pro-con discussion of PCB repair products - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: mongobit
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2016, 08:02:01 am
content: As discussed in the first thread I posted I am working on upgrading our PCB test and repair facilities at my place of employment (also toying with the idea of doing the same thing in a freelance capacity on the side). I'm looking at getting my IPC-7711/7721 certifications and am looking at different PCB repair tool and supply brands such as the PACE brand CIR-KIT products and the CTC Circuit medic tools and consumables. Does anyone have any experience with these products and can endorse one or the other or point me at something better?

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2016, 09:41:28 am
content: Perhaps give a clearer example of your scope of work, is it:repairing misordered boards,defective / fake componentsTracing bad solderingTesting impedancesReworking componentsEtcI have done most of these on a shoestring, involving grinding traces narrower to match impedance,If I know what your doing I can better recommend stuff, electronics is wide and specilised at the same time

author: mongobit
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2016, 10:13:53 am
content: The project I spend the most time on is reworking a power interface board that was first designed in the mid 80's that have been in continuous use and have been beat to hell and back and are in pretty rough shape(burned off traces, scorched PCB substrate) and been patched back together with bailing wire and chewing gum over the years.I am looking for tooling for proper trace replacement/repair, plated through hole replacement(various sizes) PCB substrate removal and replacement with trace repair. gold edge connector rework and repair. I have looked at getting a Pace PRC 2000 rework system which would take care of most of the soldering, desoldering, and PCB machining needs but it's cost prohibitive at the moment.I am independently developing an expansion plan to show my bosses with capabilities and costs factored in then will rework and recompute after getting feedback from them so we can then take it to upper management and argue our case for funding this expansion and its effects on increasing revenue to keep our facility open.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2016, 10:59:02 am
content: Having watched the promotional videos for the pace, It looks to be a very solid bit of kit for a specialised job, Unsure on the cirkit kits, I'm normally used to seeing throughole repair done by specialized rivets,Also I went hunting, and for how much it does, it seems very reasonably priced, (your well out of hobby iron territory)http://www.gotopac.com/pace-8007-0132.htmlThere are ways to match parts of it for less, but i will be flat out and honest that most options for a tool set made to rip and redo boards can cost a fair amount, it comes down to how much time you spend waiting for the iron to heat the parts = money lost to wages and turnaround time, vs cost of toolsAt its basis, you have a few things going on in that package, and it comes down to how far you need to make use of each feature,Soldering Station (If you need the hotbar / tweezers he is pricy, and needs to be high wattage, Otherwise could go with a JBC station)Desoldering Station / Pump (These can be found for less, but the cartridges add up as a consumable)Rotary tool ($25 at your local shops for a knockoff dremel kit), adding the trace brake could be done easily enough with a relay.Hot Air Station (Aim for $350 min here, for large scale your talking high power and a good variety of tips)Solder paste dispenser, You could probably get away with the normal syringes they come in and a mini fridge to store them in,Now the gold plating, i cannot find any sign of anything else that does that, there are wipe on gold mixtures, but no active plating approaches i can find,For the resistive soldering if you need it, the only thing that i can imagine is a scope iron, or similar, as its a transformer made to be hard shorted,

author: billfernandez
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2016, 02:15:25 pm
content: For soldering/desoldering at home I recently bought the Xytronic LF853DTP for $575 and it seems to be working out quite well:http://www.howardelectronics.com/smd-rework/smd-rework-stations/xytronic/lf-853dtp/lf853dtp-5-in-one-lead-free-digital-soldering-desoldering-and-hot-air-rework-station-with-tweezers-and-small-hot-air-pencil/It comes with a soldering iron, desoldering tweezers, hot air pencil (like a soldering iron with a hollow tip that blows hot air), desoldering pencil (like a soldering iron with a hollow tip that vacuums up molten solder) and a hot air gun.For solder paste I'm using a tub of Loctite GC10 because it does NOT require refrigeration. It uses the SAC305 lead-free alloy. I'm dispensing it manually with a 1cc syringe with a 22gauge tapered plastic tip. This works very well for the tiny dots needed for SMD hand soldering.

