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John Wiltrout's Blog Solder Wick Repair of Damaged Circuit Board
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  • Author Author: jw0752
  • Date Created: 3 Feb 2021 3:20 PM Date Created
  • Views 2184 views
  • Likes 14 likes
  • Comments 9 comments
  • circuit_board_repair
  • solder joints
  • solder wick
  • circuit_board_damage
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Solder Wick Repair of Damaged Circuit Board

jw0752
jw0752
3 Feb 2021

The circuit boards used in the counter top sterilizers of the medical and dental industries are subjected to a lot of stresses. The high moisture content in the air combined with the heating and cooling inherent in their operation puts them at higher risk of failure. One of the failure points is the board mounted fuse clips. Typically these fuses and clips must carry the current for the heating elements which are usually rated at 1,200 Watts. Here in the US where the mains are 120 Volts this translates to 10 Amps. As the environment interacts with the solder joints and metal of the fuse clips small increases in resistance leads to heat which eventually leads to more resistance and eventually heat and arcing damage to the circuit board.

 

In this short picture blog I will show my technique for repairing a damaged sterilizer circuit board using solder wick to replace the damaged circuit traces.

 

The circuit board in question arrived having already been patched by someone else in the field.

 

imageimage

 

The first step is to remove the old fix and clean the board. As far as the circuit board itself we must remove any carbonization that has progressed so far that it now has a lower resistance.

 

imageimage

 

I have used a small drill to open the original fuse clip holes to remove additional carbonization and to allow the solder wick to pass through. Next a small piece of solder wick is cut and anchored at one end with a little solder.

 

imageimageimage

 

The wick is now looped through the fuse clip and down through the second fuse clip hole in the board. Pulling the solder wick tight straps the fuse holder against the board.

 

imageimage

 

On the back side of the board we have pulled the wick tight and now we place the wick back over the pins of the clip, making small opening in the wick for the pins to pass through.

 

imageimage

 

The extra wick is cut off and the wick is shaped and pushed tight against the board. The wick is tacked with a little solder.

 

imageimage

 

When we are satisfied that the clip is in the proper position and the wick is down to the board the rest of the solder can be applied. Finally the work site is cleaned of excess flux.

 

imageimage

 

The final touch is to put some protective masking on the repaired area to slow future damage from the heat and moisture.

 

imageimage

 

I have no data to back this up but I suspect that this fix is more durable than the original boards construction.

 

John

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Top Comments

  • navadeepganeshu
    navadeepganeshu over 4 years ago +6
    Woah! This is highly Jugadeous plan. Observed similar degradation of PCB traces inside TV Remote when alkaline batteries leaked out.
  • baldengineer
    baldengineer over 4 years ago +6
    This definitely a trick I'll keep in mind. Thank you for such an awesome and detailed write-up!
  • robogary
    robogary over 4 years ago +6
    Nice tip. For sure the joint will last longer and not vaporize on a downstream short :-) This is a good solution too for building breadboards that have some significant power runs of 10A or higher. Its…
  • neilk
    neilk over 4 years ago

    Brilliant idea, John!

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  • kmikemoo
    kmikemoo over 4 years ago

    Brilliant!  imageimage  Super practical.  I'll never look at solder wick the same as I did.

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  • DAB
    DAB over 4 years ago

    Great post John.

     

    The board took some serious heat to blacken the board like that.

     

    I really like your solder wick braid repair.

     

    Well done.

    DAB

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  • 14rhb
    14rhb over 4 years ago

    That's a really useful trick and finished off neatly with the epoxy/glue. I like how the pins pop through the braid before soldering.

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  • Andrew J
    Andrew J over 4 years ago

    Excellent tip.  I'd never, ever have thought of using solder wick like that.

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