How To Desolder With Hot Air Without Melting Nearby Components

[@dalepres1]

I'm retired but I spent many years in electronic repair from before hot-air workstations were even a thing through the introduction of leadless, Small outline, and other component miniaturization. But I still learned a lot of great ideas in this video. Even as an expert, having done this kind of work for many years, in retirement I have thrown away a lot of electronics that could have been fixed. So, along with desoldering tips, what I learned most from this video is perseverance and thinking a problem through, and to not let it whip you. As I set up now as a hobbyist, I hope I can be as determined as you are in this video and don't take failure as an option.

[@MilkyWayHeroz]

I just want to say thank you. Your channel is a treasure trove for me. I love undertaking electronic repair however there are things I'm not that good at, hot air desoldering is one of them but this video sure does helps.

[@janpisa666]

Add some low melt solder to all pins and and then hotair from behind (no parts on bottom of the board) should do the work easily (lift HDMI with pliers, when solder melts). That's a way almost every technician I have seen do this type of a job. ;-)

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I made a video about this - low melt solder (ie chip quick) vs 60:40 solder.From my experience It does not help in the case of connectors such as HDMI and USB. It is very good for unsoldering IC kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6LCc6V9jpl8o9E Check it aout and let me know your thoughts

[@grahambambrook313]

Hi Rich, there is a guy on YT who has a neat way of desoldering stuff like this. I think his channel is 'MrSolderfix' or similar and he uses a thick copper wire to connect all pins together using fresh solder then uses that to heat all at the same time to extract the offending article. He then uses braid to clear the holes afterwards. It looks very neat, though I've not had an opportunity to try it myself. May be worth looking at if you've never tried this method, though big ground planes are still an issue, maybe. Hope it helps.

[@supermick83]

I use his technique regularly now at work on the more heavy duty stuff like traffos and coils. Works great. I used a paperclip bent to shape also works great

[@mikebond6328]

I saw that video also. Technique works great. Ingenious.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Is that any different in principle to bridging all the pins with leaded solder. I will admit I never tried it (yet)

[@aziztcf]

​@@LearnElectronicsRepairsame principle, better heat transfer i guess

[@034G63EVO]

I also recommend giving MrSolderfix a watch. I have been watching his videos for a while now and some of his techniques have really helped me a lot. A true soldiering artist. I really enjoy the LER videos as well!

[@SwapPartLLC]

There is nothing better than a vacuum desoldering gun for this. I have a Hakko FR301 and it's a real game changer. I still would preheat and use the leaded solder like you did because there's so much copper.

[@mattbentley8958]

I have the Hakko too, and it works really well. I see all of these professionals on KZbin going through all kinds of trouble to remove things that would take seconds with a good quality desoldering tool. I don't understand why they don't use one. Northridge fix is using a hand powered solder sucker to clean up holes after removing the component instead of just doing it all in one step. Good tools pay for themselves.

[@SwapPartLLC]

@@mattbentley8958 I watch Northridge Fix too, and I always say the same thing. He loves his manual solder sucker, but you couldn't pay me to go back to that after getting the FR301.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@mattbentley8958 I tried first with the SS-331H but it wasn't clearing the holes well. I think at 15 seconds of hot air plus the preheater it came off pretty well to be honest

[@advancedleveldiagnostics]

I have the Hakko as well, it makes easy work on this type of connector.

[@marcellipovsky8222]

Hi Richard, what is the part number of the PCB? I noticed that there are often fully working boards for cheap on ebay. (you know, screens get broken more often than the boards)

[@FerniDeck]

I loved Proskit ss 331 !😄--One the best tools in my Garmin Deck repair shop.

[@GeorgeEllis-q1u]

I find that Chip Quik desoldering solder which is largely composed of bismuth works well without having to use excessive heat that can damage the PCB. Use it with solder wick and lots of liquid flux. Been using this for years and don't have to wait for the board to be heated up.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I made a video about this exact topic. Chip Quik is very good for some tasks but does not help (anymore than adding leaded solder does) for jobs like this. Check out the video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/i6LCc6V9jpl8o9E

[@tonysheerness2427]

Does the length of the HDMI socket matter as long as it makes contact with the board and a cable makes contact with the socket?

[@vejza1108]

I usually just use flush cutters to physically remove the outer shied, that piece of metal is a huge heatsink, especially because it's always connected to a ground plane. Remaining pins are real easy to remove, just heat it, pull it out with some tweezers, and it leaves clean hole in 90% of the cases. Then remove the inner piece by flooding the pins with leaded solder and blasting it with some hot air, and then clean everything up with some copper wire/copper braid and a lot of flux. Works like a charm.

[@rickytomatoes]

Would Kapton tape do the trick, or is it overkill?

[@stevosteve]

Once again I never stop learning. I needed to have seen this just 24hrs ago before I needed to replace a number of slider faders on a lighting desk because each slider had quite a heavy metal casing and each slider was in close proximity the is neighbour. I now realise I needed to continue pursuing the lead solder/desolder/solder/desolder routine. I replaced them ok but . . . .hmmmmm . . . . it wasnt pleasant. Great video yet again.

[@Blinkerd00d]

I use a few pieces of copper tape to cover the surrounding components. Using foil like you do is pretty smart tho bc you can keep reusing the same piece. Would the customer be ok with you using the shorter hdmi connector and dremel out the plastic on the bezel large enough to fit an hdmi cable down into? Assuming the correct connector cannot be found.

[@edwardrogers-wright1604]

Could low melt solder have helped? I would use a vacuum pump on the underside instead of a braid. I admire your array of tools ...

[@jackipiegg]

15:00 Its going to be a hard time finding an exact port, just get a short extension and hot glue it in place, meaning the hdmi female wire will be outside of the TV port, not a big deal since its behind the TV.

[@SwapPartLLC]

In my personal experience, it's never a good idea to hack or Jerryrig something for a customer. They'll rip it out, tearing pads off the board, and they'll blame you for it even though they agreed to you fixing it that way.

[@jprourke1222]

I wonder if laying down kapton tape on the surrounding components might help too; pretty much impervious to heat, and if you did happen to get the SMDs hot enough to melt their solder connections, the tape should help keeping those components in place, keep them from tombstoning etc

[@FantaBH]

It really seems to me that you genuinely enjoy everything you do related to electronics. Thumbs up from me and ofc I indeed subbed long time ago.

[@alanbenson1505]

I make covers for the parts I don't want to melt out of old soda or beer cans. Works very well. They just pop over a part like a tea cosy does with a teapot. You just have to be careful when cutting the cans into sheets that you can mould.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

There are various ways to do this of course and there is no definitive right way or wrong way, just whatever works best for you 🙂 Thanks for the suggestion.

[@alanbenson1505]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair Spot on, Rich. All the different techniques are like having extra strings to your bow.

[@paparoysworkshop]

Because it is so hard to find parts, this is why I salvage so many different connectors and even have boxes of old circuit boards just in case I need that odd part for a repair.

[@barrymerridan5891]

Mr solderfix has some great ideas, he would solder a piece of copper wire around the outside, adding low melt solder, and across the middle then use heat gun and it will fall out.

[@barrymayson2492]

The part number sounds like a manufacturers pick number. So it would not show up on Google. Great video I will definitely use some of your techniques in the work shop. I usually get put off with smd stuff . Thanks for your time and work in the video, from not so sunny Spain.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

I searched on AliExpress for HDMI socket and Vertical HDMI Socket but no joy. The weather isn't too bad at the moment, it is a bit cloudy but still 24C day and minimum 18C night It will get better towards the weekend, sunny 27C Saturday 😁 www.accuweather.com/en/es/maspalomas/303036/daily-weather-forecast/303036

[@Janktzoni]

Could you share what height the connector must be please?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Hi. The connector is 13mm to the top excluding the lugs that go into the pcb and 10mm to the 'bunny ears'

[@SwapPartLLC]

Back when I did TV repair, I had a bin full of scrap board and could always find stuff like that. You probably can find an HDMI connector with the correct height and footprint, just without the wings. I doubt it would make much difference.

[@turin357]

Yeah this is a name brand LG tv, I do this on the side and I have 3 boards I could pull that exact connector off of. I insulated the roof in my garage, so i just take a short drywall screw and screw the boards to the ceiling so scan through them for parts quick and I dont waste time soldering stuff i may never use.

[@JuanGelogo]

Aluminum foil trick works great, make a simple hear shield wire frame to hold it and viola no problems

[@Lightrunner.]

