Thanks all for the pointers. I do have kapton tape on order.
I think I may go for the SRA alloy 4.5ft for $21. May last a long time.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121716224906

Thanks.

Chetan Bhargava
http://microz.blogspot.com

On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 4:41 AM, Sean Breheny <shb7@cornell.edu> wrote:

> Just to correct myself, ChipQuik seems to be 21% Indium:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusible_alloy
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 7:37 AM, Sean Breheny <shb7@cornell.edu> wrote:
>
> > While I think that using one of these low-melting-point alloys would be
> > the most certain method for removing this connector without damaging th=
e
> > pads, I think that there are several other ways to do it more cheaply. =
Is
> > it not possible to flood all of the pins with molten solder at once? A
> > hot-air tool as Trevor suggested would also work, with care and possibl=
e
> > shielding to adjacent components.
> >
> > The solder used in the Chip-Quik kit is about 50% Indium, I believe.
> > Indium is expensive, about $3 per gram at present commodity prices, and
> for
> > such solder a very pure grade is probably needed so it might be even mo=
re
> > expensive. I'd estimate that 16 feet of this solder, with a 0.062 inch
> > diameter, contains about $10 to $20 of Indium. Considering the cost of
> the
> > rest of the manufacturing process, packaging, markup, etc., it's not
> > surprising that the final item costs $100.
> >
> > I do see that Amazon sells a Chip-Quik kit (with only 1 foot of solder,
> > but that's plenty for your task) for US $15.
> >
> > Sean
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 1:58 AM, Trevor <piclist@sentry.org> wrote:
> >
> >> Chetan Bhargava wrote:
> >> > My objective is to remove a micro USB connector without harming the
> >> pads.
> >>
> >> Hot air gun? I've removed an SMT micro USB connector before without a
> >> problem after shielding nearby SMT components with Kapton tape.
> >>
> >> --
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> >
> >
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