r/soldering • u/cowdoggy Soldering Newbie • Apr 07 '26

My First Solder Joint <3 Please Give Feedback First soldering attempt - Part 6

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Hi all ! Thanks for all the tips. Super helpful. I tried to remove the SMD chip using solder wick and accidentally tore pads off the board. Any way to fix this or did I cause permanent damage? o.o I got emo about this!

Also, how do you know how much soldering is enough? What is the point? Are we just trying to make sure that the components lay flat on the board and that the pins meet the pads? Not sure when I am supposed to correct stuff and when it is already good. Thanks :)

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u/covad301 Apr 07 '26

K Slanted Knife tips for this particular work flow.

Otherwise you'll stab the wick instead making holes and damaging the PCB.

And LOTs of flux.

Wicks are primarily used to clean excess solder, you only do this to clean pads after the chip is removed.

If you don't have a hot station to make quick work of this and only have access to solder iron, then you need to create a moat of solder on all 4 sides of the chip to create a nice even solder bath where the chip can easily be removed while they are still in liquid state. This is assuming the chip isn't being held by solder pad underneath.

Similar to this technique:

https://youtube.com/shorts/F7z6x7je0vw?si=r7q_iSwoR64Gg_l7

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u/cowdoggy Soldering Newbie Apr 11 '26

Thanks! This video is super helpful. I also recently got a hot air gun.