[kuutan]

Hello,

A couple weeks ago I damaged the headphone socket for my Fostex HP-V1 portable tube amp. It was heart breaking and I wanted to attempt a repair by replacing the headphone socket.

I'm a beginner at soldering/desoldering but just watch videos on youtube to get an idea. I bought a relatively cheap soldering iron with no temperature adjustment, some rosin with RA flux? and desoldering wick.

The problem is, I can't melt the solder on the amp. I'm assuming my soldering iron doesn't have enough juice to melt the solder? Or perhaps there's more to it? Before I go out and purchase another soldering iron, I just wanted some input. The next soldering iron I was eyeing is as follows because there's a local store:

https://www.frys.com/product/808060...spQIaz8NHiyjapb_p22qEA2_pR3aFgphoCJjMQAvD_BwE

Your input is much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Pars]

You're probably dealing with lead-free solder, which takes more heat to melt. Did you try adding a bit of solder and seeing if you can get it to melt?
Not sure what you bought for an iron. The Hakko Dash used to be the recommended cheap soldering iron, but they seem to have discontinued it. There are some available on ebay, but from Japan, so even with free shipping, you'll be waiting a week or more.
I'd strongly recommend a desoldering pump over braid for this, something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/GBSTORE-Suck...d=1519681677&sr=1-9&keywords=desoldering+pump
Mine is an Edsyn PT109 which I've had for years and bought from Fry's I believe; unfortunately it costs as much as the iron you are looking at.

 

[kuutan]

You're probably dealing with lead-free solder, which takes more heat to melt. Did you try adding a bit of solder and seeing if you can get it to melt?
Not sure what you bought for an iron. The Hakko Dash used to be the recommended cheap soldering iron, but they seem to have discontinued it. There are some available on ebay, but from Japan, so even with free shipping, you'll be waiting a week or more.
I'd strongly recommend a desoldering pump over braid for this, something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/GBSTORE-Suck...d=1519681677&sr=1-9&keywords=desoldering+pump
Mine is an Edsyn PT109 which I've had for years and bought from Fry's I believe; unfortunately it costs as much as the iron you are looking at.

Thanks for the info. I did not try adding solder because the spacing seems a little tight. I was afraid it'll get onto other components or chip. Since I didn't think I'll be soldering much in the future after this fix, I didn't go with the pump, but I can understand now how it might be helpful. I'll definitely look into the solders you recommended.

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

If you're desoldering the ground plane sometimes that requires more heat as well as some circuit boards have a rather large trace for shielding purposes.

 

[kuutan]

If you're desoldering the ground plane sometimes that requires more heat as well as some circuit boards have a rather large trace for shielding purposes.

Oh man, I didn't know that. Looks like a new soldering iron is inevitable. But i'm really thinking about trying to add heated lead solder to the lead free solder and see if that'll work... If I attempt that, should I like it cool first?

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

You can. It's hard to know exactly what you're dealing with without a picture, but what I typically do when removing a large component from a board with multiple joints is I trim the leads in the joints all the way down, mount the PCB, hold the component and pull away from the board lightly while warming the joints from the other side. It will eventually release on one end, then the other, going back and forth several times until it's released from the board. Then I use a solder sucker to clear the holes. You just have to be careful with this method as you can yank an eyelet or two off the PCB if being too aggressive. I've used this method with caps, resistors, PCB mount RCAs, coaxial connectors, switches, you name it. With the resistors you need to use a pair of pliers otherwise you'll burn your fingers

 

[kuutan]

You can. It's hard to know exactly what you're dealing with without a picture, but what I typically do when removing a large component from a board with multiple joints is I trim the leads in the joints all the way down, mount the PCB, hold the component and pull away from the board lightly while warming the joints from the other side. It will eventually release on one end, then the other, going back and forth several times until it's released from the board. Then I use a solder sucker to clear the holes. You just have to be careful with this method as you can yank an eyelet or two off the PCB if being too aggressive. I've used this method with caps, resistors, PCB mount RCAs, coaxial connectors, switches, you name it. With the resistors you need to use a pair of pliers otherwise you'll burn your fingers

Dang... like most things in life, it's never as easy as it seems. It's either pay someone to do it or try to learn a new skill. You know that saying, "Give a poor man a fish..."

 

[HiGHFLYiN9]

Indeed, much like appliance repair, plumbing, painting/drywall work/ auto repair, computer assembly/repair, metalwork and so on. You have to have a fat wallet if you farm all that out... American labor is not cheap I personally like to be a jack of all trades and only give up the tall orders to the experts.