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[DCSTEWART_2009]

Okaaaayyyy.....

I'm completely new to the world of soldering, so please be kind!!

Have received my xecuter LT switch, but before I get down to the nitty gritty I've been practising on an old broken Hitachi drive I had lying around. Just a few questions:
 
1. I've now learned to cut traces with exacto knife and test with multimeter for continuity. Prior to cutting I test and get a result of 0.002 (ish). After cutting, usually its 1, but the odd time I get the likes of 650 or 1500 or something. Is this normal, and are the traces cut right?

2. I've bought a fibre glass pen, and am pretty good at cleaning the area around the pins. However, I've also been trying to scrape the green bubble round the pin away with one of those tiny flat head screwdrivers, and it looks OK. Would this do as good a job as the FG pen?

3. Been reading up a lot on soldering PCBs. It looks to me like the bit to heat would be the little metal semi cirle bit round the edge at the pin points on the LT switch. Does that sound fair enough?

4. Solder - I ordered my solder from here: http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/SILVERLINE_SOLDER_20G-12882-p

The website says this is 60:40 flux covered. However, I've been reading that the best thing to use is rosin core solder. I know this sounds dim, but is that what this solder is? If not I can easily go to Maplins and get more.

Any other tips (however obvious they may sound) would be really appreciated.

Really appreciate all your help guys - hopefully by this time in a few days I'll no longer be a solder virgin!!

[Tron[ADS]]

1. Your multimeter should read 0 Ohms (short circuit) prior to cutting, and in theory infinite when cut (open circuit), though generaly in microelectronics thats not always the case as alternative paths can come into contention (which is why when testing something like a resistor you would remove one half from the board if you want a completely accurate result).
Your best bet is to use a multimeter that has an audiable continuity tester, so it will beep prior to cutting, and not beep after cutting.

2. Using the fibreglass pen will reduce the risk of damaging the track. I would advise not use the screwdriver if you have a fibreglass pen available....just to be extra safe.

3. Not used an LT switch..bit of a waste of money in my opinion...but they look to fit similar to the old xbox 1.6 LPC rebuilder boards, so yes, heat (and add a small amount of solder) those points.

4. That solder will be fine.....possibly a little thick, but workable.


The best advice is to get a good quality soldering iron. I like Antex, and Weller are also very good. Aim for one thats about 15Watts for the job you are looking at. Anything above about 18W is excessive. Go for the smallest tip ou can find, and you only need to hold it on the component or pcb track for a split second.

[PerfectCell]

I am also new to soldering but something I don't get is how to make the solder link with the pad

Once the heat is applied to the metal semicircle on the LT switch and solder is placed on it the solder should melt around the pad correct? then when I solder to the Liteon PCB do I heat the solder or the PCB for a short time then apply the solder?

[Tron[ADS]]

Well, if this board is similar to the 1.6 rebuild board (and it sounds like it is), I used to add (melt) a tiny bit of solder on the main board (or in this case, the liteon board) to each point that connected up to the daughter board (the rebuild board), after which I then offered up the daughterboard, where the semi circles enclosed the raised solder points, then a quick touch of the iron on the existing solder will cause the points to be bridged.

Of course everyone has their own preferred method, that was just mine.

[DCSTEWART_2009]

QUOTE

' date='Jan 26 2010, 09:06 PM' post='4625826']
1. Your multimeter should read 0 Ohms (short circuit) prior to cutting, and in theory infinite when cut (open circuit), though generaly in microelectronics thats not always the case as alternative paths can come into contention (which is why when testing something like a resistor you would remove one half from the board if you want a completely accurate result).
Your best bet is to use a multimeter that has an audiable continuity tester, so it will beep prior to cutting, and not beep after cutting.

2. Using the fibreglass pen will reduce the risk of damaging the track. I would advise not use the screwdriver if you have a fibreglass pen available....just to be extra safe.

3. Not used an LT switch..bit of a waste of money in my opinion...but they look to fit similar to the old xbox 1.6 LPC rebuilder boards, so yes, heat (and add a small amount of solder) those points.

4. That solder will be fine.....possibly a little thick, but workable.
The best advice is to get a good quality soldering iron. I like Antex, and Weller are also very good. Aim for one thats about 15Watts for the job you are looking at. Anything above about 18W is excessive. Go for the smallest tip ou can find, and you only need to hold it on the component or pcb track for a split second.

Gentleman, thanks a bunch!! Just to be sure - is this solder the same as rosin cored? I'm just a bit worried about using the wrong type and frying the traces!!

[Tron[ADS]]

It will be close enough. They dont really say enough about it....but it will be fine.