Motherboard recap issue

[NickLoC]

I have done recaps on motherboards before and had no issues. A few years ago I "upgraded" my soldering equipment. I had an old Radio Shack iron. Upgraded to the digital station and a new hand held iron. Now I have nothing but issues. No matter what I try, I cant seem to get the caps to budge on some boards. Last one was a dell motherboard. Caps refused to budge, even with a large solder gun. Wondering what solder station would be best for this? Only want to spend around $100. Looking at a Trakpower TK950 or a Hakko Digital FX888D. I am hoping this will help to solve my issues. Never had an issue until using these newer irons.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

Upgraded to the digital station and a new hand held iron.

What did you upgrade to?

Looking at a Trakpower TK950 or a Hakko Digital FX888D. I am hoping this will help to solve my issues. Never had an issue until using these newer irons.

I have the FX-888 (analog), but I don't do a lot of motherboard desoldering so I can't comment how well it will work on 4+ layer boards with large copper planes.

[selldoor]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

Never had an issue until using these newer irons.

Depending on when you are talking about it may not be just that irons are not as good, it could be some years ago you were working on boards with leaded solder whereas if you are now working on newer boards they will have unleaded solder which has a higher melting point. Also at some point I believe they started making boards a little bit thinner then had to add metallic lines to make them stronger.
This leeches away the heat. Now when using the iron I work in a warm room and pre heat the board with a hairdryer.
Its great in winter

@ retiredcaps - Happy new year.

[Uniballer]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

I have used an FX-888D to recap motherboards. It works fine with the right tip, e.g. T18-D32 which is a 3.2mm chisel tip. A smaller tip (such as the T18-D16 1.6mm chisel tip that comes with it) may have a harder time moving enough heat. Of course, you also need to keep the tip clean enough and tinned properly to move any heat at all.

[NickLoC]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

I am using the radio shack digital soldering station. Properly cleaned and tinned the tip. Just seems to lack enough heating power even turned up all the way. My old radio shack iron was much better. Will more than likely go with the FX-888d. May need to start pre-heating the board. I do have a heat gun.

[tron]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

put some leaded solder
to the rohs-joint beforehand
cap removal and
no preheating
will be required.

[dj_ricoh]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

once you use weller you`ll never go back

[NickLoC]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

I read the reviews on the weller solder stations. Lots of people had issues with the newer ones. Was going to go with one, but after the reviews I decided not to.

[tron]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

radio shack 25w iron
with
conical(default) tip
will get you nowhere

FX-888 with chisel tip
will lead somewhere
where it is possible
to solder and
de-solder
comfortably

[momaka]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

I think you just need to get some flux. That stuff makes a night-day difference with any iron/station I've used. I will now refuse to solder unless I had some flux (or unless it's some emergency fix).

[dj_ricoh]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

I read the reviews on the weller solder stations. Lots of people had issues with the newer ones. Was going to go with one, but after the reviews I decided not to.

get a used one!
the guy who had time to teach me a few things about electronics had one, before i came to him and i was around him about 4-5 years.

i can tell you this. he always kept it on. that was bad because he bought alot of tips.
just before i came he bought a new iron cuz the old one was going on for a couple of years.


I got a crap 60W to main wall iron about 15-25 GBP and a gordak station( i can put a small tip on it)

but at the end of this month i will get that ws 51 weller; believe me there is now iron can compare to that weller.

I can say only thing when you get used to a iron that is magnetize and you will never use a Wick or a pump that`s precious.
Good luck!

[tron]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

weller is average, nothing
exciting like Metcal or JBC...

[momaka]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

weller is average, nothing
exciting like Metcal or JBC...

I agree.
For those of you who think Weller is nice, wait until you try JBC. I had the chance to use one of their stations and that thing really is the Rolls Royce of soldering stations. Not to mention it never struggled to heat anything. You could probably melt all of the ice in the South pole with it if you tried.

[NickLoC]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

Thanks for all the advice. I think the fx-888d looks like a good fit. I know there are better stations out there, but this is a side job, so around $100 is good. The radio shack iron I used was not 25watt. It is a 60 watt. I am a firm believer that things aren't made a well as they should be. It's a lot harder to find well made stuff at a decent price. It will be nice to do a repair and not have to fight with my tools.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

@ retiredcaps - Happy new year.

Happy Belated New Year.

As you may have noticed, I don't participate regularly in certain areas anymore. I'm spending my time learning and test and measurement equipment over at eevblog.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

I think the fx-888d looks like a good fit. I know there are better stations out there, but this is a side job, so around $100 is good.

When I finally decided to upgrade from sort by lowest price 40W 120V AC soldering irons on ebay (usually $4 USD + free shipping), the difference in price between the FX-888 and some Hakko clone was "only" about $30 CDN.

With the ever little soldering I do now, I fully expect the FX888 to last my lifetime so spending the extra $30 was a no brainer for me.

Now if the FX888 was in the $500 category, I would have bought a $60 Hakko ebay soldering station knockoff.

I suggest getting a 3.2mm chisel tip for desoldering.

PS. Dave Jones' teardown of the FX888 also convinced me to spend a few $$$ more so my house doesn't burn down to cheap incorrectly wired knockoffs.

[SteveNielsen]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

I bought a RS Pro-Line 70W station on sale for about $50 and it is no good for recapping motherboards even using a Hakko 900 type 2mm chisel tip (which is a close fit but the cylinder of the tip that goes over the element is 2mm longer on the inside length). It is rated at 70W but that energy isn't making it to the element or tip and it certainly does not achieve it's max temp of 480c +/- 5%. It is absolutely useless for laminated motherboards.

I used a Mastech MS8264 meter (accurate within 1% up to 400c, 2% up to 1000c) to measure tip temp using the conical tip supplied with the unit. My readings were:

Setting/Actual temp
480c/388c
400c/328c
300c/244c
200c/137c

Using the Hakko 2mm chisel tip it got up to 420c when set at 480c (max) and 155c set at 200c (min). Not even close to the rated +/-5% tolerance. I did open up the controller and could not find any calibration adjustment. Out of the box it is a $50 disappointment for sure. I'm shopping for a better unit and chock this one up to experience.

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

Dose Hakko use a switch power supply to the controller part of this iron

[Uniballer]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

Dose Hakko use a switch power supply to the controller part of this iron

Judging by these teardown photos of the 230V version I would say no. Does it matter?

[Uniballer]

Re: Motherboard recap issue

Using the Hakko 2mm chisel tip it got up to 420c when set at 480c (max) and 155c set at 200c (min). Not even close to the rated +/-5% tolerance. I did open up the controller and could not find any calibration adjustment.

Is this the station you bought? If so, temperature alignment procedure is on page 6 of the manual. Also, I think for measuring tip temperature it matters that you have a good blob of hot solder between the tip and thermocouple for good heat conduction. Unfortunately, this might wreck the thermocouple for your meter, but it is the standard procedure for the Hakko FG-100 (I have a cheap ebay clone of one of those and it seems to work OK).