Soldering SMT Components

[Kral]

smt components

I'm looking for Do-it Yourselft articles on soldering surface mount components. I can't afford the IR equipment that commercial board houses use. I'm particularly interested in soldering the new ROHS components that require lead free solder. The lead free solders require higher temperatures. Also, do board coatings prevent problems with tin whiskers that grow from the lead free solders?
Regards,
Kral

 

[Old Nick]

smt solder diameter

I solder SM components by hand all the time. I have a temperature controlled soder iron with very fine tips, and as fine solder wire as I can get. the most important tool though is the optics, we use a standard magnifying lamp for bigger components, but for really small complex IC's we have a sort of microscope thing (not sure what it's called), it has two eye pieces and the focal point is far enough away from the lenses to allow soldering iron and hand access.
Another technique I have used is to use a hot air gun (generally used for desoldering), combined with solder paste applied to the pins. Hold the ic in place with a suction tool or fine tweezers and heat with the gun until the solder flows.

BGA's etc with pins on the underside, cannot be done by hand. well not that I know of.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Kral]

bga toaster oven

Thanks, Old Nick. Do have any experience with no-lead solder?
Regards,
Kral

 

[Old Nick]

how smd component are manually soldered vdo

That's all I use.

My soldering iron is normally at 275-325 degrees (I assume centigrade but I've never really thought about it - its an antex soldering iron), I basically use the lowest temperature that the solder will melt with.
also I generally heat the track/pad with the first (and the tinning if thick enough can melt and give you a bit of adhesion) and apply the solder to the base of the pin. This tends to pull the chip towards the soldering iron so watch out for that. Always do the corner pins of chips first so that it is tacked down tehn visually check that all the pins are over the pads. A trick I sometimes use is (once the corners are tacked), is to tin the end of the soldering iron and then sweep it gently across the pins. You can solder multi-pin components pretty quickly doing this. Of course it takes a bit longer to check that all the pins are soldered, but it saves time in the longrun.

regards,

Nick

 

[FvM]

fine solder on components

I'm particularly interested in soldering the new ROHS components that require lead free solder

Except for BGA devices, LF capable components are generally compatible with conventional SnPb solder. I decided to use SnPb solder for prototyping and repair of those professional products, where usage of leaded solder is still legal in european union.

 

[deathbravo]

manually solder smt

ohhh,SMT is problem

 

[harrybeafull]

hobbyist smt soldering equipment techniques

http://www.renex.info/pokaz_kategorie.php?cid=43

 

[daviddlc]

temperature surface mount solder oven

I also manually solder smt components and my temperature set is 780 F

I use ROHS and lead free solder. I use 1/32 in diameter solder for SMT and 1/16 in diameter for lead components.

780 F = 415 C. If I set lower temperature I start to have problems melting the solder.

 

[kender]

smt component solder with solder iron

A brief introduction to prototyping with Surface Mount Technology
http://www.geocities.com/vk3em/smtguide/websmt.html

Circuit Board Rework Guide. A set of tutorials on PCB assembly, repair and rework with videos (mov format). Section 7.0 "Soldering procedures" covers soldering of the surfacemount (SMT) components.
**broken link removed**

Soldering tips and solder techniques. Short video tips on soldering, including SMT and lead free soldering.
http://www.solder.net/technical/tips.asp

Surface mount soldering in an oven. A "how to" article about surfacemount soldering with a toaster oven.
**broken link removed**

Not-so-old Nick

 

[harrybeafull]

procedures for smt soldering

http://www.renex.info/pokaz_info.php?id=26