Soldering a 555 timer... Advice please

Thread Starter

Adamf001

Joined Sep 5, 2011
67
Recently I have gained a 555 timer, the IC is a bit smaller than I thought it would be and now I'm having trouble figuring out how I'm going to implement this into a circuit.
attached below is a pic of the size of the IC and the size of the soldering tip I have to work with. any suggestions?
I have tried soldering wire leads to each terminal with no success, (so i could use it on a bread board)
I was thinking of making a PCB just for the IC so I could re use it if the circuit doesn't work...
I'm running out of ideas so I turned to you for some experienced ideas.
Thanks in advance
Adam
 

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wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
That looks like a replaceable tip. Have you tried to find a smaller one? I'd have to look again at the one I use, but the one in your picture looks pretty big and I think you could do better.

Also consider using a socket to hold your IC. The socket goes with the PCB thereafter, but you can switch out the IC if you need to.

The IC should fit directly into your breadboard, BTW. What makes you think it won't?
 

Thread Starter

Adamf001

Joined Sep 5, 2011
67
Thanks for the reply,
The solder head is replaceable and its quite large but suitable for some of my larger projects. I got it from maplin so I probably could find a smaller tip.
I hadn't though about using a holder, would a IC holder be roughly the same size as the IC? or would it be bigger.

I would like to prototype my designs using a breadboard and if a IC holder is suitable then great. I'll have a look, thanks
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
You need a flat beveled tip and a SMT to DIP adapter (proto-advantage.com has an AWESOME selection).. A roundish tip like that will be much tougher..
For really small parts I will just put a very small bit of solder on the flat tip and slide it on the top of the flat part of the IC leg and move it away from the body.. "Usually" the solder will do its own magic and go where it should.

Literally minutes ago I just soldered a SOD-523 diode under a microscope.. That was fairly tough.
The SOT-223, SOT-23-5, SOIC-8,SOIC-16 parts I had to do also were simple..
 

takao21203

Joined Apr 28, 2012
3,702
you need a SOIC adapter PCB for that, available on eBay (for instance), or Futurlec also has them.
The soldering tip is OK even for SMD soldering.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
I use this, note the smallest tip on the left.

But, my mistake, I didn't notice that you had a surface-mount version. I'd just go get a through-hole one and do all my breadboard work with that. Don't deal with SMD until you want/need to.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
I prefer inexpensive adapters for SMD parts I can get off EBay. Takes under 2 weeks for the free shipping to get to me.

It's easier to glob and clear then to just add a tiny amount on some tiny parts. I will frequently flow solder over the leads and short several together. Then I will come back with some fluxed solder braid to remove the excess.
 
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