How do you guys hold your boards?

[Uno]

New here, and interested in re-capping iMac MLB.

I'm gonna try to recap an iMac G5 20inch, leaking/bulging caps.
I'm just curious on how you guys handle your motherboards while de-soldering.. one hand for the iron, another with the sucker, but what do you guys use to hold up the board?

Thanks.

[c_hegge]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

I usually use one hand for the iron, the other for the cap, forget the solder sucker and hold the board in my legs. Probably not the best idea, but it works.

[bigbeark]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

I made a frame from spruce strapping, using screws and glue for a solid job. I attach the board to the frame using wood screws through the board mount holes. I then use a large spring clamp to clamp the frame to the work table so that the board is held perpendicular to the work table.That way I have both hands free and the board is held solidly in position.

I may have to reposition the board on the frame to get access to caps that are close to the edges of the board.

Since I use the pin method, I can "tack" the caps to the board while it's in the vertical position. After I have attached all the caps, I remove the board from the frame, flip it over and properly finish all the solder joints. The caps stay in position and I get a tidy-looking job.
To finish, I trim the "legs" to a shorter height.

[Uno]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

I guess I'll use my legs, I was hoping there were large clamps for mobo.. I see allot of little helping hands for small boards..

If I have extra time and supplies I'll try to build my own.

BTW Happy New Year!

[Trinite]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

I solved the dilema by getting a desoldering iron. Frees up my other had to hold the board.

[willawake]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

i use wood clamps

can see about half way down the page
http://www.capacitorlab.com/replacin...owto/index.htm

works nice for me.

[yyonline]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

My dad used to do circuit board assembly as a side job. So I inherited a 30-year old this:

http://www.panavise.com/index.html?p...eqskudatarq=26

It works well for 95% of boards. For those that are oddly shaped, i usually just put them between two cardboard boxes.

[severach]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

Harbor Freight Item 46808 18" Padded Ratchet Bar Clamp or any equivalent from any other company. Contrary to what you might think, the *longer* bars are better. I have two and have yet to find anything that just one can't hold. After using one of these I can't think of any way a board vice at any price could even match it.

I also solder with a desoldering tip to eliminate the solder hand. Once you get used to solder tips with holes in the center, everything else is second best.

[Topcat]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

Larger motherboards I lay on the bench, they are easy to hold in place and work on. When using my SS pick, I keep the board immobile with the heel of my left hand, and use my left hand fingers to work the pick. Iron in my right hand of course. Smaller boards, I have a device like yyonline posted. The smaller ones can be tricky to hold in place and solder/desolder on.

[370forlife]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

i use wood clamps

can see about half way down the page
http://www.capacitorlab.com/replacin...owto/index.htm

works nice for me.

I'm having a hard time finding the glass with the giant sheep on it at any of our local electronics stores. Where'd ya find yours? I tried using a regular glass, but it didn't work quite as well.

[willawake]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

lol. i dont have that glass no more.

[ratdude747]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

I solved the dilema by getting a desoldering iron. Frees up my other had to hold the board.

me too but imacs are the worst to recap... not sure if a 45W desoldering iron would do it. maybe if you took the iron part off and put a beefier iron on... the imac bards have heavy heat-sucking ground planes...

[severach]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

Ground planes stop sucking when they are preheated with SMD hot air.

[Trinite]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

me too but imacs are the worst to recap... not sure if a 45W desoldering iron would do it. maybe if you took the iron part off and put a beefier iron on... the imac bards have heavy heat-sucking ground planes...

Had a few boards like that. Took a while to melt the solder but I was able to get the caps off. I have a 120W soldering "gun" just in case, but I haven't had to resort to using it on a PCB yet.

[Agent24]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

Ground planes stop sucking when they are preheated with SMD hot air.

What's the best method to do that?

[severach]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

What's the best method to do that?

Unlike with a contact soldering gun, a regulated hot air gun can pour copious amounts of heat into a board with minimal risk. In one hand the heater points under the poised desoldering gun in the other hand with the excess heat going towards wherever I'm going to desolder next. When the temp is right the desoldering gun only requires a couple of seconds to melt through to the other side and the hole is clear with very little scarring. A few holes stick so I heat them with the air gun while rocking the connector until the solder breaks.

This technique allows me to pull and reuse many types of through hole connectors including power, audio, ATX, IDE, USB, and Ethernet. If the through hole pins don't protrude it's possible to skate the desoldering gun along without turning the pump off.

With the heat gun providing most of the heat the contact point of the desoldering gun is able to skyrocket the temperature of the solder without overheating surrounding areas.

[Agent24]

Re: How do you guys hold your boards?

Ahh.... But I don't have a desoldering gun, unfortunately.

I've seen some videos on Youtube, they look quite useful when used properly.