What a noob. Just trashed my brand new v4.2.4 build


 
Steve_M

Steve_M

TVWBB Guru
Man, I'm so ****ed off right now. I had everything complete other than the 4 way button when I noticed that I had soldered the display to the wrong side of the board, and in trying to remove it, basically ended up trashing the display and a part of the board. Let's just say that torches and solder mask should be kept well away from each other :eek:

I hadn't realized that there were solder pads on both sides of the board, so it didn't set off any alarms until I was looking over my wonderful solder job and gasped at my brutal mistake.

Oh well, live and learn. I'll hold onto this botched board as a reminder to slow down and double check before soldering things up.

Blurg!
 
post a pic? I've just sat down to start 2 builds right now. Sorry to hear it, hopefully you can repair the mistake.
 
Clint said:
post a pic? I've just sat down to start 2 builds right now. Sorry to hear it, hopefully you can repair the mistake.
Click to expand...

It's beyond repair. Just finished ordering a new PCB and parts from Mouser.

Edit: Upon further inspection, it will probably work fine without the LCD and parts, but I'm still building a new v4.2.4 anyways.

 
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Looks like some boards after I got my hot air soldering station :)

Looks like a nice clean build other than the obvious.

I'm hesitant to offer advice seeing how clean yours is, but if you're not aware there are a few options to remove solder, and which one's best varies: Solder wick, solder sucker, de-soldering iron (I have the hakko 808 & another one that's built into an aoyue rework station). Doesn't matter how many tools you (I) have, sometimes that happens.....especially when working with lead free solder & SMD components.
 
Yeah, I was using a solder sucker, wick, flux + wick, but still couldn't get the display to cleanly separate from the PCB. So, out came the torch and bye bye went the solder mask!

A quick test shows that it powers up and I can control the fan and servo in manual mode from the web interface. Haven't tested the probes yet.
 
You could always get a new lcd and then attach it to the board and then use wires to connect the pads that are no longer there
 
That board looks totally salvageable imo. I would recommend:
- Gently scrape the carbon off with a xacto.
- Clean remaining carbon & flux residue with a trimmed acid brush (like this) and 91% isopropyl alcohol.
- Remove remaining solder with solder wick.
- Replace any damaged traces with wire wrap jumpers.
 
Ouch! I would hate to ever have to remove an LCD from the HeaterMeter. Someone else had a great idea which was take a piece of bare solid core wire of a decently thick gauge, solder it to all the LCD pins in a row, then crank up the heat on the soldering iron and heat the copper wire until all the pins flow and the LCD drops out.

John Bostwick said:
You could always get a new lcd and then attach it to the board and then use wires to connect the pads that are no longer there
Click to expand...
This would be my solution too. I have a bunch of test boards with wires going across them.
 
Meh. I'll build a rugged / weatherproof case for it and use it during harsh weather cooks or as a backup unit. Displays are overrated :)

I've actually swapped the LCD display out on an HM 4.0. I found it to be an easier task than dealing with the v4.2.4 board.

I like the solid core wire idea for desoldering. I'll give it a whirl if I end up in a similar jam again.
 
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Geoff Parris said:
Man, I made the exact same mistake on my first 4.2 build
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I did too - luckily I'd only soldered one of the middle pins when I looked up at the picture (I dragged a table into my living room & worked on it in front of the screen) and noticed it was reversed.

I think I might see one mis-oriented part: top picture, top-center of the image - I think there are two components marked BS170, the top one I think might need to be flipped 180 degrees. (HTH)
 
Yah, I cought the backwards BS170 after taking the pic. I desoldered it and will keep it as a spare, since it looks like it's only for the display.
 
Steve_M said:
Meh. I'll build a rugged / weatherproof case for it and use it during harsh weather cooks or as a backup unit. Displays are overrated :)

I've actually swapped the LCD display out on an HM 4.0. I found it to be an easier task than dealing with the v4.2.4 board.

I like the solid core wire idea for desoldering. I'll give it a whirl if I end up in a similar jam again.
Click to expand...

I tried the wire trick a while ago. it helps to add more solder to the joint to hold the wire, but once the solder starts melting its really hard to keep the wire from moving and coming off.

I found getting a cheap plunger desolder gun works the best at getting the solder out and the lcd off
 
Unlike the previous boards, the lack of the plastic separator on the pin headers makes this task on the v4.2.4 boards a little more complicated. If you go back and read my posts, you'll see that I used both a solder sucker and desoldering braid, but it simply wasn't enough.

On the plus side, the parts for build #2 arrived yesterday, just waiting for the PCB to arrive from OSH Park.
 
At long last...

B1plxtlCEAATIIF.jpg
 
Well done Steve. It looks excellent! I love the crystal orange case colour. When I built mine I left the LED's loose and fit the board into the case, then soldered the legs. This gave the perfect length for the LED's to just "dome" out of the case.
 
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