Surface mount microscopy

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Surface mount microscopy

Post by MikeT »

Do any of our electronic wizards have the ability to repair surface mount components? In my case, it's a connector that's suffered flexing and stressed the solder enought to crack it away from the legs. I have a handheld microscope so was able to diagnose the fault but I have no way of viewing and soldering at the same time. And even if I could I'm not sure I still have a steady enough hand to make a neat/proper job of it.

I'm a toshiba trained laptop engineer but they don't want us repairing the boards so we never got the tools for this sort of job.
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Post by citronut »

MikeT wrote
" I'm not sure I still have a steady enough hand to make a neat/proper job of it. "

Mike you will have to take more blood (citro blood??LHM) with you whiskey

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Post by f00lzz »

Are you sure the pad hasn't lifted from the base material? If it has you will only be re-soldering the leg to a pad that is 'flapping about'. If feasible try hard wiring the component to the board.

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Post by MikeT »

It's the solder that's the weak link so as each board is flexed, the connector takes the articulation loads and the solder eventually breaks. Being so microscopic you need a powerful magnifier and a very sharp tool to wiggle each leg before you notice the crack!

But I've since learnt a way to re-solder these so problem solved 8)
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Post by jgra1 »

I have the same problem with my weather-reading compass watch :O

even brought one of those microscope /clamp arrangements.. but don't think I have the dexterity...
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Post by Clogzz »

When it’s too small to solder individually, I always get away with filling the lot with solder, and then blotting up with solder wick with plenty of flux in it.
Main thing is not to panic if the wick gets soldered to the print.
With enough heat, the wick will unsolder and come off.
After a clean with solvent, it often looks original and professional. :twisted:
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Post by MikeT »

Clogzz, that's the solution I found and used to great effect with a bit of epoxy added to strengthen the joints to prevent it happening again. One revived laptop and another waiting in the wings for the same treatment. You'd think Toshiba would have addressed the problem but it's rife across several successive models.
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Post by Clogzz »

Well done, Mike, :twisted: they won’t like you for rescuing laptops that have already been paid for.
Solder breaking at connectors is rife across many makes.
I’ve sometimes used silicone the reduce flexion.
Some silicones cure acidic, then eat the metal.
A good tool is a bench-mounted pantographic light with a large magnifying glass in the centre of a round fluorescent tube.
New ones are expensive, but there should be used ones from electronics repair places that collapsed under the weight of the difficulties.
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Post by MikeT »

Two repaired laptops now though the first I practiced on is a lost cause :oops:
I don't think Toshiba would care (they were served and lost a class-action lawsuit in the states over such poor design and still they do it) but the small laptop repair business might - they quoted it needing a new power board and motherboard at a cost of over £200 (and I've read of people paying this only to have the same fault occur shortly afterwards).

Ah, does epoxy cure acidic - if it says it's good for metal bonding can I assume my laptop won't suffer?

I do have a cheapo lamp/magnifier combo (the good ones are expensive, as you say) but after breaking it last week I bought a used mobile phone stereoscope off ebay for £14. It makes a fine needle tip look like a fat bullet - great for viewing the offending connector pins and I can now solder individual legs if need be (at the risk of melting nearby plastic :lol: )
I wonder if anyone makes a 3-D version of a "sketch-a-graph" that I can use to hold/move the iron for me? :idea:
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Post by Clogzz »

Think there’s something like silicone ‘curing’, and glue or epoxy ‘drying’, for whatever difference that may be.
If silicone smells like vinegar, it’s off to a bad start, and will be acidic.

An epoxy specified for metal won’t eat it; I’ve never seen epoxy cause any damage.
I did see brown contact glue used in old Korean electronics gobble up ½ mm thick wires.

Not optimistic about a 3D Sketch-a-Graph.
The best chance is for a nuclear materials handling robot costing megatons of ££.
A second-hand one needs about 270,000 years to let decay … or ‘cure’. :lol:
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Post by MikeT »

:lol: Oh well, practice aids improvement as my hand is slowly getting steadier and easier to control except - I must be more careful not to allow the epoxy to enter the contact areas otherwise the weekend is spent picking it all out again :oops: :roll:

If anyone's got any non-working toshiba laptops (2001 or newer) let me know.
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Post by myglaren »

MikeT wrote:If anyone's got any non-working toshiba laptops (2001 or newer) let me know.
I might have soon. It is fine at the minute but considering the number of times I've dropped it it could be any day now :)
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Post by lolingram »

Oh well, practice aids improvement as my hand is slowly getting steadier and easier to control except - I must be more careful not to allow the epoxy to enter the contact areas otherwise the weekend is spent picking it all out again

If anyone's got any non-working toshiba laptops (2001 or newer) let me know.
Some of the expertise one finds on this forum is simply quite staggering IMHO...
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Post by pottsy189 »

My grandaughter has gone through 3 hard drives in the past year on her toshiba laptop , she won't be getting another toshiba again
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Post by myglaren »

I bought a pair of Toshiba laptops 2½ years ago and have never had a problem with either, apart from needing to reinstall Vista as it got so slow.
I have dropped mine dozens of time while it has been running (keep tripping over the mains lead) and it still soldiers on.
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