Desoldering/Soldering plastic membrane push buttons

[sdancer75]

Hi, how to desolder and solder a plastic SMD membrane push button without destroying i.e using a how airflow station? It concerns a double-sided PCB of a TV remote control.

Regards,

[Psi]

For well known switch brands it's usually a non-issue. Just hot air them as you would any component.

For your cheaper china/aliexpress brand buttons you DO have to be careful. Keep the temp under control to prevent the plastic case melting.

I would set the hotair to maybe 330C and take more time than normal. Start from a good distance away like 6cm. Moving in slowly and bring the part up to solder temp without any overshoot. Maybe 1cm closer every 20seconds.

The problem happens when being too impatient and trying to hurry it by moving closer and then you overshoot the temp and it melts

Thankfully the cheap aliexpress switches are usually a few $ for 10 or 100 so you have spares

[sdancer75]

For well known switch brands it's usually a non-issue. Just hot air them as you would any component.

For your cheaper china/aliexpress brand buttons you DO have to be careful. Keep the temp under control to prevent the plastic case melting.

I would set the hotair to maybe 330C and take more time than normal. Start from a good distance away like 6cm. Moving in slowly and bring the part up to solder temp without any overshoot. Maybe 1cm closer every 20seconds.

The problem happens when being too impatient and trying to hurry it by moving closer and then you overshoot the temp and it melts

Thankfully the cheap aliexpress switches are usually a few $ for 10 or 100 so you have spares

Thanks !!!

Can you suggest me some well-known brands? I buy usually from TME.eu

Best Regards,

[Psi]

i never have any melting issues soldering Panasonic smt switches

[Psi]

If you're new to hotair soldering one other thing to be careful about is the position of the hot air tip.

Because it's all happening at an angle it's easy to think you are pointing hot air directly at the part but you're actually pointing it over the top.
Then you come in closer and closer (too close) and then the hot air moves onto the part and it overheats.

I recommend moving the hot air around the part in a circle, and keep paying attention to where you're actually putting hot air, its not always where you think.