I'm not a professional repairer but I've done a few motherboards. I found it wasn't so much getting the old caps out but clearing the holes afterwards was the problem. The non-groundplane side would normally clear with the iron on one side and solder sucker on the other but the groundplane hole was a real pain. I ended up using a sewing needle whilst heating the hole (with a basic Antex 25w iron!!).
Use an iron of at least 50 watts, and suck it out using wick.
Agreed, but I guess he is not going to have access to one of these. To Tim, when I said that the caps were hard to get out, I was including the whole gamut of removal problems, including clearing the holes, in that blanket statement. One problem that you can encounter when using an iron that's not hot enough to overcome the thermal drain of the groundplane on the joint, is that the thru' plating comes out of the board, on the capacitor leg. It can then be an almost impossible task to get a solid connection to any internal planes on the board, with the new cap.
Arfa
I guess I've got lucky so far. All the boards I've done (probably 4 or
5 now) have worked perfectly ever since. I might invest in some better tools if I find myself doing a lot more of these.Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
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