On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 11:21 AM, Jonathan Hallameyer wrote: >> There are a bunch of chips, in SOIC and TQFP that I'd like to be able to use in my breadboarding. I can get the little adapter boards that convert to SIP or DIP locally. >> >> Tips on soldering these things, please? I have a heat-controlled Weller soldering iron, with a fine tip. > > SOIC is very doable by hand and with minimal to no magnification, just > tack one corner, to a pretinned pad, tack the opposite and work down > the rest of the pins, alternating sides to keep from overheating. > > TQFP, I would suggest loading a solderwick with solder, dragging it > over the pads with the iron on top of it to tin it (extra flux will be > needed) put the chip down, line it up, tack the corners with the > tinning. Add a good bit of flux, and you can use the tinned solder > wick and iron again to solder all the leads. > If you get really good at this you can do it without solder wick. Look up "vertical drag technique" on youtube. - ML -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist