Changed my mind about using a heat gun on every single board

I used to blast every board with my Weller heat gun for 30 seconds before even looking at it. Then I had a Samsung TV board from a job in Tacoma where the heat actually shifted a tiny capacitor and made a cold joint worse. My buddy pointed it out and said 'You're cooking the good parts too.' Now I only use it for big, shielded chips and check the smaller stuff with my iron first. Anyone else dial back their heat gun use after a mistake?

2 comments

2 Comments

noah_chen172d ago

Remember that Samsung board, did you find any other damage later? I mean, a shifted cap is one thing, but I always worry about messing up the glue under bigger chips or weakening other joints you can't even see. Makes me wonder if we should just skip the gun for anything with a bunch of tiny parts nearby.

tarajenkins2d ago

Yeah, I learned that lesson the hard way too. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease.