Another reason to like "old technology"...

When's the last time you ran into SMT (surface mount technology) in an old tube radio?! Hopefully never!

I'm no stranger to SMT working with it on the job and for personal hobbies. Here's a personal project I'm working on for some custom engineering involving a IPOD/IPHONE interface. This is an aftermarket headphone controller (the actual OEM APPLE unit is even smaller!), it has the circuitry and buttons to control volume up, volume down and the "center button" to activate music, FF and RW music, answer phone calls, activate SIRI, etc.



I need to do some soldering on it to connect my own interface circuitry. My eyesight is good (yet), but on this little bugger I may actually have to bust out the magnifying glass so I don't make any microscopic solder bridges....

FUN FUN

A braver man than me! Good luck

No Thanks...lol

I worked for 9 years on the portable radio repair bench at a Motorola service center. most of the radios were constructed in that manner, and with multilayer pc boards up to 7 layers. Our earnings were based partially on per item effected repairs. I kept replacement components identified and even priced so I could generate a running total with part numbers and prices. Those little components are fun to work on on a mylar flexible circuit. Flux is truly your friend in inhibiting any bridging in repairs. You can always clean it up afterwards.

One idea that I've used successfully is to wrap a paper clip that I had sharpened tightly around the tip of the iron. And if you don't have a cheap magnifying lamp this would be a good time to make that purchase. I got mine from Harbor Freight for around fourteen bucks.
I did eventually buy a pointed tip for the iron. A variable iron temp control set about midway also helps.
And yeah, even if your using 60/40 solder a container of flux is a good idea too. It helps keep the tip clean and makes the solder flow more evenly.
Good luck and have fun.

Ken g wrote:Resoldering the charge jack in cell phones and kindles is lots of fun too

Now that DOES sound like fun...

Since i only have a huge Weller soldering gun and an huge cloth corded-wooden handle iron i will not touch anything small that needs soldered.. i didnt even like doing it with a 30 watt iron.. bc i'm afraid of destroying the pc boards and burning my finger tips.. I burn my fingers enough working on antique stuff, so no need to do it more on newer stuff.

Comdial Corp. used to manufacture phones in Charlottesville Virginia. They changed from through-the-board to SMT technology due to the huge cost savings. It was amazing to watch the process, where components were fed into a machine on a strip of tape and finished circuit boards coming out the other end. There was a lucite cover over the process so you could watch the components being placed and attached.

Reminds me of the Jim Reeves song, Welcome to my world. I can relate to stuff like this. I work on all kinds of computers for a living. I now work on Ipads and they are a pain as well. I was told by a apple rep that you couldn't be worked on outside of the factory and they couldn't even work on it. They send them back to the factory. I laughed and said I just got two working this morning. He said you can't and I said but I do it all the time. I even replace parts on motherboards if it is worth it if I can.

I bought this 15860-TL soldering station. It's not a Weller, but it does the job. I've soldered everything from SMT to tube sockets and for the price I have no complaints.
http://www.mpja.com/Solder-Stations/products/480/

For SMT, I use a hot air torch. It's too time consuming and too easy to create solder bridges with a soldering iron.

A fast way to remove simple components is to first have a fine point iron tip, and spread a wet paper towel to one side of the work. wet the tip just enough to bridge each end of the component when the tip is laid parallel to the component. Move the tip with the component off one side of it's pads, the component will stick to the tip, then rap the iron lightly over the towel, just enough to knock off the component. It will usually stay on the towel, lose the excess solder and still be in condition to use should it prove good.