SMD Cap Removal: A New Safe Method?

[@nickconnor8667]

only issue i can see with this is you might get some toxic fumes from the boiling fluids so just make sure the area is well ventilated, other wise cool method.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thats a very very good point. I have pinned your comment for visibility

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Only one other method could be safer in that respect but that method dare not speak it's name.

[@spazkong]

I'm not new to servicing my own music and computer equipment and have had some success and a few mishaps. This channel is possibly providing the most helpful, informative and truthful electronics repair tutorials I have ever seen. Thanks MFMI

[@dempseydiscus]

I used to use hot air but since I saw the KZbinr Chris, using the snipping method, I've done the same and never looked back since. No risk of broken pads or blowing tiny components out of place with a hot air gun. In my mind snipping caps is the most safe way of removing SMD caps.

[@Spiderelectron]

Those caps were initially installed using a reflow oven, so are designed to support living in hot air. However, one other option would be to use ChipQuick low-melt solder. It stays molten for ages giving you lots of time to remove the cap using a single solering iron. You must wuck away the left over when done, but you'd be doing that anyway.

[@leonkiriliuk]

ChipQuick is too expensive and leaves a mess behind to clean up. ChipQuick != solder - you need to make sure none of it is left behind.

[@JustInspiredKent]

Brilliant. I have always approached these pretty nervously. I think a fume extractor would be in order though. Even if the fumes are odourless, doesn't mean they'll be harmless. :)

[@adampiorkowski2625]

I'm just glad I learnt something new for future repairs, last thing I need is a hospital visit.

[@OctavMandru]

What I recently do is use a hot plate to preheat the board below the solder melt point and desolder with hot air. It is quick and stress free. A hot air preheating station(rework station) is probably even better but my bench space cannot take another station. Heating the board slowly is crucial for not stressing it. Added benefit: you can fit new components very easy. Next layer: thermal profiles

[@RetrogradeScene]

I've wanted a hot air rework station since i was about 10 I should really get around to actually getting one.

[@WinrichNaujoks]

$50 from Gina!

[@KoopaMedia64]

I just wanted to say, the video thumbnail is a total scream, I love it

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thanks!

[@cbmeeks]

For something as important as an A1200 or A600, I always preheat the board on a low setting, use good Kapton tape around other components and just take my time. Must of the issues people have are because they are in a hurry and do sloppy work. Just use heat, preheat the board, tape off plastics and you will be fine.

[@MaggieKeizai]

"A grim and smelly hole" is my new favorite phrase.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I'll order the t-shirts!

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

Looks fine. I learned hot air from Louis Rossmann's old repair videos using plenty of flux to deal with oxidation and water+ damage, with generous heat, but then you also have to ultrasonic clean the board afterward.

[@retrobitstv]

Great idea, I will definitely have to try this next time! I love the shot of the caps immediately starting to bubble away the instant hot air is applied like some crazy cooking experiment gone horribly wrong.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

It doesn't taste like toffee!

[@detalite]

I recently bought Handskit T12 soldering tweezers ($80). Original tips were too big, and they needed some free space on PCB, so i replaced them with T12-J02 (T12-JL02 will be better to >3mm smd components). For now i desoldered ~50 SMD electrolytic capacitors, and must tell they are working fine.

[@dantootill]

I used hot air when I recapped my A600, but I did add some flux paste around the leads before heating. That freed them fairly quickly so the fear of them exploding was largely mitigated.

[@briangoldberg4439]

i just twist them off. if the legs of the caps are damaged with electrolyte, it actually helps the twist because they are weak and snap off quickly and with little force. you typically have to go back through and remove the ends of the legs with a soldering iron, but nbd. i use hot air for a lot of stuff, but it's way overkill to drag it out for SMD caps IMHO

[@tonyfishlock7240]

Cheers, Lee. I might try this when I get around to my 1200 😊

[@iiidiy]

Nice work - always good to experiment and have new twists on old methods! (no pun intended)

[@electronash]

