SMD soldering & WD40 solves everyfinn!

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   So....... a friend had one of those small akai midi keyboards with a broken mini usb port...... mechanical failure of solder joints. The connector is basically held in place by four solder joints, and two protruding nubs nesting in holes in the pcb...... 

Having watched a load of crazy Lewis' apple product repair videos, i realized i need some flux liquid for this project. Grabbed a 50 ml container from ye local electronics supplier, that had four health&safety warnings on it 

So i cleaned up the connector and board, drenched everything in flux, and soldered away....  everything lining up and going well, except two pins shorted. I tried and tried and tried, but no matter how much, flux, scraping this way, that way, couldnt get the two pads to separate. 

After knocking over the damn flux bottle and spilling half of it, we decided to wipe up the goo, get out of the room, let it air a little bit and gave a break.

And along comes epiphany. Google usb mini pinout pcb -> wtFook, pin 5 in use, pin 4 n/c by standard. 

Connect ribbon cable, connect to laptop -> Eureka!
Put it back together, hotglue the damn connector, success.

Moral of the story: do your homework before soldering 

But then what about that sticky flux residue that is stickier than a teenage boys trash bin contents?  turns out wd40 dissolves the gunk like it was nuthin.  

Happy weekend lads! 

Edited by bob4 - 25 January 2020 at 10:11am

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bob4 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 29 February 2004 Location: Finland/Germany Status: Offline Points: 1843	Post Options Post Reply Quote bob4 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: SMD soldering & WD40 solves everyfinn! Posted: 25 January 2020 at 10:11am
	So....... a friend had one of those small akai midi keyboards with a broken mini usb port...... mechanical failure of solder joints. The connector is basically held in place by four solder joints, and two protruding nubs nesting in holes in the pcb...... Having watched a load of crazy Lewis' apple product repair videos, i realized i need some flux liquid for this project. Grabbed a 50 ml container from ye local electronics supplier, that had four health&safety warnings on it So i cleaned up the connector and board, drenched everything in flux, and soldered away.... everything lining up and going well, except two pins shorted. I tried and tried and tried, but no matter how much, flux, scraping this way, that way, couldnt get the two pads to separate. After knocking over the damn flux bottle and spilling half of it, we decided to wipe up the goo, get out of the room, let it air a little bit and gave a break. And along comes epiphany. Google usb mini pinout pcb -> wtFook, pin 5 in use, pin 4 n/c by standard. Connect ribbon cable, connect to laptop -> Eureka! Put it back together, hotglue the damn connector, success. Moral of the story: do your homework before soldering But then what about that sticky flux residue that is stickier than a teenage boys trash bin contents? turns out wd40 dissolves the gunk like it was nuthin. Happy weekend lads! Edited by bob4 - 25 January 2020 at 10:11am

kedwardsleisure Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Old Croc Joined: 20 January 2009 Location: Staffordshire Status: Offline Points: 4947	Post Options Post Reply Quote kedwardsleisure Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27 January 2020 at 8:52pm
	I think the approved method is Isopropyl Alcohol
	Kevin North Staffordshire

APW Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Young Croc Joined: 13 November 2012 Location: Kent, UK Status: Offline Points: 1174	Post Options Post Reply Quote APW Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 28 January 2020 at 9:18am
	^^ This.... WD40 leaves a sticky mess that will gather dust!!