ok well some software ill be using occasionally requires me to solder a couple wires onto a couple of the terminals on a chip thats fitted to a circuit board.


what soldering iron etc would be advisable, im aware you have to be carefull ans can kill the chip any advice atall on techniques and what one to use etc?

 

How fine are the legs on the chip? If theyre superfine then its worth using a hot air soldering gun....

Mobile phone repair places use them a lot as phones have lots of tiny chips on them......Ask them to do it for you...

Or risk it and just use single strand wire and a sharpened soldering iron tip and be very very careful.

Dan

 

practice makes perfect!! I've been soldering for a few years, and most of my jobs look like a right pigs ear

Applying too much heat will kill the chip, so you want to do it quickly. get he iron nice and hot (leave it on for 5 mins), tiny bit of solder on the iron first, then clean the tip on a bit of wet sponge, then put the iron where you want the solder to be, push the solder in next to it, and voila, perfect solder joint!

I make it sound so easy

 

to be honest its eeprom programming, on dashboards, etc there is eepronm clips supplied were they just clip onto the chip instead but some have to be directly soldered

 

Any sort of hobby soldering iron will do, get yourself one with removable tips and pickup a small (1mm) tip and you should be fine. Don't hold the heat on the legs too long as you can damage the chip although don't rush or you'll make a mess. If the legs are really small get a decent lamp and possibly a desk mounted magnifying glass too, they really help.

Get yourself a suitable flux pen too, makes soldering sooooo much easier.

Here's a PS2 mod-chip I fitted once which was all done with a cheapo iron and a 1mm tip.

 

and if you apply too much heat the insulation on the wires melt and shrink

practice and then more practice...
take some cheap shitty radio apart and practice on that first ...

the smaller the chip or solder pad the smaller the tip needed .. nothing too higher wattage or it will damage the board aswell
been doing soldering for around 20 years now, and surface mount is a real pig if you aint got the right kit...

as jamz said illumnated magnifing glass is a must

 

i have been using a crappy one for the last couple months its a nightmare


one day i will want to desolder chips from a board

whats these cold hesat things? i was looking on maplins webiste, they have a portable on that takes aa batterys and a cold heat one????

 

NO one mentioned that MAINS electric can kill chips ?
The simple way is to use a heat shunt if you can, but if not a spot solder iron, made by PLESSEY is perfect, make sure also you plug yourself in first to discharge any static which can also kill the chips.
tabetha

 

The person who gave me this snippet of wisdom, and lots of other bits has forgotten more than you will ever know.
When you reach the rank of Colonel(rtd USAF) as a ELECTRONICS WARFARE TECHNICIAN I will start to listen to you as well.
tabetha