USB speaker desoldering best practices

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exodus
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USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by exodus » Tue Aug 08, 2017 10:28 pm

Hi,

I went to work on my USB speaker (the type suggested in Wermys guide). First one I was a little too aggressive and completely ripped off a USB pad. Drat. First piece of garbage.

My spare speaker I was able to pull off the USB connector without issue (small cheer). I then began warming up the crystal to remove it. Extremely stubborn. Heat, touch of solder again and again and still wasn't moving. The area on the PCB was starting to blacken which was concerning me. I tried hear and desoldering sucker and that seemed to be working but still stuck. So I went to padless to test on that one. Eventually that crystal fell out with no blackened PCB. So, I went back the stubborn one. More heat, over and over. I turned it over and gentle pulled the crystal and it came off but the pins remained the holes. Uh oh.

I used the tip of the iron to push the pins of the broken crystal out. One came out with the issue. The other wasn't moving. After a bit of frustration it finally came out but the hole was a charred mess, no visible metal rings. Ugh! I tried to solder the wires anyway. On the very cooked hole solder wouldn't stick. Which didn't surprise me since there was no metal contact left. So, back to ebay to older a few more.

Anyway have anything similar happen or suggestions for my next rework attempt. Comments and ideas appreciated! Thanks
Attachments
IMG_1113.JPG
Cooked it. Mega fail!
IMG_1113.JPG (1.73 MiB) Viewed 8137 times
IMG_1112.JPG
Lost a pad!!
IMG_1112.JPG (1.97 MiB) Viewed 8137 times

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Helder
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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by Helder » Wed Aug 09, 2017 1:29 am

Get one of these
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Compact-Grounded- ... nav=SEARCH

It's a great way to remove solder from these things easy and mess free. If you got money to burn get one of these like I have.


http://m.ebay.com/itm/S-993A-110V-100W- ... nav=SEARCH
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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by VeteranGamer » Wed Aug 09, 2017 1:35 am

Helder wrote:
Wed Aug 09, 2017 1:29 am
Get one of these
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Compact-Grounded- ... nav=SEARCH

It's a great way to remove solder from these things easy and mess free. If you got money to burn get one of these like I have.


http://m.ebay.com/itm/S-993A-110V-100W- ... nav=SEARCH
perfect....

i've been doing it the old fashioned way, with relative success....

but i'm getting one of these (the cheaper :) )

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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by abrugsch » Wed Aug 09, 2017 2:58 am

these USB sound cards are absolute garbage. the copper is bonded to the board with wishes and unicorn farts. I amazingly only managed to lose one un-important (the one not connected to a trace) ring on the crystal and all my pads are in tact but it took a lot of care to not destroy it as so many members are doing.

someone (veteran?) had a card with a SMD (flat) crystal that doesn't need desoldering. that might be a better option. also if you don't have an electric vacuum desoldering iron like helder showed, desoldering wick/braid is probably a better bet, as I found spring suckers too violent for this delicate board

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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by exodus » Wed Aug 09, 2017 9:48 am

Helder wrote:
Wed Aug 09, 2017 1:29 am
Get one of these
http://m.ebay.com/itm/Compact-Grounded- ... nav=SEARCH
It's a great way to remove solder from these things easy and mess free.
Thanks Helder, I'll give that one a try.

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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by exodus » Wed Aug 09, 2017 9:48 am

abrugsch wrote:
Wed Aug 09, 2017 2:58 am
these USB sound cards are absolute garbage. the copper is bonded to the board with wishes and unicorn farts. I amazingly only managed to lose one un-important (the one not connected to a trace) ring on the crystal and all my pads are in tact but it took a lot of care to not destroy it as so many members are doing.

someone (veteran?) had a card with a SMD (flat) crystal that doesn't need desoldering. that might be a better option. also if you don't have an electric vacuum desoldering iron like helder showed, desoldering wick/braid is probably a better bet, as I found spring suckers too violent for this delicate board
Thanks. I'll look for that post. If you find it, please cross reference a link here too.


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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by Holydohnut » Wed Aug 09, 2017 10:46 am

What a wonderfully timed post! I'm desoldering my sound card tonight! I personally find desoldering braid utterly hopeless, but am very happy to be told that's just me. I have one of the cheap vacuum pumps (Oh behave! ;-) ) that Helder suggested and seriously, it's worth its weight in gold.
abrugsch wrote:
Wed Aug 09, 2017 2:58 am
the copper is bonded to the board with wishes and unicorn farts.
I swear, I spat my coffee across the room when I read that! You're a swine abrugsch! :lol:

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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by MrDralixx » Wed Aug 09, 2017 9:29 pm

Funny. I had more issues getting the stupid headphone jack desoldered than the crystal.

Do you have a set of exacto blades? Get one. Many hardware stores sell a pretty cheap and decent set for about $5 in the bargain bins. I tried the wick and it helped some. I even tried using my helping hands (ok, not everything in the bargain bin is the greatest :) ). What did work for me was this..

https://www.amazon.com/Aven-17010-Adjus ... ping+hands

I had already removed the headphone jack and used that to hold the board in place. I was then able to place my soldering iron over the two solder joints simultaneously with one hand, while using the other hand to slowly slide an exacto blade between the board and crystal. Apply pressure slowly but evenly with the blade and the crystal will slide out.

Just be careful how much pressure you apply. I wasn't applying too much, but it still managed to fly across my workbench. My workbench is set into a corner though and it, thankfully, bounced off the wall and back to me.

Hope that helps you. (or someone else for that matter)

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Re: USB speaker desoldering best practices

Post by exodus » Wed Aug 09, 2017 9:39 pm

Thanks for the idea. Btw, can't we just snip the headphone jack clean off (I'll have to revisit Wermy's guide)

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