fatman, glowing cables, etc.

[David Halliday (Volt Computer)]

You need to remove most of the old solder and then resolder the joint.

Get some solder braid - this is a small plastic spool of woven copper braid
with a very potent flux embedded into it.  Take some of this and place it
between the soldering iron and the joint - when the old solder melts, it
will be absorbed into the braid and off of the joint.  The only "problem" is
that solder braid is fairly expensive and you can use a lot of it cleaning
off a circuit board.

The better way to go is to get a solder sucker - this is a hand operated
spring loaded plunger vacuum and will remove 80% of the loose solder - you
then use braid to remove the rest.

Don't spend too much time on each joint - if the copper foil heats up too
much, it will loose it's grip on the circuit board and your traces will come
off...




-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Miklojcik [mailto:jmik at rci.rutgers.edu]
Sent: Friday, November 06, 1998 9:30 AM
To: synth-diy at mailhost.bpa.nl; mortmain at grim-determination.com;
fatman-l at tl36.teklab.com
Subject: fatman, glowing cables, etc.


Hey you crazy nuts,

I'm looking at my Fatman, my first forray into the world of electronic
assembly.  Most of the joints are dull, made with the lowest of the low
rat shock irons (only hot enough to melt solder during 20% of its
thermostat cycle).  I think I could have used better solder too.  I
think I'm going to have to build a new one with my nice Weller and some
decent solder.  Anybody have any tips on things I can do to salvage the
old one?