SMD JFET soldering Demystified

iamjackslackof said:
That is super helpful, thank you!
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I’m really glad you liked the video! Almost everything I know about pedal building, I learned on the internet, mostly from reading on forums and I learn a lot around here, on top of being inspired by so many beautiful builds and creative and knowledgeable people around here, so I feel it’s time to start giving back to the community 🙏
 
A dab of flux paste on there definitely helps also. What I like to do is good some flux on and then cover the pads with Sauter, place the component A dab of flux paste on their definitely helps also. What I like to do is good some flux on and then cover the pads with Sauter, place the component in place and then just barely had a little heat and you’re all set. That’s my two cents and it seems to work great for me. Thanks for your tip.
 
Great video! Thanks for posting it.

I've been doing it almost the same way, except I was trying to balance the jfet on top of the first blob, then pushing it down as the solder melted.

The way you pushed into the melting solder from the side looks much nicer. I'll try that on the next one I do.
 
I'll always tell whoever is listening that SMD isn't nearly as hard as it may seem. You just need a fine-tipped soldering iron, thin solder wire (perhaps <0.5mm) and maybe some flux. Good eyes aren't even mandatory: you can do it under a magnifying glass lamp, or use some cheap magnifying goggles. Here's my little video in support of the cause:

 
You haven't heard this from me, but I often just make a big blob of solder that covers all pins on one side of an IC such as the one in the video above. Use flux liberally, you'll clean it later. Then - while the solder is liquid, of course - I lift that IC side up, just off the board. I use some sharp, thin tool like the tip of an Xacto blade under the chip to help lift it. Once one side is free, I do the other.

If you have a big chip with many pins and you know you won't put it back in, you can just cut the pins off with an Xacto, as close to the chip as possible, and remove the chip body. You can then easily desolder the pins one by one, or a few at once.

For 2-terminal parts like resistors and caps, you can also try the blob method, but ideally you'd want two irons simultaneously: one on each side, and just lift the part with the irons like they're tweezers. They do make tweezer-type iron tips for some more serious irons, but few DIY folks have those.

There are also small hot air tools for desoldering, but I don't use them enough to give advice on them.
 
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JTEX said:
You haven't heard this from me, but I often just make a big blob of solder that covers all pins on one side of an IC such as the one in the video above. Use flux liberally, you'll clean it later. Then - while the solder is liquid, of course - I lift that IC side up, just off the board. I use some sharp, thin tool like the tip of an Xacto blade under the chip to help lift it. Once one side is free, I do the other.

If you have a big chip with many pins and you know you won't put it back in, you can just cut the pins off with an Xacto, as close to the chip as possible, and remove the chip body. You can then easily desolder the pins one by one, or a few at once.

For 2-terminal parts like resistors and caps, you can also try the blob method, but ideally you'd want two irons simultaneously: one on each side, and just lift the part with the irons like they're tweezers. They do make tweezer-type iron tips for some more serious irons, but few DIY folks have those.

There are also small hot air tools for desoldering, but I don't use them enough to give advice on them.
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For diodes, resistors a and transistors I do exactly this, do the “blob” method or sometimes I heat both sides quickly (with just one soldering iron) to make a component sit straight. For opamps and such I go with the hot air tool.
 
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