[vcf-midatlantic] Chip Salvage

[Chris Fala]

I have only desoldered chips (very successfully) using a quality
desoldering gun, but then I never salvaged from a scrap board, I only
worked on boards that needed repair. I am not sure how I feel about the
blowtorch method (I do think hot air has merit). Who out there thinks that
a blowtorch used in this manner produces less thermal shock on the ICs than
a desoldering gun working pin-by-pin?




On Sat, Apr 17, 2021 at 8:59 AM Bruce via vcf-midatlantic <
vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

> I may actually have done this many years ago by the tedious method of
> soldering iron and SoldaPult, which works but is not to be recommended.
>
> What I miss from this discussion is references to soldering coppers -- the
> original soldering/desoldering tool used by tinsmiths and possibly by
> plumbers, but which never seems to have penetrated the electronics field.
> You've all seen them at flea markets -- a sturdy rod of iron with a pointed
> chunk of copper on one end and a wooden handle on the other.  I have a few
> kicking around.  Now if you modified the shape of the working end, you
> could customize it to  heat all the pins of an IC without heating the chip
> itself.  The soldering copper itself is heated over a small burner -- a
> propane torch would do.  Neat and efficient.
>
> As to fumes -- a cardboard box at an open window with a fan pointing
> outwards makes a decent fume hood.
>
> Bruce
> NJ
>
>
> On Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 11:23 PM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <
> vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
>
> > On 4/16/21 8:28 PM, Duane Craps via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
> > > I remember reading a article many years ago, I think it was in BYTE,
> > > about salvaging IC's from discarded Printed Circuit Boards by using a
> > > chip puller and a torch on the back. Has anyone actually done this? I
> > > guess now you could try with a hot air gun?
> >
> >    I've done this, with both a blowtorch and a hot air gun.  Both many
> > years ago when I was a kid.  I strongly recommend against the torch;
> > lots of nasty fumes, and it's much easier to control the applied heat
> > with an air gun.
> >
> >                -Dave
> >
> > --
> > Dave McGuire, AK4HZ
> > New Kensington, PA
> >
>