Hobbyist soldering of USB C connectors

[rea5245]

I'm still using mini-B USB connectors in my hobby projects because soldering a USB C connector looks really hard to do. Has anyone attempted hand-soldering those things?

[ataradov]

It depends on the connector type. Something like this https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33004501788.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.731b1f99ZY9xkN is very easy to solder by hand. The pins are well exposed and accessible.

There are others that are impossible to solder without reflow soldering or hot air and those are hard to do by hand, mostly because quality control is virtually impossible.

[sleemanj]

If you are only using for power then there are 6 pin variants of the sockets which only expose power and CC pins (you can even get 2 pin ones that only expose power but I don't think that would be very compliant)

Similarly there are reduced pin count sockets for doing only USB-2 over Type-C

[ve7xen]

There are also THT USB2 only connectors available. e.g. I have used GCT USB4085-GF-A. It's about the finest pitch THT part I've seen (0.85mm), but still pretty easy to hand solder. Even some SMT micro-B footprints are pretty difficult to hand solder, with the very short tails partially hidden under the structure, same problem with USB-C.

[Alex Eisenhut]

I know, not really what you asked, but I am very lazy and like things like these

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/353810684688

[rea5245]

I know, not really what you asked, but I am very lazy and like things like these

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/353810684688

That would be fine for hobby projects. Though it would be so much easier to use if they had put through holes in it.

[sleemanj]

Off topic, but in writing my post I checked LCSC to make sure I wasn't mis-remembering, less than 2 hours later I get an email from AliExpress '"usb c connector pcb" picks'

[DrG]

I know, not really what you asked, but I am very lazy and like things like these

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/353810684688

That would be fine for hobby projects. Though it would be so much easier to use if they had put through holes in it.

I would expect that those are out there also https://www.amazon.com/Treedix-Type-C-Breakout-Connector-Converter/dp/B096M2HQLK/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=usb+c+breakout+board&qid=1641085774&sr=8-3 , although I have not gotten around to adding a few.

[NorthernWing]

https://lcsc.com/product-detail/USB-Connectors_XUNPU-TYPEC-304J-BCP16_C2835315.html

I've been using these for everything - they're good for USB 2.0 over a Type-C connector and are quit easy to solder down.  You get power, D+/D-, and SBU/CC.  There are power-only connectors out there too if you're just trying to get power to a board.  Watch out for the length of the shield pins on these, most of them are short which I'm assuming is intended for an 0.8mm PCB.

Most of the fully populated Type-C connectors have a row of SMT pins underneath the connector body which I've given up on trying to assemble by hand at this point.

[Hydron]

Some of the fully populated mixed SMT/THT parts might be doable by hand without much bother - the THT bit means no hidden SMT pads underneath. e.g. https://www.we-online.com/catalog/en/COM_3_1_THR_SMT_TYPE_C_RECEPTACLE_HORIZONTAL

[eugene]

I haven't tried USB C connectors, but one trick I have used to solder SMD micro HDMI connectors to prototype PCBs is to put some solder on the PCB pads first with a soldering iron (and a microscope.) Then hold the part in question on top of the solder blobs and use a hot air rework tool to 'reflow' the solder.

I understand that a hot air tool is not something that most hobbyists have, but it is not out of reach if this is something that you are serious about. I use something like this and it works well enough https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001954545890.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.363c37372kx3U2&algo_pvid=0a3e62bb-61ac-4e28-a1a7-ec12cd2c7f34&aem_p4p_detail=2022010410061911848516281394910036327671&algo_exp_id=0a3e62bb-61ac-4e28-a1a7-ec12cd2c7f34-34&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000018214832490%22%7D&pdp_pi=-1%3B121.5%3B-1%3BUSD+118.95%40salePrice%3BUSD%3Bsearch-mainSearch There are less (and more) expensive devices available, but I cannot testify to their suitability.