You gonna twist and cry..

How NOT to remove capacitors

On several youtube channels and forums people are showing how to remove SMT capacitors from a board, with the so called TWIST TECHNIQUE with pliers..

Example on youtube..

And another example..

It may work, but you can’t always see if a capacitor has leaked.. and if a pad is corroded / affected by the electrolyt, the chance you take the pad along with the capacitor is very big..

SO DON’T DO IT!! THE STRESS ON THE PADD CAN BE ENORMOUS

So once in a while I get a board on my desk from people who used this technique.. with all consequences..

The picture above went “good”..

But this.. not so good..

 

Top part of the pad(s), pad had some stress.. (microscope view)

 

Bottom part, pad totally gone.. (microscope view)

 

Pad came loose

So be warned!

Which tools I should use to remove them

Use a hotair station or desoldering tweezers!

Hotair stations

You can buy a cheap one if you use it once in while, or a more professional version if you (are going to) use very often.

Desoldering tweezer

Shame story as hotair. But with those tweezers you need a soldering station, so the price is higher then hotair.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *