I need to replace a SD card reader on a board. Although I have a fair bit of experience in soldering I have never used desoldering braid, only a solder sucker and this job is a bit fine for that.
I have read up a bit and most suggest also using a flux pen as well although my understanding that the braid is impregnated with flux. Looking at Jaycar prices range from $4-$10 for the braid.
Any suggestions on recommendations and tips.
There is absolutely a difference but I think it is mostly due to some having flux and others not, or much less, or crappier quality. Also I think the density of the braiding makes a difference.
If you use the cheap stuff use plenty of flux and it works ok. If you have a small tin of flux just dip the wick into it before you go, or dab it with the flux pen.
Otherwise Goot (I think Jaycar do it) is gootd.
For removing the socket I don't think braid will help you much apart from using it to heat up all the joints the same time to remove it while they're molten, then clean it up with more braid. Braid cleans up excess excellently but is not the best for removing the wetting between joined surfaces.
I've usually used Goot as well. It's fine. But honestly most times never bothered paying attention the brand, which from the place I get soldering stuff from, has unreadable Japanese squiggled on it.
I'm pretty sure you can use any kind of fine copper shielding like that stripped from a mic cable, and it'll work just fine. Having the flux to wet the solder and stick is much more important than the braid itself, since not all desoldering braid will come with flux anyway.
Get one with flux inside, and you may want to add your own flux too.
I would suggest grab a flux pen + fluxed braid from jaycar. Should not cost you too much.
A good solder sucker is better than braid as the braid needs allot of heat to work. On .1 thou pitch connectors braid can cause tracks to lift if too much heat is applied. Best option sounds like you should take it to a TV repair place and get them to replace it with their pro solder station.
Jaycar have braid. If you want to go down this path ask them for advice when you go in.
I have never seen anyone use flux for de soldering. After de soldering it is used to clean and then to ensure that the solder joint is good if done correctly.
.1 thou pitch
That's mighty fine.
It was a total PITA. It was also dual inline….. Even worse.
Took me about a day to get it right as I did not have a pro soldering setup….. HUGE mistake. I have to reverse engineer a serial debug board for an AMD ELAN 410 SOC SBC as the company that made it went bankrupt and the existing boards were EOL due to the IC's no longer available even in the grey market..
I did get to love the https://www.jaycar.com.au/led-illuminated-clamp-mount-magnif… LED magnifying setup.
Never again is my advice…. Should have got the sister companies repair center to do the hard work… Live and learn..
I used KiCAD and a place in SA to make the PCB about 18 years ago.
.1 thou pitch, dual inline
Mate my comment was in jest 😜. I think you mean 100thou, or 0.1inch, or 2.54mm, an old de-facto standard for DILs. These days this is actually quite large. 0.5mm and 0.4mm is now common for leaded (pins, not the metal) components.
That said desoldering an 0.1" DIL with braid is still a massive PITA. There are other desoldering tricks, some unorthodox but IME useful, depending on whether you are willing to sacrifice the component itself.
Thanks all for your input. I will get the 2mm Goot braid and flux as it’s probably handy to have on the shelf for later.
My plan is remove the cover and see if the innards are replaceable with the spares arriving in a week or so, seriously doubt this though. Then look at removing the case by releasing or cutting the contacts before desoldering them one at a time.
I had thought about sending it for repairs although the cost may not be much less than a replacement board, might check that out.
get exercise on a scrap board first!
All done. Removed the metal shield and was able to remove the damaged parts leaving the contacts in place. Unsoldered them one at a time and replaced the card reader. The braid helped with the cleanup after removal of the old and the flux pen with the installation of the new.
I seriously doubt there is much if any difference between brands. It's a very primitive thing, the only differentiator imo is how wide it is.
(I am certainly not an expert though)