The reason I found this approach
to be a little difficult to use on strip
boards is that on a PCB, the SMD
pads are very small, and each pad
has a solder mask surrounding its
edges. As a result, the melted solder
is easily contained within the outline
of the pad, even when the solder is
re-melted to slide the SMD into
position. On a strip board, however,
the melted solder tends to flow
outwards onto a relatively long
section of a trace, and it spreads
even further when it is re-melted.
The second less common
approach is to use a very small piece
of “Fun-Tak,” or any other brand of
soft putty that’s often used to stick
posters on a wall. To do this, you
simply place a tiny piece of putty on
the bottom of the device and then
stick it to the PCB.
Actually, this approach could
probably work on a strip board, but
it’s usually only used on SOIC and
other SMD ICs. (Can you imagine
trying to place a piece of putty on
the bottom of an 0805 resistor?)
Unfortunately, the 0.05” pin
spacing of SOIC ICs precludes them
from being soldered onto a strip
board, anyway. However, whenever
you do need to solder an SOIC
device on a PCB, you may find
poster tack to be helpful. So, here’s
a “how-to” video of that technique
as well: http://blog.makezine.com/
projects/circuit-skills-surface-mount-devices.
A little warning: This list is a
bit wordy, but I think the extra
detail is helpful the first time
around.
■ FIGURE 5. Strip board ready to solder.
1. Place the following items
within easy reach of your work
surface: heated soldering iron
with a thin point; spool of 0.015”
solder; “helping hand” with one of
18
June 2013
