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Chipquik SMD Removal Kit
The CHIP QUIK® SMD Removal Kit is a quick and inexpensive way to remove SMD components from a PCB without a hot air station using only your soldering iron. The heart of the kit is a length of Chipquik low temperature alloy. This alloy is like a solder that melts at temperatures well below that of normal solder (136°F) and stays liquid long enough to melt the existing solder, allowing you time to carefully remove the component.
Simply apply a liberal amount of the included flux to the pins of the chip that you want to remove, then use a soldering iron with a flat-edge tip to heat the pins while applying the low temperature alloy. The alloy will remain liquid for a few seconds while you coat all of the connections, once you've coated the pins you should be able to lift the chip free using tweezers or a hemostat. Clean the pads thoroughly and apply fresh solder and you're ready to solder a new part in place.
Note: Solder wick comes in handy with this kit, so it might be a good idea to have some on hand. Check below if you don't already have some.
- 1 Tube of CHIP QUIK® Rework Paste Flux
- 2.5 ft. of CHIP QUIK® Low Temperature Alloy (Removes 8-10 Chips)
- Alcohol Prep Pads
- Rework Guide
- MSDS (Paste Flux)
Chipquik SMD Removal Kit Product Help and Resources
Core Skill: Soldering
This skill defines how difficult the soldering is on a particular product. It might be a couple simple solder joints, or require special reflow tools.
Skill Level: Competent - You will encounter surface mount components and basic SMD soldering techniques are required.
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Comments
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Customer Reviews
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Well this sucks, i just ran out of this and went to order 5 more packs and its RETIRED!!! AUUHHH CRUD
I had this wish-listed, now it's retired! Can you tell me why you retired it, and what you recommend as a replacement (if anything)?
The prices from the supplier were increased, and unfortunately, it was simply a poor seller for us in the catalog. As far as a replacement, there are quick SMD removal kits available elsewhere, or there's always the use of a hot air station.
Here's my contribution to the community: the checklist I follow to use this incredible stuff.
I respectfully disagree with supersat about using wick alone - I've found that ChipQuik doesn't "wick up" my wick alone, so a touch of leaded solder is needed with the wick.
Here's my checklist for your printing pleasure: http://goo.gl/kvbxox (Google Docs)
Let me add another strong recommendation for this product. However, as the description says, you really want to use solder wick with this. With solder wick, you can easily suck the ChipQuik off the pads AND the IC and make both like-new. Much easier and cleaner than using regular solder to remove the excess (as shown in the video)!
this stuff is amazing, took seconds to remove a 28 pin soic pic, the best $15 i've ever spent!!!
I haven't tackled TQFP chips yet, but I have taken out several SOIC and SSOP chips, no sweat. I wish I bought this earlier, then I'd have avoided several ruined boards because of lifted pads and such.
To echo the other posts here, this product is nothing short of fantastic. It works as easily as the demo video showed. I took off a 144pin TQFP in a few minutes with no damage to the board.
I also heartily recommend this product. The solder flux that is included ensures that the low temperature alloy gets under all the SMT feet so the SMT device ends up floating on molten low temp solder. I use hot air and a alcohol soaked Q-Tip to clean all the pads after removing the SMT device. This results in a clean board that is ready for the replacement part with very little chance of damaging the PCB.
This stuff rocks! It's one of the secret weapons of the EE realm. A portable, safe alternative to hot-air removal. Never again will you spend 10 minutes carefully removing a chip only to snap off a few pcb solder pads.