06/30/2023
Today I was able to successfully remove 20 caps from this motherboard without damaging it. This one was tough, because all the leads were cut flush or almost flush.
First add new solder to the top of the desolder iron. Next, push down on the capacitor while heating up the joint. The end seal squishes, allowing the lead to poke through just a little bit. Once you can feel the cap move, you make a circular motion with the iron, basically feeling the lead moving around in the hole. Once you feel it moving freely, hit the button while continuing the motion. Pull the desolating iron away from the board before letting go of the button. Otherwise, you might reheat any solder that’s left, and the lead will get stuck in the hole. When you do the second lead, you it will be easier to feel when the lead is loose, as the whole cap will move.
Do NOT take pressure off the cap, as the cap might fall out of the board, leaving a soldered hole. Sometime it’s very difficult to remove solder from multi layer boards without the lead.
If at any time you accidentally hit the button too early, start over. Once you have taken partial solder out of the board, but failed, it’s impossible to finish desoldering. Just add fresh solder to the joint, and do it again.
If you follow these steps, it will be a breeze. Try to cut corner, you will wreck the board, and/or waste a lot of time, and probably get mad in the process.
These old motherboards will keep our machines running a long time, if we give them news caps every 10-15 years. Many people will replace board like this in a machine to get it back running. Much of the time the only issue is dried up caps. $20 worth of caps, and an hour is a lot cheaper than spending $2500-5000 for a replacement card!
