Soldering Small Parts and Emitters

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

Hello Everyone,

I posted this video in my 3XML Module thread, but I know that a lot of people always have questions about soldering technique, so I thought this deserved it’s own thread.

Cheers,
PPtk

2

Excellent video, PilotPTK! I do say you have quite the steady hands under magnification. I'm assuming you use a different method yourself when mass producing the triple boards?

Lately I've been having fun playing with an old Pace PPM-200CM rework station. State of the art ~ 30 yrs ago :)

Thanks for sharing the video.

3

Great video. Thanks for showing this technique.

4

Pace makes nice equipment, that holds true today as much as it did 30 years ago. The new stuff from Pace/Metcal/Ersa/etc is nice, but there is little to fault of the old workhorses. Soldering equipment has evolved a bit, but there haven’t been any major enhancements - it’s still a tip that gets hot.

My hands aren’t nearly as steady as they were 10 years ago - I drink too much coffee these days :wink:

And yes, when I produce the 3XML modules, no human hands even touch the components or the circuit boards. The entire module is produced on a production line where a machine pastes the board with solder, another machine inspects the solder paste, another three machines places the parts into the solder and then the whole thing is reflowed in a 13 zone convection oven. After that, an AOI machine inspects each part for proper orientation and solder joint quality. The boards enter the line bare and come out the end of the line ready to be programmed and fired up. The nice thing about doing it this way is that every module is truly identical. They all have the same amount of solder, they all have the parts placed in exactly the same spot, and they all get soldered using exactly the same amount of heat and the same heating/cooling profile.

PPtk

5

Any time, glad you enjoyed watching :slight_smile:

6

Would be great to see photos or a video of the whole process, if that's allowed of course...

7

Thanks for the video, I'm gonna try soldering my triple XM-L board that way. :D

8

your an excellent tutor, i really enjoyed watching this!!
now i realize my soldering irons are waaaaaaay too big!! :bigsmile:

9

Great video PilotPTK, watched with interest! One can really learn technical things on blf :) Could you write please the type of soldering iron, tips and magnifier you used?

10

Glad you enjoyed watching!

That particular video was made using an Ersa i-CON2 iron (It should be noted that this is NOT my favorite iron. I’m a Metcal guy. The Ersa’s work fine for this type of work though - and they are what is setup at the camera station)

with these two tips:

The magnifier was actually a camera, and unfortunately, it’s not “budget” - works quite nicely though…
During the video, I didn’t use the camera or the magnifier to do the work - I looked right at the circuit board with bare eyes. I hate working under a camera/magnifier unless it’s REALLY small stuff… I only use the camera or a microscope for post inspection.
http://www.gen3systems.com/downloads/products/optiliahdinspectioncamera.pdf

Wire Solder:
Alpha Reliacore RMA 0.015” Diamter
http://www.murraypercival.com/product/alpha-metals-relicaore-15-63sn37pb-wire-solder,1564,45.htm

Liquid Flux:
Alpha F-165-15 RMA Flux
http://www.murraypercival.com/product/alpha-metals-615-15-flux-1-gallon-jug,2002,48.htm

PPtk

11

I’ll try to remember to take a video of each step during the next production run of 3-XML Modules. As long as there are no NDA/Classified jobs being run near that production line on that day, there is no problem with me taking videos…

PPtk

12

PilotPTK. You are so skilled at this. I make a baby with a tub of icecream look clean compared to my soldering. Thanks and hopefully practice along with videos like this will help start to make the baby look a little messy.

13

Yum. Icecream. What kind? Rocky Road? Tell me it’s Rocky Road. I love Rocky Road.

Seriously though, practice makes perfect. Biggest mistakes beginners make:

  1. Too much solder. Less really is more - you want just enough to make the connection.
  2. Not enough heat. The solder should truly turn LIQUID - it should not look like play dough or clay. If your solder isn’t turning bright shiny and liquid, you need more heat, a bigger tip or a more powerful iron.
  3. Applying solder before the thing to be soldered is hot enough. If you apply solder too early, the flux burns off before the part is hot enough to solder. Put just a tiny bit of solder on the end of your iron, heat the thing to be soldered, and then when its up to temperature, add solder directly to whatever your soldering.
  4. No flux. If you’re soldering surface mount, flux is your friend. I love flux, and I use a lot of it. It cleans up easily, and it makes the solder wick much faster. Faster soldering is good for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that you don’t have to keep a part heated up for nearly as long - less time at high temperature = less change of thermally damaging a part.

Good luck!
PPtk

14

How would you solder a bigger IC with pins on all four sides?

15

Thanks. I'm more than likely doing all the above wrong most of the time but I think that I'm slowly getting better. I will have to find some RMA flux. I haven't heard of it before. I hope you get an adult to wash your face and hands after eating Rocky Road. Smile

16

After lots of googling there is more paste on the market than anything else. Is this the same as what you were using in the video in a paste form and do you have to clean it of, or would you just use the liquid?

17

Paste flux is no fun to work with, but whether it has to be washed off or not depends on the chemistry, not the consistency.
Water Soluble: Must be Washed (Water works)
RA (Activated Rosin): Must be Washed with special chemicals
RMA (Medium activated Rosin): Doesn’t need to be washed
No Clean: Doesn’t need to be washed

Here’s a bottle of liquid RMA Flux on Ebay
http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-BGA-FLUX-The-Best-Liquid-RMA-Flux-for-BGA-Work-By-Zephyrtronics-/221145481618?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item337d4c4192

I actually suspect that this is Alpha RMA Flux relabeled as Zephyrtronics. It’s a suspicion, but I’d bet more than a few bucks on the guess…

PPtk

18

Oh, and for everyone’s reference… RMA Flux is very sticky. Regular soap will not wash it off of your hands. If you don’t want to have to wash your hands in alcohol after handling RMA, wear latex gloves…

PPtk

19

Thanks Pilot PTK. They don't ship to oz. If I can ask you how long a piece of string is would you comment on this one?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KESTER-186-RMA-FLUX-for-SMT-BGA-Rework-No-Clean-60cc-/110852193367?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19cf4e3c57

20

That would be just fine. Kester makes good quality products - we use a lot of their solder paste.