Resoldering wires on driver

[gozert]

I recently cut the wires on one of my drivers too short, and decided to desolder them. The desoldering worked, but now there's a bunch of solder left inside the holes where the wires go. Does anyone have advice on how to remove the solder and solder in new wires?

 

[Cyparagon]

You don't need to remove the solder to solder new wires, although it does make it a bit easier. I melt the solder and blow quickly and forcefully into the hole. You can also use desoldering wick if you have some.

 

[gozert]

You don't need to remove the solder to solder new wires, although it does make it a bit easier. I melt the solder and blow quickly and forcefully into the hole. You can also use desoldering wick if you have some.

Alright, thanks for the advice. I don't have too many soldering supplies at home, but my dad has quite some stuff on his work. I'm pretty sure I can work this out.

 

[Lifetime17]

Hi G,
yes get the solder hot and then use a can of air you buy for keyboards but blow the soldier away from the other circuits . But if you have a fine point iron you can just attach the leads without using the whole. contact will be fine take you time..

Rich

 

[TaterMay]

I recently did something similar, and I simply soldered the wire onto it like it was a normal contact pad instead of going through-hole. If you are using small wire, you might be able to just heat the solder up and stick the wire through the molten solder. I was using 22 gauge, so it was too tight a fit to do that. I'm running 4.5A through it, and it's been doing just fine.

 

[Benm]

^^ that actually works much easier compared to getting the solder from the pcb holes, and is perfectly doable if you can solder the wires on by one. Just heat the pads and flow a bit of fluxed solder onto them and stick the tinned wire end through, should be fine.

If you need to insert someting like a connector or dip packange and need all the holes clear i find it easiest to just flow solder onto them and give it a controlled whack so it all flies out. Probably not what they teach in electronics school, but it works to clear a dozen or so of problematic pads in a few attempts without any special equipment. Obviously a desolderer with suction would be far better if you have one

 

[grainde]

Sometimes its not easy to remove with a soldering iron. Ive done this a few times now... If your soldering iron has a very fine, pointed tip, press it into the hole. Start by touching the solder first and when you see it melt push the tip into the hole. Pull it out quickly and you will have a deep dent in the surface of the solder. Take a 1.2 mm drill bit and using your fingers spin it in the hole. Solder is quite soft and it takes a min, or so to (hand) drill through. Dont push hard or you can damage the contact on the otherside when you pass through the hole. Let the drill do the work with gentle pressure. Very easy, reliable and clean method that works.:beer:

 

[Eudaimonium]

Sometimes its not easy to remove with a soldering iron. Ive done this a few times now... If your soldering iron has a very fine, pointed tip, press it into the hole. Start by touching the solder first and when you see it melt push the tip into the hole. Pull it out quickly and you will have a deep dent in the surface of the solder. Take a 1.2 mm drill bit and using your fingers spin it in the hole. Solder is quite soft and it takes a min, or so to (hand) drill through. Dont push hard or you can damage the contact on the otherside when you pass through the hole. Let the drill do the work with gentle pressure. Very easy, reliable and clean method that works.:beer:

Sounds like bit of an overkill to me.

I mean, just melt the solder with the iron, and just push the wire through the melted solder. Then, with wire through, grab it in helping hands or whatever, and just re-do the solder joint with fresh solder and flux.

No need to "remove" it really.

 

[grainde]

^^^ Yup Ive tried that too, but often the wire beds, frays gets stuck etc. I just found this to be the easiest method and it only takes a couple of mins. Anyway just putting it out there in case he wants to try it.:beer:

 

[Illuminum3415]

Cyparagon, I find the force fitting method only works well for solid core hookups, and aluminum at that.
However, that method works to desolder the hole if its stranded copper, just requires you to strip alot of insulation. One benefit is that you have solder wick that, depending on your wire options, can fit in any hole.


I use one of two methods

1: If there is room to maneuver, then put a small dab of flux paste [not alot, just enough to break the tension] onto the hole and then with the wick placed over the filled hole, set your solder tip on the wick until the solder is "wicked" off.

2: Years back I bought a couple no name SS dental picks. Solder doesn't stick to them, and the tips are fairly sharp. For really cramped repairs, I would heat the hole from one end and insert the pick from the other. remove the heat and wiggle the pick till the hole is enlarged. Usually repeating with thicker picks does the trick.

If I absolutely need to have the hole fast, I typically drill it out. You'll need a drill press and something small, smaller than a 1/16, something like a #54 or #56 will do you fine. solder is very soft, won't need too much presure. Just know if you drill off axis you might cause irreversible damage to plate-thru contacts. Good news is that's easy to fix, just apply solder to both ends of the wire when you stuff it through. When in doubt, apply a little flux

Let us know how it turns out

 

[BowtieGuy]

I also use/like the drill method, I always hand drill mine by just spinning the drill between your fingers; as stated previously, the solder is very soft, and cuts quite easily.
If you have trouble with this, I sometimes will use a pin vise (see pic below) to hold the drill, and give a little more control.

 

[gozert]

Thanks for the advice guys. I went with heating it up with a soldering iron and managed to do it after a couple tries.