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How to Solder Tiny components?

spwath
By spwath
in Hobby Electronics
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So im making something, and I have to solder tiny tiny 100nf caps onto a pcb, surface mount. They are so tiny they dont stay in place. 

What the right way to do it?

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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Get a flux pen. Put some flux on the board. Tin your soldering iron. Hold the component in place with tweezers. Then touch the tinned tip to the solder pad on the board and the solder will flow onto the cap.

 

i can't stress this enough, YOU NEED FLUX. I use electrolube flux. One pen has lasted me over 3 years and its still got plenty in it

Donate your unused computer resources for cancer and other research. For Zinsey ❤

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Just now, iamdarkyoshi said:

Get a flux pen. Put some flux on the board. Tin your soldering iron. Hold the component in place with tweezers. Then touch the tinned tip to the solder pad on the board and the solder will flow onto the cap.

 

i can't stress this enough, YOU NEED FLUX. I use electrolube flux. One pen has lasted me over 3 years and its still got plenty in it

So you are saying I need flux?

 

I soldered a few things without flux, but then a cap stuck to my soldering iron and burned up....

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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Just now, iamdarkyoshi said:

Yes m8 u need flux

Ok. Any recomendations?

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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2 minutes ago, spwath said:

Ok. Any recomendations?

dunno, i just have a tin of flux from the early 90s xD 

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Just now, spwath said:

Ok. Any recomendations?

Electrolube.

https://www.rapidonline.com/electrolube-smf12p-surface-mount-rework-flux-pen-12ml-single-87-4426

 

And pick a good brand of LEAD BASED SOLDER like multicore, thinnest you can find.

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i would get something to hold it for you, im not that good at soldering i guess but i know how to do the basic thing, but if it wont stay there just have something hold it i guess

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1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Electrolube.

https://www.rapidonline.com/electrolube-smf12p-surface-mount-rework-flux-pen-12ml-single-87-4426

 

And pick a good brand of LEAD BASED SOLDER like multicore, thinnest you can find.

Yeah, i have some Kester leaded solder,, nice and thin

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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Another way is with solder wick.

 

Put the SMD components on some double sided tape so they stay put.

Tin the SMD component's terminals and the pads on the PCB. It does not have to be clean.

 

This will make the terminals and pads too 'thick', use the solder wick to drain away all the excess solder from the terminals and pads. You should now have nice flat tinned surfaces.

 

Clean the tip of the soldering iron and apply just a tiny bit of new solder to the tip.

Now hold the SMD part in place with tweezers and touch one terminal with the soldering iron tip. The joint should flow together nicely.

 

Now that the part is fixed in place solder the other side. Use the wick to clean any excess solder.

 

 

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You'll definitely need liquid flux or semi-liquid (viscous) flux. 

Flux the pads where you'd put the capacitor.  Grab the soldering iron, heat up the tip, put solder on the tip (ideally if you have, use a tip with a cup / a depression in the tip to hold solder) - at this point the flux inside the flux is obviously evapored from the tip heat hence why you need liquid flux on the motherboard.

Put the the tip with solder on the board and a bit of solder will remain on those pads

Get the tiny part with some tweezers , put some flux on the terminals of the part, put the the part of the pads with solder.

Clean the tip, add a fresh coat of solder.  Add more flux if needed. 

While holding the component in place, bring the tip with fresh solder to touch the pad and heat the solder and you'll get a soldered joint quickly. Repeat with the other side, then reheat the first side just in case you've create a mechanical stress some way (reheating it would relieve the stress)

 

So as you can see it's more lengthy process but it beats putting the part on the pcb and bringing solder wire and trying to keep part and iron tip right there at the joint.. you don't have four hands.