Hi Ricgard,, good work. Without preheat it is more difficult to desoldier. Ive the same one 👍👍👍👍

[@bobsbits5357]

hi them ports are a right pain to deal with i used the old 3 rca ports my self not likley to rip the stockets

[@antigravity8247]

Desolder with low melt solder paste, very easy!

[@kendexter]

i use a tinfoil with a poked hole for the component sometimes when desoldering chips. modified a lot of Mercedes ECU`s with this method

[@alexluz7023]

low melt solder is a good friend...

[@musicsoundelectronics5590]

You have to use a board preheater from underneath and then come in from the top with your hot air gun. With a bit of trial and error on a scrap board, you can determine the correct time and temperature settings to do this with no damage to components. You shouldn't have to foil or capton tape anything. They don't when the board is built. It just goes in a conveyor belt oven that ramps up heat and cools down. The oven is programmed with the appropriate ramp-up time, critical heat time, and cool down time.

[@polonavarro6177]

I have the same proskit desolder is a life saver.i recommend You to use 138 degrees solder past .i use it to remover HDMI frol consoles put it on the tip of Your soldering iron the apply it to the pins. With flux on it. Thats should be off in 1-2 min. Wow .15 seconds. I don't have a pre heater

[@LIOTBs]

Hey there, that was fun thank you. But I was thinking is it possible to take the USB connectors apart themselves and switch out the internals and just put the good internal in the good proper frame.

[@anonymoususer3835]

Do you have a video explaining the component sizes? Such as a 201

[@patrickcardon1643]

For desoldering pins, when the desoldering gun and the braid are not working well enough, I got a little toolbox of those tubes of different diameters made from a metal the solder doesn't stick to. Hold it over the soldered pin, heat up and push it down. In a lot of cases it will allow to detach the pin from the board when it cools down. Cheap too. Not a solution for those flat connector pins though

[@SwapPartLLC]

That sound quite useful. Do you know what they're called?

[@smartechsolutions1860]

Yes what are they called I needed as well

[@B24Fox]

Metal/aluminium foil si the absolute WORST thing you can shield components with. It's a thermal conductor (not an isolator), so it heats up like hell, and melts everything it touches. 2-3 layers of paper masking tape + 1 layer capton tape on top, is the best cheap way to go. And it's reusable as well. Also, pliers are really not recommended for lifting up a connector/part. If the component still hangs on by one stubborn pin, you'll rip that pad in an instant. Use tweezers, to give your hand better feel for possible resistance.

[@arvetemecha]

Isn't the aluminium foil used as a radiator, to dissipate the heat so the other parts of the board will not reach high temperature and melt plastics and destroy other components?

[@B24Fox]

@@arvetemecha Aluminium is a good thermal conductor. What that means, is that it very easily picks up changes in thermal energy, and passes them on. What you want is a thermal insolator, aka something that opposes thermal change. So it isolates one side from the other... like we use clothes to isolate ourselves from the cold, but also not let our warmth get transmitted out. The reason we use aluminium as radiators, is exactly why you don't want it to be used here: it very easily transmits temperature from one side to the other. And also keep in mind, that a radiator has to be cooled in order to get rid of it's heat. It doesn't magically make it disappear.

[@GoFlyYourselves]

I can't tell but if the outer metal jacket is the only difference, I personally would consider swapping it with the shorter one. If it's a problem and that HDMI is more important (main input) I would consider swapping the good plug up and put the other one on the other position. Hopefully you already found a solution by now.

[@tomluque]

FYI , I did not notice the KADA Rework Station 853B posted in your list of links. Is the max heat 350C ?

[@anonhollmuller4032]

lead free solder is a nightmare for repair. you shuld stock up your supply;) And i would open the cover just wide enough to fit the plug t(h?)ru(e?) ;) It would be a bennift to the savety of the connector. Sorry for my poor english.

[@deedeelabricolade]

Those damn spare parts... had luck once by taking a close picture and using google lens... best of luck and thanks for sharing your experience! Oh btw, are you happy with your preheater? Any upgrade recommendation?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Yeah have used the KADA853B many times, often on this channel, and it works well. An IR preheater would probably work better on larger boards but I don't have one right now

[@KiR_3d]

What if I have no "warming station"? My first attempt could be to make a constant pulling force from the connector's side while warming and pushing it's pins from the other side. The pulling force could be provided by two alligator clips plus some metal spring attached to the clips. Thus you could warm up pins locally and provide the constant lifting movement in the same time. Will this work, how do you think?

[@wibbley1]

more likely to rip the pcb tracks off.

[@KiR_3d]

@@wibbley1 I was thinking about some light springs :) I've didn't mentioned it. Just to have some force so it will be moving in the proper direction while you're making solder joints liquid.

[@wibbley1]

@@KiR_3d Problem being, if all legs solder does not melt at the same time, the legs that are still soldered will take all the weight and the track could be pulled from the board.

[@KiR_3d]

@@wibbley1 Are you sure that tracks are so fragile? They're under a layer of lacquer plus copper itself is glued to a textolite. You need some noticeable force to rip it off AFAIK.

[@KiR_3d]

@@wibbley1 also you can connect two light springs on sides :) So if you're right about that assumption then it must help to redistribute a possible stressload.

[@chrishartley1210]

I looked at all of JAE's hdmi connectors, there's nothing like that so my guess is that it is a special for LG, possibly made by someone else.

[@scotthibbs]

I did too. Same result. Next time I'll read comments first. :)

[@rdson1621]

Tipp for the hot air suction gun: flip the board and work with gravity, not against!

[@lenkagamine9092]

if you cant find a new one of those connectors why not try taking off that metal casing and putting it onto the one that you do have? it will take some work but if the broken one doesnt work why not just seperate it and put it on the other one? I have no idea how hard it will be though :D

[@danieljohnson8437]

I'll try that?. THX.DAN

[@SlyerFox666]

A lot of the time you get a very similar issue with usb connectors, so I've resorted to buying a male to female extension for which ever connector make a small plate with hole an grommet in middle slide the end you want coming out the plate feed it through the existing plug hole blank it off with the plate and just hard wire the cut off end to the board to keep the functionality, for a practical work around to fix the job and not turn it into wasted landfill just for the sake of one female.... Socket. 👍

[@andrewsz8552]

Hi Richard, Did I miss the PART 6 of "Graphics Card Step By Step Fault Finding Guide - How To Repair GPU Faulty / Not Found" or haven't you published it so far?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

No I got distracted with a few things but it is coming soon

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

I'd use some "Det cord" but would not expect much of the board to remain usable😂😅 Might have tried a small cutting disk and grind the connector away?

[@Authoratah]

Less yapping....more soldering

[@1337GameDev]

Hmm, for connectors, wouldn't it be better to just take right-angle snips and just cut off parts of the connector, and then go in with a soldering iron for the remainder?

[@leadingauctions8440]

How much do you charge to fix a broken off fan port on a PS5 motherboard?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Where are you?

[@leadingauctions8440]

@@LearnElectronicsRepair GA.

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

@@leadingauctions8440 I'm in Gran Canaria so I expect the postage would be expensive

[@sanolivo6867]

I desolder hundreds of comments per month and I have never ever added. More solder to the old one. All I do is brush on a bit of flux to the pins. And the solder melts and get sucked out by the desoldering gun

[@canalcomentario]

excelent

[@LifeChanger_._]

Could have heated from the under the board, nothing there but solder joints, its how i remove all my connectors like this, if possible.

[@RaviThakoer]

NEVER did I know before about SMD trafos THIS SMALL!

[@de-bodgery]

You should have gone right to the aluminum foil! since that's the title of your video. I was hoping for something clever, I've used strips of steel can as heat shields. But foil works too.

[@FPV777]

Отличный видос, все очень понятно и очень полезно 😮😃😃😃

[@JayC-fb1ri]

Chipquik??

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

No good for connectors such as HDMI and USB - I made a whole video about this

[@NIFUable]

Not trying to be mean but with preheating that board you could just easily desolder that component within 2 minutes without using solder wick or tape. Just heat it from the backside.

[@anthony4acre]

good desoldering skills, Its all junk electronics today.

[@tenlittleindians]

The problem with engineers is they like to design stuff rather than use off the shelf components.

[@CrispyCircuits]

In programming it's called "Roll your own". Pretty highly discouraged since you don't have the time to endlessly debug your own crap work enough. As you can see in so many brand new and improved web sites that don't work, it's good advice! But not as much fun, though.

