Can anyone help me with some good wire for doing SMD trace repairs?
I like the look of the stuff Northridgefix uses in their videos but their shop is in the USA, I am in the UK.
Can anyone recommend me what I should be getting?
If you mean "wire," as in round stuff, almost any size will work for signal traces. Normal trace thickness is 0.002" to 0.004." Compare that to #24 awg wire = 0.020" (0.5 mm) diameter and #32 = 0.2 mm diameter. If you need insulation, I recommend Kynar. It's usually thin and quite heat stable compared to PVC. A common wire-wrap size is #32 with Kynar.
If you want flat copper ribbon, that can be had but is quite expensive. Circuit Medic has some (
https://www.circuitmedic.com/parts/circuit-tracks.html ). I didn't see the length in that table. You can also cut and peel your own from bare PCB, but that will work harden it. I've used CircuitMedic rivets in the past and have never bought flat strip. If the repair is only a few centimeters, then I would peel my own.
I usually use round, small diameter wire for repair and more frequently, when I need to modify a PCB.
Can anyone help me with some good wire for doing SMD trace repairs?
I like the look of the stuff Northridgefix uses in their videos but their shop is in the USA, I am in the UK.
Can anyone recommend me what I should be getting?
Wire wrap wire is commonly used because it is inexpensive and readily available. What I found that works even better is about 30 gauge magnet wire with the insulation which can be burned off using the soldering iron.
Thanks all, this is exactly what I wanted!
When you are making these kinds of repairs, it is a good idea to anchor the wire adjacent to where it is soldered, as well as spots along its length. Thick cyanoacrylate works well but there are lots of adhesives which will work.
I like to use silver plated jewelry wire available at hobby shops. It solders like a dream and this is very helpful when you do not want to keep the iron on the board for very long.
Different diameters are available.
If you have very small traces, the very small dia silver plated wire from some coax outer conductors makes a good connection.
Kynar wire is good also.
As previously said, anchoring longer connections is quite helpful. Glue works after the soldering is done.
Traditionally, patching of logic level signals or repairing traces was done with #30 AWG Kynar wire-wrap wire:
https://www.amazon.com/Solid-Kynar-EX-ELECTRONIX-EXPRESS/dp/B07V6MW3GM
Green or yellow seems to be most common but red will work for me.
Search your area for 'wire-wrap wire'...
I just bought some AWG 30 for very cheap off of aliexpress. I compared it to some old stock 40 year old american made kynar wire wrapping wire. The chinese spool labeled "VT Corporation" has a thinner conductor than the old stuff. I used a pair of electronic calipers with a dead battery so could only get a relative comparison, but it easily slipped trough the jaws which were clamped on the old wire diameter. I don't think the ampacity difference will matter for me with what I use it for. Also the jacket is PVC so you get what you pay for.
The PVC shrink-back is tolerable if you have a quick light touch with the soldering iron.
the stuff he uses is called magnet wire. It is coated in a resin that you can just burn off with your soldering iron so easier than a rubber jacket.
You can use any wire with sizes:
.010" (0.25 mm)
#34, .006" (0.15 mm)
.015" (0.38 mm)
#32, .008" (0.20 mm)
.020" (0.50 mm)
#31, .009" (0.23 mm)
.031" (0.78 mm)
#29, .011" (0.28 mm)
.082" (2.08 mm)
#26, .018" (0.46 mm)
.125" (3.18 mm)
#23, .023" (0.58 mm)
Just check out Amazon or eBay and get any wire within the sizes range.
If you can use uninsulated wire for the repair, a single strand of a small gauge stranded wire can be used. Strip back the insulation of the stranded wire and clip off one strand. It's a simple solution when you don't have a ready supply of magnet wire.
It's also useful for delicate repairs because it is ultraflexible and doesn't easily conduct enough heat to the opposite end of the wire when you are soldering. So if you solder one end... then while soldering the second end the first solder joint won't easily melt and come lose.