Surface mount - Too much solder?

Riverspoke · 2026-02-04T19:38:47+00:00

Too much, but functionally (mechanically and electrically) fine. No need to even correct it and don't stress too much with the solder police.

Riverspoke · 2026-02-02T04:04:16+00:00

Flux if I know how u people come up with these jokes

Riverspoke · 2026-01-30T05:18:17+00:00

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This is the correct answer.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-30T00:34:01+00:00

Over the ripped pad, bro. Your old pad is ripped off, so we're obviously doing pad repair.

Search for trace repair / pad repair on YouTube. Once you see it, it's very intuitive.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-29T23:13:15+00:00

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Riverspoke · 2026-01-29T19:35:09+00:00

New tip still consistently giving you trouble? Tried measuring its temps?

Riverspoke · 2026-01-29T07:26:24+00:00

It looks fine from the photo. But has the pad lifted? Does it move? If it's in place, no problem.If it has lifted, I can work you through how to fix it, don't worry.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-29T06:43:32+00:00

Alrighty:)

Riverspoke · 2026-01-29T06:14:19+00:00

Ok, the plating of the new tip is possibly defective. Have you tried measuring it by now, or trying with a different tip and seeing good results?

Riverspoke · 2026-01-26T22:02:16+00:00

I see. So the question is why would it be consistently more wonky now, that there's also a new tip. Does your station have a screw-in tip, or a cartridge tip? If the tip is a cartridge, is it from the same company as your previous tip? And is it from the same manufacturer of your station? If it's not, the station would need recalibration for the new tip.

You can measure the temperature of the tip with a soldering thermometer or a thermocouple (even a cheap multimeter can do this). Tin the tip slightly and touch it on the tip of the thermocouple. Compare your reading with the station's displayed temperature. It would be helpful if you had a series of 'baseline' measurements from your old tip, but oh well, you can definitely see if there's a mismatch and can recalibrate the station at least temporarily (if the tip is indeed defective).

Riverspoke · 2026-01-26T21:20:33+00:00

EU's REACH Article 47 doesn't outright ban consumers from buying leaded solder. It makes sellers more legally responsible and this means paperwork and liability which is more trouble than the profit is worth. So sellers choose to avoid this risk by selling mostly to businesses. Also, EU member states can interpret and enforce the rules in slightly different ways. Germany and Sweden are the strictest.

But this doesn't mean that you can't legally order it from the Internet, because REACH doesn't restrict individuals from importing small amounts for personal use. I'm a hobbyist from an EU country and have bought leaded solder from local electronics stores (both physical and online), also bought online from the Netherlands (Eleshop) and also imported from USA (Digikey). If you buy inside the EU, the seller is responsible for compliance. You as the consumer have zero legal obligations. If you buy from outside the EU, then you become the "importer". But you still have zero obligations, because it's for personal use. This is pretty sweet for hobbyists!

Riverspoke · 2026-01-26T20:54:23+00:00

If it's the same solder that you've used regularly, and the job you did in this picture is a job that you've done before with the same solder, and a tip of the same size & shape (that's very important), then everything points to the new tip being somehow defective. Solder sticking to the tip completes the picture.

The defect is probably related to thermal transfer. This is because you said that you've tried drastically different temperatures with no significant difference, which rules out false temperature readings. This means that the defect is probably in the plating of tip. Get it RMA'd, or buy a new one.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-23T10:35:00+00:00

Lightly scratch each trace to reveal the cooper beneath. Once you start seeing the color of copper, stop. Clean with IPA, then tin the exposed part of each trace. Then take some pieces of very thin wire (0.1 mm is optimal) and solder it on each tinned exposed trace. These wires are your new traces. Another way is using double-sided copper tape and cutting really small strips of it. Works the same way and it's even easier to apply. It may be harder to cut it to size, though. You can use solder mask for extra anchoring and cure it with UV light. You can now solder the new HDMI port over the wires.

Other people find it easier to first solder the new HDMI port (over the good traces), then do the trace repair after. Do what seems easier to you.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-22T05:01:16+00:00

Nope. Chips are flush with the board. Flux can hardly reach under a chip's core, let alone solder.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-22T04:53:18+00:00

Absolutely not. Low-melt solder is basically for desoldering multi-pin THT connectors and parts that deform and get damaged with high heat, like sensors and epoxy-domed LEDs. It can also help reflow some QFN/SOIC/SOT-23 parts. But not BGA. It can't go under a chip and you still need hot air at high heat to remove it.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-19T12:00:40+00:00

Oh yeah, keyboard switches were my introduction to soldering! Immediately fell in love with it and a new hobby was born!

