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Solder Repair / Rework
Manufacturers & Services
Solder repair and rework equipment has come a long way from the days when all electronic components had wire leads and solder was removed using one of those spring-loaded vacuum solder suckers. Modern components the size of fly specs and ICs with hundreds of solder balls underneath simply cannot be handled with the Radio Shack variety of equipment. Many of the systems provided by these companies had microprocessor controlled heat sources and have built-in vacuum systems.
It used to be that repairing a PCB or a circuit assembly was a fairly simple task. Point-to-point wiring or the 2-sided PCBs - some even with plated-through holes - could be reworked with just a good soldering iron and some solder wick. Removing a leaded component (remember when resistors had wires sticking out of the ends of them?) was made simpler with a vacuum desoldering machine, but you could live without it.
Fast forward to 2009. Finding even a single leaded component on a PCB is rare, and even the connectors are surface mount. In some aspects, surface mount is actually easier to rework and with less chance of delaminating the substrate layers. However, the small size of many surface mount components - same as small as 0201 (0.02" x 0.01") - necessitates the use of a microscope and tweezers. Forget have a cup of coffee in the morning because the magnified shake factor will make work nearly impossible. You will end up knocking nearby components off their pads. That is another bother of surface mount - the small size requires heating with a hot air gun from above or beneath, but either way you end up reflowing the solder on surrounding components.
Fortunately, companies like the ones listed here offer products and/or services to help you cope with this brave new world.
Solder, BGA, SMT Repair & Rework Books Solder Repair & Rework Resources
For your convenience, I have built a set of pages with hand-selected companies. My policy is to only list companies that actually manufacture product or offer services related to the page title subject. Product distributors and sales representatives are not listed (they have their own page). This helps guarantee that each listing offers a unique product or service.
It used to be that repairing a PCB or a circuit assembly was a fairly simple task. Point-to-point wiring or the 2-sided PCBs - some even with plated-through holes - could be reworked with just a good soldering iron and some solder wick. Removing a leaded component (remember when resistors had wires sticking out of the ends of them?) was made simpler with a vacuum desoldering machine, but you could live without it.
Fast forward to 2009. Finding even a single leaded component on a PCB is rare, and even the connectors are surface mount. In some aspects, surface mount is actually easier to rework and with less chance of delaminating the substrate layers. However, the small size of many surface mount components - same as small as 0201 (0.02" x 0.01") - necessitates the use of a microscope and tweezers. Forget have a cup of coffee in the morning because the magnified shake factor will make work nearly impossible. You will end up knocking nearby components off their pads. That is another bother of surface mount - the small size requires heating with a hot air gun from above or beneath, but either way you end up reflowing the solder on surrounding components.
Fortunately, companies like the ones listed here offer products and/or services to help you cope with this brave new world.
Solder, BGA, SMT Repair & Rework Books Solder Repair & Rework Resources
For your convenience, I have built a set of pages with hand-selected companies. My policy is to only list companies that actually manufacture product or offer services related to the page title subject. Product distributors and sales representatives are not listed (they have their own page). This helps guarantee that each listing offers a unique product or service.
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