I've worked on mainly Williams Defender/Stargate, etc. era PCBs and found them to be fairly sturdy with large pads and traces. I've been working on a couple of Tempest PCBs and they seem to be fairly flimsy with small traces and pads. What I learned (the hard way) on the Williams boards is that even with decent equipment (XyTronics 968 desoldering station, Hakko 936), a variety of temperatures and lots of patience, that attempting to remove an IC intact is asking for lifted pads (especially on the side with no trace attached). I will use a Dremel with a cutting wheel to cut the body off of the IC and then heat the leads and remove each with tweezers. Afterwards, comes the dangerous task of removing the solder left in the hole which usually means bye bye unsecured pad. It typically means flipping the board over to remove the solder from the side with a trace connected to the pad hoping the solder is fully removed and the unsecured pad remains attached.
So, my general question is how do you repair these boards without destroying them? I've done some practice on a couple of Atari boards and despite my best efforts, the pads seem to fly off the boards. What sort of tip size, temperature, etc. yields the best results? Or is some of this simply the result of working on old materials with the adhesive used to hold the traces/pads on the PCB material simply deteriorating? Add a little heat and instant destruction? How about one of those expensive PCB repair kits? I've even seen them for thru-hole repair.
Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Kirk S.
So, my general question is how do you repair these boards without destroying them? I've done some practice on a couple of Atari boards and despite my best efforts, the pads seem to fly off the boards. What sort of tip size, temperature, etc. yields the best results? Or is some of this simply the result of working on old materials with the adhesive used to hold the traces/pads on the PCB material simply deteriorating? Add a little heat and instant destruction? How about one of those expensive PCB repair kits? I've even seen them for thru-hole repair.
Thanks for any and all suggestions!
Kirk S.