[@TheBypasser]

Depends, as the price tag/availability matter. As for the programming, if we don't take some web stuff and other things involving toy languages, the true low-level code is clearly worth the effort of writing it on your own - saves ton of optimization time, along with the spaghetti callstacks so popular among the newschool copy-n-paste fans.

[@genfix]

Are the bunny ears transferrable in some way? Also, what are the dimensions of the port? You could probably get the same dimensions but that bizarre shape is most likely Samsung proprietary BS

[@kdog3908]

That was my thought. The metal part of the damaged HDMI connector seems intact. I wonder how hard it would be to remove it and transplant it onto the undamaged HDMI connector as the pins and body are part of the plastic section.

[@anthonydenn4345]

Could you not just fit the short connector, then use a short HDMI extension lead. Like the leads that come with apple firesticks. Or whatever there called 😄.

[@willthomsen7569]

Throw a couple nylon washers under there extend the pins and throw that sucker in lol

[@bluethunder7814]

i think he would of been better to just to get another bourd of ebay as he still goto pay you for the repair and the hdmi part thanks for the video

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Possibly, but not my decision. I've no idea how much a replacement board is, I never looked. I quoted €40 plus the cost of the connector. The client only brought the board, not the TV so I don't have to take time taking it apart and putting it back together again or testing it.

[@chrishartley1210]

Although it sounds like a good plan initially, that route can be a nightmare. Manufacturers constantly change the LCD panels. For each type of panel you need a matching TCON board. And for each TCON board the main board needs the matching firmware. I've been down this route before and got nowhere. You could get a board and remove the HDMI connector from it!

[@gorky_vk]

@@chrishartley1210 if you already have two boards what stop you from flashing firmware from one to another? At least for now all of them use some type of 25qxxx which is easy to swap or just read and than flash on replacement board.

[@chrishartley1210]

@@gorky_vk That very much depends on the manufacturer. On Vestel boards it is held in a bootstrap area of the main storage. In such a case the only sensible solution is to scrap the TV and never buy a Vestel TV ever again.

[@any1ne]

Пропаять сплавом Розе, и потом горячим феном выпаять.

[@vasyapupkin9927]

Знакомые проблемы😀. Но большая часть дела сделана.

[@somewaresim]

Low-melt solder would be your friend here?

[@LearnElectronicsRepair]

Actualy no. I made a video about this and it works no better than adding leaded solder if you are trying to desolder HDMI and USB connectors. It is very good for removing IC

[@michaelangellotti5741]

You need to maintain your solder tips better than what I saw.

[@kerbalette156]

Waiting for a jacket potato to appear with all that tin foil

FFS! Just heat from underneath! Patience, moderate heat and flow and just take it from behind!

[@nexxusty]

Kapton tape. Saved you 15 mins.

[@mrBDeye]

Use a desoldering bulb or desoldering sucker. It’s the best method to removing components.

[@hopelessnerd6677]

Chipmunk. It's a life saver. Then use low temp solder to put the connector back on.

[@balduinlefterov5927]

It is easier to use a low temperature solder, for example 138 or 145 degrees Celsius.

[@dimitrismaster]

As a professional repair man i recommend not to accept such jobs.As we all know,when working on electronics aspecially microsoldering,anything can gow wrong.So unless a tv main board has only one hdmi port and its is broken,its not worth the risk of ruin an otherwise perfeclty working tv.And as we all know,tv main boards can be expensive ,if you can find one available that is..

[@TheMono25]

It seems like you're trying so hard not to say " yeah " every Sentence 😂 but anyway could u do a video on repairing ssd connection all the pins snapped on it and 2x pads came off the pcb on the data pin side of the connectors I have a new connector to solder on but I'm struggling to work out what to do with the missing pads I don't have a high tec lab just a normal cheap soldering station with temp control and a fluke multimeter all I need is for it to work for 10min to recover my data

[@g4z-kb7ct]

Heh yeah that's the problem with high-density connectors nowadays... they are custom made for a specific product and you can't get spares. This is "by design" and the manufacturers know that ;-)

[@leso204]

dear oh dear what a pantomime .....................

[@preytec]

noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[@neoris7833]

I remove it only using lighter !!! No hot air No solder sucker!

[@cardboardboxification]

what type of lighter , one with a flame, or the noisy torch type?

[@TatharNuar]

If you haven't found a match for 15:00 you might have better luck asking on r/AskElectronics.