[sdiy] smt placement and soldering..

[Tony Clark]

> I=92m thinking about building a board with a lot of surface mount stuff,
> but I=92m not sure how to do it without messing it up. I have a decent
> soldering iron (weller ws80) and very sharp small tips =85 I was =
> thinking
> about investing in a manual pick and place but maybe that=92s overkill.
> Anyone have any references on how to do surface mount prototypes without
> messing it up?

   Hi Bert,

   SMT stuff is easier than most people think.  Soldering is actually 
quite easy, but still requires a steady hand (and good eyesight, eh 
Harry?).  The easiest way to solder most any SMT part is to simply apply 
solder to one pad.  Then get the part and move it into position 
(anti-magnetic tweezers are best).  Apply your iron to the pad and let 
the part be pulled into place by the surface tension of the molten 
solder.  Take the iron away but hold onto the part until the solder has 
sufficiently cooled.  Then solder the remaining pad(s) as normal.

   Hope that helps,

   Tony

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
         The E-Music DIY Archive - New Site Coming Soon!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"We wouldn't want to ship something that doesn't work"
   - Carl Stork, general manager, Microsoft Windows division
     Excerpt from EE Times April 2, 2001