G'day Roy,



25 Dec 96 00:16, Roy McNeill wrote to Rod Gasson:



 RG>> Tis an acquired skill.  I actually did a six week rather

 RG>> intensive training course on soldering techniques, etc a few



 RM> Be careful how you advertise this, btw. The boss was on his high

 RM> horse one day, arguing with Mike about soldering, and said

 RM> pompously "Well, I spent 3 months learning how to solder." Mike,

 RM> always quick on straight lines, replied "That's funny, it only took

 RM> me a few hours." Years later, everyone remembers that line.



 There is a LOT of truth in this though...  knowing the theory

doesn't mean a person is competent in practice.



 RM> Regarding smd replacement skills, though, I'm not sure how much I

 RM> need to know. Two and three terminal devices I have little trouble

 RM> with, but small and large ic's are a different kettle of sardines.

 RM> I know you can't compress six weeks into one para, but how much

 RM> hardware and knowhow am I looking at to do (say) a 16 or 20 pin dil

 RM> smd ic?



How much do you need to know?  Tough question, 'cos there is more than

one way to remove such chips, and the method chosen depends on several

factors, such as accessability and what any particular person is most

comfortable with.   The course I did covered such topics as solder and

rosin composition, the types of glues used to bond the copper tracks

to the PCB's, the type of PCB itself, and how much heat can safely be

applied to the tracks before the bonding breaks down..  and lots of

other semi-useless theoretical shit. It was the full week of removing

and replacing 100's of such chips that really helped me though..

There really is no substitute for experience.



Cheers,

Rod



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