Well, maybe soldering a VT103 backplane was not so
bad, but I seem to
I've never done one, but I can;'t believe it's as bad as some of the
things I've soldered, like :
Upgrading an HP42S to 32K RAM while being photographed using flash... (28
pin SOIC to desolder and resodler, one link to move)
Upgrading the ram card in a Sharp PC1350 to 16K (ti's a very thin PCB
that wanders all over the bench, of course it's all SMD)
Just about any (Mac or later) Apple PCB. They have undersized holes
(which makes it difficult to desolder/resolder), traces that are much
thinner than they need been, and IMHO poor quality PCB material so the
traces lift if you look at them wrongly...
remember the
problems I once had with a DRV11 module. It needed to be strapped, but
the only way that
DEC provided to change the CSR value was with zero ohm resistors.
Removing a strap just
meant cutting out a resistor. But I found it impossible to add a
resistor. Finally after several
There's a trick to cleaning out holes in a plated-throuh-hole PCB. It's
to hold or clamp the PCB vertically, melt the solder with the iron on the
solder sice and suck with a good solder sucker [1] on the component side.
If the hole doesn't clear, resolder it and try again.
[1] Most sodler suckerc can be made 'good' for this if you take them
apart and put a little petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on the O-ring/washer on
the piston.
Needless to say, I am not a bit fan of making solder
connections at this
point.
I guess it comes with experience, but it doesn't bother me at all now. I
just gra the iron and do it.
-tony