https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/Welleren-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/51831/i-purchased-a-weller-reflow-set/232372Thu, 11 Dec 2025 13:53:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:3d31fc5d-b465-40ef-8ef2-d294aa6ad050Jan Cumpsshabaz , this could be a candidate for your MSPM0 temperature controller.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229997Sun, 10 Aug 2025 15:20:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:f38610dc-efca-41aa-a7ae-6b961451af45Jan CumpsThe USB still works. And the rp2040 cores too. I can still program it. I lost a gpio.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229996Sun, 10 Aug 2025 15:16:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:bef3173d-2db6-4e2a-aed5-0208dea91ff3shabazI was wondering if the Xiao might not have ESD protection on the USB connector, but according to the circuit diagram it does: Maybe due to the tiny size of it, minute flexing on the socket could cause a capacitor to crack or something : ( There's a load of tiny resistors in a line, but there's also a capacitor (C2) which is across the 3.3V rail, so it's possible it could have shorted. It's 0201 sized which is insanely tiny of course : ( If it's possible to pull that part off (it's the second part in that row, see the yellow arrow), if it was indeed faulty then the XIAO might start working perhaps. Anyway this is all just speculation, it might be something completely different. I've never used an 0201 part, all I know is that those small parts (0402 too, which I've experienced this with) are so easy to crack, especially with hot air tools too. (btw I looked at a slightly older revision in EAGLE, because I happened to have downloaded the XIAO files in the past, I didn't download the most reccent ones).https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229994Sun, 10 Aug 2025 14:18:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:f7f93568-fe72-4385-8ff4-c101eca173f2Jan CumpsIn total, I have 3 victims: 2 XIAOs that I killed in virtually the same fashion, while serving as PicoProbes a Pico 1 lost a GPIO pin while I was playing with stepper motor drivers. I have to admit that I'm not careful. In particular with the XIAOs. I ordered a batch of 14, and that makes me a bit reckless.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229992Sun, 10 Aug 2025 14:00:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:47b285dc-5896-4972-9590-19eb816ec0e8scottiebabegreat work! I don't want to jinx it, but so far I haven't had an rp2040 failhttps://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229991Sun, 10 Aug 2025 13:47:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:01fecf2c-5a50-49bf-801d-6a0ed84176c1Jan CumpsBack in business. The most difficult part was to transfer shabaz ' debugger sticker without damaging it .https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229951Fri, 08 Aug 2025 14:50:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:4c553f19-749e-470b-b569-3cc49a40e9fbJan Cumpsyes. It's used as a PicoProbe. I made a mistake when connecting both Xiao and Pico to USB, and lost a GPIOhttps://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229944Fri, 08 Aug 2025 14:02:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:67814f5b-abc9-436b-b25d-9161e226eb2bscottiebabeDid your XIAO fail?https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/229939Fri, 08 Aug 2025 13:40:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c8e994ce-cf3c-4c43-b2b0-f41aecc68d0aJan Cumpsanother year, another victim That rework set proves to be helpful. 2nd time that I replace the XIAO debugger on this board, and all the copper pads survived. After the last repair, I used lead-free. So I had to up the temperature a little. I used 350°C. This time, I think I'll place headers instead of soldering the new XIAO direct on the PCB.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/221495Sun, 19 May 2024 01:07:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:88fab5c2-2f17-4ba7-881e-ece23bfce8b9scottiebabeBismuth solder is a miracle worker when your desperate...https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/221492Sat, 18 May 2024 22:25:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:5170ee59-2db6-4ff6-9daa-794313426621shabazImpressed that it all worked out! Great work.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/51831/i-purchased-a-weller-reflow-set/221491Sat, 18 May 2024 20:03:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c5ac61ed-92e2-4ff1-a188-ad9c077600c4Jan CumpsA test with a castellated PCB: Remove a castellated PCB with Weller WRK SMD reflow sethttps://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/221490Sat, 18 May 2024 19:57:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:4adef8c7-4440-4d1b-80d8-39b8cd3e3adeDABGood post Jan.