DIN removal

[peasoup]

Hi All, this may seem very trivial but can anyone give me some tips?

I've just replaced all the caps on my duo but i'm struggling on something that should be simple. I'm just not getting the solder up from the points connecting the a/v din, i've tried with a 15 and a 30 watt iron but to no avail, I guess my solder sucker may be crap (more likely my technique!) are there any tips/tricks ? Cheers.

[BlueBMW]

You probably need a hotter iron and also add some flux to what youre desoldering.  Are you trying to remove and replace the av port or just resolder it?

[peasoup]

I'm trying to replace the din 5 with a din 8 for the rgb mod. Your probably right about using a hotter iron, I've just been reluctant to use one in case I lift a trace or pad.

I was hoping it could be the sucker, a new solder sucker is cheaper than a new iron

[BlueBMW]

Get a hakko fx-888 soldering station and youll be golden.  Well worth the $80 or so it costs.

[GohanX]

The desoldering iron I use is 45w, so I can see where you may have some issues with lower wattage irons. I had a similar issue with my Genesis last week when I was trying to reflow the solder, my 15 watt iron couldn't do the job so I had to get the big boy out.

It didn't work, so I need to remove the DIN in that as well and clean/replace it. A little bit of a pain, but not too bad once you get the hang of it. Just be patient, and don't try to force the socket out or you might rip a pad or trace.

[bust3dstr8]

You can also warm the area to be desoldered with a heat gun / hair dryer.  You will have a better chance desolering
225 °F  components than  65 °F components.

[Keith Courage]

I always use a small flat head to slightly pry the din jack out while heating up the solder on each pin until the jack is out. It's a pain but it works. Try to at least get the solder off of the grounding points though ahead of time to make it easier.

[fraggore]

try putting some solder on the iron and then touch the pins and add more solder then use your sucker, sometimes you need a bit solder to get some heat transfer and like said flux will also help it flow.

[Ravij]

I'm trying to replace the din 5 with a din 8 for the rgb mod. Your probably right about using a hotter iron, I've just been reluctant to use one in case I lift a trace or pad.

I was hoping it could be the sucker, a new solder sucker is cheaper than a new iron

I did the job with a 25 watt iron - I wouldn't go any more than that, as you risk pulling the tracks off the PCB.

Use solder flux, a good de-solder pump, nice clean iron tip, also I think I used a solder mop:



Which is similar to the braided wire like you get in the screening of co-axial wires (i.e. audio and video). It just absorbs the excess solder - just like a mop with water I suppose!

Be very patient, and get the bulk of the solder out. Then use a flat head screwdriver or similar tools to move the legs of the DIN clear of the PCB tracks. Working one by one, you should be able to free up the DIN and get it out.

BTW - keep the DIN, you may find that you need to cannibalise a few bits of it, to make a good 8 PIN DIN, since they seem to have slight differences between manufacturers.

[SignOfZeta]

Yeah, that de-soldering braid is what I use. It gets expensive if you are doing a lot of work, but other than that it's wonderful.

[ApolloBoy]

BTW - keep the DIN, you may find that you need to cannibalise a few bits of it, to make a good 8 PIN DIN, since they seem to have slight differences between manufacturers.

That's what I do for RGB mods, the two ground pins on the bottom are always different between jacks so I pull off the bottom with the grounding pins and mount that on the 8-pin DIN.

[peasoup]

Hi All thanks for all the great advice, a somewhat belated reply  I was busy playing on the system I put the RGB mod on the back burner.
I ended up buying a better solder sucker (one of those big plastic ones, toolcraft ezd) and some flux, it worked a treat just took some patience.
Unfortunately It seems I don't have the right kind of DIN8 the pins are in the wrong place, so I need to track one of those down now.

[peasoup]

Does anyone know where I can get a suitable DIN8 socket in the UK?

[grahf]

If you look at the old and new DINs, you should be able to unclip them. The front two legs are the ones that don't fit, right? You may be able to swap them. Give it a look.

[peasoup]

No unfortunately I've managed to pick up a din with pins in all the wrong places.

[Duo_R]

Yeah there is one that is the exact pinouts for the existing legs that is the one that you want.

[grahf]

Ahh, that's too bad. A lot of dins match except for the two outer grounding pins, which can be changed....   Good luck finding a matching one.

[Duo_R]

I assume yours is removed already now, but always be really careful with the heat and lift technique. With these old systems it is really easy to lift traces, make life more difficult. On this one I use a cheapie radioshack desolder iron, the one for like $15. I put large blobs of solder on pins using solder and my solder iron. I then use the desolder iron and try to get as much sucked up as possible. I then take a needle nose plyer and see if the pins is free. Slightly move the pin left and right and usually that does the trick. You carefully break free the remaining bits of solder to the pins. Once all pins are free it pops off.

Theres my modder tip on that one.

[Duo_R]

oh and I got the matching sockets off ebay

[Drakon]

I always use a small flat head to slightly pry the din jack out while heating up the solder on each pin until the jack is out. It's a pain but it works. Try to at least get the solder off of the grounding points though ahead of time to make it easier.

Good god man that would take forever.

[peasoup]

Ended up getting creative with a glue gun and a scalpel It's not pretty but it will work until I manage to find a better socket.