21 Jun
2010
21 Jun
'10
1:51 p.m.
On 6/21/10 3:47 PM, A. Christoff Baumann wrote:
Because many people have difficulty soldering SMD parts, and we can have a professional
robot pick-and-place the parts at a cost that is negligible for us compared to supporting
people who will invariably screw that step up. Additionally, being the static-sensitive
nature of the parts and their small size, it makes inventory easier for us.
And for myself, my eyesight is such that I can't even see well enough (at age 40) to
solder SMD anymore on a tight board. In the last production run, we had one or two
defects, and that was difficult for me to fix: I can't imagine having to solder all
the pins and doing it successfully.
41 and no problems here, and I have poor eyesight to begin with.
I am 100% convinced that the vast majority of people who have trouble
soldering surface-mount components are the ones who say "ah knows howta
solder!" and charge in with their 20-year-old, $7 Radio Shack iron and
1/8" diameter solder ("it's just a hobby, I don't need good
tools!") and
try to solder like it's through-hole, refusing to accept the notion that
it's a DIFFERENT TASK and as such requires DIFFERENT TOOLS.
For me, surface-mount soldering is far, far easier than through-hole
soldering. Most people who actually try it (with the proper equipment)
find this to be the case as well.
What I'm saying is don't automatically assume that "surface mount is
hard", or automatically assume that everyone finds it as distasteful as
you do.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Port Charlotte, FL
The proper question is "Why would
you
want to surrender the fun of installing the SMD parts?"