I have a fair number of old boards I want to recap, instead of sending them out I've decided I want to learn how to do the work myself. What would people suggest as a good initial setup to get me started? I did a search and found a lot of mentions of doing the work, but I didn't find a thread where people discussed what they use to do the work.
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Setting up a soldering station
- Thread starter Realitystorm
- Start date
Would love to hear what suggestions people have here as well! I already have a cheapo soldering iron, and I have a cheapo hot air rework station on its way (I am a broke college student after all), but who knows – maybe I'll upgrade soon.
I don't know enough to give good product recommendations. I remember needing this much to do a decent job on an analog board recap:
– a soldering iron – don't cheap out on this, since you want decent temperature control and a soldering tip that won't oxidise (accumulate black crap that'll prevent solder from melting.)
– a soldering braid to remove excess solder,
– some soldering flux. It helps clean crud and oxidation off solder joints when you're desoldering, and it's activated by soldering-level heat. I personally use tacky no-clean flux.
– some kapton tape (heat-resistant tape) as a good tape to hold things in place while you're soldering, that won't melt.
IIRC, this may not be enough to remove surface-mount components like the capacitors you find on logic boards. Some people prefer hot air rework stations for this. Some people have managed to pull this off with just pliers.
I don't know enough to give good product recommendations. I remember needing this much to do a decent job on an analog board recap:
– a soldering iron – don't cheap out on this, since you want decent temperature control and a soldering tip that won't oxidise (accumulate black crap that'll prevent solder from melting.)
– a soldering braid to remove excess solder,
– some soldering flux. It helps clean crud and oxidation off solder joints when you're desoldering, and it's activated by soldering-level heat. I personally use tacky no-clean flux.
– some kapton tape (heat-resistant tape) as a good tape to hold things in place while you're soldering, that won't melt.
IIRC, this may not be enough to remove surface-mount components like the capacitors you find on logic boards. Some people prefer hot air rework stations for this. Some people have managed to pull this off with just pliers.
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There are pens available that are refillable and instead of a fountain pen tip they have a brush. Sometimes they are sold for calligraphy, sometimes for watercolour, but buying one of these and filling it from a large bottle of flux is much longer lasting and cost effective than buying flux pens.
Isopropyl alcohol 99% in large quantities. Wash boards with it, clean flux off, clean tools, 3D printing,. so many uses. Don't bother buying 99.9999%, it is hygroscopic and you will pretty soon have 99% once the lid is off, but much less money.
Brass wool to clean your soldering iron tip. Wet sponges are not as good. Hakko sell these separately if you don't want a Hakko iron.
An Edsyn Soldapullt solder sucker. These are the best. Engineer brand have some good ones too but be warned cheap no-name ones are not really worth it.
Double-ended swabs on wooden sticks are a little nicer for cleaning flux off small areas than q-tips. Always clean your flux off.
Soldering in a shallow tray is a very good way to keep all the little bits of snipped-off wick, old swabs, lumps of solder etc. from falling on the floor. When you clean up move everything off the tray then tip the contents of the tray into the bin after checking for anything valuable.
Clean up frequently. Nothing makes a mess as quickly as building/fixing electronics and the cleaner your work area the better and less frustrating your work will be.
Keeping the light level good and steady is important. If you are going to use a fluorescent light make sure it is a high frequency electronic ballast, not the old flickery kind.
A high quality magnifier on a movable arm with a bright ring light around it will make your close inspections easy.
A small microscope with LCD is a good thing for checking things like 0.5mm pitch component legs to ensure you haven't bridged them with solder. If you have money to burn get a really nice binocular microscope with provision for video output and display that on a big LCD monitor that is mounted on a monitor arm.
At the very least have a fan blowing across your workspace so the flux smoke doesn't just go straight up your nose. Best is something like a Hakko filtered extraction system but not cheap.
Isopropyl alcohol 99% in large quantities. Wash boards with it, clean flux off, clean tools, 3D printing,. so many uses. Don't bother buying 99.9999%, it is hygroscopic and you will pretty soon have 99% once the lid is off, but much less money.
Brass wool to clean your soldering iron tip. Wet sponges are not as good. Hakko sell these separately if you don't want a Hakko iron.
An Edsyn Soldapullt solder sucker. These are the best. Engineer brand have some good ones too but be warned cheap no-name ones are not really worth it.
Double-ended swabs on wooden sticks are a little nicer for cleaning flux off small areas than q-tips. Always clean your flux off.
Soldering in a shallow tray is a very good way to keep all the little bits of snipped-off wick, old swabs, lumps of solder etc. from falling on the floor. When you clean up move everything off the tray then tip the contents of the tray into the bin after checking for anything valuable.
Clean up frequently. Nothing makes a mess as quickly as building/fixing electronics and the cleaner your work area the better and less frustrating your work will be.
Keeping the light level good and steady is important. If you are going to use a fluorescent light make sure it is a high frequency electronic ballast, not the old flickery kind.
A high quality magnifier on a movable arm with a bright ring light around it will make your close inspections easy.
