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  • Author Author: Sean_Miller
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Desoldering Tip When Nothing is Working For You

Sean_Miller

This blog is written to help me remember this trick.  I'm sure its actually a common approach, but it just wasn't an approach I've bumped into.

Original issue:  PS4 HDMI Port Failure

 

The HDMI port of my son's 5 year old PS4 had a couple of bent pins that would push back into the unit.  In turn, it had no display.  I found a replacement port for just 5 bucks, so I decided to give it a try versus scraping the unit.

 

Removal of the Port:

I removed the port by snipping its 4 mount pins.  I then used a bench top heated air blower to remove it.  This went well until I went to remove the 4 mounts pins.

 

My SMD soldering rework station at its max setting of 500F wouldn't melt the solder.

 

My soldering iron at 850F wouldn't melt the solder.

 

I tried flux and attempting to add more solder to get the old to flow, but it didn't work.

The Solution:

After a lot of head scratching, I decided to try my Porter Cable 1500W heat gun with an accessory tip that took the air stream to 1/2".  Although I couldn't find this guns max temperature, I found a source online that claimed most guns run at 1150F.  This gun is typically for removing paint or heating heat shrink.  However, it did the trick to desolder those mount pins.

 

Taking care not to cause collateral damage, I pointed the air flow at one pin at a time on the max temp/flow setting.  The solder quickly went shiny.  With the other hand, I used tweezers to snatch out the mount pins.

The Conclusion:

Had I known the gun was an option, I would have used it instead of cutting the mounts pins in the first place.  This would have evenly heated the boards pin for the entire port's contact points.

 

Also, when you purchase a hot air rework station, get the highest wattage you can.  But, if you get in a pinch, you can use your hot air gun successfully.

 

-Sean

Top Comments

Parents

  • I'm surprised your hot air doesn't go higher.

    I think my Aoyue goes to 900 degrees, especially when the air flow rate is reduced, although I don't ever run that high as it can damage the PCB at that temperature.

    Even though I can get the temperature over a wide area, I still use a small nozzle and cut the pins like you did, so I can minimize the potential collateral damage. (unless I need to save the component for re-use)

Comment

  • I'm surprised your hot air doesn't go higher.

    I think my Aoyue goes to 900 degrees, especially when the air flow rate is reduced, although I don't ever run that high as it can damage the PCB at that temperature.

    Even though I can get the temperature over a wide area, I still use a small nozzle and cut the pins like you did, so I can minimize the potential collateral damage. (unless I need to save the component for re-use)

Children
  • in reply to dougw

    I bought a cheapie hot air station when I was just experimenting with a repair of a board.  I found it does fine with mounting SMDs with solder paste or removing smd components.  With this motherboard, it was too much of a heat sink and some stout solder as it was for the mounting pins versus the smd pins of the HDMI.

     

    I may have to put a higher wattage rework station on my Christmas list for this year so I don't have to break out the big boy again - although I was pleased with how well it worked. 

     

    See ya',

    Sean