Information Sheet 1.

2-1

Soldering and Desoldering Components to the Board

SOLDERING

Solder is an alloy of tin and lead used for fusing metals at relatively low temperatures of
about 500 to 600 F. The joint where the two metals are to be fused is heated, and then solder is
applied so that it can melt and cover the connection. The reason for soldering connections is
that it makes a good bond between the jointed metals, covering the joint completely to prevent
oxidation. The coating of solder provides protection for practically an indefinite period of time

The trick in soldering is to heat the joint, not the solder. When the joint is hot enough to
melt the solder, the solder flows smoothly to fill all the cracks, forming a shiny cover without any
air spaces. Do not move the joint until the solder has set, which takes only a few seconds.

Either a soldering iron or soldering gun can be used, rated at 25 to 100W. The gun
convenient for intermittent operation, since it heats almost instantaneously when you press the
trigger. The small pencil iron of 25 to 30W is helpful for soldering small connections where
excessive heat can cause damage. This precaution is particularly important when working with
PC boards, where too much heat can soften the plastic form and loosen the printed wiring.

The three grades of solder generally used for electronic work are 40-60, 50-50, and 60-
40solder. The first figure is the percentage of tin, while the other is the percentage of lead. The
60-40 cost more, but it melts at the lowest temperature, flows more freely, takes less time to
harden, and generally makes it easier to do good soldering job.

In addition to the solder, there must be flux to remove any oxide film on the metals being
joined. Otherwise they cannot fuse. The flux enables the molten solder to wet the metals that
the solder can stick. The two types are acid flux and rosin flux. Acid flux is more active in
cleaning metals, but is corrosive. Rosin flux is always used for the light soldering work in making
wire connections.

Generally, the rosin is in the hollow core of solder intended for electronics work, so that a
separate flux is unnecessary. Such rosin-core solder is the type generally used. It should be
noted though, that the flux is not the substitute for cleaning the metals to be fused. They must
be shinny clean for the solder to stick.
 Cross section of a solder wire showing the presence of rosin flux at the center.

Two types of soldering

Dip Soldering

When dip soldering is used, the surface or surfaces of the wiring side of the printed circuit board
are first dipped into a liquid flux. The board is then dipped into molten solder to a depth that is sufficient
to allow solder to flow freely into all connections.

Wave Soldering

In wave soldering (sometimes referred to as fountain soldering), the molten solder is pumped
up to the level of the printed circuit board in the form of waves. This method of soldering, as compared
with dip soldering, permits more favorable angles of solder insertion, provides better control for the
duration of solder contact, and reduces the amount of heat applied to other parts of the assembly.

PROCEDURE IN MAKING GOOD SOLDER CONNECTIONS

1. Clean the tip of the soldering iron by means of soldering paste or wet damp sponge.
(Recommended: 25 to 30W pencil type).

2. The terminals or joints to be soldered must be cleaned and tinned.

3. Heat the soldering iron. Place the soldering iron tip against both the boards and connections
to be soldered. Heat both for 2 to 3 seconds.

4. Apply solder: the joint or connections must be properly intact. Let the heated joint melt the
solder.

5. As solder begins to melts, allow it to flow freely around the connection. Then remove the
iron and let the connection cool.
6. Check the connection. Poor connections look crystalline and grainy, or the connections tend
to blob. Reheat the connection if it does not look smooth and bright.

7. Hold the lead with one hand while you cut-off the excess lead length close to the
connection. This will keep you from being hit in the eye by flying lead.

PROPER HANDLING OF SOLDERING IRON

Illustrations showing the different techniques of good soldering, repairing PCB, and
desoldering electronic components.

1. Good soldering techniques.

Apply the solder to the preheated joint and not to the tip of the soldering iron.

Apply just enough soldering lead to the connection to be soldered.

2. Shorted printed circuit conductors caused by use of excess solder. We can remove the
excess solder by using the proper techniques of desoldering.
3. Methods of repairing broken printed conductors on Printed Circuit Board
(PCB).

4. Good techniques in desoldering components.

a) Avoid direct contact of the tip of desoldering iron with the tip of the
soldering iron.

b) Press the piston towards the body.

c) Press the piston to suck the soldering lead.

Why Use Lead Free Solder?
 We use lead free solder because this is one of the social requirements in
preservation of the environment since lead application can cause harmful effect
to all living creatures.
 To help improve and solve our deteriorating condition.
 One of the customer’s worldwide requirements for technology application.

