I bought a pirate radio kit a while back, just got around to soldering it up. I soldered the header on the wrong side, removed it and near the process of cleaning up the solder, I was unable to remove some of it from around one pin. It’s spread out to the point that is going to short that pin out once I put on a new header. I have a photo of the issue if anyone has any suggestions? I’ve never encountered this issue before when desoldering anything. Is it possible this a manufacturing defect?
There are a couple of ways to clean that up. Heat the solder up so it’s melted, then quickly wipe the area with a damp sponge. Wipe towards the edge of the board. The one you use to clean your solder tip will do nicely.
If you have some desoldering braid, also called solder wick, that will work. https://shop.pimoroni.com/collections/tools/products/desoldering-wick
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuH3dWHipKI
Or a solder sucker, if you have one. https://shop.pimoroni.com/collections/tools/products/solder-sucker-with-silicone-nozzle
Will try the sponge method, have attempted to wick it up a few times already. Also tried adding solder to that location and wicking it up, there’s always a thin layer that stays behind.
Haven’t tried the solder sucker yet, will probably pick up that one and give it a shot.
I have the solder sucker I linked too above. I find it works very well. Its what I use to unsolder headers etc.
Thanks, was able to get the solder cleaned up with a combo of the sponge and adding solder to it and letting it pool on the via.
Finished up soldering a new header on and sadly it appears I’ve either damaged the board or have a bum board. The volume up button is permanently pushed and the lights don’t light up. Will reflow the solder on the header to be sure.
Thank you for your help.
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It looked a little rough in the picture to be honest. I was thinking there might be damage. How did you remove the original header? Solder wick? It’s pretty tough to do without a solder sucker. Assuming you plan to reuse the header.
The last time I installed Pirate Radio (vlc radio) via the one line installer it started up at full volume. I was able to turn it down though.
Yeah, it was a solder wick after I snipped the header off. There was a lot of flux left over which might be what you see. That said, there was some damage to a couple of the vias. My guess is solder got in and perhaps soldered a via to the ground plain. Just a guess. Regardless, I’ve a new one on the way and will have a new key chain.
Appreciate the help and will get the solder sucker. I consider this matter closed at this point. :)
It happens, I fried one Pi Zero W by not paying attention to what I was doing.
It you end up in a similar situation down the road. What I would do is carefully remove the black plastic part of the header. Once you get it moving it should slid off the pins. Then just unsolder each pin one by one. They pretty well should just fall out. Skip a pin or two when doing it. Do every second pin, then go back and do the ones you skipped. It spreads the heat out so there is less chance of damaging the circuit board. ;)