 

Semi-professional  / Alternative solution would be solder paste and hot air soldering iron / gun . Wet the component and motherboard with flux.  Put solder paste on pads, put component on the paste, set the hot air gun to 120-150c or thereabouts and let it reach that temperature, then move hot air gun above the pads for about 5-15 seconds then raise the temperature to around 200-250c and hover the hot air gun until the paste flows and turns to solder

Solder paste is basically a mix of granules of solder and semi-liquid flux and isopropyl alcohol or other alcohols to make everything more "creamy" . You want to slowly heat up the paste so that flux will do its job and clean the surfaces (and that's the reason for the lower initial temperatures) and once the flux starts to evaporate, you set the temperature above the solder's melting point (which is 180/183c for 60/40 or 63/37 solders or around 217c for lead free solders - your hot air gun temperature should be about 30-50c above the melting point, to counteract the heatsink ability of the pads and traces (the copper pulls a tiny amount of heat away from component)

If you're not doing this often, it's not worth buying solder paste. You kinda have to keep it in the refrigerator, take it out about 15-30 minutes before using it, even then it only lasts about 3-5 months because the ispopropylp alcohol evaporates and the paste hardens so you have to add a bit of isopropyl alcohol and mix the paste and so on... it's not worth it for just one component.

 

 

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you can just use tweezers. What i do for the simpler smd parts is just get the iron hot, get a bit of solder almost dripping off the end and simply touch each end until i see the solder wet the solder pad. Now you dont NEED flux, but it sure as hell will make your day allot better. Soldering smd parts without flux can be really frustrating.

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6 hours ago, spwath said:

So you are saying I need flux?

Please use flux. Your soldering job will be much easier I bet.

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If this will be a regular thing for you, don't use an iron, and don't use a solder spool.  Use solder paste which contains flux and a hot air rework station.  The paste will hold the device in place and provide the flux to remove oxidation on site once the right temp has been reached.  It is a very easy thing to solder down to 0603 SMD packages by hand with this approach.  I do it on a weekly basis.

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3 minutes ago, decibelCooper said:

If this will be a regular thing for you, don't use an iron, and don't use a solder spool.  Use solder paste which contains flux and a hot air rework station.  The paste will hold the device in place and provide the flux to remove oxidation on site once the right temp has been reached.  It is a very easy thing to solder down to 0603 SMD packages by hand with this approach.  I do it on a weekly basis.

Oh come on, I have no issues with 0402s with my soldering iron and flux

Donate your unused computer resources for cancer and other research. For Zinsey ❤

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1 minute ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Oh come on, I have no issues with 0402s with my soldering iron and flux

Lol, you must be talking standard, not metric.

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4 minutes ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Oh come on, I have no issues with 0402s with my soldering iron and flux

Oh and also, why do you torture yourself so?

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21 hours ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Electrolube.

https://www.rapidonline.com/electrolube-smf12p-surface-mount-rework-flux-pen-12ml-single-87-4426

 

And pick a good brand of LEAD BASED SOLDER like multicore, thinnest you can find.

And ideas for good stuff in the US? I can only find that from england

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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9 hours ago, iamdarkyoshi said:

Oh come on, I have no issues with 0402s with my soldering iron and flux

Mine are 0805. Still looks pretty small....

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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@spwath  Go to digikey.com  , mouser.com , newark.com   they have good brands of solder, and they're in US.

 

Digikey : http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/soldering-desoldering-rework-products/solder/1310838

Newark  (Farnell in Europe) : http://www.newark.com/solder-wire

Mouser : http://eu.mouser.com/Tools-Supplies/Soldering/Solder/_/N-b11qq/

 

Good brands (from what I consider best to less best but great) : Multicore  > Kester / Kester Solder > Stannol > MG Chemicals > Edsyn > AIM Solder

Solder varieties i prefer from best to less ideal : 63/37 Sn/Pb, 62/36/2 Sn/Pb/Ag or Sn/Pb/Cu, 60:40 Sn/Pb, 96-97%+ Sn / 2-3% Cu/Ag mix   , with 2-3% flux that's no-clean or rosin or rosin mildly activated flux (stay away from water based fluxes)

 

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Just now, mariushm said:

@spwath  Go to digikey.com  , mouser.com , newark.com   they have good brands of solder, and they're in US.

 

Digikey : http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/soldering-desoldering-rework-products/solder/1310838

Newark  (Farnell in Europe) : http://www.newark.com/solder-wire

Mouser : http://eu.mouser.com/Tools-Supplies/Soldering/Solder/_/N-b11qq/

 

Good brands (from what I consider best to less best but great) : Multicore  > Kester / Kester Solder > Stannol > MG Chemicals > Edsyn > AIM Solder

Solder varieties i prefer from best to less ideal : 63/37 Sn/Pb, 62/36/2 Sn/Pb/Ag or Sn/Pb/Cu, 60:40 Sn/Pb, 96-97%+ Sn / 2-3% Cu/Ag mix   , with 2-3% flux that's no-clean or rosin or rosin mildly activated flux (stay away from water based fluxes)

 

I already have kester solder, just need flux pen.

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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@spwath  Flux pens are OK but expensive, considering the amount of flux they have inside. You get about 10ml for something like 5$ when you can get a 250ml - 500 ml bottles (or even more)  starting from around $50

 

Same websites I linked to above have flux pens from reputable brands, just browse the categories system, they're good stores and you can trust them.

 

digikey : http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/soldering-desoldering-rework-products/flux-flux-remover/1311241

newark : http://www.newark.com/solder-flux

mouser : http://eu.mouser.com/Tools-Supplies/Soldering/Soldering-Flux/_/N-b11wf/

 

You'd be better off with a flux bottle, if you do a lot of soldering but i can understand if you're not willing to spend so much.

 

In Europe there's TME.eu which sells no-clean or rosin based flux from a Polish manufacturer, which sells flux in bottles of all kind of sizes, from 10ml , 50ml, 100ml, 250ml , 500ml .. and it's cheap and good quality : http://www.tme.eu/en/katalog/#id_category=100484&page=1&s_field=artykul&s_order=ASC

Filter by AG Termopasty if you're interested, that's the Polish manufacturer.

 

And all i can recommend is stay away from water soluble / water based fluxes, they're more trouble than they're worth and they're hard to clean from boards. No-clean fluxes, rosin based, mildly active (rma) or ra (rosin activated) fluxes  these are all great types of flux and most of these don't require cleaning and if they do it's as easy as just wiping the surface with isopropyl alcohol or some other solvent (sanitary alcohol, other solvents safe for electronics).

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, mariushm said:

@spwath  Flux pens are OK but expensive, considering the amount of flux they have inside. You get about 10ml for something like 5$ when you can get a 250ml - 500 ml bottles (or even more)  starting from around $50

 

Same websites I linked to above have flux pens from reputable brands, just browse the categories system, they're good stores and you can trust them.

 

digikey : http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/soldering-desoldering-rework-products/flux-flux-remover/1311241

newark : http://www.newark.com/solder-flux

mouser : http://eu.mouser.com/Tools-Supplies/Soldering/Soldering-Flux/_/N-b11wf/

 

You'd be better off with a flux bottle, if you do a lot of soldering but i can understand if you're not willing to spend so much.

 

In Europe there's TME.eu which sells no-clean or rosin based flux from a Polish manufacturer, which sells flux in bottles of all kind of sizes, from 10ml , 50ml, 100ml, 250ml , 500ml .. and it's cheap and good quality : http://www.tme.eu/en/katalog/#id_category=100484&page=1&s_field=artykul&s_order=ASC

Filter by AG Termopasty if you're interested, that's the Polish manufacturer.

 

And all i can recommend is stay away from water soluble / water based fluxes, they're more trouble than they're worth and they're hard to clean from boards. No-clean fluxes, rosin based, mildly active (rma) or ra (rosin activated) fluxes  these are all great types of flux and most of these don't require cleaning and if they do it's as easy as just wiping the surface with isopropyl alcohol or some other solvent (sanitary alcohol, other solvents safe for electronics).

 

 

 

So would this one be good?

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/multicore/760089/82-145-ND/2498943

n0ah1897, on 05 Mar 2014 - 2:08 PM, said:  "Computers are like girls. It's whats in the inside that matters.  I don't know about you, but I like my girls like I like my cases. Just as beautiful on the inside as the outside."

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