author: mongobit
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2016, 03:09:27 pm
content: We currently have a Weller WES51 iron as well as ans Aoyue 2703A+ rework station that is more work to keep up and running than is worth in my opinion. I have used PACE products at previous employers and loved them, rarely if ever had a problem and when I did it was usually human error involving whoever had used it last. seeing how the PRC 2000 has been on the market a while and my luck i would convince the boss to get one and a week after i get it set up thy announce the new and improved PRC 3000 or what ever. I know i know that's part of the game but when talking that much money don't want to get burned. heck i already got my company burned on a parts order for this same customer leaving us holding the bag on some pricey components we now can't use and have been dithering on selling to recoup the money.We have a Dremel for some component prep we do as part of the modification but I would not want to use that on a customers PCB unless absolutely necessary.Most of what I work on right now is through hole components. Usually the only time i see SMT parts is when I am repairing stuff another department has broken. That being said i am looking to the future and maximizing our capabilities if I just look to what I need to improve on what I do now I'm guaranteed to fail.

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2016, 03:32:21 pm
content: Well to that point, it would seem the Aoyue should be more than up to task for the SMD stuff, + desolder gun,Though both your soldering irons seem a little soft for large power components,Ok so to clarify, what functions are you chasing?And to the dremel thing, what if you installed a foot pedal in the loop, or added a relay for the trace guard, would that make you trust it more? as it literally looked the same. for reference,http://www.jaycar.com.au/Tools-%26-Soldering/Hand-Tools/Drill-%26-Socket-Sets/110-Piece-12V-Rotary-Tool-Set/p/TD2451I even opened mine out of curiosity, and the shaft makes electrical contact with the motor casing, use a darlington pair and a small relay and it will match that function 100%,

author: mongobit
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2016, 04:31:12 pm
content: My post was meant for a discussion of the different trace and PCB repair materials and kits. I'm pretty sure of the rework station hardware I am going to push for (Pace MBT 250 rework station or PRC 2000 if we get lucky on funding). I was looking more for pros and cons of both of those brands of repair kits and materials or recommendations for other brands that I have yet to hear about or stumble across.And just to clarify I am not actually soldering big power components. This is a board that generates the firing pulses to trigger large power thyristors in specific configurations to control power-flow. when they were designed not enough thought was put into heat dissipation especially in sub-optimal operating modes I.E the operators abusing them.

author: mongobit
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2016, 10:11:17 pm
content: another mark against using the Dremel is that its one of the cheap versions with only 3 settings off, on very low, or lets see if we can break the sound barrier. that and being a little unwieldy i can see my hands getting tired after drilling out just a few damaged plated through-holes.

author: mongobit
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2016, 12:20:16 am
content: Anyone have any input on the Best branded circuit repair kits. I've been seeing them pop up in a few searches.

author: FireFlower
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2016, 04:13:14 pm
content: You basically need these?http://www.jensentools.com/search.aspx?f=1%3A736%2C1%3A737%2C1%3A763%2C1%3A764&page=2I can't remember where we order them even though I have the catalog on my bench... I try to check

author: Capa-Alpha
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2016, 06:39:29 pm
content: Quote from: mongobit on June 18, 2016, 04:31:12 pmI've used the Circuit-Medic , the PACE ThermoBond Cir-Kit and a product by A.P.E. for circuitry repair. The A.P.E. product was absolutely atrocious with variable track pad frame quality (one frame looked like it was crumpled up before they packed it), plus one frame was so oxidized I could not reflow solder onto it. Terrible. The Circuit Medic frames are great quality but very expensive. I have been using the PACE Cir-Kit Repair Frames for years and they are excellent. They have great customer service too. Here's a Cir-Kit Educational "How To" video:

author: technotronix
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2016, 07:00:36 am
content: I had good experience with the PACE brand CIR-KIT products, but don't no about the CTC Circuit medic tools.