Beginner desolder complete mess :(

[HobGoblyn]

Not sure if to put here on the repair section, but as I'm a beginner.....

Probably the worst desoldering disaster ever.

Trying to replace HDMI port on Playstation 4. 

Unfortunately I've managed to completely screwup the pads (taken a pic the best I can through my miscroscope).

Should have started on something less important for my first actual repair

Am I screwed?  Every pad is lifted (floating around) but still connected, 3 pads are missing, I'm hoping they are not used.

Any advice please (yes I know I seriously screwed up and it's a right mess)

Many thanks

[ratatax]

I would remove completely any damaged pads, solder the new connector to the remaining pads, then gently scratch the traces going to the removed pads to expose copper and solder thin wires directly from the connector pins to the traces.

What's your soldering iron ? You need it regulated under 400°C and good flux to have any chances to make a decent job

[NivagSwerdna]

Too hot!  Not enough flux.

If you are in a hole... stop digging!

Looks repairable since the majority of pins still are present... but maybe it's reached the point where it might be worth paying someone who does these regularly.

[HobGoblyn]

Thanks

I've got a Hakko FX888D.

I've got TOPNIK TK83 flux, I put a fair amount on, but it's a liquid flux rather than the gel youtube vids seem to use.


I have enamelled wire. have seen a couple of youtube vids on this exact problem, so will give it a go and see how I go.

Where I went wrong was with the reverse side where the lugs of the case are soldered to the board. Even putting flux, leaded solder and using a larger tip, I really really struggled to get it to melt, and stupidly pressed down on one of the lugs, pushing the pads off the other side.

I'm not bad at soldering, but I really really struggle with desoldering at the moment.  I can use my hot air gun and remove and replace surface components fine, it's always the big solder joints that I struggle to desolder

[Mechatrommer]

I have enamelled wire. have seen a couple of youtube vids on this exact problem, so will give it a go and see how I go.

will make things harder to put together esp small pitch like that. i will use non enamelled wire strand stripped from normal wire and make sure no short to adjacent trace at finishing job.

as others said, that thing is still repairable since it has few pads still intact, dont waste those! if you dont want fancy task later on such as dangling hdmi wires out of the pcb. and since some lifted pads can also acted as mechanical retainer/holder for HDMI port, in the end you may want to glue the connector to pcb using strong glue or something to compensate for the loss of mechanical strength. ymmv.

ps: i can see few left bottom most pads will be much harder work to retrace.

[helius]

It's important not to use any force when soldering or desoldering components. There's a great temptation to treat the soldering tool as a weapon and just lean on it, but that never works and causes disasters like yours. For connectors with SMD on one side and through-hole lugs, you should probably use wick on the lugs first and then take the connector off with hot air. This frequently cooks the connector, but most are cheap to begin with.

[NivagSwerdna]

Where I went wrong was with the reverse side where the lugs of the case are soldered to the board. Even putting flux, leaded solder and using a larger tip, I really really struggled to get it to melt, and stupidly pressed down on one of the lugs, pushing the pads off the other side.

If you don't need the component again you can destructively divide and conquer on it chop it into smaller pieces as you go, but if there is a big ground plane.... this can be challenging.  Your next one will probably be better.

[Mechatrommer]

but if there is a big ground plane.... this can be challenging.

this is one of very reason i stick with one hung low non temperature controlled iron (and HAKKO Presto ready as spare) with one boost button push. although i keep my temperature controlled iron ready when i need fast startup on small components.

[IDEngineer]

I would remove completely any damaged pads, solder the new connector to the remaining pads, then gently scratch the traces going to the removed pads to expose copper and solder thin wires directly from the connector pins to the traces.

I keep a roll of 30ga wire wrap wire around for precisely these situations. Takes a steady hand but success rate is close to 100% even if all you have left are traces (no pads).

If the connector relies on its soldered connections for mechanical strain relief to the PCB, you might also consider a touch of something to mechanically reinforce it to the board. UV curable superglue is handy for this and can be obtained in convenient little squeeze-to-dispense "pens" that incorporate a UV LED. Cures in seconds, and is non-conductive when cured.

[Renate]

Sorry that this happened to you, but I'm sure you can fix it.

I endorse the "divide & conquer" philosophy also, even for simple things like TO-92 transistors but especially for connectors.
I've replaced USB connectors by using a Dremel (or other brand) tool with a cutoff disc.
Once you've had it chopped all up, the individual pins fall off with just a touch of the soldering iron.
If you've chopped the shell up you only need to unsolder the remnant of one side at a time.

