Soldering surface mount components

[John Popelish]

Can anybody point me to any flux and paste product in the US ? I checked
Newark products and they are quite expensive. And since I have no experience
with flux/paste, I don't want to screw up buying something useless.

Go to Newark In One and search the key words [flux pen]. They sell
several different fluxes in a felt tip pen dispensers.

 

[John Larkin]

The pads MUST NOT have any applied solder on them. If they do,
remove it all with solderwick. (the bumps from the solder will not
allow the chip to lie flat.)

We sent out some BGA chips (560 or so balls) to be soldered. The guy
who did it for us applied no solder, just used the solder coating that
came on the board. He said you have to apply the flux with a bare
finger, nothing else will do. He did xray every joint, and all the
boards worked fine.

John

 

[Andre]

We sent out some BGA chips (560 or so balls) to be soldered. The guy
who did it for us applied no solder, just used the solder coating that
came on the board. He said you have to apply the flux with a bare
finger, nothing else will do. He did xray every joint, and all the
boards worked fine.

Thats pretty neat I have some dead cameras here with fried BGA
controller chips.

BGA chips are a total pain to solder- you need a proper infra-red
reflow unit and X-ray scanner which your average hobbyist (except
maybe Sam G and/or Chip Shultz) won't have access to.



-A


-A

 

[Daniel Kelly \(AKA Jack\)]

Dear Gordon,

Many many thanks for your reply.

I've had a search for the video and can't find it anywhere.

Do you know for sure where I could get hold of it in the UK?

If not, I would be most indepted if I could get a copy from you. Could you
e-mail me a DivX or something?

Many many thanks,
Jack

 

[Daniel Kelly \(AKA Jack\)]

Dear Gordon,

Actually, don't worry - I've just phoned up Eagle, METCAL's UK supplier, and
they're sending a CD-ROM to me in the post right now! How cool is that?!?
Thanks so much!

Jack

 

[Cyclonus]

Dear Gordon,

Actually, don't worry - I've just phoned up Eagle, METCAL's UK supplier, and
they're sending a CD-ROM to me in the post right now! How cool is that?!?
Thanks so much!

Jack

Wow, thats really great, I suppose you wouldnt know whom I could
contact in Canada to get a copy of that CD??

Maurice

 

[Gordon Youd]

Maurice, Try their site www.metcal.com

CANADA

EMX
(Manufacturers Rep)
227 Idema Road

Marhkam, ON, L3R 1B1, CANADA

Phone: 905-475-8000
Fax: 905-475-2300
Email: [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

EMX
(Manufacturers Rep)
5950 Frued #23

Montreal, PQ, H4S 1T1, CANADA

Phone: 514-484-6565
Fax: 514-482-2221
Email: [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adtool
(Distributor)
10 Ronald Drive

Montreal, Quebec, H4X 1M8, CANADA

Phone: 514-482-2548
Fax:
Email:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Adtool
(Distributor)
141 6200 MacKay Ave.

Burnaby, B. C., V5H 4M9, CANADA

Phone: 604-618-2924
Fax:
Email:

 

[Michael Schwingen]

Then I use fluxpaste from a syringe, heated with the heatgun to make it
more liquid.

Metcal has a nice Fluxpen ("FP-1") with a brush-like tip and
squeeze-dispenser that works very well when filled with liquid flux - I use
no-clean flux, which is non-sticky, but it should also work with rosin flux.

cu
Michael

 

[Cyclonus]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 23:06:41 +0100, "Gordon Youd"
Thanks!, I sent a request off the the local Canadian office.

Maurice

 

[Hans Summers]

You people are all talking about flux, solder flows, PCB's, but you've got
it all wrong!

You should take a look at my page
http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/equipment/spectrumanalyser2/index.htm
.. About 2/3 the way down you'll see a closeup photo on the left hand side,
showing a 24-pin TSSOP packaged ADC chip. The pin spacing is 0.65mm (Ok, so
not quite your 0.5mm). You can click the picture for a larger version.

I did this with:

NO magnifying glass
NO special lighting
NO hot air etc
NO special soldering iron, just my old 18W Antex CS
NO special bit, just my Antex 1mm bit type 1106
NO special solder or flux, just ordinary 22swg 60/40 multicore fluxed solder
NO pre-etched PCB, just a piece of PCB stock I cut some pads in with a cheap
plastic craft knife
NO fancy rigs to hold the work, just loose on the bench, with the IC glued
to the board

And it worked first time.

I've soldered other SMD IC's too, but this one was the most extreme. You'll
also find less tiny spacing'ed SMD IC's soldered on these pages of my site:

http://www.hanssummers.com/radio/polyphase/index.htm
http://www.hanssummers.com/radio/ozon/index.htm
http://www.hanssummers.com/computers/newz80/intro.htm
http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/equipment/riskometer/index.htm

Anything's possible ;-)

Hans
http://www.HansSummers.com

 

[Chuck Olson]

You people are all talking about flux, solder flows, PCB's, but you've got
it all wrong!

You should take a look at my page
http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/equipment/spectrumanalyser2/index.htm
. About 2/3 the way down you'll see a closeup photo on the left hand side,
showing a 24-pin TSSOP packaged ADC chip. The pin spacing is 0.65mm (Ok, so
not quite your 0.5mm). You can click the picture for a larger version.

I did this with:

NO magnifying glass
NO special lighting
NO hot air etc
NO special soldering iron, just my old 18W Antex CS
NO special bit, just my Antex 1mm bit type 1106
NO special solder or flux, just ordinary 22swg 60/40 multicore fluxed solder
NO pre-etched PCB, just a piece of PCB stock I cut some pads in with a cheap
plastic craft knife
NO fancy rigs to hold the work, just loose on the bench, with the IC glued
to the board

And it worked first time.

