So, I’m pretty new at soldering and I’m looking for some advice on how to not ruin a via while removing solder…
I was trying to remove the solder from a original Xbox 1.0 motherboard and I burnt the shit out of a via and caused issues with several others.
https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/d2d4a90b-aab2-4521-9cbb-25e3cd305ae7.jpeg
I was able to fix it and everything is working but I want to do better.
https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/b2d04556-025e-404d-940d-886247cdb97c.jpeg
I used a pointed tip, flux, and added some of my own solder to the via. I then cleaned, added new flux, and used solder wick to remove the solder. Some points, would NOT melt at all. I kept increasing the temp to 430°c and it finally melted and took everything with it.
Now, I know I fucked up and used too much heat. I probably should have used my rework station and a solder sucker but I JUST got the rework station and didn’t want to popcorn the OG Xbox board… The solder wouldn’t stay melted long enough from my iron for the sucker to work so I used wick.
This makes me feel a lot better, thank you!
My usual temperature was 370°c but since I’ve burned the via I’ve dropped it down to 340°c and only go up when I really need to. I’ll probably go back to 370°c
As for the stubborn points, I’m going to preheat and try different/larger tips before I go above 400°c.
Thanks again!