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Forum Index : PCB Manufacturing : soldering usb pcb sockets
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| isochronic Guru  Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
The usual mini-b usb pcb sockets are hard to solder by hand as the connections are mostly hidden under the socket. I have found that the small metal part of the shell that obscures the connecting leadouts can easily be broken off, leaving it much easier to solder. It does not appear to affect the functioning of the socket to any extent although I guess it must be a little less robust. To solder the connections I heat the copper track, apply the solder to it and let the molten solder "wick" to the connection. Easier when it is visible, with a strong magnifier of course !!! |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2916 |
Hi Chronic, They really arent that difficult to solder.. I tack one side of the metal to the PCB and reheat the solder till I have the pins aligned, then tack the other side. If I am happy with the alignment I properly solder both sides. Then I solder all the pins. I have found using 0.5mm solder and a sharp tip I can generally get them done pretty easilly but sometimes they short two pins.. It is a simple matter of using solder wick to clean them up and start again BUT YOU NEED A SHARP point tip to do it that way.. A little FLUX helps a lot in this process. The other way is to solder all the pins together as a mass.. and then with solder wick, mopping up the excess, this process is VERY easy to do but does take practice to get the fine line between getting off the EXCESS and taking all the solder away.. Kind Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2916 |
Hi Chronic, All, Of course you can buy solder through hole parts in Mini USB form.. I have done this one and just found a better 3D (included in this part) which I will be using on my latest MuP Ver3. (in for fabrication now) 2016-06-30_055441_Mini_USB_Through_Hole.zip Kind Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9311 |
Flux, a small flat-blade bit, good light and magnification and only a TINY amount of solder on the iron, and you normally can solder all five pins in a second or two. If you don't have too much solder on the iron, you won't get any bridges. Most of those SMD sockets and connectors etc can be somewhat unforgiving of multiple attempts, so it is quite important I think - IMHO - to get it right the first time, as reheating, moving, reflowing etc, can damage the plastic on many of those SMD parts - the uSD card socket is an example of that. It does not like lots of heat, and will melt quite easily if you hang around there with your iron. It's not advisable to leave off the metal shell, as it takes all the strain when you are inserting and removing the USB lead. Without that shell to anchor the socket down, all that is holding the socket there is the locating dowels and the pins soldered to the board. One wrong move with the lead, and you will probably lift the socket from the board, which will pull up the pads from the board too, and once that happens, it's new PCB time really...... 
However, at the end of the day, whatever works for you - works for you.  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2916 |
Lads, That GEL flux is really a useful tool as you can solder the OPPOSITE to what I was taught by coating the tip with solder and then apply to the lead/pad.. hold to let it wick and Viola! It is done. I will be honest, I usually use a fine tip solder iron and try to solder each pad but usually end up shorting 2 or more pads and needing to wick them to clear it.. but I get them done generally in only a couple of minutes each. Kind Regards, Mick Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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