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-set/221489Sat, 18 May 2024 19:43:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:a990a33a-6668-4f62-8a69-0f0fad6197c6javagozaThat tool is really useful. Good job desoldering. I usually do it quite badly, using the technique you indicate with the thick wire, but many times I end up ruining a track.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/54626/remove-a-castellated-pcb-with-weller-wrk-smd-reflow-setSat, 18 May 2024 19:35:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:05f09164-0abc-47dc-9201-c0af6e620ea9Jan CumpsRemoving castellated PCBs, once soldered, can be a tricky task. It's not easy to get the solder on all castellations heated up at the same time. I had to replace the XIAO RP2400 board on my Pi Pico Eurocard Development Board . Doing this with a high capacity iron, or with hot air isn't easy. By the time you get to pin 14, pin 1 has gone solid again. You may get away with prying under the board while attacking each castellation, but chances are that you 'll tear off the pads from the motherboard. One possible solution is to ply a thick copper wire in such a way that it surrounds the PCB and touches all castellations. Then, with a decent iron and a lot of flux, heat up that wire. I decided to try removing the IC with a Weller WRK SMD reflow kit . This kit has little ovens that you can put on top of something. And it has a vacuum-actioned suction cup that you can stick on top of the device that needs to be removed. When you then put a hot air pencil in the little oven's opening, the inside gets hot very fast. No risk of burning the neighbour components. And very efficient heat usage. When I tried this at 380° C, the castellated board lifted off in 20-30 seconds. Without any damage. This is the motherboard after the action: And the castellated board survived too: There is a little alchemy and experience involved. In my case, the XIAO used lead-free solder, and the castellated board was placed with leaded. That meant that the castellations melted faster than the components on the XIAO. And when the lift-off happened, the whole board came off. It's not that easy in every case. But you can prepare for this. In case the castellated board is placed with lead-free, You can first wick off most of that, and replace it with leaded solder (or even lower melting point specialised products). Then use the oven to remove everything. Anyways, after this exercise, I cleaned up the motherboard and put on a new XIAO RP2040. Thanks for reading.wellerWRKhttps://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/51831/i-purchased-a-weller-reflow-set/201358Fri, 14 Oct 2022 19:00:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:220d99bf-aa6a-4a4f-90a6-262416a7e34cJan CumpsMy experiment with caps was a disaster. They explode inside the little oven.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/51831/i-purchased-a-weller-reflow-set/201357Fri, 14 Oct 2022 18:52:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:d70e599b-a12e-4b2c-bfe2-1a78e34e23aeAndrew JGood job with the inductors, I always find them and electrolytic caps the hardest to de-solder.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/51831/i-purchased-a-weller-reflow-set/201355Fri, 14 Oct 2022 18:09:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:1cc294a1-e364-4254-a746-c004b4fcb13cJan CumpsSome success stories Some failures The left one, I'm not 100% sure if it's a failure, May be that some of the solder splashed up when the part lifted, and this is the residue. May be fixable. At least, nothing ripped. The right one didn't go very well. Two pins were still clinging to the board when the chip lifted. Damage: board OK, pins bent but can be fixed. Still: this could have gone wrong if the pad traces would not keep up with the pull tension... Photos are fairly high resolution. Click for zoom.https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/51831/i-purchased-a-weller-reflow-set/201352Fri, 14 Oct 2022 15:05:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:db7bd823-c416-480b-aeda-1a1c096c3dd9Jan CumpsI have Kapton tape. It doesn't have the same shielding, but I'll try it anyway ...https://community.element14.com/products/manufacturers/weller/f/forum/51831/i-purchased-a-weller-reflow-set/201350Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:12:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:106e0460-3551-47a6-8439-4c27cb52fef9shabazFor the connectors, one idea (I have not tried it) could be to obtain some ceramic paper, and cut a small piece into the shape of the inside of your metal cover, and pierce some holes or cut out notches all around the sides, so that all the heat hits the sides of the connector only. Basicallty the ceramic paper acting like the space shuttle tiles The ceramic paper is cheap (it's used for art/craft pottery etc). However the suction won't suck up the part, but I guess for a connector the suction won't work all that well anyway, so maybe that's no big issue. (Just remembered I may have some of that paper, I'll take a look).