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I need to replace a capacitor on my motherboard but my soldering iron doesn't seems to melt the solder. I am using a 200W soldering iron. Can any advise me on how I can desolder the cap from my board? Any special stuff I need to apply before desoldering?
I need to replace a capacitor on my motherboard but my soldering iron doesn't seems to melt the solder. I am using a 200W soldering iron. Can any advise me on how I can desolder the cap from my board? Any special stuff I need to apply before desoldering?
I'm horrified by your use of a 200W soldering iron?, I've never heard of one that big! - I can only presume it's a plumbers tool?.
Modern electronics now uses lead free solder, this melts at a considerably higher temperature that normal leaded solder - you should use a temperature controlled iron and turn it up accordingly.
your iron seem to be really big better use temperature controlled iron
and to desolder take some solder on your iron tip and then place your iron on the point where you want to desolder
the solder already on your iron tip will help in easily melting the solder already on the board and then you can remove the pin when the solder is in melted form
then use some solder remover (like desolder pump or solder removal strip) and take out the solder from the board
you probably have a dirty iron tip or there is a dip in the centre where u always "make contact"
1 clean the tip with a file
2 do put solder on the tip before desoldering as this will help make a better contact that the plain metal.
remember that a lot of inriustrial soldered stuff is done with extra hard solder that is more difficult to melt
you probably have a dirty iron tip or there is a dip in the centre where u always "make contact"
1 clean the tip with a file
2 do put solder on the tip before desoldering as this will help make a better contact that the plain metal.
remember that a lot of inriustrial soldered stuff is done with extra hard solder that is more difficult to melt
yes, i use 18 or 35W on the road, and adjustable at home.
20W is more than suitable for any work on motherboard. there are
smaller irons as well (12 or even 8 watt).
40W is ok for experienced (fast) guy. also tip size should match the type of work.
standard tips of irons from hardware store are usually too big for just about
any work on motherboard. might be ok for power section (larger caps, switching transistors) but that's about it.
60W or bigger is good only for soldering larger objects (really large wires, pipes...).
if components has only two wires such as resistors and caps, it is usually enough to apply slight pulling pressure on part while melting solder.
you might have to alternate between two ends until part comes out.
be carefull not to burn pcb. with larger conponents with multiple pins
you could try help of suction cap or other devices (som guys use braid,
heat gun etc.) but this will depend on type of component and how delicate pcb is.
as always, practice makes master so before you destroy something,
try practicing on something similar that is expendable...
I'll bet that your soldering tip is quite dirty. It's a good thing to keep it clean and learn . . . well . . solder hygeine :lol:
Whenever you're not using your iron, make sure that it has a bit of solder on it, to cover it, otherwise the bare tip will oxidize and get dirty. This includes when you turn it off. Basically, only wipe the tip when you need to clean it, otherwise always keep solder on it to protect it.
While we are on the subject, I was taking a board to bits from a chart recorder at work. I wanted to get a couple of the IC's & a PIC, but the IC's are soldered directly to the board (no DIL sockets). What is the easiest way to remove them? (without the use of Vishnu & 14 seperate soldering irons :lol: ) I can't think of a way to do it without almost snapping off each pin to get it out of it's hole. I wanted to do the same with a load of DIL sockets as well - it seems pointless wasting them when they can be used again!
#1 Quick and dirty: You insert a flat screwdriver under the chip. You heat all pins very fast and you make a lever with the screwdriver. The chip will normally pop-up.
#2 You use a solder sucker and you desolder each pin at a time.
......one more question, if I really managed to desolder my caps, can I use the normal soldering wire to solder back?? I was thinking, there must be some reasons they use such a soldering wire to solder the caps....
Because the top of the cap is opening up? And one of the cap's casing actually blown off. The PC is still working fine despite about 9 caps have their top really to open up.
No there isn't.
Perhaps there is some kind of protective lacquer over the solder?
I'm not sure what you're doing wrong. Maybe it is melting and you're not seeing it. You often can't get both sides melted at the same time for extraction, instead we use a solder sucker or braid to remove the solder off a pad and out of the plated hole to free each pin.
I should probably mention a motherboard is very easily damaged, it requires technique to keep from damaging the pads or board. 50W is already more than you need and can burn the board.
I am using a solder sucker. The solder is hard. I also thought I might not see it melt so I tried to suck it out with the sucker, but...it's not sucking..
I have done these replacements (1000mfd/16V) with my ordinary 25W soldran iron and soldered back with ordinary lead. The mother board is working for over year now. I have followed the same explained by INSTRUITE
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