I used to snip through the cap with sharp side-cutters years ago. But I almost always use the hot air station now. If you use a smaller nozzle, you can get the majority of the heat onto the pads/legs, and minimize the risk of a cap popping. I've replaced hundreds of caps using hot air over the years, and only ever had a cap pop maybe *twice* in all that time. Obviously always wear safety squints. Also just need a bit a bit patient with the hot air on some components / boards, or on pads with thicker ground planes / lots of vias to inner layers. If the board went through wave soldering, they will often add a small dab of glue under the component on the underside of the board. So you have to judge when the solder has reflowed with the hot air, before using just a bit more force to break bond with the glue. With these older boards, or just anything with cheaper PCBs or corrosion, I would always try to use hot air to remove stuff now. I have to say, punching a hole in the top of the caps is a great idea. ;) The board will need to be cleaned either way (hopefully with IPA or similar), so the extra fish juice isn't too much of a problem.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

The goop never made it to the board. The worst part of it was the mess it made of my tweezers! Nasty stuff but cleaned up ok

[@paulklasmann1218]

When reapplying solder to the pads, its best to put solder on one pad. Then some flux. Hold component in place with tweezers then flow the joint. Then solder the other pad. That way the component sits flat on the PCB. Its quick, easy and the professional way to do it.

[@WhatHoSnorkers]

Lovely job Lee!

[@barrymayson2492]

I have a great amount of decaping to do on an expensive analyzer about 100 .😮. So will definitely try your method. I use kapton tape to hold small components on the board. Also there is a sort of bodge technic that i us in rare circumstances, that is if pad track starts to lift use a sharp scalpel to cut the trace as close as you can get to the components. It gives you an easier time to put new pad or track. It's not always possible but worth trying. Thanks on video and your time, good luck with the auctions.

[@norwegianfix1831]

Done it like this a couple of times. Works like a charm, but sceptical for the fumes.

[@tehFoxx0rz]

I've had a good track record with Adrian Black's method of rocking them from side-to-side while pushing down on them, to fatigue the legs without tugging on the pads too directly. I've found that no amount of heat can get through some levels of corrosion.

[@felixokeefe]

There is a 6th option. Thin stainless steel spatulas in a variety of shapes. These can be used to slip under one leg of a SMD component while you heat that leg with a soldering iron. The solder will not stick to the spatula. Then just melt the solder of the remaining leg and slide the component off.

[@derekfellowes4480]

I use hot air it always makes me jump even though I know it’s going to pop , great idea piercing the lids of them 👍

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I really dont like things going bang unexpectedly.

[@KoopaMedia64]

I once recapped a PAL Amiga 600 and honestly I think the original PC Engine Duo is a more laborious and difficult system to recap of the same vintage, over 50 SMD caps to replace. What's worse is the old caps usually leak and destroy sections of the board so there's going to be trace and via hole repair on top of new caps.

[@TechMadeEasyUK]

I'm here for the comments, popcorn at the ready

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I knew what I was starting :D

[@electronash]

Great, now you made me want to try popping some popcorn kernels with the hot air station. lol

[@linuxjedivideo]

Interesting idea. I normally dual-wield myself and have a pretty safe way of doing it with the A600s and A1200s I work on. But when I occasionally need to use hot air instead, I'll consider this.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Let me know how you get on with a heavily corroded example please Andrew.

[@linuxjedivideo]

@@MoreFunMakingIt the heavily corroded is where I usually use hot air. But sometimes use a combination of fibre pen and flux with braid to remove the top level corrosion before dual-wield. Where I use hot air, the capacitor is usually pretty empty already.

[@jonathanwhiteside6092]

It's funny, the minute you mentioned exploding caps, I thought "Poke a hole in the top" and then you did it 😁 Really interesting video, good stuff.

[@Zhixalom]

You make it look really easy, Lee. 👍- But what about those infamous caps near the keyboard connector and the RCAs. Those are always the ones that make me sweat. - A while back I got myself a "VEVOR T8280 PCB Board Preheater", which is great if you have to populate a larger PCB with a lot of SMDs, or for "stealing" components off scrap boards, and avoiding popcorning. The trick is to preheat the entire board, close to but not all the way up to where the solder or any plastic thingamabobs would begin melting, before using the hot-air soldering-iron to just nudge the temperature over the threshold in the area your working on to melt the solder. - However, I would be very nervous about using it with an A600 or A1200 motherboard...nope, simply wouldn't dare it! 😅

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

This footage is taken from the next video in which I go through recapping an A1200. I'll show the ones near the keyboard connector 😀

[@HeinzFichtenbauer]

As you said: Everyone has his own method of removing these caps. The pads of this Amiga 1200 looked really great, which made it easier to remove the caps. But what if the pads are already corroded? As far as I can remember you need much more heat for corroded pads. This again increases the chance to damage the PCB. And this would be much, much worse than a lifted pad. But anyway - thank you for bringing new ideas to this topic 🙂

[@CallousCoder]

I only used hot air as taught way back 34 years ago in college. But the downside is that other nearby components can also float or blow away. There’s no easy and reliable way, unfortunately with these crap caps.

