Trying to remove a USB port on an older Samsung phone.

I used a very high quality flux then added Made in China Solder to the tiny pins on the USB port....(the idea being the solders would mix and make removal of the lead free solder easier)

But what I ended up with is this mess that I cannot seem to remove with copper wick.
When I test test the solder by soldering directly to the copper wick it melts in very nicely. So I do not think it's the solder or flux.

I've tried using more flux and going as high as 390 degrees with the soldering iron but this stuff acts more like mortar than solder.

Anyone?

 

 

I have found that copper solder wick becomes reluctant to flux the interface. I tried scraping it with my pocket knife, and that improves the situation, but not consistently and never perfectly, so I bought a bottle of liquid flux to assist. Dip the solder wick in the water based flux just before application of heat. Watch the water boil off and the solder wetting begins in earnest.

 

... going as high as 390 degrees with the soldering iron but this stuff acts more like mortar than solder.

Way too low of a temp. Nothing wrong with the solder, it's your technique.

Double the temp on your iron, then use a heat gun to dramatically increace the temp of the board and connector (≈200°F). Now use the solder to dilute the lead-free solder and desolder.

 

Way too low of a temp. Nothing wrong with the solder, it's your technique.

Double the temp on your iron, then use a heat gun to dramatically increace the temp of the board and connector (≈200°F). Now use the solder to dilute the lead-free solder and desolder.

He is probably talking about degree celcius instead of fahrenheit, if its celcius, then 390 is quite high

 

He is probably talking about degree celcius instead of fahrenheit, it its celcius, then 390 is quite high

lol. You are correct. It's Celsius.

1468 deg Fahrenheit for soldering would be VERY bad technique

 

I don't want to say that it can't be done because it can even with 60/40 solder. However in some cases the Thermal Mass is so great that it takes a lot of heat to get things off a board at times. If you don't have a Hot Air Station then it maybe an investment time for some Chip Quik. That stuff isn't cheap and it can do amazing things. I am not sure but at times I have seen some manufactures that Glue these ports down to make sure they don't break from repeated use. So then your not only working with solder.

A good Hot Air system is kind of needed while working on phones and smaller PCB IMHO. One mistake I have seen people make is they just grab the Hot Air gun and go to town on a part without first pre heating the board area and it will damage things even the board.

Edit: Thought I would mention as well, IF you were to use Chip Quik I would make sure that you take it all off with Wick before placing a new part and never use it for soldering parts on.

 

lol. You are correct. It's Celsius.

1468 deg Fahrenheit for soldering would be VERY bad technique

What ever the temp, you're not getting enough heat to the joint (your addition of solder is a cold solder joint). It could be your selection of tip. If you are desoldering, use the biggest tip you have. Photos of your equipment would help us diagnose your problems.

 

Have you tried adding some solder before desoldering? sometimes too little solder will cause the contact between the solder and the iron to be imperfect. Adding solder will help heat flow to other joints too, u dont have to heat the pads one by one to remove the components

 

What went wong? - because it was Made in China?

 

All good help. Thanks.
I do have a soldering station and hot air. Zeny 862D+

I was able to get the port off cleanly with hot air. I directed the heat right onto the USB port casing and the heat defused nicely, liquefying all the solder joints and the USB port dropped off cleanly without harming the board

Is Chinese solder really bad? I've used it quite a bit and thought it was fine...but if buying a better name brand would work better then I would buy some "better" solder for sure.

 

Have you tried adding some solder before desoldering? sometimes too little solder will cause the contact between the solder and the iron to be imperfect. Adding solder will help heat flow to other joints too, u dont have to heat the pads one by one to remove the components

Hello,
Yes..."tried". I've had mixed results trying this technique.
I often flux the site in question then add low temp solder but often I find that the temp required to melt the unleaded solder requires so much heat that the board can get damaged before the no lead solder will even melt.

Maybe I need to learn more about pre-heating the board?

 

There are something out there that for whatever reason just don't seem to work well for me and that is China made Knock off solder. So I stick with Kester, Multicore and MG Chemical. I have used in the past 80's and 90's some solder from Radio Shack that worked well as well.

In most cases if the solder is with Flux or you use a good quality Flux then it should be ok. However I have seen some people that buy flux that don't last long and burns off to fast. For Flux I prefer but isn't required use Amtech 559. However buying it from China I don't do because once when I did try some I found that it was fake seeing Amtech is a USA company and even though there are 2 dealers in China it is hard to believe that China could buy enough to sale at 1/2 or less the cost of a USA dealer. The stuff I got from China looked real until I went to use it and you could tell just having it on the board that it wasn't the same stuff that I get in USA. I am not sure what it was because it didn't act like the stuff I use.

Have made the mistake of buying some solder from Homedepot in a pinch. it is a 60/40 and mostly use it for removing parts if I don't want to start up the Hot Air. It does well for parts removed just don't like the look of it when I use on parts that I leave on so I make sure that I remove all the solder before I place parts like I would with Chip Quik