Re: gEDA-user: Using SMT

[DJ Delorie <dj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'm about to start bread boarding a desin.  I have a few surface
> mount chips that I got SMT-to-DIP adapters for.  I also purchased
> SMT paste.  I have never worked with surface mount devices.  How do
> you paste the chip to its footprint?  How do you get the excess, if
> any, paste out?  I have a feeling it's got something to do with
> heating it.

I've done plenty of these, but I use a $20 hotplate to do the
soldering.  Put the paste on the pads, however you can.  Too much is
better than too little, as long as you're close to the right amount.
Place the part.  Put it on the hotplate and turn the hotplate on.  In
my case, it takes about three minutes to heat up to soldering temp,
which is about right, but I suppose you could keep the hotplate on and
just place the boards on it to solder them.

Once soldered, look for solder bridges and remove them with a little
copper braid, being careful to only remove as much as is needed, not
as much as you can ;-)

After that, put the through-parts in, like the pins and such.  I use
18 mil pins designed for this purpose, but 24 gauge wire works also.
For wire, what I do is place the board on the breadboard and insert
all the wires through the board into the breadboard (which then holds
the wires in place), and solder all the wires in place.

Examples:

http://www.delorie.com/pcb/hotplate/
http://geda.seul.org/projects/djs_pcbs/
http://www.delorie.com/electronics/r8c-27-adapter/
http://www.delorie.com/electronics/bin2seven/


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