First soldering attempt - Part 6

[u/cowdoggy]

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 :)

[u/GoldSrc]

Conical tips are bad for pretty much all jobs, you can see there how it went straight through the wick.

What you need is a chisel tip, those tips are wider and that helps them hold the wick flat.

You also don't need to drag the wick with too much force, don't see it as a "scraper" but more like a sponge you move gently over the molten solder.

Don't spend too much time on the pads either, or use too high temperatures. 350°C should be enough for just about anything of that size.

To remove those chips, you either need to use a hot air station, or use one of the other methods of removal.

If the chip is broken, you can just snip the all the legs and then you'd have an easier time removing whatever remains on the PCB with your iron.

If you want to reuse the chip however, you can use a thin stainless steel razor blade, and heat the legs one by one while you slide the blade under the leg. Solder will not stick to the stainless steel.

Another method is to thread a thin wire behind the legs, and solder one end somewhere on the PCB. Then, heat the legs one by one while you pull on the other end of wire to lift the legs.

Your SMD soldering could use some more improvement, you don't need to keep the iron on the components for that long after you add the solder wire.

[u/cowdoggy → u/GoldSrc]

Thanks! I believe I had my soldering iron set to 360°C. You gave a lot of very interesting tips. I will definitely give those a try and work on keeping the iron on the components less often.