[NTLK] eMate Hinge Repair Questions

[Smith Woody]

Removing the backlight and speaker  wires is just not such a big  
deal.  Quite unlike removing a component from a logic board that is  
soldered through or is delicate in some other way.

No solder removal is necessary.  They are surface soldered in a small  
pool of solder on a surface trace.  A slight pull on wire while  
touching the hot  solder pencil to exposed wire and it releases  
instantly.  Lifting almost no solder except for a slightly tinned to  
wire.  Re-soldering is nearly as simple often requiring no additional  
solder other than that used to tin the iron/pencil.

The risk is in lingering over it and overheating the trace causing it  
to lift.  I've hosted an emate hinge repair group of six first timers  
and every one succeeded.

Just my 2 cents

Woody


On Aug 24, 2011, at 10:13 AM, Forrest Buffenmyer wrote:

> Agreed. Practicing desoldering is a great idea...also, I've also not  
> had much luck with the "desolder sucker" pumps (which are similar to  
> a bulb syringe that basically draws the hot liquid solder by vacuum  
> away from the soldered joint). I much prefer desoldering braid, and  
> a little experience with it beforehand wouldn't hurt.
>
> Thanks,
>
> --Forrest
>
> Sent from my First Generation iPad
>
> On Aug 24, 2011, at 6:54 AM, Mark Crutch <mark.crutch at gmail.com>  
> wrote:
>
>> Before trying to desolder leads from an eMate, I would recommend
>> practising on something less precious. Any old dead circuit board  
>> from
>> the 80s through to the early 90s is likely to have large enough
>> components that it will provide a good target - dig around in the
>> garage for that old PC or child's toy.
>>
>> In my experience the best way to learn to solder is to practice
>> DEsoldering. You'll learn a lot about how solder melts and flows by
>> trying to remove existing components - and then you can try soldering
>> them back in place. The "solder sucker" pumps that are available for
>> desoldering are okay, but in my experience "desolder braid" gives
>> better results - just push it onto the joint with the tip of the  
>> iron,
>> ensure that it and the joint are both heated sufficiently, and it  
>> will
>> wick the solder away leaving you with clean joints to re-solder onto.
>>
>>
>> All this is probably overkill for just removing and replacing speaker
>> wires, but a bit of practice beforehand will make the job a lot
>> easier. Knowing how to clean up with desolder braid and then re- 
>> make a
>> connection afresh will make you more confident that you can recover  
>> in
>> the event that things do go wrong.
>>
>> I used to teach basic electronics to kids, and getting them to
>> desolder and re-solder on otherwise useless old circuit boards saved
>> us a lot of expensive mistakes by the time they got to the real
>> components ;)
>>
>>
>> Mark
>>
>> -- 
>> "The Greys" -  a humourous sci-fi webcomic
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