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  • Author Author: aemarconnet
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Shaky hands and precision soldering do not mix

aemarconnet

For prototyping purposes i was hoping to try my hand at soldering some leads to a super-cap charger from TI. Unfortunately the package is a 16VQFN and my feeble attempt at tacking leads onto these 0.2MM pitch pads did not end well. I think the photo below gives a good indication of of the size of the package. (keep in mind my hands are not HUGE)

 

image

 

After a little over an hour of effort trying to solder leads to this package i gave up. I will have to build a breakout PCB for this, but it seems my solder paste is expired and i will need some more single-sided, copper-plated, PC board. The order is placed on amazon and i should have them soon this week.

 

Anybody have recommendations for soldering these small packages? The only re-flow i have done is repair to electronics like the XBox 360 GPU (Red Ring of Death).

 

Wish me luck!

Alex

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  • I solder almost exclusively under a microscope because of stuff like this. Advice for soldering leads to that? It's really ambitious and it makes me anxious just to think about it. I can just imagine getting one wire on and it falling off while doing the next one.

     

    What I think you'll need:

    Dentist's Tools - you know, the thing they scrape plaque off your teeth with. If you don't have one, a sewing needle or the tip of very fine tipped tweezers will work.

    Hot Air Station - narrow tipped

    Microscope - as mentioned above.

     

    While looking under microscope:

    1. Use the dentist's tools or equivalent to put paste on the pads and thermal ground. Just dip the tip into the paste then touch the pad.

    2. Put the chip in place

    3. Hold the chip in place lightly with the dentist's tools while applying a very low flow from the hot air gun. Use an appropriate temperature for your paste. Careful to heat the chip and not the tools. I.e. don't burn yourself. You obviously can't use the sewing needle for this, so I hope you have either the dentist tool or the tweezers.

    4. Remove heat, then the dentist's tool.

  • in reply to michaelwylie

    Thanks Michael,

     

    I definitely appreciate the advice!  I know attempting to solder with an iron was fool-hardy but I just couldn't find my copper clad board, and i thought to myself: "Boy, I've got a half-decent iron with an ultra-fine tip, why not give it a shot?"....Looking back, not such a great idea

     

    I've got a re-flow station built into my soldering iron (which is probably where some of the confusion came from). I was using the high-magnification portion of the glass and i simply don't have the finesse or practice that i would need to pull it off.

     

    image

     

    copper board should have shipped by now, so i should have it by Wednesday.

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  • in reply to michaelwylie

    Thanks Michael,

     

    I definitely appreciate the advice!  I know attempting to solder with an iron was fool-hardy but I just couldn't find my copper clad board, and i thought to myself: "Boy, I've got a half-decent iron with an ultra-fine tip, why not give it a shot?"....Looking back, not such a great idea

     

    I've got a re-flow station built into my soldering iron (which is probably where some of the confusion came from). I was using the high-magnification portion of the glass and i simply don't have the finesse or practice that i would need to pull it off.

     

    image

     

    copper board should have shipped by now, so i should have it by Wednesday.

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