Integrated Half Bridge PCB Repairs

So the corner of the PCB that peeled back from the chip was a problem I decided not to tackle with a heat gun. I just don't feel too comfortable using a heat gun at this stage. Instead, I decided to remove the capacitor in the way and just hand solder the chip back on. That went smoothly. Problem solved.

That said, to remove the capacitor I envisioned using hot tweezers to grab both sides and lift it off. I did a search online to see if such a device exists and sure enough it does so I bought it! It worked great. A bit pricey at a bit over $100 but worth it. I loved using it to not only remove the capacitors but also to solder them back on in a single motion! Once I get good with this hot tweezers I imagine I'll use it all the time for soldering and desoldering both.



Also the bodge wire I pictured in the last post it turned out involved a bit too much solder on one end which was causing a short circuit bridge between nearby traces so I had to desolder that, remove the capacitor there, remove solder, then resolder it all again. A total pain but no more short circuits. Everything seems good in that department.

Next, I decided that to prevent the flex pcb coming off the IC chip again, I should use UV cure solder mask in a glob as glue to glue the board to the chip to stabilize it and prevent more mishaps. So you can see I did that on both sides and I also used solder mask to glue on the other half of the PCB that we had removed earlier during troubleshooting. So now the whole PCB is in tact again! It is really starting to come along.



Attaching jumper leads to the 6 inputs/outputs to run a full proper test is coming up next.