Desoldering USB port from board

Thread Starter

Lorenzo _im98

Joined Aug 28, 2019
6
Hy everyone! I've extracted a usb port from an old laptop but it comes attached to a small circuit board. Is it possible to desolder it without damaging it? I'm not convinced by the soldering spots on the back side of the board.

IMG_5469.JPG IMG_5470.JPG
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
You could damage the port if you use excessive heat to unsolder the shell from the board. If you are going to scrap the board, I suggest that you use a pair of pliers and break the board away, close to the shell solder joints. That will get rid of some of the ground plain that would shunt the heat from the joint. Use a sucker or wick to de-solder the small contacts. Then with the tip of an exacto knife, gently pry the shell up as you heat each shell solder joint.
Regards,
Keith
 

Thread Starter

Lorenzo _im98

Joined Aug 28, 2019
6
I had in mind to connect this port to a pair of 2 other ports to make a small usb hub. If it's likely that the port could be damaged I was wandering if I could directly solder the wires to the back side of the board without messing with it to separate the two. I'm not too keen on using other soldering tools because I've never soldered; I whatched my father doing that but never seen how to use suckers or wicks.

Regards,
Lorenzo
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
Is it possible to desolder it without damaging it? I'm not convinced by the soldering spots on the back side of the board.
Easy job for anyone with decent soldering skills and a solder sucker. Just melt the solder and suck it out of the holes. Use a pick type tool to make sure leads are free from the holes.
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I'm not too keen on using other soldering tools because I've never soldered; I whatched my father doing that but never seen how to use suckers or wicks.
That will be problematic. Any chance you could have your father do it for you?
 

Thread Starter

Lorenzo _im98

Joined Aug 28, 2019
6
Update on the usb hub build

I managed to separate the usb port, alongside the portion of board underneath it, tested the contacts and they seem to be ok.
I'm going to do some practice with the soldering on the bit of board I cut away.

IMG_5471.JPG
As I mentioned my idea is to use this port and another two ports (picture below) from an external pc fan to make a usb hub. I'm going then to connect the cables from the fan to a micro usb port, so that I can power the fan via a power bank or the home power supply.

IMG_5472.jpg

IMG_5473.jpg
This bit with the usb ports and the button was originally placed in a different spot. I made quite a rough modification to the shell of the fan to have the ports and the cables exiting from them in a more confortable position.

Next picture is about the wiring I have in mind in order to have each of this two ports connected to the third one, that I'm going to plug to the pc via a cable. I don't want to use the button anymore.

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