8 Apr
2010
8 Apr
'10
12:24 p.m.
The easiest
way to not damage the board is to cut the leads to the
chip, and then use a solder sucker to remove the solder in the hole
along with the remnants of the chip leads. Hopefully if one or more of
the leads is soldered to the ground plane, those pads used thermal
isolation to separate them from the ground plane.
Tools are important. A good temperature-controlled iron (I use my
trusty Weller WTCPT with a 600 degree tip for through-hole stuff) and a BIG solder sucker (the Edsyn DS017 is appropriate).
Add solder to
the pin if it's a little thin on solder, use the solder pump to suck
Adding a bit of solder will genrally improve the heat conduction and make
it a lot easier to get the solder in the hole molten.
Also, if it deosn't cleaer the first time you use the sucker, it's
notmally a wast of time to just try again. Resolder the joing with fresh
solder and then suck it off.
the solder out of the hole. You should be able to
see light through
the via; then wiggle the pin if necessary to free it from the sides
of the via.
My method for removing ICs inteact without damaing the PCB is to suck off
the oslder (as above), then free the pins on the solder side. They will
normally be against ones side of the hole, use pliers or a small
screwdrive to foce them towards the centre of the hole. You need ot know
how much force you can reasonably apply without wreckign the via, this,
alas, comes with experiece. If the pin won;t move, reolder it, resuck,
and try again.
Then on the component side of the board, use a small screwdriver to fuch
the IC pins inwards (towards the body of the IC). Place the scrrewever as
close to the PCB as posible. When they've all 'moved' the IC will normlly
just lift out with no damage to PCB or chip.
Every once in awhile, I'll get a pin that
doesn't free--I'll use a
#70 wire drill in a Foredom handset to clear out the via. Use low
speed and you'll usually end up with the via intact.
I've never had a hole/via that won't clear if heated wirh an adequate
soldering iron from one side and sucked from the other.
-tony