My first fried MCU

[canibalimao 2]

Today, after tested a 9V powersuply, I tried to run an Arduino Leonardo using that powersuply. Right after I plugged it on the wall I heard some really fast "tic-tacs" and plugged it off right next. Put the finger on top of the chip and it was really really hot.

 

Conclusion: a fried Arduino  :cry:  And now I can't change the chip (my soldering skills are not much above zero :oops: ).

 

If anyone is interested on the board to try to repair it please contact me. I'm from Portugal.

[chibiace 46]

getting it off without damaging the pads or surrounding components is the hard part. cleaning the pads and putting a new chip on is fairly easy though,

looking at http://arduino.cc/en/Main/arduinoBoardLeonardo i think this TQFP Atmega32u4 is the replacement chip https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11181 though this one doesnt look like it has a bootloader, if you had another arduino you could use the arduinoisp sketch to flash it with the leonardo bootloader.

[canibalimao 2]

But I have absolutely almost no skills on soldering DIP components. Much less with SMD...

 

I don't know if this was jealousy by the chip because this happens right after I bought an Arduino UNO to use in University...

[chibiace 46]

there are many tutorials on youtube. it is a fairly useful skill to have.

[canibalimao 2]

I know it is. I need to get a new soldering iron too. The one I have has it's tip oxided and I can't get it working well even if I try to sand it...

[jpnorair 340]

If you think you are going to do a lot of IC removal, then get a cheap hot-air rework station.

 

Does your soldering iron not have a removable tip?  Maybe you can just buy a new tip.

 

The fact is this: you are going to need another Arduino board.  One option is to simply buy a replacement.  The other option is to completely destroy it while learning how to do rework.  OK... maybe you can get extremely lucky, and repair it.  Most likely, this will not be the way things happen.

[canibalimao 2]

But I don't want to spend a lot money on soldering stuff...

My iron have a removable tip but I searched all the electronic/DIY stores I know here on my area and they don'thave tips for that type of iron...

 

I have an arduino UNO on the go (it might arrive today), but i'm planing to use this on my car as a parking sensor... I think I'll search for a cheap Leonardo on ebay and then I'll try to remove the chip on this one.

[Druzyek 36]

I recommend practicing your soldering on junk parts to improve your soldering skills. Buy some cheap protoboard. Find some broken PCBs from old radios or TVs that have parts you can desolder and resolder on to the protoboard. You can also use random DIP chips if there is a local store that sells them cheap enough to practice on.

[canibalimao 2]

I have here an old and broken motherboard that I thought before to practice on, but all the components are too small. If I try to unsolder anything I don't have how to put that small thing of the board

 

I really need to buy a decent soldering iron (today I went to the store where I usually buy electronic components but the iron I want was sold out and I need to wait) and then practice with a broken TV I have on my grandmother's house. Maybe I'll put it working :-D

[chibiace 46]

what iron are you after?

 

you will need a roll of solder, leaded and with flux in the core will make things easier

cheap solder wick for picking up left over solder on the pads and pins

cheap solder sucker for picking up big lots of solder or unsoldering thruhole parts

cheap flux pen for use on the wick and to solder better onto slightly dirty pads/pins

some nice flush sidecutters

some tweezers

 

those air rework stations are not too much, i got an atten one from ebay for about 60$

 

for the iron you want it to be variable temperature even though most the time you will set it on one temp and leave it there

and it needs to come back up to temperature fast after touching it to the pins, probably couldnt go wrong with a cheap variable weller,hakko,jbc,metcal

station

[canibalimao 2]

I'm after one with a sharp tip. Here in Portugal we call them "pencil tip irons".

 

I have already a roll of solder, solder wick, a flux pen, tweezers and a couple of sidecutters. What I really need is a soldering station and space to put it. As I don't have space and don't want to spend a lot of money on a soldering kit (I don't see myself soldering a lot of stuff, at least for now) I just want a simple iron. I guess that it should serve me for now...

[spirilis 1,265]

Yeah, get a good pencil tip iron, or maybe one with a holder & control knob.  Even before I played with electronics for real I'd always keep one of those around for the occasional automotive project... It's as necessary as a multimeter IMO, even for handymen.

[canibalimao 2]

I know that's a great tool to have on the tool box, almost like a philips screwdriver, but the problem is the cost. A good soldering iron is a lot more expensive than a good kit of screwdrivers

But I'll try to buy a good one the next week (if they were right about the stock's arrival). It don't have an holder, but it will do his work, I hope

[zeke 693]

Do you have any local friends who have a soldering iron that you like?

 

Maybe you could visit them and test drive their soldering iron for a little bit?

Maybe you could talk with them about your blown arduino at the same time?

 

I bet that they would be a great encouragement to you!

[canibalimao 2]

I'mj the only one on my circle of friends who have interest on this kind of things (what is pretty strange since I'm on an Electric Engeniering course ) and I don't know anyone who have a basic soldering iron. I know a guy who fixes TV's and things like that, but he have a working station with a lot of addons and haven't used any basic one on his life...