[@ChadDoebelin]

Alright, this is good! I'll use this method moving forward. I've not seen it before and think that this is a much safer method.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Only thing I would say Chad is watch out for the fumes. I have done some very light research and there are mixed reports about the fluid vapours. Mostly it seems its fine but I would hate for you to poison yourself!

[@ChadDoebelin]

@@MoreFunMakingIt well, i'll make sure to not inhale any random clouds of HOT AIR, or breathe in through my mouth. 😲

[@tazfaedodge_backup]

Nice work Lee. Need to find something to have a practice on before I have a go at one of my Amigas.

[@schrodingerscat1863]

Hot air from a rework station is the only professional method for removing any surface mount component. Everything else is a hack that may work sometimes but can cause serious damage when it goes wrong. Surface mount caps are designed to withstand high temps in a reflow oven so hitting them with hot air shouldn't cause problems and they won't explode because they are designed with a weak spot that splits if pressure builds up.

[@TimsRetroCorner]

That's an interesting idea, spiking the top, I might give that a try next time. I'd be inclined to only do it with the extractor fan running though. I'm becoming a bit more of a fan of hot air desoldering - I just removed a QFP 68030 from a Mac Classic II board, that was "fun"! (Apple have a habit of gluing stuff to the board as well as soldering it!)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Glue really turns it into a game of chance. Much more tricky whatever method you're using

[@TimsRetroCorner]

@@MoreFunMakingIt Gonna call this the Trepanning Method, lol

[@QubaMichalski]

A string wrapped around a door handle. Man, your writing is getting sharper with each video! 😂

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

😁

[@cidelogic]

You could also use a small precision hand drill bit, if to much force from poking them was a concern.

[@AndrewShevchuk]

If you use low temperature solder before hot air desoldering, there will be no problem.

[@MeitsMSX]

i hadn't seen this one yet. heating from the other side of the board and using low melt solder might also work. i'll stick to my jbc nase tweezers though.

[@jimmyhillgren7479]

Yepp A600 and A1200 is some pain to do capacitor change on. One or two of them have one leg on the ground plane so you need alot of heat. For those you should use hot air while the others works like a charm with a tweezer solder iron (costly but worth it).

[@Soren_Marodoren]

I have never got any problem removing caps. It is just a mater of having enough heat. One is to have dual irons or tweezers irons. The other is to apply heat from below to get the board up to 70-100°C. Or why not do both. Big ground planes in the PCB is a pain. So, depending on the number of layers, size etc I choose tactics. Many times it is also a matter of time and to get the heat to stabilize.

[@davidbentham9586]

Also i find using solder paste makes extraction easier with hot air, a few drops on each end of the caps,.make it come off easier. You will find lower temp solder paste and a lower hot air setting less likely to destroy objects around.

[@andrewclegg9501]

2 irons, and 2 people, both know what they are doing. Heat one pad, then the friend comes in the second iron on second pad, a second later friend knocks the cap over. Whatever works for you is the right method though.

[@Toby_Q]

I wonder if snipping a corner would be better. The fluid may flow down while using the hot air, but you wouldn't have the downward jarring pressure when using the punch. There's risk using snips to cut a corner too, if you grab it wrong and apply the wrong cutting pressure you could rip the cap off, I suppose. I've seen motherboards so bad that no method would be 100% successful though, in my opinion. Some pads are loose just touching the cap. It really depends on how badly damaged the board is.

[@no1be4me2]

Copper wire wrapped around the tip of a soldering iron several times and shaped like a little fork spread right distance to touch the solder legs works really well for me when you're done slide the copper wire off and you have your sired iron back to the original state

[@PedrodAssumpção]

great idea, this should be pinned!!

