BL>>> It's basically impossible to replace a surface-mount micro
 BL>>> anyway.
 RG>> Gee, now you tell me.

 BL> It's basically impossible to do brain surgery with a sharp
 BL> stick, too.
 RG> Gee now you tell me. ;-)

  ROFL!!!

 BL> Was that before or after the brain surgery?
 RG> That's irrelevant, I obviously still need the surgery else I'd
 RG> never have taken on the jobs in the first place.

  You're a devil for punishment.

 BL> Oddly, getting it off is the hard part.

 RG> . I never seem to have much trouble getting it off.
 RG> What's this have to do with changing SMmicros though?

  This will become clear after the brain surgery.

 BL> If you can flow it off and leave a little solder behind, the
 BL> new one goes in okay... but if you fuck it the first time
 BL> you're dead!

 RG> Yup. No second chances with these things (well, sometimes you
 RG> *may* get a second chance, but rarely a 3rd).

  Yair... that terrible feeling when it moves over half-a-pin...

 BL> And I'd give odds that you've left something unsoldered...

 RG> I'll give odds on that you'd be hard pushed to tell the chip(s)
 RG> had ever been replaced. I really do have this down to a fine
 RG> art.

  That's the problem! They look exactly the same fucked. You can buy
hot-air torches that (theoretically) melt all the solder at once, but
they don't work either.

 RG> Tis an aquired skill. I actually did a six week rather
 RG> intensive training course on soldering techniques, etc a few
 RG> years back.

  I did a course to increase my intelligence. After a week I realised 
it was a wank. It really worked!

 RG> I went at the companies expense, thinking it was
 RG> gunna be a good bludge, after all, I'd been soldering for
 RG> years. Boy was I wrong, I never knew there was so much to
 RG> know/learn about such a 'simple' task.

  Ordinary soldering irons and solder are totally useless, but the 
problem is that almost everything else is too! The hot-air torches 
don't work, and neither do those big plates, and if you do manage to 
get the bloody thing back in place looking good, you never know if 
every lead is soldered or not... and you dare not try to touch it up!

 RG> My confidence and ability to change these SMD's sure improved
 RG> though.

  Some people do have the knack. I certainly don't.

 RG> The only thing I don't like about them is the ever present
 RG> doubt that the fault isn't caused by the micro after all, 'cos
 RG> as you rightly stated, they do tend to be very reliable. I seem
 RG> to get more than most though, 'cos I still take on 'bastard'
 RG> jobs for other companys - and naturally, these kinds of faults
 RG> are bastards. I make 'em pay though. :-)

  It's the same at Palsonic. They get the bastard faults sent back,
and there are quite a few bad micros among them. The average tech
would butcher them, and only one tech can change them successfully.

Regards,
Bob
  
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
@EOT:

---