Tips on How to micro Solder on a budget

ID: 61535

Description: Purpose of this guide it to show that in a...

Steps:

  1. Problem was broken power connecter on grandsons Kindle. Removed bad connector and broken trace came up with part. New connector also shown.
  2. I used a soldering iron with a 700 degree tip and de-solder braid to remove defective part. Hot air gun would have been a better option but I didn't have one.
  3. Enlarge the image to zoom in and see fine detail. Also how I checked the work.
    4. Step image
  4. After cleaning up the board and reseating new socket I simply resoldered in place. Now with the new socket installed, I needed to connect the unsoldered lead to the data port on board.
  5. To find where the trace/lead went to I went to the Internet to find where it connected. I found many usable images to determine the path.
  6. To remove the coating on the board where I needed to solder , I scrapped away the coating with an Xacto knife.
    7. Step image
  7. Stripping and tinning a piece of 60mm wire I layed it in the path where I needed to attach. I bent the wire to give better leverage.
    8. Step image
  8. Putting a piece of electrical tape over a bent wire kept it in place
    9. Step image
  9. Using a fine tip on my iron , I again used a 700 degree tip , dabbed the area with liquid flux and soldered the wire to the lead and exposed trace.
  10. When done I removed tape, cleaned flux off and trimmed wire to length.
  11. You must have a steady grip on your iron to attach the wire. By using a long wire, you make it easier to keep it in place as you solder and it's so thin you can remove the excess wire with little stress to the repair.
    12. Step image
  12. The repair was the size of the wire next to the finger posted here
    13. Step image
  13. Not very high tech, but it got me through this without a proper scope. In this image I was verifying I didn't have any solder bridges on socket.
  14. When everything was cleaned back up I put the Kindle back together and it charges and plays like it should.
  15. When I was done soldering I used my iPad Pro 9.7 to take hi resolution image that I could view and blowup to ensure the repair was intact and clean
    16. Step image
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