Learn How to Solder and Desolder QFN IC

QFN IC can seem tricky at first but they are not so difficult so solder. It all comes down to one thing. Watch to find out what that is

I work in collaboration with:
The Electronics Channel (with Carlos and Detlef)

Gran Canaria Uncovered

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TEST METERS
ANENG AN8009 MULITIMETER
KAIWEETS HT118E MULTIMETER
VC480C+ MILLIOHM METER
MESR-100 ESR METER
XC6013L CAPACITOR METER

TM-902C TEMPERATURE METER
LCR-T4 COMPONENT ANALYZER
FNB58 USB ANALYZER
PCI POST ANALYZER
TL460S PLUS PCI_E ANALYZER
TOOLTOP ET120MC2 SCOPE
FNIRSI 1014D SCOPE
NPS3010W 30V 10A PSU
T12 STATION WITH M8 9501 HANDLE
M8 9501 HANDLE
YIHUA 982 Soldering Station C210/C245
FNIRSI HS-02 PORTABLE SOLDERING C210/C245
QUICK 861DW
PROS'KIT SS-331H

INFIRAY P2 PRO IR CAMERA + MACRO LENS
TOOLTOP ET13S THERMAL CAMERA METER
ET13S MACRO LENS
OPTICAL MICROSCOPE
TOMLOV TM4K AF FLEX
TL866 II+ PROGRAMMER
CH341 PROGRAMMER
NC-559-ASM FLUX

DESOLDER BRAID (I use size 8045)
HX-T100 SOLDER (0.6MM)
ESD-11 TWEEZERS

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Thank you
Richard

[Dutch_off_grid_homesteading]

Heya, yes nice soldering and desoldering video wih lot and lots of tippical and practical tips

[HC]

Never underestimate the heating plate from a coffee machine. 😃

[darrenconway]

I use a chunk of heavy (10mm) thick steel, about 70mm diameter. I use a cheap thermocouple temp meter to measure the metal chunk. I use the small gas burner on the kitchen stove. I get the metal up to 150 deg C.

[melvilib]

Great Video and useful to me. Got some of the kit, but not used it much yet. Need to find some scrap boards to practice on.

[Foobar_The_Fat_Penguin]

My pre-heater is a 12x7cm PTC heating element. It goes to a fixed temperature (and thus can never overheat the board). And it cost a whopping 4 Euro from China (delivered).

[karltest]

you missed the obvious hot plate - a clothes iron, but a pig to hold unless you have a couple of spare bricks

[georgeprout]

I use the heated bed on my 3D printer but keep meaning to get an old clothes iron to make a board heater for when i have a print running.

[_specialneeds]

Good video. I had a job interview years ago at an electronics manufacturing plant and was asked what is one of the worst packages to work with. We said QFN at the same time.

[aurthorthing]

My heat gun has a nozzle that directs the air sideways.
So I'm trying to make a holder to put a board next to it.
It should work really well once I cobble something together.

[marcellipovsky]

Kids, Richard said "Anything to warm it up" but the answer is NO, you cannot use the Microwave oven. ;-)

[JohnJones-oymd]

With no visible pins I thought soldering these by hand would be near impossible, but using plenty of flux and a fine tipped bit I did a number of these packages (new parts/PCBs) one contact at a time. Just run the tinned tip up the pad to the package and the solder will magically wicks itself underneath. A stereo microscope with plenty of working distance (so you can tilt the board and come at it from the side) helps an awful lot. Next time I'll give the drag soldering a go.

[jamescassidy]

You know, I talk to so many companies, pro audio mainly that have been switching fully over the last decade to SMC from Through Hole designs, and so many of them get defensive at the mention of SMC, and just yell at you, and say what's wrong with SMC, it's better.

The main issue for me, it's not even like I'm talking about the sound, even though that is a topic as well, but I'm not even saying like "oh through hole sounds so much better, but for me it's mainly the fact that being able to fix, repair, maintain, mod etc, a unit yourself, or even by a lot of tech's goes out the window, and another thing is getting proper schematics for SMC design's is not really possible, not to mention the companies don't release them anymore. Basically they don't want you to be able to work on your own unit, and want you to have no other choice, but to send it to them, in which case even the company isn't going to replace single components, they will just replace the board(s).

I know that working on SMC stuff is totally possible, and it's own skill in itself, but I'm just saying, even for the average guy like me who knows how to fix/maintain through hole gear to a certain extent, working on any type of SMC stuff seems almost impossible at the moment, and even if I felt I had.a grasp on it, it's more like if I had a $6000 piece of equipment that's SMC, I would be afraid to touch it, and I'm guessing a lot of people would.

My main point here is, it's fine if the company is around, but what happens if they go out of business one day, and your gear breaks, and although there may be people out there who could possibly work on it, they will still be without a schematic, and maybe even to nervous to do it if it's expensive gear, but it's good that it's still possible, and people out there learning to work on SMC stuff, even though I don't think the companies ever cared iff it could be fixed at all, and that's sort of my main point.

[Jedda]

Great video, thanks for spending the time creating it. Just wondering if you will finish the bga rework tutorial series you published last year?

[Joey-rpvg]

Hi Rich, great video. I have a question for you ( I am new to this soldering stuff ) Once you solder the chip on, should I re-flow a second time and squeeze the chip down with some tweezers? I seen a few videos that suggested that but I have no idea if that's BS or what. Thanks very much. Love your videos man, your right down to earth

[BTW...]

When did all components become a lot more heat tolerant ? LOL... have they???
Practice indeed! I've been doing so +50 years, fiddling as a kid and then master trade qualified.
#2 need is a microscope and quality tools.

[mikepanchaud]

I saw a video on tiktok showing a 7805 regulater metal bit up, as a tiny heat pad. I believe they connected 5 volts to the output!, it drew 1 amp. I've not tried it myself yet., but could work?

[darbee]

Some of the caps got knocked sideways....c148 and c154....

[HC]

If you have loads of money and want an easier way to solder/desolder QFN and BGA, then you could get an IR station.
-Still you'll need to practise before doing any real work.

[ram]

I am sorry for incovinience, if you live in the America, American manufacturers dont't produce even temperature measurer at motherland? Or Chinese goods cheaper?

[chantalslut]

When i started doing BGA's, the base material of the BGA was made out of thin PCB material. We had to keep these in a stove at a rather high temps to prevent them from exploding when soldering. Succes rate was low. Used also preheating. Bought a 25K soldering system for it. Think i still got it sitting in my warehouse somehwere.