Do I need a microscope to be able to properly do board level repairs?

[Drake122]

Hey guys!

I'm tryint to get into board level repair, mainly laptops. Do I need a 150-200$ microscope, or is one of those jewelry binacular headsets, with 10-20x magnification enough?

[plazma]

Smd rework microscopes usually have a magnification range of 5 - 20. Working distance about 10-20cm.

[Samogon]

I cant imagine working without microscope, and it is not $200 i would estimate $500 for relatively good one.
 Visual inspiration is the first step in any repair, i have many cases when it was enough to find a culprit.

[garyinlyons]

I use a head band stereo magnifier here is an example https://www.emsdiasum.com/microscopy/products/magnifier/illuminating.aspx
I have a inspection microscope but usually just for checking my work.  This works well down to 0603 SMD size components. After that good luck!  Things just fly off tweezers and are lost so always have allot....
This has worked for me for 30 years.  The older I get the smaller the components get and are harder to see....    

[Drake122]

https://images.ua.prom.st/313096117_w640_h640_lens_glass_led_25x_a.jpg
What about this one? It promises up to 25x magnification.

[schmitt trigger]

Unless you have eagle vision, for SMD work an  ILLUMINATED magnifier is a must.

If you are on a tight budget, you may consider an USB scope.
There are many available on the WWW.

[Armadillo]

https://images.ua.prom.st/313096117_w640_h640_lens_glass_led_25x_a.jpg
What about this one? It promises up to 25x magnification.

No, you will waste your money.
garyinlyons recommendation 

[Drake122]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173129497541
How bout this one for starting out? I mean I just started to learn, should be good enough

[Gyro]

Ebay search for 'Binocular microscope' or 'Stereo microscope' sometimes brings up some bargains. Obviously you want a long arm one. X10 magnification is a reasonable compromise (X1 objective and X10 eyepieces). Make sure they're complete with eyepieces and particularly Objective lenses (eyepieces are reasonably cheap from China - you can drop the magnification by getting a pair of X5 too). Don't worry about lamp assemblies, illumination is easy to sort with LEDs these days.

These microscopes were often used in schools for dissection use and occasionally a bunch will hit the market together due to a clearout.

[plazma]

I bought my first unit from ebay. It was mislabeled and cost 200€. High quality Askania brand with German optics. A led PCB ring is used for lightning.


I recently got a second one for free. I just need a stand for it and was thinking about modifying a monitor stand.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/monitor-stand-for-stereo-microscope/msg1432517/#msg1432517
 

[kripton2035]

Quote from: Drake122 on Today at 16:30:50>https://www.ebay.com/itm/173129497541
How bout this one for starting out? I mean I just started to learn, should be good enough


no the stand is badly made, the scope will fall down any time.I bought recently a andonstar adsm302 which has a very crisp and sharp and clear picture quality. but it's around $300
I also bought before a mustang G600, almost same screen size, but really lower image quality for $65
https://www.banggood.com/G600-Digital-1-600X-3-6MP-4-3inch-HD-LCD-Display-Microscope-Continuous-Magnifier-Upgrade-Version-p-1152799.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=USA

a good stereo microscope is far better (I don't have one) but you need some $500 or more to get one.a mantis is the top, around $3000 ...

[janoc]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173129497541
How bout this one for starting out? I mean I just started to learn, should be good enough

Waste of money. First of all, USB microscopes are almost without exception laggy (they are just a cheap webcam with a crappy plastic lens, nothing more), that's a killer if you are trying to solder under one of them. The working distance of that thing is crap (you need to get tweezers and soldering iron/hot air under that without destroying it!) and the stand is a wobbly unstable junk.

Also, keep in mind that if you are working with a PC-based microscope, you are going to be craning your neck to look at a monitor instead of your soldering iron tip. It is very difficult to work like that. Furthermore, the lack of depth perception is a problem you won't realize you have until you try an actual stereo microscope. I can guarantee you that you will never want to go back to the USB one (if you want to see what impact that has, try to thread a needle with one eye closed ...)