[flolic]

There is no fuc*ing way to desolder PS4 HDMI connector without hot air. Even with hot air it is a struggle...
Trust me, I do this for a living and have replaced at least 50 connectors so far.
You need to apply flux to all pins and heat bottom side of the PCB under the connector. Then just lift it when solder melts. Don't heat from the top or you will fry the surrounding components (depending of exact PS4 model, electrolytic capacitor for sure).

Broken pads can be fixed, but you need microscope, steady hand and fine tip soldering iron.

[flolic]

Btw. you need all pads connected, it will NOT work if some signal is missing.

[Mechatrommer]

There is no fuc*ing way to desolder PS4 HDMI connector without hot air. Even with hot air it is a struggle...

have you tried low melt solder on the pins? you should have plenty of time desoldering one of the bottom side leg and lift up from that side before the low melt solder solidified again, preheating the leg and pcb with iron first will help quicken the later process. once its lifted from one side, the only thing connected is the other leg. but forget it if you are using temp controlled iron on that kind of ground plane.

[flolic]

No, never tried low melting temperature solder. Hot air works ok, just needs some time to heat up the board.
The thing is, those PS4 boards suck heat so good that it is general PITA when you have to unsolder or solder something.
I have JBC soldering station and even when I am using largest tip that I have it is very hard to solder mounting pins of that connector without preheat. And I am using wide blade type tip that can reach both sides of connector at the same time.

[Mechatrommer]

yup thats the problem. i remember repairing a graphic card just to remove few through hole electrolytic capacitors. i ended up putting them all in a oven, local heating with hot air took ages some boards are just too stubborn.

[flolic]

I have worked on all kind of (computer) hardware, PS3 and PS4 PCB's are by a magnitude harder to work on than anything else.
I guess they are designed that way with heavy ground layers to help spread and dissipate heat.

[HobGoblyn]

Thanks all

I put high temp tape over the surface mount caps/resistors near the top of the HDMI port.  But I did all the heat from the bottom.  I tried both my hot air gun and soldering station, it didn't seem to want to melt. Even had the hot air gun so hot (which probably helped cause this problem) that bringing my leaded solder within about 3 inches of the hot air,   it instantly melted.  I reverted to my soldering iron to get a mix of leaded solder on the joints, but no matter how high I set temp, the best the joint got was like thick sludge, it didn't completely melt.

I also have good quality (MG) braid of various sizes, again no matter how much I tried,, only a tiny bit of the solder went onto the wick (used loads of flux)

I really like the idea of using my dremel next time time I do something like this so I can separate the big ground lugs from the rest of the connector.

I've got two replacement ports turning up Thu or Fri from Amazon.

I watched this vid  (from 16:40)  (I wish my ground pins went molten like his does)



I think what I will do is buy a few dirt cheap HDMI ports from RS as I should get them Wednesday, mount them on a bit of PCB proto board, and try what the youtube vid shows, to see how well I get on.

I think I'll be able to find where each pin should go as there seems to be a ton of PS4 HDMI screwups on YouTube, some far worse than mine.

Will get back and let you know how I get on

[HobGoblyn]

almost useless. i have this "water soluble water clean" flux, i dont know where it is now, didnt help a single bit. i always use gel type, even sometime the corrosive one for plumbing (not recommended) because it make things much easier.

Can someone recommend a gel type from either RS or Farnell please  (bought my original flux after being recommended it by another poster on here when originally setting up my lab, been totally fine for soldering, not so good for desoldering)

Many thanks

I've also just found this which is a great help

https://www.psxhax.com/attachments/j5gjki-jpg.3225/

[Mechatrommer]

maybe i just made a mistake thinking the TOPNIK TK83 is similar to the liquid crap i was having. so i take back my word.. my flux isnt ideal, but this video may help finding a better one...

[HobGoblyn]

In typical Sony Fashion I see their HDMI ports are upside down, when mounted to the board, the thin part of their ports is on the top rather than all the ones on RS and Farnell where it's on the bottom.

Can still have a good practise wiring individual pins with them though

[HobGoblyn]

Soldering advice please

I've had a bit of a practise with my microscope and enamelled wire, some parts went OK, some didn't.

I first tinned the end of 12 pieces of wire, with iron on 400c  (750F) and dipping end of wire in flux, loading the iron with solder, and passing the end of the wire through the solder that's on the iron (as per a couple of youtube vids).  This worked well in most cases.

I then turned my iron down to 300C  (570F)

Then I removed the solder points from a few holes in a bit of prototype PCB,  mounted one side of the ic so that the legs I'm soldering onto are between the holes I just removed.

I then put flux onto the right hand leg, added a bit of solder, even with the wire in the tweezers, spent what felt like an eternity getting it to solder onto the pin (far too long, would melt the hdmi port), but hey, it was my first one and I'm learning.

I then realised I should start at the left hand side so that I'm not bringing the iron over ones I've already done.

