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RE: Secrets to soldering tiny surface mount parts

Posted by Dave Garretson on June 3, 2009 at 11:42:55:
I'll only add that some many-pinned very small SMD ICs will be destroyed by heat through solder wick sufficient to reabsorb bleed-over between pins. It takes longer, but when soldering down such tiny ICs, I prefer first to tin each pad, position the replacement chip, and then press down each pin with the thinnest needle tip available. It requires an almost imperceptible amount of solder on the tinned pads. If the IC is really small, it may be helpful to fix its position with a dab of Goop cement.

In a non-production environment, I remove the dead chip pin-by-pin by heating the pin with the needle iron and bending it back with the tip of an Exacto knife. Overheating the pad risks lifting it from PCB. Under no circumstances try prying pins with the needle tip. This will surely destroy a pad.

Don't even think about it without high magnification and good light, and save the Scotch for power-up.