We took our cameras on the road and visited Sjaak’s workshop this week. He showed us how he solders QFN chips with a bit of hot air and normal drag-soldering. We also surprised him with a challenge to solder a tiny BGA chip, see how it turns out. Here’s some links mentioned in the video: […]
Tag Archives: soldering
Workshop video: Sjaak solders a QFN and BGA chip
Sorry, comments are not working on this post for unknown reasons. Please check out our workshop video here.
Workshop update: firmware and soldering station
An update from the workshop. Bus Pirate firmware v6 is coming, IR Toy v22 is now in beta. Also a look at the Aoyue 968 soldering station. Tools we use wiki Bus Pirate firmware development IR Toy firmware v22 development Grab the latest v6 firmware release candidate here.
Arup’s DIY fine-pitch soldering technique
Arup started building his Nokia LCD breakout boards and shared his soldering technique for the 0.5mm pitch connector. First he aligns and fixes the connector in place with a bit of sticky tape. Next he applies some flux. Now the interesting part is that when he solders the connector he doesn’t use any additional solder. […]
Soldering the Bus Pirate v4
Watch us solder the Bus Pirate v4. The Bus Pirate is an open source hacker multi-tool that talks to electronic stuff. For a comprehensive overview check out our previous post. Here are the main differences and advantages of V4 over V3: Integrated USB in the microcontroller (faster) Data storage EEPROM to hold settings Pull-up voltage […]
Soldering the Bus Pirate demo board v5
Watch us solder the Bus Pirate demo board v5. The simple process of making a demo board for the Bus Pirate turned out to be far more complicated then we expected. Previous versions used many different chips and turned out to be more expensive then the Bus Pirate itself. For version 5 Sjaak came up […]
Reflow soldering toaster oven
Frank wrote an instructable about a solder reflow oven made from a toaster: As I get more serious into my electronics hobby, I need to work with more SMD components. Some component packages are very difficult or impossible to solder with a traditional soldering iron. To solve this problem, I decided to hack a toaster […]
Professional techniques for hand soldering
BFX tipped us to this video of professional soldering techniques in the comments of our Soldering the 8bit PIC SchmartBOARD post. The video shows how to prepare, solder, and clean a board with SMT components. Amongst other things, this tutorial shows how to solder one side of a fine pitch QFP device in one swoop […]
Soldering the 8bit PIC SchmartBOARD
Here is a video showing how to solder a PIC16F88 and a few discrete components on a 8bit PIC SchmartBoard. The 8bit PIC SchmartBoard is a development board that supports many of Microchip’s 8bit microcontrollers in SOIC packages. It has a on-board crystal, 5v voltage regulator and 28 breakout pins for the PIC. It also […]
HAKKO 907 and compatible soldering iron pencils
Arhi posted a roundup of HAKKO 907 (machine translation) soldering irons and compatible clones that are used with HAKKO 937 soldering stations. Hakko 907 replacement soldering irons are high quality and relatively cheap irons, and there are many compatible clones on the market. Arhi says there is only a slight build quality difference between the […]
Surface mount soldering tutorial
EEVblog made a SMD hand soldering tutorial. In the video Dave explains how to solder small SMD capacitors and resistors, all the standard size pitches for ICs up to a 0.5mm pitch, as well as some tips how to use large thermal pads, like adding thermal paste or preheating the board and the IC.
Oldest working Weller soldering tool contest
All-Spec Industries anounced the oldest working Weller soldering tool contest. All that is needed to enter is to send a picture of your tool to them, along with your name and shipping adress. First prize is a Weller WD1002T soldering station, and all entries recive a All-Spec Mug Boss. Via the contact form.
A guide to reflow soldering
Arup shares his soldering technique: The below FM radio module is dismantled and re soldered by my method, and looks exactly as it was new product. Thanks Arup! Via the forum.
Solder bridges checking
LongHairedHacker shared an SMD soldering experience while building the Bus Pirate v4: A good way of checking for solder bridges is having a bright lamp shining through the pcb. The light will shine through the gaps between the pins, while any solder between them will totally block it. Get your own handy Bus Pirate for […]
Free practice chips for surface mount soldering
New in the free PCB drawer: SMD chips for practice. Sjaak put four huge bags of assorted TQFP, SOIC, and other chips for soldering practice in the free PCB drawer. Add a note to your next order and we’ll top up the envelope with a handful of chips.
Repairing the PICqueño32 dev-board prototype
In a previous video we soldered the PICqueno32 prototype. There was a big mistake though, we used the wrong PIC32 chip. In this video the old chip comes off and the new chip goes on. For the swap we used a flux sample sent by Farnell. It was fantastic! Here’s the webpage if you want […]
BGA soldering at home
Jack at the Gadget Factory (co-creator of the Logic Sniffer) documented his pancake griddle BGA circuit board soldering technique. Via Hack a Day.
Soldering Is Easy comic book
Here’s a cool resource for teaching soldering basics to anyone. Mitch Altman, Jeff “Mightyohm” Keyzer, and Andie Nordgren just released their “Soldering is Easy” comic book. It’s part of a book they are working on that will be published later this year. Download your own PDF copy at the MightyOhm website. Via MAKE.
DIY Vacuum part lifter
Trouble holding and placing tiny SMD parts? Sjaak improvised a vacuum part lifter with a needle and the fume extractor on an Aoyue 968 soldering station I did ran a quick test and the fume extractor is strong enough to lift 0603 and 0805 passive. The diameter of needle is big enough to hold the […]
Solder-masking using Kapton tape
Rohit writes: Ultrakeet.com has got some pretty cool tutorials on solder masking using kapton tape, SMD removal, building a capacitive discharge spot welder, and a bunch of other things on their ‘articles‘ page Thanks Rohit! Via the contact form.