Failed at soldering eggfinder FIXED

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michigander

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Failed at soldering eggfinder today , solder was balling up on tip , I had trouble at first with solder balling up


Red PWR light comes on
Green RDY light turns on by holding down push button like normal , but holding down doesn't turn it off unit acts locked up


no lights on RF module

8-15 won't work.jpg
 
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It looks to me like the 4th, 5th and 6th pads from the top on the left side of the RF module are possibly not soldered. There is no apparent solder meniscus from the module board to the main board that I can see. Try cleaning the the excess solder off of the iron, heat the pad for a second or two and then touch the solder wire to the pad, not the iron tip. The GPS module is a little crooked, but from what I can see in the photo, it looks like it's probably OK.
 
if solder is balling on the tip, you need your iron cleaned. Do you have any tip cleaner? it's pretty cheap to get if not. Also, you'll probably need to retouch most of your solder joints, as they probably cold soldered (joint is no good). What is your experience soldering?
 
Looks like most of the solder joints on the left side of the RF unit are no good. 3rd one down has a visible crack in the solder.

-Hans
 
another view of rf module joints after re hitting with heat , still no go

I did learn today drinking and soldering GPS units don't mix "whole pot of strong coffee this am as starting project " lol

rf solder.jpg
 
can you explain what you mean by "rehitting with heat"?

definitely drinking and soldering don't mix.. or at least, they never do for me :)
 
djs said:
can you explain what you mean by "rehitting with heat"?

definitely drinking and soldering don't mix.. or at least, they never do for me :)
Click to expand...

remelted those joints on rf module , something is funky in area by switch , with some pressure getting rf red light blinking I will hopefully sort it out tomorrow
 
sounds like a cold solder joint. might be worth it to use some desoldering braid and start over on a few of those joints?
 
Look at the pictures on the web site. If you solder joints don't look like that, REMOVE the solder with some solder wick, clean and tin the tip (get a mesh tip cleaner "sponge" and a little tin of tip cleaner compound), and reapply the solder adding just enough to cover the pad and have it wick up the "half-moons" on the GPS module. Clean the tip after every solder joint, and take your time. After you build 20 or 30 of these, it gets easier... :)
 
Maybe this is obvious, but clean your soldering pencil tip....with steel wool, to keep it clean and shiny while working.

Second, make certain you aren't using too hot a soldering pencil... the hotter the tip, the faster it will corode or gunk up!

Third, make certain you're using a fine tip on the soldering pencil. The larger and more blunt an end, the more awkward it is to work. For years, I used a copper tip on an Ungar pencil, and wore it down to a nub. Had a heck of a time finding a replacement tip, but well worth it as a fine pointed tip works well on printed circuit boards.
 
Kirk G said:
Maybe this is obvious, but clean your soldering pencil tip....with steel wool, to keep it clean and shiny while working..
Click to expand...

Be careful on what you clean soldering iron tips with, as some of them have special coatings or surfaces that can abrade off. Better to use tip tinner and the cleaner sponge as they are meant for the job.
 
Look at the bottom of the board as well, make sure you do not have cold joints there either; where the resistors/caps etc make contact with the board.
 
The OP said the RF unit wasn't transmitting...
The power to feed that unit comes from the resistors
that you soldered on the board ( I don't remember if it's the resistors above or below the GPS unit )..
Reflow all of the joints on the back of the board on all of those resistors......

Not a guarantee,, but definitely worth a shot....

Teddy
 
I am the master at mangling Eggfinders!

Do not feel bad, and give it another shot.
 
Don't feel bad. First eggfinder i tried to assemble I messed up so badly that even Chris was impressed. :p
 
Brian, I had the same problem as you due to my less then eagle eyesight and shaky hands. I don't know what kind of soldering iron you have but I got by with
an old 15watt Weller. I took a file to the tip and sharpened it to a fine point and it worked very well. Also I had good magnification. I had a magnifier on my head as well as a light with a magnifying lens in it. I was successful on my first EF but I had problems on the second one so I SENT IT TO CONNOR!! It's worth paying Connor to fix it for you. Good Luck!
 
michigander said:
Failed at soldering eggfinder today , solder was balling up on tip , I had trouble at first with solder balling up


Red PWR light comes on
Green RDY light turns on by holding down push button like normal , but holding down doesn't turn it off unit acts locked up


no lights on RF module
Click to expand...
You're a step ahead of me ... I won't even buy the kit since soldering is required.

