greetings
is there a possibility of soldering parts on ordered pcb boards
e.g. like the molex connector of gm862…
of course with added cost?
thank you
Ugh. We’d have to charge so much for setup and testing… Sorry, I don’t think we can handle business like this 
Why not learn? We hand soldered that connector 80-90 times before we went to stencils and solder paste. :twisted:
-Nathan
ok … can you please suggest a soldering guide for such small pitch smt?
There’s a very nice SMT soldering tutorial at the Solicon Laboratories web site (they manufacture SparkFun’s USB-to-UART bridge).
Here’s the link:
That PCB vise is cool. Who carries those?
Mike
It looks like the PanaVise product. My local electronic store carries them. So does Digi-Key and Mouser. From the picture, it looks like the Electronic Work Center (324). You can also purchase base, holders and accessories separately.upand_at_them:
That PCB vise is cool. Who carries those?
Don
hey, thanks for posting the link to that guide! That’s very helpful.
GREAT Tutorial
THANK YOU A LOT :lol:
That was a good tutorial and Panavises are great – I have two of them in my workshop and use them constantly.
My best advice to anyone getting into electronics now (or planning to stay for a while) be it hobbyist or professional is to buy a hot air rework station. Since I bought mine about 2 years ago SMD is no longer a major challenge. That, along with a good temperature controlled soldering station will cover pretty much all the bases (except BGA and that’s mostly an inspection issue).
If you don’t have a good temperature controlled soldering iron already then a combo hot air rework-soldering iron station like the HR8502 that Sparkfun sells is an excellent investment, a bargain really – $175 and it will last you for years and years.
I wish Sparkfun had been selling them a couple years ago as it would have saved me some money. Even though I paid a bit more for my hot air rework station elsewhere it was definitely money well spent and has paid itself off in time and frustration saved.
MGP:
My best advice to anyone getting into electronics now (or planning to stay for a while) be it hobbyist or professional is to buy a hot air rework station.
I am just starting to get my feet wet with SMT. Is there any sort of tutorial (like the excellent one above) that addresses when/how to use a hot air rework station?
nall,
I just received a 850D from Nathan and the universe provided me with an opportunity to use it the day it arrived :o
Without hardly reading the instructions I was able to remove two SOT-23 transistors from 10 boards in about as many minutes, awesome! (they were suposed to be SOT-23 diodes :oops: )
Adhoc procedure for correcting my mistake:
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Set temp to about 350C (or midway on temp knob)
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Set air flow to near minimum (don’t want to blow away small parts)
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Put on small tube nozzle
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Hold 1" above part and preheat about 5 seconds
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Lower nozzle to about 1/8" above part and watch the solder melt on all pins at the same time in a few seconds.
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Quickly grab part with metal tweezers and remove
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Clean up excess solder from pads with solder wick and soldering iron
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Add fresh solder paste
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Place proper components
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Preheat 5 seconds at 1"
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Reflow at 1/8"
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Clean off flux (I use water soluable paste and the flux is corrosive)
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Inspect (looked as good as new)
This thing is also a mad heat shrink tubing gun. Set temp at min setting (160C) and air flow at 1/2 setting and you can shrink the tubing without worring about overheating it using the same small nozzle.
Even though I bought the expensive one, it was worth the price of admission just to watch the solder melt on all pins at te same time.
Jamie
moorejl:
nall,
- Add fresh solder paste
thanks for the response! is the amount of solder paste you add more art or science? can adding too much be fixed with solder wick?
He’s a purist 
Here in the shop, Ben can hot air off an IC, rotate it 90 degrees, and hot air it back into place in 20 seconds. No extra paste, no wicking.
Why the IC was put down incorrectly in the first place is another story (Pin 1 goes here!!).
You can also reball the pads with regular solder if need be. This adds flux and helps everything flow when re-airing.
-Nathan
sparky:
He’s a purist-Nathan
I might be tempted to try that with an IC, but the SOT-23 is so light, that you would need to keep it in place with tweezers while heating so it doesn’t blow away. I find the paste does a good job of holding the tiny parts in place. I am getting old and its hard to keep my hands still enought for the tweezer trick. 
To answer your question, the amount of paste is not too critical, I use a syringe and a 23 needle which makes it easy. An you can mop up extra with wick.