[sdiy] SMD soldering technique

[paula at synth.net]

I've recently done a fair bit of 0402, including having to stack 0402 
caps to get precision values (long story).
Things you'll need;

1) a good white light, use a few white LEDs and space them around, you 
want to avoid shadows
2) really good tweezers (worth spending money on these)
3) a super fine solder tip (trust me, soldering 0402 and 0201 the 
soldering irons is MASSIVE by comparison)
4) a good stereo microscope (essential for anything below 0402 IMHO). 
Ebay is your friend here.
5) fine solder (even 0.3mm solder looks big next to 0201
6) a good quality flux, I decant mine into a syringe, so I can place the 
flux exactly where it's needed.
7) avoid coffee
8) practice

Paula

On 2017-03-23 08:29, Nils Pipenbrinck wrote:
> I usually solder under a stereo microscope. Even with my bad eyesight
> soldering 0201 components is just a question of practice.
> 
> Recently, I had a RF tuning job in China, and taking my microscope
> with me wasn't an option. I bought this thing:
> 
> https://www.amazon.de/FeelGlad-Kopfbandlupe-Brillenlupe-Vergr%C3%B6%C3%9Ferungsglas-Uhrmacherlupe/dp/B0107A3KUE/ref=pd_sbs_201_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=SNMN355MYCDTSXH4XWGK
> 
> (sorry, amazon insists of translating all pages to german recently).
> 
> I didn't expected much, but it did the trick! It was good enough to
> comfortably solder 0402 parts and with patience 0201 was possible as
> well.
> 
> I highly recommend getting it if you're soldering SMD components and
> don't have a microscope.
> 
> Btw, yes. good light is key! The more, the better. It's much more
> important than a fine soldering tip.
> 
> /Nils
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