Good luck.
 
bill2654 said:
Brian, I had the same problem as you due to my less then eagle eyesight and shaky hands. I don't know what kind of soldering iron you have but I got by with
an old 15watt Weller. I took a file to the tip and sharpened it to a fine point and it worked very well. Also I had good magnification. I had a magnifier on my head as well as a light with a magnifying lens in it. I was successful on my first EF but I had problems on the second one so I SENT IT TO CONNOR!! It's worth paying Connor to fix it for you. Good Luck!
Click to expand...

Be careful sending to Connor. I had him build my eggfinder TRS and it came back with cold solder joints and couldn't be repaired without damaging the processor. He at least gave me my money back.
 
michigander said:
remelted those joints on rf module , something is funky in area by switch , with some pressure getting rf red light blinking I will hopefully sort it out tomorrow
Click to expand...

You get it going yet? I dorked a GPS unit splashing solder in the base. My own stupidhead fault as I experimented with a different GPS unit. Heck, just had to connect the wire to the signal in pad and ran the "outboard" GPS from the
3.3V regulated terminals. I then desoldered the signal wire from the pad and tired to put the Maestro chip on. Dorked it with solder in the base so now it will run with an outboard Ublox7 chipset. Don't try to mount the GPS with
an already populated board!!! Stupid me.

I broke the GPS antenna off the base testing another just built EggFinder. It was my first one actually. It fell off the windowsill!!! It had worked fine too for a few hours. Arrrggggh!!

Tried to desolder the base as best I could and then took a dremel cutting wheel to it. Got it off but gouged a line in a trace. Tossed it in my junk box and several months later thought I'd try to fix it. Jumped the dorked trace with soldered
wire and soldered wires to the pads for an outboard GPS. Some of the pads were torn off but they were ones that didn't carry a signal. The outboard GPS works with that unit now too.

All my EggTimers (4) Quarks 3 work fine. Only thing I wrecked otherwise was a remote switch using it to test ematches. Something in the receiver board was dorked. Kurt
 
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ksaves2 said:
You get it going yet? I dorked a GPS unit splashing solder in the base. My own stupidhead fault as I experimented with a different GPS unit. Heck, just had to connect the wire to the signal in pad and ran the "outboard" GPS from the
3.3V regulated terminals. I then desoldered the signal wire from the pad and tired to put the Maestro chip on. Dorked it with solder in the base so now it will run with an outboard Ublox7 chipset. Don't try to mount the GPS with
an already populated board!!! Stupid me.

I broke the GPS antenna off the base testing another just built EggFinder. It was my first one actually. It fell off the windowsill!!! It had worked fine too for a few hours. Arrrggggh!!

Tried to desolder the base as best I could and then took a dremel cutting wheel to it. Got it off but gouged a line in a trace. Tossed it in my junk box and several months later thought I'd try to fix it. Jumped the dorked trace with soldered
wire and soldered wires to the pads for an outboard GPS. Some of the pads were torn off but they were ones that didn't carry a signal. The outboard GPS works with that unit now too.

All my EggTimers (4) Quarks 3 work fine. Only thing I wrecked otherwise was a remote switch using it to test ematches. Something in the receiver board was dorked. Kurt
Click to expand...


Nope I didn't get it going yet , what I have that doesn't make sense with tester is full continuity on pins 8 and 9 , thus i must have bridge underneath that I can't see , 9 is ground I haven't tracked down with 8 goes to

I suspect that is issue thus bagged and shelved
 
YES 8 and 9 was bridged + none of the 8 pins bottom side was really soldered :(


I need to clean up pads a little more yet

bridge.jpg

IMG_2292.jpg
 
Flux is your friend, particularly if you have cold solder joints. The new lead free solder is prone to this too due to higher temps required. Removing the solder with wick/sucker and going at it again after applying generous amounts of flux will do wonders.

While soldering, tin the tip of the iron with minimal solder, bridge the tip to the pad/pin and add solder directly to the components, allowing the tip to just to transfer heat.
 
Be sure to get NO CLEAN flux (i.e. Kester 951 or Chip Quik SMD291). Rosin-based flux will make a mess of the board and make it harder to find any problems. You don't need much... one drop spread out on either side of the GPS module is enough.
 
ksaves2 said:
I take it the GPS receiver was trashed during removal? Fortunately they're not that pricey. Kurt
Click to expand...

major trashed , its not possible to remove IMO alive lol


I have one on order with Mouser and fresh solder wick
 
Cleaned up and soldered on new GPS unit

Its ALIVE and turns on and off as it should :) and its talking to RX :)

cleaned up.jpg

running.jpg
 

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