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Help with soldering in small places

evident

evident

Lifer
This black "fastport" for sony ericsson phones circled is damaged and i ordered a new port in the mail. i've since removed it from the mainboard. I am a noob and inexperienced when it comes to soldering, let alone in such a small row like this (other inside circle). What kind of tools and technique do i need to do this correctly? I only have a big clunky soldering iron that i don't think will be precision enough to do this job. is there something i can use to solder it all on in one shot?

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seems like i need a smaller soldering iron, but spending $120 to repair a phone that's questionably worth $20 may not be worth it =).

i read somewhere that people can use a heat gun to heat up the solder enough to get it mounted all in one shot? How would i get the solder on initially?
 
so you got the old one off and solder wicked the old solder off already? you're halfway there


i really don't suggest using a heat gun - when you get it warm enough you'll probably nudge the board, dislodging nearby components
 
PottedMeat said:
so you got the old one off and solder wicked the old solder off already? you're halfway there


i really don't suggest using a heat gun - when you get it warm enough you'll probably nudge the board, dislodging nearby components
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the old one had half of the points broken off due to weak solder, and when yanked it pretty much broke off.


Rakehellion said:
So buy a new one. You won't find a soldering iron for under $20.
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nah, i'm pretty hell bent on fixing this damn thing for some reason.

for the post who said don't get a heat gun, is there a heat gun with a smaller diameter that can be used so i dont burn off other components?
 
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For small work, I wrap the tip of my big iron with copper wire, and leave the end extended as a small tip. I don't do much fine soldering though, and I'm not especially skilled.
 
evident said:
for the post who said don't get a heat gun, is there a heat gun with a smaller diameter that can be used so i dont burn off other components?
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You can get attachments, but the other components won't "burn" anyway. It might melt the solder or any plastic, but that isn't disastrous.
 
Ah, that's plenty big. I Vmodded my 8800GT which had very small IC leads. Just do one contact at a time and place masking tape around each contact to help prevent accidents. Not much solder is needed. 15-30W pencil tip iron recommended. Bonus for grounded soldering iron.
 
Rakehellion said:
You can get attachments, but the other components won't "burn" anyway. It might melt the solder or any plastic, but that isn't disastrous.
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I don't know...you can still do a lot of damage with nothing more than very hot air, particularly out of something without temperature controls.

Outright burning isn't too likely. But you can certainly melt plastic components, damage the electronics inside of ICs, crack ceramic capacitors, or delaminate the layers of the FR-4 circuitboard.
 
Easiest way to do that is going to be with Chip Quik desoldering stuff. It looks like solder but it melts the solder and keeps it wet.lay a strip of it across the connections, melt it and it wil come loose.

I'd try solder paste first to resolder the new one. The stuff is great for that kind of work. Lay a strip of paste, put your connector down and heat the solder points.

10 minute job if you get the right stuff and you won't need a new iron.
 
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evident said:
seems like i need a smaller soldering iron, but spending $120 to repair a phone that's questionably worth $20 may not be worth it =).

i read somewhere that people can use a heat gun to heat up the solder enough to get it mounted all in one shot? How would i get the solder on initially?
Click to expand...

You are thinking of a hot air rework station. They are fun, I use the Xtronic 4040 at work. They aren't cheap but it would work for this. Though I'm not sure it would be easier than Chip Quik and solder paste.

Link your current iron. Should be able to just get a small tip for a couple bucks instead of a whole new iron.

Or send your parts to me. I've got a new 4 in 1 (Xtronic 5040) coming on Tuesday. I need something cool to make a video of for the owner of Xtronic to post on Amazon.
 
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rudeguy said:
You are thinking of a hot air rework station. They are fun, I use the Xtronic 4040 at work. They aren't cheap but it would work for this. Though I'm not sure it would be easier than Chip Quik and solder paste.

Link your current iron. Should be able to just get a small tip for a couple bucks instead of a whole new iron.

Or send your parts to me. I've got a new 4 in 1 (Xtronic 5040) coming on Tuesday. I need something cool to make a video of for the owner of Xtronic to post on Amazon.
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Might take you up on that, my part still in the mail as well.

I have a soldering iron from radio shack.. I used it one to repair the plug for my head phones
 
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