> This was my first time soldering DFN packages and they’re tiny! Because I don’t have a microscope or anything to visually inspect my soldering and these components were mostly just handling power anyway I just checked for shorts between power and ground and tried to take close-ups using my phone to see if I could spot any shorts. The technique that ended up working well for me to solder on these DFN packages without a stencil is to put what can only be described as way too much solder paste on the pads and then pushing the IC in the pool of solder, when the solder melts from the heat of my hot air station the IC will float on top and then I push down on it with tweezers and all excess solder will squeeze out and bead up, hopefully landing somewhere on the solder mask, where I can pick it up later once it’s solid.
This is positively an insane methodology for soldering. Fun, but insane.
I actually can imagine that it works, strangely enough. But I don't think you'd get much consistent reliability with this. More like it'd work often enough that its good for one-off projects.
This is positively an insane methodology for soldering. Fun, but insane.
I actually can imagine that it works, strangely enough. But I don't think you'd get much consistent reliability with this. More like it'd work often enough that its good for one-off projects.