Surface Mount Soldering

Plan

I practiced surface mount soldering.

Design

Materials

• Surface Mount Soldering Practice Kit
• Solder
• Flux

Tools

• Soldering Iron
• Solder Sucker (optional)
• Microscope (optional)
• Tweezers
• Paint brush (optional)

Safety Tools

• Hair band
• Goggles
• Gloves (optional)

Workflow

1. Gather materials.
2. Organize circuit components (ex. resistors, capacitors, etc.)
3. Put on safety gear.
4. Spread flux on board.
5. Place a drop of solder on the area you where you will connect the component.
6. Melt solder onto the tip of the soldering iron.
7. Hold component onto board with tweezers while you remelt the solder. (If you are soldering a chip, make sure the prongs are aligned. It may be helpful to solder the corner prongs of the chips first!)
8. Check the connection under the microscope.
9. Keep practicing with smaller and smaller components!

(Images zoomed in)

Smallest component I soldered!:

Final Product

Conclusion

This activity proved challenging to me because of the precision required. I have never worked with surface mount soldering before so this opportunity was enlightening. I learned about flux which was something that was never explained to me in previous engineering courses, so this experience expanded my knowledge. I'm excited to implement these techniques in my personal project.