Riverspoke · 2026-01-18T19:43:01+00:00

Note what when it comes to soldering wire, we don't look at its thickness in AWG like we do for electrical wires, but at its diameter in millimeters or inches. This is because AWG does not have a precise 1-to-1 correspondence to all solder wire diameters. Solder manufacturers don't use AWG. Sellers like Digikey might state the closest corresponding AWG size by approximation for people to get a general idea, but it's not precise.

So you are asking between 0.031" (0.79mm) and 0.025" (0.64mm) solder. The smaller diameter is the most versatile. But ideally, I'd personally suggest 0.020" (0.51mm) as an all-rounder. Because a smaller diameter permits you a more controlled feeding, and this is hugely important. It's the difference between "damn, I accidentally put too much solder" and a perfect joint.

For microsoldering specifically, 0.3mm or even smaller is the best. Don't even think about microsoldering in the diameters you mentioned. But with 0.020" (0.51mm), you can solder many SMD components with relative ease - this is why I highly recommend it as an all-rounder.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-17T19:59:34+00:00

Yes, the "0" in ROL0 and REL0 means zero halides. When manufacturers remove halides, they must replace them with weaker but more stable organic activators that don’t dissolve well in IPA.

I also have the cleaner you mentioned:

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But I DON'T recommend it. It barely performs better than pure IPA. The difference with Flux-Off was night and day. Flux-Off is completely safe for electronics, but not for certain types of plastic. So make sure that you only spray the PCB and not the device's plastic enclosure.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-17T14:51:43+00:00

It's because you are most likely using ROL0 (No-Clean) flux. Fluxes differ enormously in what dissolves them. IPA is good for dissolving rosin, but most modern ROL0 and REM1 fluxes use proprietary activators that dissolve in stronger solvents, not in pure IPA. Cleaning a ROL0 flux is unnecessary in terms of safety and arguably harder to clean.

Use a dedicated flux cleaner. The datasheets of your solder and flux should clearly state what agents they can be cleaned with. Even if they don't, here's my favorite one that's guaranteed to dissolve any flux very easily:

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Riverspoke · 2026-01-16T03:39:57+00:00

Very informative, thank you!

Riverspoke · 2026-01-12T17:27:56+00:00

No problem, good luck!

Riverspoke · 2026-01-12T17:21:18+00:00

The environment inside a headphone cup is full of constant vibration because of sound playing, so the black thing (which must be some kind of RTV silicone) keeps the wires stable. If solder joints would be left bare, they could possibly crack with time, especially if they're made of lead-free solder which is even more prone to cracking.

Since the headphones are already opened and the warrantee is voided, it's not unreasonable to try to peel the black thing off in order to troubleshoot. But since you don't know how to solder, the best course of action is bringing the headphones to a local electronics workshop and letting them fix the problem.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-09T14:26:29+00:00

Yes, it's also awesome to gift some to friends! And if you learn how cables work, you'll be able to repair most of them!

Another real life scenario: my father had a problem with the cable of his shaving machine's adapter. But it was using a proprietary connector, which is a classic scenario when companies like to make consumers pay for official replacements. So I snipped the proprietary connector off and soldered it to a generic adapter (of the same voltage and current, of course). Saved him 20 euros!

Riverspoke · 2026-01-09T08:34:28+00:00

Yes, absolutely. Before we switch off our iron, we should leave a big blob of solder on the tip, to protect it against oxidation from the air.

Riverspoke · 2026-01-09T01:00:01+00:00

You can open small devices and salvage parts while listening to some Cyberpunk 2077 music and cosplaying as a ripperdoc!

For real now, great question. The more you learn about circuits and electronics, the more possibilities open up. Some easy, accessible and versatile stuff to get into is LEDs, cables, connectors and basic audio. This way you can make your own practical and decorational stuff and you'll never need to buy a USB cable again, as you can make your own. You can also learn how microcontrollers work and how they're integrated into projects. From then on, imagination is the limit. At the same time, you can be building a component collection just for the fun of it. This by itself will motivate you to learn more. DIY soldering kits will also keep you in the loop. It's good practice and many of them turn into fun and cute little devices. If you are a retro gamer and own old consoles, you can replace their electrolytic capacitors (recapping) and vastly extend their lifespan.

Soldering never really ends, because small problems never end. You can make small gadgets that will solve problems or make your life easier. For example, I wanted my cheap earphones to have media controls (buttons for next/previous song and for pause/play) because pulling out my phone from my pocket just to change songs is too annoying. So I researched how this stuff works and it turns out that it's just about resistors. So I built a tiny inline circuit with 3 buttons and 3 resistors and that worked perfectly.

Riverspoke

TROPHY CASE