[pinkfloyd4ever]

ok, so I just got my Alien kit from Jeff today. I asked him to solder my PCM chip, but when I opened the envelope it wasn't. I'm sure it was an honest mistake, cause I've never seen anything but positive feedback on him, but anyway, I'm afraid I'd toast it if I tried to solder it. My hands are SO shaky and it's gonna be interesting soldering just the smt caps, resistors, and the other ICs. What should I do?

 

[bhostinsky]

I've been very weary about the alien dac as well. I came across this site that has some good instructions for SMD soldering. Hope this helps.

SparkFun Electronics

 

[Hubbard0]

I attempted to do my own and ended up with a blob of solder on each side of the chip. I went out and bought soldering braid with the intention of getting the chip off and trying again. What ended up happening is that braid pulled off all the bridges I had made and left me with a perfect connection on all leads. So that's an idea if you're up to it.

 

[MASantos]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hubbard0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I attempted to do my own and ended up with a blob of solder on each side of the chip. I went out and bought soldering braid with the intention of getting the chip off and trying again. What ended up happening is that braid pulled off all the bridges I had made and left me with a perfect connection on all leads. So that's an idea if you're up to it.

that's how it's done when you don't have big expensive soldering equipment!

Take it easy the first time and be pacient with that IC

 

[cfcubed]

First thing is contacting Jeff about it I guess & see if something can be worked out...

I'm not a fan of SMD soldering either, but I did run across this index of pix & very good vids on doing it.

Good luck.

 

[04BluMach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfcubed /img/forum/go_quote.gif First thing is contacting Jeff about it I guess & see if something can be worked out... Good luck.

Definitely agree that you should first try contacting Jeff.... Try to arrange a return of your kit with a replacement that has the SMD's premounted.

If you are reasonable with him - let him know you understand it may take a little extra delivery time for the return....
I would imagine he will try to take care of you. Jeff is a great guy. He wants to keep his customers happy!

If that doesn't work out.... Send me a PM. I'll solder it up for you...

 

[Seaside]

It takes little time and experience to solder such a small thing in line on position. Do not rush, take your time, and use flux. Then you will able to solder it without any problem. If you got blob, use desoldering braid to suck excessive solders out.

I heard Jeff is nice guy, but i still am not getting responses for my two PMs sent to him asking for PCBs. He must be very busy in these days, i think.

 

[balou]

Maybe one of this tutorial will help you
Tangent Tutorials
SparkFun Electronics
Curious Inventor - Guides : Surface Mount Soldering

especially the last one is quite good

 

[jsmithepa]

Why do u buy kits when u are unable to solder?

 

[04BluMach]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmithepa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do u buy kits when u are unable to solder?

The poster can solder. However, the subject is on a high density PCM chip for the Alien PCB that is a Surface Mount Device SMD package. Jeff (Glassjar) offers the ALIEN kit with the option of having the SMD's pre-mounted (soldered).

Not everyone has the skills, expertise, and/or tools available to tackle soldering a PCM DAC SMD chip on a PCB!

Nor would they want to take the chance of damaging an expensive DAC chip or PCB attempting something they don't have the experience to accomplish. That is why Jeff offers the pre-mount option.

Suggest you understand what you are posting about and watch how you word it also. Your remark came across as very arrogant! And really didn't offer value to the thread in question!!!

Remember we are all doing this for fun! So chill out and........

ENJOY THE MUSIC

 

[noveltone]

04BluMach, well said! Sometimes it just takes some reading and dumb luck to get the confidence necessary. Lots of people I've met are intimidated by even large-scale soldering, so I think our friend pinkfloyd4ever is over the big hump. I've gotten lots of transistors and ICs hotter than I'd like and they still test fine when I get nervous and pull them out to see if I've ruined them. Good luck.

 

[regal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsmithepa /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do u buy kits when u are unable to solder?

I have been soldering for 20 years and stare into space after looking at my new EZDAC PCB which requires the same SMD package

 

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 04BluMach /img/forum/go_quote.gif The poster can solder. However, the subject is on a high density PCM chip for the Alien PCB that is a Surface Mount Device SMD package. Jeff (Glassjar) offers the ALIEN kit with the option of having the SMD's pre-mounted (soldered). Not everyone has the skills, expertise, and/or tools available to tackle soldering a PCM DAC SMD chip on a PCB! Nor would they want to take the chance of damaging an expensive DAC chip or PCB attempting something they don't have the experience to accomplish. That is why Jeff offers the pre-mount option. Suggest you understand what you are posting about and watch how you word it also. Your remark came across as very arrogant! And really didn't offer value to the thread in question!!! Remember we are all doing this for fun! So chill out and........ ENJOY THE MUSIC

my thoughts exactly...


anyhooters, I emailed Jeff and it's all taken care of. I don't know why I didn't just do that first before whining on here, but what the hell, we've got a nice compilation of soldering tutorials now!

 

[threepointone]

Most amazing video on SMT soldering I've ever seen (this guy has all the pro tools to magnify it and all--you can see EVERYTHING). It sounds as if he's done some of this stuff professionally too, so he also lists some less well-known methods in the video.

Curious Inventor - Guides : Surface Mount Soldering

 

[beerguy0]

Quote:

Originally Posted by threepointone /img/forum/go_quote.gif Most amazing video on SMT soldering I've ever seen (this guy has all the pro tools to magnify it and all--you can see EVERYTHING). It sounds as if he's done some of this stuff professionally too, so he also lists some less well-known methods in the video. Curious Inventor - Guides : Surface Mount Soldering

Absolutely the best SMD soldering demo I've seen. I do this for a living, and have worked with every type of device he shows. (I also regularly work with 0402 Rs and Cs). I've used the drag method he shows, as soldering a 208 QFP pin by pin is incredibly tedious. I've had enough practice at drag soldering that I rarely get any solder bridges, but it does take some time to learn. This guy definitely knows his stuff. His advice on iron tips is dead on as well. The tiny conical tips are pretty much useless, IME.

One thing I would suggest - for desoldering SMD parts, get the small solder wick. It works much better than the big stuff he uses in the demo.

The proto board he shows at the end is new to me - that looks like it would be useful for evaluating new parts, or doing quick engineering breadboards.