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How do you fix torn/worn solder pads?

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  • How do you fix torn/worn solder pads?

    Any electronics repair veteren has run into these and I'm sure there are numerous ways to address them. I'd like to hear them all.

  • #2
    If just unglued but still healthy otherwise I re glue to board with a tiny drop of clear epoxy, whatever a toothpick tip can pick.
    Soldering makes it harden and I consider them "as good as new",after all original copper was glued to original board when it was manufactured, either epoxy or phenolic.
    You may have to scratch board surface first, it will probably be covered or smeared with rosin flux, which is NOT an adhesive by any means.
    Juan Manuel Fahey

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    • #3
      Slice out the bad section and scratch off the coating of the nearest good section and run a jumper to that, or drill through a good section.
      You want a good mechanical connection to solder to.

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      • #4
        @drewl
        Damn, that's aggressive! I never drill multilayer boards.

        @J M Fahey
        Yep, I use crazy glue after cleaning off any residual flux and crap with denatured alcohol. What do you do when you lose a bit of trace too? Do you mend with aluminum foil, solder braid?

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        • #5
          Can't solder to aluminum with electrical solder.

          If I lose a trace, I use wire.
          Education is what you're left with after you have forgotten what you have learned.

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          • #6
            You mentioned multi-layer boards, how many layers? If vias (feedthroughs) are involved, there are bigger problems.
            I don't think any of the responses were for multi-layer, as we don't see a lot of that with (repairable) music gear.
            Originally posted by Enzo
            I have a sign in my shop that says, "Never think up reasons not to check something."


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            • #7
              Stake a turret, if enough room.
              --
              I build and repair guitar amps
              http://amps.monkeymatic.com

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              • #8
                @g1
                Yes, I was thinking mostly of CPU boards when I made that comment. I recapped a motherboard board years ago that stopped working. It took me months to discover I damaged vias inside the hole!

                @Enzo
                Yes, aluminum only works with a spot weld repair but it is an option.

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                • #9
                  We had this stuff at work, Circuit Coat or something.
                  Green goo that dried coating boards with an insulator keeping things in place.
                  Been trying to find more as we ran out.

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                  • #10
                    I specifically mentioned transparent Epoxy because it´s closest to what´s used to make Epoxy PCBs but most important, is thermo stable and stands soldering temperatures; krazy glue or other adhesives do not, just melt/bubble/burn at molten solder temperature.As of missing tracks, yes, wire is the only option.

                    "Somebody" used to sell adhesive tracks and pads specifically to repair PCBs, but know no details about that.
                    Juan Manuel Fahey

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                    • #11
                      I always kept a jar of various lengths an thicknesses of solid wire to repair traces of various sizes. If you have a large ground plane, yeah solder braid works great and will help structural integrity. If you have a crack, always drill a hole at the end of the crack. IMHO, never jumper a broken trace with just a blob of solder... it inevitably will fail. We used to get these fiberglass scrubbers that looked a bit like a pen that were convenient for scrubbing the protective surface off of the board and expose the copper trace. Most of the boards I repaired were rarely epoxy. They were resin impregnated thick paper. That’s why they would charcoal and become conductive if components got hot enough. In that case you have to grind the affected area out with a dremel and run fly wires.

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                      • #12
                        Often pads become loose with power components such as dropper resistors or zeners and if there's enough room I insert a 1.5mm tubular brass eyelet and solder in the component. Sometimes the edge of the eyelet will overlap onto the trace, other times I wire back to the destination pad. With regular components I'll stick down a lifted pad with epoxy. With SMD this is often the best option, with through-hole there's more choice over what to do.

                        If a board is seriously damaged and the equipment is valuable enough I etch a new section, dremel out the old area and epoxy the new piece in place then bridge the joints with copper foil soldered into position.

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                        • #13
                          Killer idea(s)
                          Juan Manuel Fahey

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                          • #14
                            Is there a type/ brand of "clear"/ heat tolerant epoxy that you people use?

                            The brand I use (Devcon) sets somewhat amber and I've never thought of it as particularly heat resistant, though I guess that was an assumption that I've never needed to test.

                            I lifted a trace and would like use this info, but want to use the right stuff.

                            Thanks

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by ric View Post
                              Is there a type/ brand of "clear"/ heat tolerant epoxy that you people use?
                              That's the reason why I use cyanoacrylate instead of epoxy. I've found it sufficiently heat resistant (~275C degrees), easy to dispense and clear setting.

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