DIY Mic Pre Kits, Lunchbox Mic Preamp Kits, Power Supply Kits

Anybody have any good methods for getting solder OUT of soldering holes or pad? Would one of those soldering pump things work?

Yes, get one of those manual vacuum pump desoldering tool. You NEED one to remove the solder out cleanly from PCBs, especially plated through holes.

TIP:
To remove a wrongly soldered component, sometimes it's best to "sacrifice" the part.

1. Cut the leads of the component so only leads are sticking out of the hole.

2. Heat the pad, remove the leads using a long nose pliers to hold it (it will be hot).

3. If you have a PCB vise, or those cheap $5 helping hands, use the clips to hold the PCB vertically.

4. Position your vacuum pump on the component side of the PCB. Ready to suck.

5. Position your soldering iron on the bottom side of the PCB. Heat the solder-clogged.

6. Press your vacuum pump. It will suck the solder clean out of the hole.

Done.

As far as the general soldering method, is it best to solder from the bottom of the board, or from the top?

I just started this project yesterday and I've been doing both. I first solder from the top of the board and, if the solder doesn't seep down to the bottom, I turn it over and solder the bottom as well. Anything wrong with that?

Not much done so far.. 45 minutes and I only got through 6 resistors. This takes a hell of a lot of patience!

(BTW, the manual sucker pump works really well for repairs. I used it a couple times.)

Noo... solder it from the bottom. It shouldn't take 45 minutes for 6 resistors.

Do it at the bottom, heat the component lead (resistor for example), then stick in your solder and touch the iron and component lead, let the solder flow around it, and let some seep into the hole... That's it.

The holes are plated through, as long as you got some solder melt into the hole, you have a good connection for both sides of the PCB.

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Here's a tip:

Insert ALL resistors into the PCB, then just bend the legs so they don't fall off.

Then I usually put masking tape on top of the PCB to prevent the resistors from falling or shifting or moving and make it flush to the board.

Then I solder all resistors at one pass... straightening up the legs, solder a few (maybe 6-7), then cut the leads, then straighten the next 6-7, solder, cut...

Insert all resistors first... don't insert one resistor, solder, cut... that's going to take forever.

And yeah, solder from the bottom.

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Oy!

I'm such a darn newb. This is a lot different from soldering beepers and cell phones, like I used to.

Anyways, got it. Solder from the bottom. Will do.

BUT.. there's no chance that I messed anything up by soldering through both sides, is there?

Also, my darn panavise scratched a part of the pcb on a part where a line goes through. I learned my lesson and now clamp the pcb on at the ends with the bolt holes, but I hope it didn't do any significant damage. I'll post a pic up of the scratch later.

No harm done. In fact, mass-manufactured boards are soldered in a bath of solder... the whole PCB is submerged in molten solder.

The scratch is probably just the green silkscreen mask. It's just aesthetics. As long as the copper is still there, you're fine.

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Wow! That's crazy! I figured that maybe by soldering on the top of the pcb, too much heat might be generated too close to the resistor, and I might damage the resistor. But, I guess not!

Thanks Owel!

And thanks for the quick responses. You da' man!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_soldering

Yup, the SC-1 PCBS have plated-through holes, and solder mask on both top and bottom. Technically, it could be used with wave soldering technique... assuming I'm mass producing this in the thousands.

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BY the 2nd SC-1 preamp, it took me about 1and 15 minutes to do. I did just was Owel said, insert, tape, and solder then cut.