Is there an Alternative to Soldering?

[DJ Dangerous]

Is there an alternative to soldering for circuit boards? I'm assuming that Super Glue etc are insulators rather than conductors?

Not actually railway related - I'm replacing the battery in a mobile and one of the two connectors broke away from the board. The other unclipped fine.

Just thought that IF there is a solution, this might be applicable to the PCBs in locos as well.

Very hard to get them in focus for the photos as they're so tiny, these are the best I could take. The connector that broke away should be to the right of, or above, depending on your perspective, the "2".

I do have a soldering iron but the tip is bigger than the whole connector here!

 

 

[Broithe]

Mmm, the glue will be an insulator, but you might get a result, if there is metal-to-metal contact when things are 'set'.

Another 'solution', depending on the circumstances, might be to hold the wire in place with a bit of tape, allowing contact, and 'loading' the tape up via something resilient, pressing it in place when the cover is reinstated. There is a small piece of folded paper in my Seiko solar watch that stops the cell disconnecting itself - it's worked well for several years now, since I realised what was happening.

[DJ Dangerous]

I've seen syringes of silver glue on Amazon, designed for repairing contacts on PCBs, but am not sure if they're any use.

I have three 'phones that have been dropped and knocked once too many, including the one I'm typing on, so need to get them working again.

[commerlad]

The silver glue (previously called silver paint and used for repairing tracks on PCBs or the heated rear screens on cars when they get scratched) will conduct electricity when dry but is useless for a physical strength bond.

the alternative is low melt solder and an oven (but that may not be practical in this case) more suited to large circuit boards and chips than parts enclosed in plastic cases.

Edited August 8, 2023 by commerlad

[DJ Dangerous]

So would a drop of standard Super Glue in the centre, combined with silver glue on the contacts, work?

[Broithe]

23 minutes ago, DJ Dangerous said:

So would a drop of standard Super Glue in the centre, combined with silver glue on the contacts, work?

I would be inclined to use the 'silver glue' first, then attempt to mechanically reinforce that with the super glue.

There are risks in all this...

[Sean]

your not gonna want to hear this, but take it to the repair shop, not a big box phone store as they will likely tell you its a write off.

Think the places you would go to get your console repaired.

the guys there will be able to attach that in a few minutes using a hot air station. only issue is they MAY have to strip it down to the bare board to do the job although you could do this part yourself if the store are agreeable.

Im fairly sure that connector is for a wifi antenna and the PCB lists it as number 2 with number one still being intact on the left.

If so then in theory the phone will still work with that bit unplugged but your wifi signal could suffer as a result, what type of phone is it?

 

 

 

in both cases note that these guys are using microscopes to see properly what they are doing!

 

i stopped replacing my phone screens because i was smashing them so often...........

Edited August 8, 2023 by Sean

[Keitheg6]

8 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

Is there an alternative to soldering for circuit boards? I'm assuming that Super Glue etc are insulators rather than conductors?

Not actually railway related - I'm replacing the battery in a mobile and one of the two connectors broke away from the board. The other unclipped fine.

Just thought that IF there is a solution, this might be applicable to the PCBs in locos as well.

Very hard to get them in focus for the photos as they're so tiny, these are the best I could take. The connector that broke away should be to the right of, or above, depending on your perspective, the "2".

I do have a soldering iron but the tip is bigger than the whole connector here!

 

 

My suggestion to this is find your local car electronics guy , one that does the likes of mapping and ecu work , they are set up for fine cleaning and soldering using scopes and solder guns, they would also be able to test the joint. With you knowing the fault it would be a very quick process.  

[DJ Dangerous]

I don't mind taking it somewhere to have it repaired, that's not an issue.

I just wanted to explore options that might benefit modellers. There have been a handful of posts on here about damaged PCBs and repairing PCBs.

[commerlad]

Coming from an electronics background, I have 2 Weller Iroms (So I do not have to wait for them to cool down before changing tips), A Hot Air Rework Station and temp controlled Iron.

For modelling purposes I also have 3 small gas powered Torches/Soldering pens (Again for changing tips). And a Chefs Creme Brulet Torch (Usefull for laminating coach/van side etches with low melt solder paste)

I could do the above repair in 2 minutes.

My previous answer was based purely on how the question was asked.

[Basil]

14 hours ago, DJ Dangerous said:

I don't mind taking it somewhere to have it repaired, that's not an issue.

I just wanted to explore options that might benefit modellers. There have been a handful of posts on here about damaged PCBs and repairing PCBs.

There isn't an alternative (that I know of).

Most beneficial take home for modellers would be to consider taking a stab - soldering that is possible without fancy kit/mad skillz.
Some solid tutorials here from a chap using a cheap, generic iron to do surface mount components (inc. SO8 chips with <1mm between pins).

Damaged PCBs (vs dislodged components) may be much less fixable, particularly if it's multi-layer.

[Mayner]

I repaired a dry joint on a MM 141 circuit board and soldered wires to decoders (in the days before DCC ready locos)

The main challenge is holding the circuit board and the iron steady at the same time!

I usually secure or clamp the circuit board, decoder, or loco to the workbench so it cannot move and support my elbow on the workbench while soldering the joint.

Basically use a small soldering iron (18W Antex) with fine tip and small dia.-multicore solder, I have a number of Antex irons bought for model railway use over the past 25 years 18w for wiring and track laying, 25w general work and a variable temperature iron for loco/kit building. The main advantage of Antex Irons is that the iron coated tips stay clean and corrosion is less of a problem than other brands, and good supply of replacement parts including elements.