[@bob-s-bit-s]

hi drill a hole in the top of them is a super plan i had away in the past side cutting them of and i get the rest of them of with the solder iron love to see how alot to do this

[@CandyGramForMongo_]

You can use a single iron with a piece of wire to heat both pads at once.

[@ChadDoebelin]

3:45 should be "dual wield", but instead you've just commanded two crazy irons to fight each other. :)

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

But which one would win?!

[@TechGuyLife]

Very Smart, nice work !

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@alf3071]

how come the plastic components don't melt in the smd oven?

[@davidmostly8410]

used to give smd milk to kids as babys used to have a very sharp cap on the lid

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

That was fast!

[@Retro4u]

angle grinders work well. :). Tbh i always used hot air have tried the tweezers.. Do whatever method works well for you. Whatever method you use. Some one will always think differently nice video and great thumbnail :)

[@АндрейАндреевич-з7т]

Thin polyimide film (aka kapton) can do the trick for you, it easily handles 300...330 °C and you can stick it underneath SMD while its still liquid

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I have had bad experiences with kapton tape. It is very heat resistant but for shielding plastic it does not do a good job. Although it is resistant it is not heat reflective, and just passes the heat straight through.

[@АндрейАндреевич-з7т]

@@MoreFunMakingIt kapton is widely used in pair with some kind of metallic foil in space industry, to prevent wrinkling/crumbling/tearing/shredding of foil. Thats what it was primarily invented for

[@paulcohen1555]

Is it okay to wash the board with distilled water and dry it? Is the electrolyte soluble in water?

[@chloemarietaylor4036]

My method is a heat gun at a 4 inch distance minimum), tweezers and goggles for eye protection. For the rarity they pop (only ever had one go on a ps1) I'd rather not be dealing with the extra and potentially hazardous? fumes of boiling electrolytic fluid despite having an extractor fan. Its bad enough I use leaded solder.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Fumes are certainly something I would like to know more about. I have found mixed reports from minor research. Probably fine but always worth having a well ventilated room. Even with just flux vapours.

[@baalaagaa]

Mmmm capacitor juice!

[@chriselliott726]

What about heating the other side of the board with hot air. Heats up the pads first rather than the caps. Works for me.

[@mrwoodandmrtin]

Very helpful. thanks!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You're welcome!

[@techfixuk]

The only thing I would really be worried about is slipping and putting a hole in the board

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

The metal of the can is very soft aluminium. The bradawl I used is very hard and sharp. As soon as you start to put pressure on there it bites into the metal and wont slip.

[@leonkiriliuk]

Hot air is the only way to replace any SMD component in modern board level repair (QFPs, connectors, ceramic caps, CPU/GPU, etc) Most people fail with hot air because they use a $50 eBay hot air station that's about as good for hot air rework as a Radio Shack $5 soldering iron is for board level repair. When you use the right tools, you get the right results.

[@joopidema]

How about using low melt solder? Never used it myself, but it seems to me, that is the easiest way?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Ive not tried that myself. But Im not sure it would be the easiest way? Certainly it would work fine on good condition solder, but I am not so sure it would be very easy to get it to work with heavily corroded solder. It would also take quite a lot longer than other methods.

[@alf3071]

what is wrong with the caps that you have to recap the board?

[@SeanChYT]

I like it. Would it be possible to suck the electrolytic juice out of them somehow before starting to heat them up? I am aware it didn't really create a big mess on the board, but perhaps some got on the tweezers? If it is something I really dislike about SMD soldering, it's having sticky tweezers. Great vid.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Thats a good idea. I wonder if you can get most of it out with a syringe?

[@SeanChYT]

@@MoreFunMakingIt I would like to try that. It would be nice if it would drip out on its own if you left the PCB upside down overnight, but the juice is too thick for that to work I guess. Maybe if you somehow could fix the board upside down, and preheat the area with the hot air gun to have the goo drip out on some tissue before starting the removal, being careful not to melt the solder and suddenly having all the board's components in a neat pile on the desk.. 🙂

[@Sctronic209]

Brilliant

[@TheRetroChannel]

Clickbait thumbnail! At no point did the presenter shink himself down and remove the caps with a microscopic shovel. I want my money back!

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Such a noob. The way I actually did it was to painstakingly build a life-size Amiga 1200 motherboard and posed for the photo on there with a completely normal sized garden fork. Seemed obvious to me!