Now, if you are not going to be making living out of this, you don't need a $500+ stereo zoom scope. I have an older variant of this one:
http://www.amscope.com/stereo-microscopes/industrial-inspection-stereo-microscopes/5x-10x-15x-20x-widefield-stereo-microscope-with-boom-arm-stand-and-led-incident-light.html

I have asked the seller to replace eyepieces with 5x and 10x and the objectives with 1x and 2x, giving me up to 20x magnification and good working distance. 20x is plenty - for most soldering work I am using only 5x, that's more than enough already. The disadvantage is that in order to change magnification I have to release some screws and replace the objective/eyepieces. Zoom is a lot more convenient but probably not $200-300 more convenient for what I am doing.

I have got it via eBay but the seller is actually https://www.gtvision.co.uk/ - the sales staff is super helpful if you need help or advice  Just tell them you need the European plug, not the UK "brick".

The headmounted magnifiers are not bad, I have one too but I like the microscope more - the working distance is much better and you don't have to be bent down over your bench with your nose right next to the tip of the soldering iron. That is okay for soldering one or two components but gets old very fast if you have to populate an entire board, along with having to constantly flip the magnifier up and down while picking up parts, etc. I have also found that the headband makes me sweat a lot.

I have also a cheap (not the $300 one) Andonstar USB microscope but that one is only used for quick inspection, reading part numbers and taking pictures. It is not useful for soldering.

[Fludo]

I bought a Merlin Elite Vision Magnifier for $50 on a classified board, works great for circuit board inspections.  It's definitely helpful to have when looking at tiny solder joints and reading small part numbers.

[KL27x]

You can do it without a microscope. But after so long, you will probably burn out and never want to look at a high density board, ever again. Anything you ever do for money or a living, it can get tedious to do. The microscope helps you do it without eventually wanting to just end it all. It's not just the magnification, it's the lighting and the "place marker," aspect. When you have to divert your attention away for a second to get a part or solder or flux or a bit of wire, the thing you're working on will still be there, centered under the microscope when you look back. With a head mounted visor, you can sometimes start hunting all over again.

So you don't need one just to start doing it. But if you plan to make more than $500.00 doing it, you will probably want to buy a microscope.

[frozenfrogz]

A good microscope is usually well worth the money. For starting out, a decent pair of jewelers binoculars and proper workspace lighting will help you out quite a lot.
If you want a microscope for soldering, you should be looking at optical stereo microscopes with a magnification of 2x - 4x, maybe 6x. Everything above that does not really help in regard to the kind of micro soldering work you are facing - IMO.

USB microscopes are OKish for inspection and documentation but they all are laggy as hell because of slow USB data rates and working via a screen with that kind of delay will drive you nuts!
If you are on a budget, there are some HDMI options - search for "Andonstar HDMI" here on the forums for example. Personally I would rather get the binoculars and save up for a good microscope instead of buying one that only kind of works as intended.

The »Vision Engineering Mantis« is a nice microscope at a modest price and can occasionally be found for 500€ - 800€ used. Depending on overall condition and accessories, used prices usually tend to be more in the 1000€ - 1500€ range though.

[lordvader88]

I say go ahead and get a jewelers loupe for sure, very handy, I use a 20x or 30x all the time.

I have a list of tools I need, expensive digital microscope included. But for now I'm going the cheap route and will try and make 1 from some webcam/cell phone cameras, or go ahead and get a $20 USB microscope.

Don't worry about the crappy stand on that 1, and least u could make a wooden base for it or something. That's what I'll do. But can someone actually use those for soldering ? No idea but for inspection and mapping it would be great for $20.

I want a big quality overhead magnifying glass/lamp on an arm I can lock in place, I should be able to make the stand/arms/etc myself. Just need a good lens