Think I killed a board (SMD Cap)

[shmaa]

I was swappnig heatsinks last night and ripped off one of those SMD caps that was really close to one of the mounting holes around the socket.

Is there any way to re-attach one of these, or is it safe to say this mobo is KIA?

Would putting a 15W soldering iron directly on top of the cap damage it? Would 15W be enough to "melt" the solder enough to re-attach the cap?

[crodan85]

You can but it depends on how small the caps are and if the affected area is very clustered with components. You would if it was left on the cap for a while and a 15w iron would be enough to melt the solder.

[KILLorBE]

It's possible to re-attach the cap, and a 15 watt soldering iron should (most likely) be fine.

You shouldn't put the iron on top of the cap, I assume you don't have much (If any) experience with soldering SMD's (Or else you wouldn't ask this ;) ).

Probably the easiest way is to take a match orso and put some sticky stuff on one end, put some fresh solder on the solder pads (You might wanna use some flux if your solder doesn't have a rosin core), pick up the SMD with the sticky match and hold it in place, heat one end of the SMD till you can see the solder melt (Should only take 2-3 seconds), let it cool down a bit and do the other end.

Note 1: You may not have to heat up both sides of the SMD.
Note 2: I'm not sure about the time a SMD cap can handle a certain temp, but SMD caps and resistors are not very heat sensitive.

Good Luck.

[shmaa]

It's possible to re-attach the cap, and a 15 watt soldering iron should (most likely) be fine.

You shouldn't put the iron on top of the cap, I assume you don't have much (If any) experience with soldering SMD's (Or else you wouldn't ask this ;) ).

Probably the easiest way is to take a match orso and put some sticky stuff on one end, put some fresh solder on the solder pads (You might wanna use some flux if your solder doesn't have a rosin core), pick up the SMD with the sticky match and hold it in place, heat one end of the SMD till you can see the solder melt (Should only take 2-3 seconds), let it cool down a bit and do the other end.

Note 1: You may not have to heat up both sides of the SMD.
Note 2: I'm not sure about the time a SMD cap can handle a certain temp, but SMD caps and resistors are not very heat sensitive.

Good Luck.


Good tips. Thanks!

I'll give it a try tonight. If it doesn't work, it's not a real big loss. The mobo is just an old KD7 that I use for D2OL.

:toast:

[shmaa]

Ok.. did said soldering procedure and everything went fairly smooth.

Computer is up and running and crunching D2OL as we speak.

:woot:

Thanks a lot!

[Mr_Slinky]

that is great to hear shamaa :clap: :clap: