SMD Soldering

[SquishyIce]

Originally Posted by Jared

It'll be harder with a cheaper radio shack soldering iron, but not impossible. What package are you trying to solder? Some are easier than others.

The easiest way to do SMD soldering without great equipment (IMO), is to put a bit of solder on one pad on the PCB, then solder one pin of your component to the pad. This may take a few tries to get the component lined up. Next, put way too much solder over all the pins so that they're all shorted together but soldered to the pads underneath. Finally, reheat with your iron, and use solder wick to pull away extra solder. That's how I do it with a 15 watt soldering iron I bought for $7 from radio shack.

I've heard about doing this, someone called it a "Smash and Grab." However, I'm not terribly confident in my skills with solder wick, I haven't even had much practice desoldering with my pump. I'll get some more experience and try that eventually.