A small microscope with LCD is a good thing for checking things like 0.5mm pitch component legs to ensure you haven't bridged them with solder. If you have money to burn get a really nice binocular microscope with provision for video output and display that on a big LCD monitor that is mounted on a monitor arm.
At the very least have a fan blowing across your workspace so the flux smoke doesn't just go straight up your nose. Best is something like a Hakko filtered extraction system but not cheap.
I bought this soldering iron:
https://www.amazon.com/X-Tronic-Model-3020-XTS-ST-Soldering-Station-Complete/dp/B079VVHPPS
It works pretty good. I did not know how to solder when I started in May and I’ve done over 50 Macs already. After the first few it gets easier.
I watched a lot of YouTube videos on technique so I could get an idea of how to do it all first.
My suggestions: use enough good quality flux, use a rosin core 60/40 lead/tin solder (around 1mm), be very careful. Pads come off super easy. I lifted the pads on a couple of my first boards and I’ve lifted a few off since. Most of them I’ve fixed the issue but it’s still a pain.
I start with applying flux to the solder points on a cap and then heating each side for 5 seconds. Once done I go around and press down and twist off each cap, careful to not remove the pad as well. I thought I’d do some magic and apply some IPA 99 first and then remove caps. Bad idea. The IPA 99 dissolved the adhesive that held the pads on. I ended up tearing off the pads from 10 caps on an LC board. Was a nightmare.
next I apply flux again and I apply solder to my tip and I rub off the prior solder and the leg still left behind on the board. I use this to clean off each pad. I don’t remove the blob left behind because I’ve lost pads this way. I simply use enough flux and new solder to clean the pads for me.
I scrub the board around with IPA 99 at this point and clean everything up. I reflow any solder or connectors that look nasty.
now cleaned up, I solder on the new caps. Once done I clean the flux off with IPA99 and the board is ready for testing.
https://www.amazon.com/X-Tronic-Model-3020-XTS-ST-Soldering-Station-Complete/dp/B079VVHPPS
It works pretty good. I did not know how to solder when I started in May and I’ve done over 50 Macs already. After the first few it gets easier.
I watched a lot of YouTube videos on technique so I could get an idea of how to do it all first.
My suggestions: use enough good quality flux, use a rosin core 60/40 lead/tin solder (around 1mm), be very careful. Pads come off super easy. I lifted the pads on a couple of my first boards and I’ve lifted a few off since. Most of them I’ve fixed the issue but it’s still a pain.
I start with applying flux to the solder points on a cap and then heating each side for 5 seconds. Once done I go around and press down and twist off each cap, careful to not remove the pad as well. I thought I’d do some magic and apply some IPA 99 first and then remove caps. Bad idea. The IPA 99 dissolved the adhesive that held the pads on. I ended up tearing off the pads from 10 caps on an LC board. Was a nightmare.
next I apply flux again and I apply solder to my tip and I rub off the prior solder and the leg still left behind on the board. I use this to clean off each pad. I don’t remove the blob left behind because I’ve lost pads this way. I simply use enough flux and new solder to clean the pads for me.
I scrub the board around with IPA 99 at this point and clean everything up. I reflow any solder or connectors that look nasty.
now cleaned up, I solder on the new caps. Once done I clean the flux off with IPA99 and the board is ready for testing.
Thanks everyone.
I spent a little more and got a Hakko FX-888D, as it gets a fair bit of use between vintage hardware and building keyboards and other electronics work.
Good quality solder can make a difference. I stick to Kester no clean rosin core. Kapton tape for holding/protecting elements from heat.
As others have mentioned, get a fair bit of braid and some good flux. I have a pen but really only use it for fluxing up joints to solder when they're difficult or fluxing up braid a bit more. The syringes of thicker flux are far more useful for desoldering and work requiring more flux.
I definitely recommend the Engineer/Vampire Tools SS-02 solder suckers. The little silicone tube tips make a huge difference getting a good seal around through hole elements.
I use a hot air rework station for removal as it's a lot easier for me and I feel less likely to lift pads than the other methods, but opinions here differ.
Another tool I don't think I saw mentioned; a good set of flush cutters. Useful for trimming legs, but some use them to trim leads on surface mount caps to get the cans off and then remove the legs as well. Just useful all around.
Good quality solder can make a difference. I stick to Kester no clean rosin core. Kapton tape for holding/protecting elements from heat.
As others have mentioned, get a fair bit of braid and some good flux. I have a pen but really only use it for fluxing up joints to solder when they're difficult or fluxing up braid a bit more. The syringes of thicker flux are far more useful for desoldering and work requiring more flux.
I definitely recommend the Engineer/Vampire Tools SS-02 solder suckers. The little silicone tube tips make a huge difference getting a good seal around through hole elements.
I use a hot air rework station for removal as it's a lot easier for me and I feel less likely to lift pads than the other methods, but opinions here differ.
Another tool I don't think I saw mentioned; a good set of flush cutters. Useful for trimming legs, but some use them to trim leads on surface mount caps to get the cans off and then remove the legs as well. Just useful all around.
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