[@pkf4124]

A friend of mine did similar with a Commodore 64

[@TheRetroChannel]

@@MoreFunMakingIt Lies! A life size Amiga 1200 board would be the same size. I'm writing a letter to KZbin post haste!

[@ffftube-le8np]

Ahahaaaa

[@djgarf1210]

hopefully you didnt melt the plastic that is inside those square filter blocks next to the caps you took off

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Im sure if they survived the oven and bath of molten solder to get them onto the board they will tolerate a little hot air not pointed at them :D

[@tototitui]

BTW why some aluminum instead of the good old kapton tape?

[@flymario8046]

Could I please be credited for that man's removal of those caps? No, I didn't think of it, but I feel like I am not getting the love I need. (I never had a cap blow up before removing them. I am sure saying that it will happen now :) )

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

I will emblazon your name across all future videos. Even ones about gardening.

[@TheRasteri]

ha! genius.

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

Who me? 🧐

[@therealyogibear2k225]

This is why I got into emulation. You don't have to recap an emulator. I haven't touched a soldering iron for about 11 years. Not missed it one iota. My eyes are too shot nowadays anyway. Any solder pad smaller than an inch an I am screwed.

[@nickolasgaspar9660]

you are missing the best part of retro computing.....servicing your systems...

[@therealyogibear2k225]

@@nickolasgaspar9660 lol no I am definitely not. I did enough soldering back in the late 80's and early 90's when I did TV and video repair. After about 1995 I never touched a soldering iron again until 2017 when I bought 4 broken ps2's to get my hand in and still see if I could still repair stuff. Yes, I could and they all worked afterwards. It was ok, but I would not do it again. I didn't really enjoy the experience. I prefer to get stuff that just works.

[@cbmeeks]

Actually....lol But seriously, I've been vocal about it in the past. I do not like seeing people break off caps on vintage hardware. I DO, however, believe people can do what they want with their hardware. That's not my issue. My issue is when "famous" KZbinrs TEACH the twist and tear method. They are teaching that method to people who DO NOT possess the actual skill these KZbinrs may have. Therefore, they are indirectly damaging vintage hardware by promoting terrible methods. Lots of discussions around the "proper" way. But I rarely see discussions on people teaching poor methods. /end of rant.

[@jeffl4810]

Bake the boards at 90-100°C overnight minimum, preferably 24h. Then use hot air... Also, use a preheater to warm the board before hitting it with hot air. A cheap kitchen skillet works wonders for hobbiest use, set to a moderate temperature. You can keep the hot air temperaure much lower that way, and not explode capacitors

[@AK-vx4dy]

Are those caps really such a problem? New untested technology?

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

They're a menace!

[@davidbentham9586]

Method i use for ps3 boards, a preheater and hot air, easy peasy.

[@zeroxception]

for the love of all thats holy please flux those pads, before laying down your solder

[@MoreFunMakingIt]

You know there's flux in the solder? And the solder you see me apply to the pads was just the make cleaning them with wick easier.

[@paulklasmann1218]

There is some terrible advice on youtube. ...and it does annoy me when people with zero soldering skills "recap" computers to sell on as "recapped" when the pads are missing or about to fall off the PCB. For SMDs tweezers are the only reliable option. Use the right tools for the job or don't do it and ruin an otherwise good computer. Hot air is harmful and overkill, especially if the PCB is not preheated. Two low power soldering irons is the next best option to decent tweezers. When using tweezers, first apply fresh leaded solder to make the job easier. The vast majority of youtube advice is garbage.

[@ChadDoebelin]

I checked out your channel, and I don't see anything. Let us know when you've put up your masterclass tutorial, and we will all check it out. We can't wait!

[@paulklasmann1218]

@@ChadDoebelin I don't make videos, no time. It sounds like you object to someone giving good advice?

[@ChadDoebelin]

@@paulklasmann1218 what? object? I was begging for more of your great advice it's too bad you're too busy to make videos. i'm so glad that you were able to make time to watch videos and make comments on them though. good stuff.

[@PROSTO4Tabal]

There is no need to weaken the board with heat, you cut caps in half and remove piece by piece. Solder new one nice n easy

[@minion7111]

Very clever, nice, I will use it for sure