Soldering onto an already populated PCB

Thread Starter

NoodleMcDoogle

Joined Oct 25, 2020
6
Hi, I was curious to the implications of soldering directly onto a populated PCB to access the USB and TRS ports. The board is for a powermac g5 front panel and the wires would be plugged into my motherboards USB and TRS ports.
Would this be safe to do? Would power go to the other components on the PCB and interfere?

The reason for doing this is because I want to use the original ports and that i do not have a hot air station to remove the components...

Hope this is the right place to post this, but please direct me to the right place if not :)

IMG_20201025_135248542.jpgIMG_20201025_135253728.jpgIMG_20201025_135300767.jpg
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
hi N,
Welcome to AAC.
You can tap into the +5V and 0v to power other equipment, but you should not connect D+ and D- in parallel with other equipment.
Unless you never plan to use the original USB connector with another device plugged in.
E
E
 

Thread Starter

NoodleMcDoogle

Joined Oct 25, 2020
6
Thank you E :)
I think I explained it poorly, what I'm essentially trying to do is use the board with the USB ports and audio jack as an extension of the already existing ports on my motherboard. So basically a fancy USB male to USB female cable
 

ericgibbs

Joined Jan 29, 2010
18,766
hi N,
If the back of the USB connector you are tapping into has onboard USB control chip [ which is most likely], you cannot use the PCB as direct thru USB extender, unless you break the track leading from the USB connector to its onboard controller.

E
 

dl324

Joined Mar 30, 2015
16,846
The joints don't look very good, and you're not supposed to depend on a solder joint for mechanical strength.
clipimage.jpg
I think I explained it poorly, what I'm essentially trying to do is use the board with the USB ports and audio jack as an extension of the already existing ports on my motherboard. So basically a fancy USB male to USB female cable
It's still not very clear. If anything on that board is using the data lines, you can't do what you're trying to do.
 

Thread Starter

NoodleMcDoogle

Joined Oct 25, 2020
6
hi N,
If the back of the USB connector you are tapping into has onboard USB control chip [ which is most likely], you cannot use the PCB as direct thru USB extender, unless you break the track leading from the USB connector to its onboard controller.

E
Thanks for the help E, ill create a new PCB and put the connector on that rather
 

Thread Starter

NoodleMcDoogle

Joined Oct 25, 2020
6
The joints don't look very good, and you're not supposed to depend on a solder joint for mechanical strength.

It's still not very clear. If anything on that board is using the data lines, you can't do what you're trying to do.
Thanks for the reply dl
I'm ditching the idea and will make a custom PCB.
The solder joints were made with a huge tip as I didn't have anything else lying around, it was just for testing purposes, ill figure out a better solution for the final product. Both audio and USB worked tou..

But yea, I did a terrible job explaining
 

Janis59

Joined Aug 21, 2017
1,834
If we speak about connecting some extra lines to modern SMD boards, the good solution is winding wires. Take off the solder place insulation with aspirin and use as normal insulated wire. May fix it somewhere by droplet of glue. BF2 and BF6 are well enough for that aim.
 
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