Tin/Lead Melting Point

40/60 460 degrees F ( 230 degrees C )

50/50 418 degrees F ( 214 degrees C )

374 degrees F ( 190 degrees C )

60/40
364 degrees F ( 183 degrees C )
63/37
343 degrees F ( 224 degrees C )
95/5

First a few safety precautions

1. Never touch the element or tip of the soldering iron.

They are very hot (about 400 degree C ) and will give you nasty burn.
2. Take great care to avoid touching the main flex with the tip of the iron.
The iron should have a heat proof flex for extra protection. An ordinary plastic flex will melt
immediately if touched by a iron and there is a serious risk of burns and electric shock.
3. Always return the soldering iron to its soldering stand when in not use.
Never put it down on your workbench, even for a moment.
4. Work in a well-ventilated area.
The smoke formed as you melt solder is mostly from the flux is quite irritating. Avoid breathing it
by keeping your head to side of, not above, your work.
5. Wash your hands after using solder.
Solder contains lead which is a poisonous metal.
Good solder connection

Bad solder connection

Desoldering Process

DESOLDERING
The piston is press towards the body
In electronics, desoldering is the removal of solder and components from a circuit
board for troubleshooting, repair, replacement, and salvage. Specialized tools, materials, and
techniques have been devised to aid in the desoldering process

Desoldering tools and materials include the following:

 Solder wick
 Heat guns, also called hot air guns
 Desoldering pump
 Removal alloys
 Removal fluxes
 Heated soldering tweezers
 Various picks and tweezers for tasks such as pulling at, holding, removing, and scraping
components.
 Vacuum and pressure pumps with specialized heater tips and nozzles
 Rework stations, used to repair printed circuit board assemblies that fail factory test.
Terminology is not totally standardised. Anything with a base unit with provision to maintain a
stable temperature, pump air in either direction, etc., is often called a "station" (preceded by
rework, soldering, desoldering, hot air); one, or sometimes more, tools may be connected to a
station, e.g., a rework station may accommodate a soldering iron and hot air head. A soldering
iron with a hollow tip and a spring-, bulb-, or electrically-operated suction pump may be called
a desoldering iron. Terms such as "suction pen" may be used; the meaning is usually clear from
the context.
Pumps
Electrically operated pumps are used for several purposes in conjunction with a hand-held
head connected by a tube.
Suction pumps are used to suck away molten solder, leaving previously joined terminals
disconnected. They are primarily used to release through-hole connections from a PCB. The
desoldering head must be designed so that the extracted solder does not solidify so as to
obstruct it, or enter the pump, and can be removed and discarded easily. It is not possible to
remove a multi-pin part by melting solder on the pins sequentially, as one joint will solidify as the
next is melted; pumps and solder wick are among methods to remove solder from all joints,
leaving the part free to be removed.
Suction pumps are also used with a suction head appropriate for each part to pick up and
remove tiny surface mount devices once solder has melted, and to place parts.
Hot air pumps blow air hot enough to melt all the solder around a small surface mounted part,
and can be used for soldering parts in place, and for desoldering followed by removal before the
solder solidifies by a vacuum pump or with tweezers. Hot air has a tendency to oxidise metals;
a non-oxidising gas, usually nitrogen, can be used instead of air, at increased cost of
equipment and consumables.
Desoldering pump

A typical spring-loaded solder sucker

A solder sucker partially dismantled showing the spring

A desoldering pump, colloquially known as a solder sucker, is a manually-operated device

which is used to remove solder from a printed circuit board. There are two types:
the plunger style and bulb style.[1] (An electrically-operated pump for this purpose would usually
be called a vacuum pump.)
The plunger type has a cylinder with a spring-loaded piston which is pushed down and locks
into place. When triggered by pressing a button, the piston springs up, creating suction that
sucks the solder off the soldered connection. The bulb type creates suction by squeezing and
releasing a rubber bulb.
The pump is applied to a heated solder connection, then operated to suck the solder away.
Desoldering braid

A solder wick on a reel

Solder wick, before use

And soaked with solder and residue

Desoldering braid, also known as desoldering wick or solder wick, is finely braided 18 to

42 AWG copper wire coated with rosin flux, usually supplied on a roll.
The end of a length of braid is placed over the soldered connections of a component being
removed. The connections are heated with a soldering iron until the solder melts and is wicked
into the braid by capillary action. The braid is removed while the solder is still molten, its used
section cut off and discarded when cool. Short lengths of cut braid will prevent heat being
carried away by the braid instead of heating the joint.
Technique

