Soldering Mistake? ~*~56k warning~*~

[No0bert]

Ok, I bought a CMUCam1 a while ago, and I had two desolder three pins so I could use the serial communication, and when I did desolder them, the copper tracing came off along with the solder, is there a way I can fix this? I have tried directly soldering, but it doesnt stick, solder is apparently afraid solder mask, who would've guessed??

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3..._/HPIM2500.jpg

[elios]

solerding iron too hot? i've heard about this happening at school, the copper tracks lifting off the pcb.

[DresnerRobotics]

Might try fixing it with a conductive ink pen, but I wouldn't try to solder that anymore less you risk ruining your board.

[lnxfergy]

Ok, I bought a CMUCam1 a while ago, and I had two desolder three pins so I could use the serial communication, and when I did desolder them, the copper tracing came off along with the solder, is there a way I can fix this? I have tried directly soldering, but it doesnt stick, solder is apparently afraid solder mask, who would've guessed??

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3..._/HPIM2500.jpg

You may very well have to add a jumper - follow the trace back to its origin and use a small piece of wire to recreate the trace...

And don't feel bad, happens all the time. You'll especially see such a treatment on prototype boards... the back of some of the earlier AVR pc-boards I made looked like they had been point to point wired...

-Fergs

[Adrenalynn]

Yup. It's called "green wiring" and isn't at all uncommon. I've had to green-wire my fair share of boards, promise!

You can follow it back, like Fergs suggested, or you can scrape the trace CAREFULLY with a razor blade to expose the copper, and solder directly to the copper trace.

Welcome to the world of "rework"! [It's called "reworking a board"] This is when having a good soldering station, especially one designed for rework, can come in super handy. Ideally you'll have good control over your heat, and will be using the absolute minimum heat/contact time you can get away with. It should also be ESD safe.

I really like my very inexpensive Aoyue 2702 rework station.

[No0bert]

You may very well have to add a jumper - follow the trace back to its origin and use a small piece of wire to recreate the trace...

And don't feel bad, happens all the time. You'll especially see such a treatment on prototype boards... the back of some of the earlier AVR pc-boards I made looked like they had been point to point wired...

-Fergs

Thanks, I will try this but what if its double sided? And should I solder it right on the terminal thats malfunctioning or the traced path terminal? Is there a resistance issue?

[No0bert]

Welcome to the world of "rework"! [It's called "reworking a board"] This is when having a good soldering station, especially one designed for rework, can come in super handy. Ideally you'll have good control over your heat, and will be using the absolute minimum heat/contact time you can get away with. It should also be ESD safe.

I never change the heat of my iron, I always keep it at full its a Weller

http://www.cs-sales.net/welowcosoirs.html

How do I know when to change the heat?

[Adrenalynn]

The trace is easily visible in your photo. Just follow it back and solder it point-to-point. No big there.

Resistance, inductance, capacitance - I'd worry more about it if that was a microwave transmitter. [shrug] That's the nice thing about both performing CPR and green wiring boards: You're working on dead things. You can't go anywhere but up from there.

[Adrenalynn]

I never change the heat of my iron, I always keep it at full its a Weller

http://www.cs-sales.net/welowcosoirs.html

How do I know when to change the heat?

Youch. That's probably, what, about 480deg C? That's a great way to lift traces and destroy components. I don't think I've ever had mine above 380deg C, and that was for soldering capacitors to the outside of motor casings.

You want your iron just hot enough to melt solder and heat up the pad so the solder sticks in ~3 seconds. If your solder joints look dull and gray, either you moved the component around or your temp was too low. (cold solder joint) - in that instance, turn it up a smidge.

Most components are rated for around 5 seconds @ 350deg C range. I work with a lot of stuff that's rated for 3sec @ 280deg C.

If you can't heat it up and get it to flow in that time - get better solder, re-tin your tip, or take a close look at your iron.

If you're working on sensitive components, or unknown components, let them cool between soldering the joints.
5sec on, 10sec off is generally pretty safe for most things. So when you're soldering that green wire, make one connection, let it sit for ten or fifteen seconds, then hit the other side. That's probably excessive, but you'll learn what you can and can't get away with by blowing up components. If you have an expensive board like that camera, better to err on the safe side. That's an easy ten second fix.

I do the vast majority of my soldering at 254deg C, and use 217-223 degC solder typically (although I have worked on stuff where 95deg C solder was required).

[No0bert]

Thanks Adrenalynn and noted! I never really paid much thought to the temperature and I thought as long as you don't keep the tip on the lead for a long time the heat will dissipate immediately, causing no damage. Thanks for the insight!