Chip Quik

I used chip quik - a low melting solder for joint removal - tonight. I had a LiPo charger board I suspected of misbehaving, and I wanted to replace it in-situ on the circuit board. It was held on by 5 through-hole pins, so simply melting the solder and pulling (my usual method for a single pin) wasn't gonna cut it. So I pulled out my Chip Quik set, and applied some to each pin. It worked like a charm - the charger board lifted off the pins like it wasn't even soldered on.

However I will be going to Fry's Electronics tomorrow for a new tip for my Hakko. It took the tin right off.

ChrisTenone:
It took the tin right off.

Sounds aggressive. I wonder if there is supposed to be some method to remove it before you solder back.

Either way it sounds useful as

simply melting the solder and pulling

is really the only trick I got in my bag.

Delta_G:
Either way it sounds useful as is really the only trick I got in my bag.

A de-soldering pump ?

...R

I have found chipquick useful if somewhat expensive for some jobs , depends on the original solder used i think.
Always remove the remnants with pump and wick before re-soldering though.

Robin2:
A de-soldering pump ?

...R

Tools of the devil. They're larger than computer chips. The Missus will notice these. We will have to buy her something even more expensive to cover.

And just like that everything in my life became 4x more expensive.

I used a solder sucker first:

But when you have a bunch of pins, even the tiny amount of residual solder makes removing the board from the pins nigh on impossible.

Yes, they include some goop called "chip quick flux". The instructions say to clean the desoldered connections with the flux, then with alcohol, and dry before resoldering. Which I did, and it soldered back on ok. I had to use extra solder though, because it wouldn't stick to my iron.

This morning however, I aggressively cleaned the tip with copper wool and a wet cellulose sponge. Maybe I was premature in pronouncing it dead. It still looks a bit dark, but it may still work. When the chip quik flux gets hot, it turns black. It may have been sticking to the tip. NExt time I solder, I'll know (but now I have a new tip, just in case.)

ChrisTenone:
I used a solder sucker first:

But when you have a bunch of pins, even the tiny amount of residual solder makes removing the board from the pins nigh on impossible.

This worked for me: If there's only a very small amount of solder left holding the pin - like it's just stuck on the side of the hole - grab the end of the pin with a pair of tweezers and remelt the solder. Pull the iron away and wiggle the pin 'til the solder solidifies. This usually results in a freed pin or a cold joint which can be broken by a judicious application of force. It is time consuming.

YMMV!

Of course the other solution is to chop off the pins with a snips and pull them out of the through-hole one by one.

...R

ChrisTenone:
I used a solder sucker first:

Thats not a solder sucker.
THIS IS a solder sucker.

Tom... :slight_smile:

Robin2:
Of course the other solution is to chop off the pins with a snips and pull them out of the through-hole one by one.

...R

I didn't want to un-mount the board. So I could only get to it from the top. Bad design, I know, but I was time-limited. All in all, I am happy with the cq material.

Btw, I've had this stuff for a couple years now, and finally got around to using it for it's intended purpose. I bought it as a material sample for the our nano technology classes:
What is Chip Quik? - General Discussion - Arduino Forum

TomGeorge:

Thats not a solder sucker.
THIS IS a solder sucker.

Tom... :slight_smile:

Heh.

Now that's funny!