I fluxed all the pins, dragged the solder across them all,. that seemed to work fine.

then I fluxed the first pin, put wire in tweezers, this went straight on with zero problem.  The rest I really struggled with, I THINK part of it was because none of the legs on this side of the IC were soldered down, hence when I touched with the iron, the leg moved a fraction down, when I removed the iron, the leg moved a fraction up.

Anyway, I eventually soldered all 12 on  (refluxing for each wire)

Then I decided to solder the other ends to the PCB. I went from right to left, fluxing the PCB, soldering the PCB, fluxing again, then soldering the wire to it, then cutting the remaining wire. This worked perfectly to begin with.

Then I snapped one of the wires, while trying to repair it, I removed the one to the left of it by accident.  At this point I thought I would ask for advice.

I took a photo through my microscope  (first pic)

I  thought I'd clean the PCB  then photograph again, hence cleaned the joints of the IC as gently as I could with Isopropyl and cotton buds (q tip), but even going as gently as I could, I snapped  the 4th wire in from the right.  This wasn't the solder joint breaking, it's the wire snapping, it's about as strong as a human hair   (second pic), I also see getting a bit of flux on the top of the IC and removing with Isopropyl, removes the IC part number.

And the final pic is a pic of where I soldered the other ends to the PCB (the one that looks like it's going underneath the others is the one that snapped)

I'm using 0.1mm (38 AWG) enamelled wire as that's all I have, would going down a few grades be a sensible move, making the wire stronger?

I just wondered after looking at my attempts, whether anyone has any advice before I try again?  The legs on the HDMI port are going to be smaller than the legs on this IC.  Or is it just a matter of practice, practice, practice?  I have a load of cheap hdmi ports turning up tomorrow to practice with.

Wish I could take a vid of me trying, but only have a cheapish microscope  (Swift S41-20) , so please excuse the photos, hard taking a pic through one of the lenses

I have some decent gel flux arriving tomorrow, that will probably be better than the liquid flux I used today.

I've been using the smallest soldering tip I have (0.8mm chisel tip, Hakko T18-D08)

Many thanks for all your help, I will get there eventually

[NivagSwerdna]

I use 30AWG wire... I bought a roll, suspect I will never finish it.     [like this... 30awg (0.25mm) Ultra thin insulated connecting KYNAR wire - Green]

You seem to be doing OK.  FWIW when connecting to vias I use a fibreglass pencil first... so buy one if you haven't got one already... try not to get the fibreglass fragments in your fingers or lungs.

My soldering iron lives around 350C so if you can get away with less you are doing well.

I'm impressed with your efforts 

[senso]

There is no fuc*ing way to desolder PS4 HDMI connector without hot air. Even with hot air it is a struggle...
Trust me, I do this for a living and have replaced at least 50 connectors so far.
You need to apply flux to all pins and heat bottom side of the PCB under the connector. Then just lift it when solder melts. Don't heat from the top or you will fry the surrounding components (depending of exact PS4 model, electrolytic capacitor for sure).

Broken pads can be fixed, but you need microscope, steady hand and fine tip soldering iron.

I did it a couple times, but I had an Ersa IR hotplate with temperature sensor, I let the board heat up to 120ºC for some 3-4 minutes to ensure proper heat soak of the part, then using hot air plus a soldering iron and a river of flux it was easy-ish, hot air got the pins free, and then I danced around with the iron on the big ground pads, it was quite nerve racking the first time, but the connector came loose without any damage, and I always replaced nearby caps, no way I was going to risk a return on a repair due to a 50 cent cap.

[HobGoblyn]

Today my cheap HDMI ports turned up, along with some awg30 wire and decent gel flux  (Farnell and RS still doing next day delivery which is nice)

The thicker wire and the gel flux made a huge difference.

I managed to solder all 19 pins on an hdmi port, then I stupidly wasn't happy with one a few in from the left hand side, so tried to re-solder it and the one to the left popped off.  My tip isn't small enough to not bridge two pins.

I took the others to the left off and started to re-solder, but I'm obviously getting tied (have numerous health issues) as I really struggled from this point, I'd get two soldered on, then the 3rd would end up knocking the previous one I'd done, so I gave up for the day.

I've included pics of what I'm left with, don't think it's too bad for my first attempt at pins this small (much smaller than the IC I attempted yesterday), although far from perfect.

Hopefully it wont take too much more practice before I'm confident on trying the PS4 repair.

Many thanks for all your help

[Manul]

In my opinion soldering like it is shown in the video of Reply #16 looks horrible. A lot more nice is what flolic showed on Reply #10. I do same, just usually I use single strand which is not bent into double, but that does not matter so much. When you rebuild pads like that it is so much more nice. Just need to be careful to not disturb them while soldering connector. All this running of thick enamelled wire looks bad...