Thread: Cutting a PCB in half?

If you suck at soldering, and as a result, accidentally connect the positive and negative lines on a board through excess solder - can you just cut off that part of the board and start over?

Use a copper wick to remove excess solder...

Well in that case, I think I'll go to the store tomorrow. Thanks.

Did you look it up?
I've never actually used one, myself... I've done a fair bit of soldering, but never needed to remove any. Had the wicks over the years but never used them.

Originally Posted by stander-j

If you suck at soldering, and as a result, accidentally connect the positive and negative lines on a board through excess solder - can you just cut off that part of the board and start over?

If you suck at soldering, get a solder sucker. Working in tandem with the wick, you should be able to take care of most little problems of that type. Just take care not to apply too much heat for too long, or else you can damage the traces (especially by causing them to lift off of the board).

Originally Posted by tk421

get a solder sucker.

Had no idea what that was so I looked it up. Lo and behold, I owned one many years ago and had no idea what it was or what it was for. I figure it must have come in a soldering kit...

I feel so stupid.

Yeah, it's like a braided coil right? This is my first time soldering. I didn't even bother getting a soldering iron, just borrowed one - would be better to see what happens with this Transmitter project first. Even though I have no idea what I'm doing, it's kind of fun tinkering with electronics.

Originally Posted by tk421

Originally Posted by stander-j

If you suck at soldering, and as a result, accidentally connect the positive and negative lines on a board through excess solder - can you just cut off that part of the board and start over?

If you suck at soldering, get a solder sucker. Working in tandem with the wick, you should be able to take care of most little problems of that type. Just take care not to apply too much heat for too long, or else you can damage the traces (especially by causing them to lift off of the board).

Thanks, I'll be sure to take a look at one when I look for a wick.

You can simply clean the soldering iron, melt the solder and some of it will automatically get attached to the iron, shake it off and do it again. In a couple of times, the solder will be gone. A simpler way is to get a solder sucker but it can only be used for bigger solders, for smaller ones, a copper wick is used.

printed circuit board assemblies