I've soldered other SMD IC's too, but this one was the most extreme. You'll
also find less tiny spacing'ed SMD IC's soldered on these pages of my site:

http://www.hanssummers.com/radio/polyphase/index.htm
http://www.hanssummers.com/radio/ozon/index.htm
http://www.hanssummers.com/computers/newz80/intro.htm
http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/equipment/riskometer/index.htm

Anything's possible ;-)

Hans
http://www.HansSummers.com

You must be very near-sighted.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/equipment/spectrumanalyser2/index.htm

That old Heathkit signal generator is a hoot. Tubes (err, "valves"),
right?


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Mariano]

So how did you do it then? you forgot to tell us how

- solder tip size?
- solder type?
- ...

 

[Hans Summers]

So how did you do it then? you forgot to tell us how

No, I did tell you (at least, I did tell you those things)... here's my
original relevant sections pasted in again:

- solder tip size?

- solder type?

solder

As for process:

This TSSOP had 24 pins (unfortunately the catalogue had claimed in was DIL,
but in reality it was SMD. Pity I didn't read the datasheet carefully enough
and match up the part numbers).

So anyway, I carved two columns of small pads on the surface of the unetched
PCB using a knife (one of those ubiquitous dirt cheap orange "craft"
knives). 2 columns of 6 on each side of the chip, makes 24. I couldn't do 12
per side because they would have been too narrow for me to cut with that
knife. I left a space in between the pairs of columns either side, for the
IC.

The IC was glued in position. Now alternate pins on the TSSOP are bent
upwards. So considering the left hand side, pins 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 continue
resting on the newly carved first column of 5 pads. Pins 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12
are bent upwards away from the board. Then I took ordinary multi-core wire,
and took single copper strands from it. These pins 2, 4, 6 etc were
connected to the outer column of 6 pads using these thin copper strands.
Bending alternate pins of the IC in opposite directions makes it possible to
solder to the pins even with this 1mm iron bit.

Have another look at the picture,
http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/equipment/spectrumanalyser2/index.htm
and you will be able to see some of the things I'm talking about (the
columns of carved pads etc).

Hans
http://www.HansSummers.com

 

[Hans Summers]

You must be very near-sighted.

No, not at all. You should probably be worried about my sanity though ;-)

Hans
http://www.HansSummers.com

 

[Hans Summers]

m


That old Heathkit signal generator is a hoot. Tubes (err, "valves"),
right?

Right, valves ;-) I forget the valve types. If I recall it contains only
two valves, but I might be remembering wrongly. You can find a large picture
of it here:
http://www.hanssummers.com/electronics/equipment/signalgenerator/sig.htm . I
did open it and take some photos of the insides, but I got the focus all
wrong and didn't bother to re-open it again. I've even got a copy of most of
the manual, sent to me by an Irish radio amateur who has the same generator.

Hans
http://www.HansSummers.com

 

[Steven McGahey]

Hi all,

I've read this thread with a lot of interest, as I have a small bit of
surface-mount work to do, but no experience working with these tiny
components.

I would have thought that when working with these components, you would have
to use a different approach, and try to keep the component cool (as it'll
fry otherwise), but this thread seems to suggest otherwise.

Can someone straighten me out on this subject, as I have a feeling that
Nokia will want me to purchase a new phone circuit-board (~£70) if I ask
them to repair it, when it's only a minor soldering job that is required.

Thanks in advance,
- Steve

 

[Roger Johansson]

"Steven McGahey" <[email protected] (remove

I've read this thread with a lot of interest, as I have a small bit of
surface-mount work to do, but no experience working with these tiny
components.

I would have thought that when working with these components, you would
have to use a different approach, and try to keep the component cool
(as it'll fry otherwise), but this thread seems to suggest otherwise.

Modern components are very seldom destroyed by heat.
Components are made to withstand soldering heat for 10 seconds, or so.

If you fail to make a good soldering joint in 5 seconds, wait for a few
minutes before you make a new try, to let the component cool down.

 

[John Larkin]

Hi all,

I've read this thread with a lot of interest, as I have a small bit of
surface-mount work to do, but no experience working with these tiny
components.

I would have thought that when working with these components, you would have
to use a different approach, and try to keep the component cool (as it'll
fry otherwise), but this thread seems to suggest otherwise.

Can someone straighten me out on this subject, as I have a feeling that
Nokia will want me to purchase a new phone circuit-board (~£70) if I ask
them to repair it, when it's only a minor soldering job that is required.

Thanks in advance,
- Steve

Surface-mount parts are designed to be soldered in a reflow oven,
where the entire loaded board gets heated above solder-melt
temperature for a minute or so. Most parts don't mind. I just solder
them by hand, and it pretty much always works.

I have seen some surfmount LEDs turn to putty when hand soldered. The
transparent plastics seem to be fragile.

John

 

[Larry Brasfield]

Surface-mount parts are designed to be soldered in a reflow oven,
where the entire loaded board gets heated above solder-melt
temperature for a minute or so. Most parts don't mind. I just solder
them by hand, and it pretty much always works.

Hand soldering can be very hard on SMD ceramic capacitors.
The high temperature gradiant created by applying heat suddenly
at one end can fracture the ceramic. This can lead to excess noise
or a tendency to break down at a lower than rated voltage as
moisure gets into the crack(s). The insidious aspect of this kind
of damage is that it can show up in the field, quite some time
after the parts perform alright in initial testing.

At Siemens Ultrasound, we learned this the hard way, then had it
confirmed by at least one vendor's examination of abused parts.

....