Dying VaxStation 4000 VLC - help?

From: Tothwolf <tothwolf_at_concentric.net>
Date: Mon Nov 18 20:01:01 2002

On Mon, 18 Nov 2002, Mark Tapley wrote:

> Plan for tonight is probe some more (as above), then replace the
> comparator. My wife did actually pick up replacement comparators. She
> said the guys at the electronics place gave her a really funny look. She
> walked in with the 2-year-old and the 6-year-old (offspring), and asked
> by number and name for the IC's I wanted - without referring to her
> notes. Guess that doesn't happen too often. Anyway, I now own $1.30
> worth of spare comparators, and I'd rather solder on the IC than on the
> SMD's for my first effort. Besides which, I don't yet own replacement
> SMD resistors, or caps, or whatever the heck they are.

If you plan to touch the SMD devices at all, make sure you have the right
solder, and use the smallest tip you can get for your iron. I've had
fairly good luck with a 20W iron using a 1/32-1/16" tip and some silver
bearing solder for touch up work, but since I don't have a better setup,
I've outsourced things like replacing QFP chips and the like.

> If no joy with the new comparator, I can try to retouch solder joints on
> everything connected to the voltage divider. Anything to look out for
> when dealing with SMD's with a cheapo soldering iron? :-(

Erm, I just hope the iron is of fair quality, and is in the range of
20-25W. Anything larger is likely to damage the board, especially those
awful soldering irons Radio Shack sells (or used to?).

-Toth
Received on Mon Nov 18 2002 - 20:01:01 GMT