Desoldering requires application of heat to the solder joint and removing the molten solder so
that the joint may be separated. Desoldering may be required to replace a defective component,
to alter an existing circuit, or to salvage components for re-use. Use of too high a temperature or
heating for too long may damage components or destroy the bond between a printed
circuit trace and the board substrate. Techniques are different for through-hole and surface-
mounted components.
Through-hole
A component with one or two connections to the PCB can usually be removed by heating one
joint, pulling out an end of the component while the solder is molten (bending the other lead to
do so), and repeating for the second joint. Solder filling the hole can be removed with a pump or
with a pointed object made of a material which solder does not wet, such as stainless steel or
wood.
If a multi-pin component need not be salvaged, it is often possible to cut the pins, then remove
the residual ends one by one.
Components with more connections cannot be removed intact in the way described above
unless the wire leads are long and flexible enough to be pulled out one by one. For a
component such as a Dual-Inline Package (DIP), the pins are too short to pull out, and solder
melted on one joint will solidify before another can be melted. A technique sometimes used is
the use of a large soldering-iron tip designed to melt the solder on all pins at once; different tips
are required for different packages. The component is removed while the solder is molten, most
easily by a spring-loaded puller attached to it before heating.
Otherwise all joints must be freed from solder before the component can be removed. Each joint
must be heated and the solder removed from it while molten using a vacuum pump, manual
desoldering pump, or desoldering braid.
For through-hole mounted devices on double-sided or multi-layer boards, special care must be
taken not to remove the via connecting the layers, as this will ruin the entire board. Hard pulling
on a lead which is not entirely free of solder (or with solder not thoroughly molten in the case of
a soldering iron tip heating all pins) may pull out a via.
To remove and recover all components, both through-hole and surface-mount, from a board
which itself is usually no longer needed, a flame or hot air gun can be used to rapidly heat all
parts so they can be pulled off. Parts may be damaged, and toxic fumes emitted, if excessive
temperature or prolonged heating is used.
Surface mount
If they do not need to be re-used, some surface-mount components can be removed by
cutting their leads and desoldering the remnants with a soldering iron.
If they may not be destroyed, surface-mount components must be removed by heating the
entire component to a temperature sufficient to melt the solder used, but not high or prolonged
enough to damage the component. For most purposes a temperature not exceeding 260°C for a
time not exceeding 10 seconds is acceptable.
The entire board may be preheated to a temperature that all components can withstand
indefinitely. Then localized heat is applied to the component to remove, with less heating
required than from cold. The most usual tool is a hot air (or hot gas) gun with a nozzle of
appropriate size and shape to heat the component, with nearby components shielded from the
heat if necessary, followed by removal with tweezers or a vacuum tool. Removal of multi-pin
components with a soldering iron and solder removal tools is impractical, as the solder between
the component and the pads remains in place, unlike solder which can be removed from a hole.
Hot air (or gas) may be applied with tools ranging from some portable gas soldering irons such
as the Weller Portasol Professional which can be fitted with a narrow hot-air nozzle, set to a
temperature not controlled but approximately correct, to an industrial rework station with many
facilities including hot-gas blowing, vacuum part holding, soldering iron head, and nozzles and
fitting specific to particular component packages.
Quad flat packages

Desoldering an IC with a JBC hot air system

Quad Flat Package (QFP) chips have thin leads closely packed together protruding from the
four sides of the integrated circuit (IC); usually a square IC. Removal of these chips can be
problematic as it is impossible to heat all of the leads at once with a standard soldering iron. It is
possible to remove them with the use of a razor blade or a high-rpm craft tool, simply by cutting
off the leads. The stubs are then easy to melt off and clean with a soldering iron. Obviously this
technique entails the destruction of the IC. Another method is to use a heat gun or
pencil butane torch and heat up a corner, and gently pry it off, working the torch down the
leads. This method often leads to traces getting lifted off the PCB where a lead did not get
heated enough to cause the solder to flow.
A system under the JBC brand uses extractor shields that concentrates heat where it needs to
be, protect surrounding components and avoids damage to the board or the QFP. The system
takes advantage of the properties of solder by melting it with hot air. The extractor has a spring
system that gently pulls the IC upward when the liquid stage of solder has been reached. The IC
is held by a vacuum nozzle similar to the ones used in pick & place machines. This system
prevents damage to the pads on the PCB, the IC, avoids overheating surrounding components
and blowing them off and also removes the risk of having operator errors by using tweezers or
other tools that damage the PCB or IC.
Another way to remove one of these devices is to use Field's metal. Take some of the Field's
metal wire, and solder it into all the leads of the chip. Fields metal melts at around 140 °F
(62 °C) — less than water's boiling point. Once it's applied to all the leads, it stays molten, and
the chip can simply be lifted off the board. This has the advantage of not damaging the PCB or
the IC

