John can't solder

[johnridley]

Well, not those leads anyway. They're about 3 to a millimeter, I think. Damn tiny anyway, and all I have is a regular old Radio Shack soldering iron. Solder bridge city and I couldn't wick them out. I screwed with them for 30 minutes then decided I'd reached the limit of what the time was worth. 4G USB drives just aren't worth that much anymore; I only paid $34 for it in May of last year, and the same drive is about $27 now, with some < $20.

When I went to look for a replacement, I found that the drive has a lifetime warranty. A quick response to my email led me to an RMA form. So there's not much point in working on it when I can just get it replaced.

Comments

[madtechie2718.livejournal.com]

Hint for the future: solder will not 'stick' to stainless steel - I often place (with one of those 'third hand' widgets) the tip of a scalpel blade between adjacent pads before soldering - even after you've mis-soldered, you can often persuade errant solder links to move by pushing them with a stainless steel probe.

I've also heard of drawing a line with a fine-tipped pencil between pads to contain solder bridges - but then they'd need to be removed carefully before powering up again.

I normally use a filed-down tip (if I've run out of small commercial tips) on my Antex iron, plus strong light, a decent magnifier and caffeine-free hands - not forgetting the obligatory ritual sacrifice of a small irritatingly noisy child (if no telemarketers are available).