I had some hard time soldering new switches to my computer mouse, now it looks like I lost some solder pads, what shouild I do? Every other component of the PCB seems ok cuz I didnt touch it.
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Spehro Pefhany
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I would prefer it if you pasted the photos directly here (they will be displayed directly in the forum). – Christianidis Vasileios Apr 01 '21 at 18:27
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@ChristianidisVasileios New users are prohibited from posting photos directly until they gain some reputation, if memory serves, presumably to help prevent spam. – Spehro Pefhany Apr 01 '21 at 18:33
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Get a better soldering gun if you're using one of those cheap 'pencils'. Will save you from trashing PCB's. $100 or so for a Weller or Hakko will set you up for life. – Kyle B Apr 01 '21 at 18:39
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Wire it directly to wherever the traces went with a 30AWG wire. – Voltage Spike Apr 01 '21 at 21:51
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The Solder pads that you lost connect to traces. You probably will be able to see them. Scratch the surface (solder mask) of these traces and connect anything you want on those traces
Image from: http://www.signalintegrity.com/Pubs/edn/ScrapeIt.htm
Do not scratch too much, or you will remove the trace as well!. Removing the solder mask enough to see the copper like the image above is enough. Then clean the scratched area (with isopropanol) and solder on there. (If you do not have isopropanol use alcohol, but quickly dry it out as alcohol might not be 100% clean
Christianidis Vasileios
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1OP....you can get bottles of >99% isopropyl from most 'real' pharmacies. 16oz bottle should be about $5 and last you a long long time. Be careful with it...this stuff is flammable as gasoline but it IS a great circuit board cleaner...evaporates completely and quickly and leaves no residude. – Kyle B Apr 01 '21 at 18:37
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Yes. Also consider using a ventilator when soldering or cleaning with isopropanol (no, soldering outside does not help, you need an active machine that will draw the air away from your). My brother almost has an heart medical problem while he was using isopropanon to clean repaired phones in a company – Christianidis Vasileios Apr 01 '21 at 18:40
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Great comment!!! Sorry about your brother. Yeah don't use this in an unventilated closet LOL. Unless you like getting headaches... – Kyle B Apr 01 '21 at 18:41
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1@ChristianidisVasileios: You can also follow the trace to another component and solder your wire to its pads. That usually works better than the scraped off end of a torn trace. – JRE Apr 01 '21 at 18:56
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1In addition, leaded solder and solder flux makes things much easier (a common mistake is not ensuring that iron tip is clean from oxidation, brass sponge helps) – Ernesto Apr 01 '21 at 19:09
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So you mean I should scrape off this area around holes and then solder to it? https://imgur.com/a/qA4iGde – Ivan Tarasenko Apr 01 '21 at 20:14
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Not all the area around the hole, just on the side where the trace is leaving/going in to the pad. If you take us a good close picture around these pads I might be able to tell you where to scrape. Note that you may need to scrape the other side of the board (the bottom instead of the top side). – Christianidis Vasileios Apr 01 '21 at 20:52
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Scrapping is easy with a brand new exacto blade. You drag it, not cut. The soldermask (green stuff) will flake off easy – Kyle B Apr 01 '21 at 21:47
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Yes, I see the trace from the middle one, but not from the bottom one. The bottom one's trace should be on the other side of the pcb (I could not see it in your previous pics as well though) – Christianidis Vasileios Apr 03 '21 at 13:35