# Help with my soldeing mess



## JayJay81 (Jan 19, 2012)

Hi everyone.
It would be really great if i could get a second opinion on how I have got myself out of trouble with this job replacing capacitors on the power smoothing board from a LG 42px3rva plasma tv.

While replacing them I was a bit `rusty` with my technique an accidentally burnt a couple of the holes where the legs solder onto the pcb. This meant when I tried to replace the capacitors with new ones, I could not get the solder to stick in a way that i was happy with so I came up with another idea.



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In the part marked `A` only 1 hole is burnt so I left the leg long enough so it would come through and solder onto the next component contact which is on the same pcb track.

In the part marked `B` same thing happened, one of the holes got burnt out and I had real trouble getting the capacitor to stick. In the part marked `C` however, there were 2 unused capacitor holes which ran along the same track so I moved the capacitor to these unused holes and got it to solder in ok.

So, my question is, are these fixes or workarounds ok? Or should I try harder to get the components to stick in the original holes? Im just worried I may make the holes worse if I cant get it to stick...

I have tried the tv out like this and It comes on ok and sound works, But the picture will not fire up yet as im waiting for a replacement fuse for the y-sus board. 

Any thoughts on if its ok to leave it like this is much appreciated!


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## octaneman (May 13, 2009)

Hi JayJay81

The best method that I know of when faced with something like this is get your self a through hole repair kit. It will be a cleaner repair without damaging the board more than it already is. 


PCB Through-hole Repair Kit | 847-797-9250


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## JayJay81 (Jan 19, 2012)

Thanks for your reply. I had a look at your link and it seems those kits are around $200. Seeing as a replacement board is only $100 I would like to try a cheaper diy solution first.

I know its a bodge, but should it matter for instance moving the capacitor to the `next door` unused holes which run along the same traces? 

If i scrape the areas around the holes would solder be more likely to stick?


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## octaneman (May 13, 2009)

*Re: Help with my soldering mess*



JayJay81 said:


> Thanks for your reply. I had a look at your link and it seems those kits are around $200. Seeing as a replacement board is only $100 I would like to try a cheaper diy solution first.
> 
> I know its a bodge, but should it matter for instance moving the capacitor to the `next door` unused holes which run along the same traces?
> 
> If i scrape the areas around the holes would solder be more likely to stick?


Without a schematic to know what circuits it affect Its a risky thing to solder the capacitors in the "next door" holes, you may permanently destroy the board I would not recommend it. 

The kit displayed is a full kit for future repairs, but you can do is go to your local electronics supplier and ask what they got for a through hole quick repair. 


Scraping off the coating of the trace and solder the leg of the capacitor directly to the trace is the poor man's method. Its crude but not very professional you do it by first tinning the leg of the capacitor and applying flux to the board and cut it to length. Its time consuming and you have to double check your connection with your DMM that they do not short anything out on the board.


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