OTHER PROCEDURES IN DESOLDERING

1. Plug the soldering iron into the wall outlet and allow the iron to come up to temperature.
2. Use the small pair of wire cutters to cut the component from the board. If the component
is bad, it is better to sacrifice the small device instead of ruining the board. With the item
removed, it will be easier to suck up the solder. Then you can replace the component.
3. Actuate the desoldering pump by pulling the spring lever to the rear of the pump. You
will hear a click as the trigger holds the spring. Place the desoldering pump in one hand
and the soldering iron in the other. This is a two-handed operation since you must
quickly suck up the molten solder.
4. Touch the tip of the heated iron to the solder joint. Allow the solder to become fully liquid.
Move the tip of the pump next to the molten solder. Move the iron out of the way and
immediately cover the liquid solder puddle with the pump's tip. Pull the trigger.
5. Reheat the solder again, and repeat Step 4 until the solder is fully removed and the hole
on the circuit board is exposed. It may take a few times of heating and sucking to fully
remove the solder.
 Information Sheet 1.2-2
Assemble and Disassemble AM Radio Tuner

Introduction

In the transistor radio receiver set that we have at home, the radio tuner is the section that
intercepts and collects the radio signal coming from the radio broadcasting or transmitting station.
Basically, there are two types of radio tuners. One is the Amplitude Modulation (AM) radio tuner
and the other is the Frequency Modulation (FM) radio tuner.
In the amplitude modulation, the frequency of the signal is constant but the amplitude or height
of the signal varies. On the other hand, in the frequency modulation, the frequency of the signal varies
but the amplitude or height of the signal is constant.

Parts of the AM Radio and the Works of Each

1. Antenna- The function of the Antenna in the radio tuner is to intercept and collect the radio
signal coming from the radio broadcasting or transmitting radio station. The entire radio signal
from the transmitting radio station is collected by the antenna.

2. Tuning Capacitor or Tuning condenser- The work of the tuning capacitor to select which of the
collected signal at the antenna should enter the radio tuner. We must remember that the
antenna intercepts and collects the entire radio signal. But not all of this collected radio signal
should enter the radio tuner at the same time. Only one radio signal enter the radio tuner, and
that radio signal is the one selected or tuned in by the tuning capacitor.

3. Local Oscillator- The work of the local oscillator is to produce the oscillator signal. This signal is
called local oscillator signal. The local oscillator in the radio receiver set and is local to the radio
receiver. There is also an oscillator in the radio transmitting station, and this is called Radio
Frequency (RF) or radio carrier frequency oscillator. The local oscillator is made up of two small
wires. These small wires are wound around the adjustable ferrite core. One wire winding is
called the primary winding and the other is called the secondary winding. The local oscillator is
usually enclosed in a metal shield to prevent the local oscillator signal from radiating to other
circuit in the radio tuner. To identify it, the top portion of the local oscillator is usually printed
with red color.

4. Mixer-Converter Transistor- As the name implies, the function of this transistor is to mix the
signal coming from the antenna which is tuned-in by the tuning capacitor and the signal that
comes from the local oscillator. After mixing, these two signal are converted to a new signal
which is known as the Intermediate Frequency (IF signal). The standard frequency of the IF
signal for amplitude modulation (AM) radio tuner is 455khz (Kilo hertz), or 455,000 Hertz, (Hz).
This is the same for all AM radio tuners.

5. Intermediate Frequency (IF) Section- The IF section of the tuner is like an electronic gate. When
the 455 kHz IF signal to pass through and enter the radio tuner. However when other signal
whose frequency is not 455 kHz attempts to enter, the IF section automatically blocks this signal.
With this action the IF section prevent interfering signal to enter the radio tuner it is tuned to
one radio station. Normally, there are three intermediate frequency transformers (IFTs) the
 third IFTs are printed in black. Transistor are also used in the IF section. Located between the
first IFT and second IFT is the first IF amplifier transistor. Between the second IFT and third IFT is
the second IF amplifier transistor.

6. Detector- The detector is also called the demodulator. Its works is to detect and recover the
audio information from the radio signal receiver by the tuner. The radio signal that comes from
the radio station contains the audio information or audio signal. This audio information is the
equivalent of the voice of the announcer or the voice that comes from the record being played
at the radio station. When the radio signal is received by the receiving antenna, it contains this
audio information. In simple words detector separates the audio information from the receiver
radio signals. The separated and recovered audio information or signal is then fed to audio
amplifier where it is amplified or strengthened sufficiently. The detector is usually made of a
small crystal diode. In rare cases, transistor is also use as detector. Te detector should be
correctly and firmly in the radio tuner circuit so that it will work efficiently.

How the Radio Signal Flows in the Radio Tuner

Antenna

Mixer 1st IF 1st IF 2nd IF

converter Transformer amplifier transformer
Transistor (Yellow) Transistor (White)

3rd IF 2nd IF
Local Detector transform- transistor
Oscillator er (Black) amplifier
(Red)

To volume
Control