?
Most solder paste is better kept in the fridge, and some really needs it to get a decent life. Read what the manufacturer recommends.
I’ve never bothered myself, since you want it to be room temperature before using it. If you get a decent sized container of paste, perhaps keep a small amount in a syringe at room temperature and the rest in the fridge.
I’ve been getting the small little containers from DealExtreme.com I’ve had the first container for a couple months now, unrefrigerated. Still works fine. It’s really thick, so I add a tiny bit of flux to the bit I’m going to use and mix it up before applying.
fullspeceng:
Better yet get a hot air gun and temperature controlled soldering station for $100 from ebay. Search 852D+
Looking for these, there seem to be 700W version and 400W version. Which do you have, and why would one want the higher watt version over the smaller? Does it do lead-free when the 400W does not?
Anyone else have experience with this or other rework kits/stations? There’s a number of them on Ebay for less than $1000 of varying configurations, many with the heater holder (hot air or infra-red), a holder for PCB, some with both top and bottom heaters.
Any comments on hot air vs IR?
Anyone built a DIY frame/holder for the just air gun models?
I bought a hot-air tool. The air flow control does not work sufficiently, and I blow parts off when trying to solder on. However it is very useful for removing parts. I cut a mask out of a soda can to shield nearby parts.
I might go IR if I were doing it again.
I have also heard of tweezer-like irons that can heat and hold both ends of a 2-lead device.