Re: [NTLK] Poor soldering of eMate memory modules

> Thanks for this information, Frank. I just checked my Newer
> Technologies DT320 Rev D card out, and sure enough, I can
> tell the soldering job is total crap without even needing
> my glasses. Do you recommend any particular temperature
> when reflowing the solder?

I do not reflow it. Apart from the fact that I don't have the
equipment to do this, I think it wouldn't be a good
strategy. I'm doing it the old-fashioned way, soldering each
and every pin of the memory chips separately, using a soldering
pen with a veeery tiny tip under a microscope. I add a very
tiny amount of solder to each pin to make this a reliable fix.

It is recommendable to leave the single malt whisky in its bottle before
attempting a fix like this. You would be surprised how difficult it is
to aim a soldering tip at an IC pin under a microscope if your
hand is ever so slightly shaking ;-)

As for the soldering temperature, this is kind of a philosophical
question. If you really have the equipment to reflow, it wouldn't
really matter since you'd have to heat the board up to almost the
melting point of tin anyway. If you are doing it my way, you can
play is safe (about 350 degrees celsius) or work with a higher
temperature. Higher temperatures are better if your soldering skills
are good enough to resolder a pin incl. applying a tiny
amount of additonal tin very fast, like in half a second. Hotter tin
will flow better than tin that is still close to its melting
temperature.

Myself, I'm usually working with 450 degrees celsius.

Frank

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