Complete electronics noob unfortunate learning experience soldering headers on a 4.1, any advice appreciated

jrod305

Member
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Complete abomination of a solder job on a Teensy 4.1. I am extremely mechanically inclined but I have puny electrical knowledge, bought my very first microcontroller and decided to solder some pins to it so I can rack it up to a breadboard, my worst decision was not to practice prior to this.

This would’ve been ok if I had fixed the pin bridging before connecting it to power, but thinking this was fine I connected it to power. No LED or red light , just heat. Mainly resonating for the MIMXRT1062.

Second attachment is how it looks cleaned up. Have a multimeter ready for diagnostics , would like some advice as to what to check is damaged when I plug it in. If it miraculously works after the cleaning then god bless. Already ordered another one but would like to see if this one is salvageable.
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The good news is this sort of problem is usually recoverable.

Before you go any further, I'd recommend buying liquid flux chemical. Applying liquid will make resoldering so much easier and give better results. With the extra flux, you can re-heat the solder and some if it will flow off those pads and onto your soldering iron. Best to position the board so your iron is below, so gravity will do most of the work. But you really do need liquid flux to make this work well.

Liquid flux comes in many types. You want to get one that's well matched for the type of solder you use. But generally speaking there are 2 types, rosin or organic acid. Usually rosin-based flux is non-conductive and benign. Leaving the residue on the board may look ugly, but doesn't cause harm. If you do want to clean it, get 99% isopropyl alcohol. The 70% isopropyl alcohol commonly used for medical cleaning can also work, but it's not as easy to clean and takes a long time to dry.

Only use organic acid flux if your solder originally was organic acid flux type, like Kester 331. Organic acid flux is absolutely amazing stuff, soldering go so well. But it's conductive and corrosive. You absolutely must wash the residue away. Usually it's designed to just wash off with hot water. Then you need to fully dry the board before use. Baking in a low temperature oven for 10 minutes is the quick way. Gentle warming with a hair dryer can also work.
 
The good news is this sort of problem is usually recoverable.

Before you go any further, I'd recommend buying liquid flux chemical. Applying liquid will make resoldering so much easier and give better results. With the extra flux, you can re-heat the solder and some if it will flow off those pads and onto your soldering iron. Best to position the board so your iron is below, so gravity will do most of the work. But you really do need liquid flux to make this work well.

Liquid flux comes in many types. You want to get one that's well matched for the type of solder you use. But generally speaking there are 2 types, rosin or organic acid. Usually rosin-based flux is non-conductive and benign. Leaving the residue on the board may look ugly, but doesn't cause harm. If you do want to clean it, get 99% isopropyl alcohol. The 70% isopropyl alcohol commonly used for medical cleaning can also work, but it's not as easy to clean and takes a long time to dry.

Only use organic acid flux if your solder originally was organic acid flux type, like Kester 331. Organic acid flux is absolutely amazing stuff, soldering go so well. But it's conductive and corrosive. You absolutely must wash the residue away. Usually it's designed to just wash off with hot water. Then you need to fully dry the board before use. Baking in a low temperature oven for 10 minutes is the quick way. Gentle warming with a hair dryer can also work.
Hi Paul, thank you very much for the reply. I was able to give it a good cleaning with the available resources I had at hand. Never knew an orange light can give me so much joy ! Back to the tutorials now
 

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Glad you got it working. :)

Be careful about Teensy's power pins accidentally touching the metal chassis of your laptop. In theory everything should have over-current protection. In practice, best not to put that to the test.
 
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