Surface mount soldering

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ge_rik
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Surface mount soldering

Post by ge_rik » Mon Sep 03, 2018 1:40 pm

Are any of you skilled enough - or know someone suitably skilled - to do surface-mount soldering?

Yesterday (as I was dashing out to go to Llanfair as it happens), I managed to catch my foot in the USB lead from computer to external hard drive and I've now discovered I've pulled the USB socket off the circuit board (removing one of the tracks with it).
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Someone with a steadier hand than me and maybe a finer soldering iron bit than mine may be able to solder the socket back on and (hopefully) redo the link from the ripped track to the nearby contact on the adjacent component. I fear I may well make matters worse if I attempt the job.

Needless to say, the drive in question contains all our photos and videos from 2004 to 2010 and so, today, I am somewhat in the doghouse.... :(

Clearly I will pay the going rate for such a skilled job.

Can anyone help?

Rik
Last edited by ge_rik on Mon Sep 03, 2018 1:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by Busted Bricks » Mon Sep 03, 2018 1:50 pm

I've done a fair amount of work like that and have the proper equipment but I'm a bit far away from you. I used to assemble micro R/C receivers under a stereo microscope.

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by SimonWood » Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:12 pm

I wouldn't be much help with the soldering I'm afraid! But I wonder - how is the board connected to the drive? Just thinking if it's a standard IDE or SATA connector you might be able to recover the photos that way.

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by tom_tom_go » Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:59 pm

SimonWood wrote: Mon Sep 03, 2018 2:12 pm I wouldn't be much help with the soldering I'm afraid! But I wonder - how is the board connected to the drive? Just thinking if it's a standard IDE or SATA connector you might be able to recover the photos that way.
Don't bother trying to repair the board Rik, do as Simon said and connect directly to a PC or buy an adapter off eBay for peanuts.

PM me if you need help.

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by ge_rik » Mon Sep 03, 2018 3:28 pm

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by tom_tom_go » Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:52 pm

Can you take a photo of the connectors on the hard drive please?

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by ge_rik » Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:01 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Mon Sep 03, 2018 4:52 pm Can you take a photo of the connectors on the hard drive please?
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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by tom_tom_go » Mon Sep 03, 2018 5:27 pm

Ok, that's SATA connection so you want a caddy like this:

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre ... 3160444616

Measure the drive width, yours looks like a 3.5" drive but if it's 2.5" look for a caddy of that size instead.

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by ge_rik » Mon Sep 03, 2018 7:29 pm

Thanks Tom
I hadn't realised the cases for these were so cheap

Rik
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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by SimonWood » Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:19 am

Hopefully that will keep the old drive going with a new lease of life.

But if I may get up on my soapbox for a moment - once you have it working, backup, backup, backup! I'd recommend no fewer than 2 backups, preferably with one off-site. It may sound obsessive - but you can replace your drives, not so your data!

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by ge_rik » Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:13 pm

SimonWood wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:19 am Hopefully that will keep the old drive going with a new lease of life.

But if I may get up on my soapbox for a moment - once you have it working, backup, backup, backup! I'd recommend no fewer than 2 backups, preferably with one off-site. It may sound obsessive - but you can replace your drives, not so your data!
Have now backed up the entire drive on another ext drive. Will consider uploading to the cloud but as I have nearly 1Tb of pictures and video will have to see how I can do that cost effectively.

Rik
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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:41 pm

Check your ISP provider they normally offer an amount of online storage as part of your contract.

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by BorisSpencer » Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:56 pm

tom_tom_go wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:41 pm Check your ISP provider they normally offer an amount of online storage as part of your contract.
Or if you have a Google account you get "Google Drive", not sure how much space you get by default but I have 15GB and have never paid for anything.

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Re: Surface mount soldering

Post by SimonWood » Wed Sep 05, 2018 12:06 pm

ge_rik wrote: Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:13 pm Have now backed up the entire drive on another ext drive. Will consider uploading to the cloud but as I have nearly 1Tb of pictures and video will have to see how I can do that cost effectively.
Cloud is convenient, but it may be more cost effective to copy onto another drive and leave it with a friend or relative (you can always do the same for them). I hope never to suffer a fire/burglary/ransomware but if I do I'd hate to lose all my photos.

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