Through Hole vs. Surface Mount
in [Design]
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From: Muzaffer Kal on 28 Mar 2010 22:29 On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:29:50 -0500, "krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" <krw(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote: >On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:16:18 -0700 (PDT), Chris <christopher.maness(a)gmail.com> >wrote: > >>I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I >>was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last project >>took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering going >>surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. Should I >>stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or should I >>switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at surface mount. > >Surface mount is pretty easy down to 0603, anyway. Some IC packages are a >PITA, but most can be done with some practice (some even do BGA, but I >wouldn't bother even trying). Forget RoHS and use real 63/37 lead/tin solder. I've found out recently that even my bifocal needing eyes can do 0603 parts relatively easily with a sharp pair of tweezers, a fine iron and a stereo microscope; qfp and soic packages are not that difficult either. In our office we routinely do 0402 resistors in low quantities with the same setup above. -- Muzaffer Kal DSPIA INC. ASIC/FPGA Design Services http://www.dspia.com
From: Chris on 28 Mar 2010 23:52 On Mar 28, 7:29 pm, Muzaffer Kal <k...(a)dspia.com> wrote: > On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:29:50 -0500, "k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" > > <k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote: > >On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:16:18 -0700 (PDT), Chris <christopher.man...(a)gmail.com> > >wrote: > > >>I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I > >>was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last project > >>took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering going > >>surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. Should I > >>stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or should I > >>switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at surface mount. > > >Surface mount is pretty easy down to 0603, anyway. Some IC packages are a > >PITA, but most can be done with some practice (some even do BGA, but I > >wouldn't bother even trying). Forget RoHS and use real 63/37 lead/tin solder. > > I've found out recently that even my bifocal needing eyes can do 0603 > parts relatively easily with a sharp pair of tweezers, a fine iron and > a stereo microscope; qfp and soic packages are not that difficult > either. In our office we routinely do 0402 resistors in low quantities > with the same setup above. > -- > Muzaffer Kal > > DSPIA INC. > ASIC/FPGA Design Services > > http://www.dspia.com Yea, I think I might bite the bullet and try SMT. I have had to do some minor soldering in SM before. Do you guys recommend some type of adhesive to hold the part still while soldering? Chris Maness
From: Muzaffer Kal on 29 Mar 2010 00:12 On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 20:52:24 -0700 (PDT), Chris <christopher.maness(a)gmail.com> wrote: >On Mar 28, 7:29�pm, Muzaffer Kal <k...(a)dspia.com> wrote: >> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:29:50 -0500, "k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" >> >> <k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote: >> >On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:16:18 -0700 (PDT), Chris <christopher.man...(a)gmail.com> >> >wrote: >> >> >>I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. �I >> >>was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last project >> >>took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering going >> >>surface mount. �I am only planing to make three at first. �Should I >> >>stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or should I >> >>switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at surface mount. >> >> >Surface mount is pretty easy down to 0603, anyway. �Some IC packages are a >> >PITA, but most can be done with some practice (some even do BGA, but I >> >wouldn't bother even trying). �Forget RoHS and use real 63/37 lead/tin solder. >> >> I've found out recently that even my bifocal needing eyes can do 0603 >> parts relatively easily with a sharp pair of tweezers, a fine iron and >> a stereo microscope; qfp and soic packages are not that difficult >> either. In our office we routinely do 0402 resistors in low quantities >> with the same setup above. >> -- >> Muzaffer Kal >> >> DSPIA INC. >> ASIC/FPGA Design Services >> >> http://www.dspia.com > >Yea, I think I might bite the bullet and try SMT. I have had to do >some minor soldering in SM before. Do you guys recommend some type of >adhesive to hold the part still while soldering? > >Chris Maness What I found/learned is to solder one pin first, solder the second and retouch both, ie. I put a small piece of solder on one pad (regardless of how many pins the device has), align the part with a tweezer on the board and apply the iron while holding the part in place. This makes a small connection which holds the part in place while you solder the other pin(s). Finally you revisit the first pin and retouch it with a little bit more solder. A hot, fine tip iron and thin solder are essential. -- Muzaffer Kal DSPIA INC. ASIC/FPGA Design Services http://www.dspia.com
From: David L. Jones on 29 Mar 2010 00:31 Chris wrote: > On Mar 28, 7:29 pm, Muzaffer Kal <k...(a)dspia.com> wrote: >> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:29:50 -0500, "k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" >> >> <k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote: >>> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:16:18 -0700 (PDT), Chris >>> <christopher.man...(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >>>> I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I >>>> was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last >>>> project took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering >>>> going surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. >>>> Should I stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or >>>> should I switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at >>>> surface mount. >> >>> Surface mount is pretty easy down to 0603, anyway. Some IC packages >>> are a PITA, but most can be done with some practice (some even do >>> BGA, but I wouldn't bother even trying). Forget RoHS and use real >>> 63/37 lead/tin solder. >> >> I've found out recently that even my bifocal needing eyes can do 0603 >> parts relatively easily with a sharp pair of tweezers, a fine iron >> and a stereo microscope; qfp and soic packages are not that difficult >> either. In our office we routinely do 0402 resistors in low >> quantities with the same setup above. >> -- >> Muzaffer Kal >> >> DSPIA INC. >> ASIC/FPGA Design Services >> >> http://www.dspia.com > > Yea, I think I might bite the bullet and try SMT. I have had to do > some minor soldering in SM before. Do you guys recommend some type of > adhesive to hold the part still while soldering? No. The standard technique is to tin one pad first, then with finew tweezers hold the part in place while you heat up the pad. Then simply solder the other end of the part. Some like to do just one side of all parts first and then go back and do the other ends in one hit. IC's are similar, tin one pad, solder IC in place, soler an opposite pin, and then solder everything else. Use a small chisel point point, not a round conical one. And use 0.56mm or finer solder if you can get it. Dave. -- ================================================ Check out my Electronics Engineering Video Blog & Podcast: http://www.eevblog.com
From: hamilton on 29 Mar 2010 01:39
On 3/28/2010 9:31 PM, David L. Jones wrote: > Chris wrote: >> On Mar 28, 7:29 pm, Muzaffer Kal<k...(a)dspia.com> wrote: >>> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:29:50 -0500, "k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz" >>> >>> <k...(a)att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz> wrote: >>>> On Sun, 28 Mar 2010 16:16:18 -0700 (PDT), Chris >>>> <christopher.man...(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>>> I have just completed a designing a board that has 5 16 pin ICs. I >>>>> was planing on etching and drilling myself, but after my last >>>>> project took for ever to drill far fewer holes, I was considering >>>>> going surface mount. I am only planing to make three at first. >>>>> Should I stick to through hole for the ease of hand soldering, or >>>>> should I switch to decaf and wait a month and try my hand at >>>>> surface mount. >>> >>>> Surface mount is pretty easy down to 0603, anyway. Some IC packages >>>> are a PITA, but most can be done with some practice (some even do >>>> BGA, but I wouldn't bother even trying). Forget RoHS and use real >>>> 63/37 lead/tin solder. >>> >>> I've found out recently that even my bifocal needing eyes can do 0603 >>> parts relatively easily with a sharp pair of tweezers, a fine iron >>> and a stereo microscope; qfp and soic packages are not that difficult >>> either. In our office we routinely do 0402 resistors in low >>> quantities with the same setup above. >>> -- >>> Muzaffer Kal >>> >>> DSPIA INC. >>> ASIC/FPGA Design Services >>> >>> http://www.dspia.com >> >> Yea, I think I might bite the bullet and try SMT. I have had to do >> some minor soldering in SM before. Do you guys recommend some type of >> adhesive to hold the part still while soldering? > > No. The standard technique is to tin one pad first, then with finew tweezers > hold the part in place while you heat up the pad. Then simply solder the > other end of the part. Some like to do just one side of all parts first and > then go back and do the other ends in one hit. > > IC's are similar, tin one pad, solder IC in place, soler an opposite pin, > and then solder everything else. > > Use a small chisel point point, not a round conical one. And use 0.56mm or > finer solder if you can get it. > > Dave. > Soldering fine pitch devices is like anything else, once you do it, your done. Its not as hard as you think it is. I would like to know, after all these years, why are fine pitch device still so scary ?? Yes, BGA and QFN device are tougher, but QFP are easy once you do it a few times. Any ideas ? hamilton |