[ale] Back to new the desktop question

[Alex Carver]

On 2022-12-19 13:20, Steve Litt via Ale wrote:
> Alex Carver via Ale said on Sun, 18 Dec 2022 00:28:06 -0800
> 
>> On 2022-12-17 23:39, Steve Litt via Ale wrote:
> 
>>> 1978-1985 I repaired audio equipment for a living. I made or repaired
>>> twenty to sixty solder joints a day. But I wouldn't solder in a
>>> laptop unless it was hopelessly broken, too expensive to fix, and I
>>> was soldering as a Hail Mary to revive it. Today's ultra-thin trace,
>>> multilayer boards require special equipment and special skills to
>>> solder with acceptable risk.
>>>    
>>
>> We're not talking about a laptop, we're talking about a desktop with a
>> drive-bay multi-card reader insert.
> 
> If the intention is to cut a *wire*, I withdraw my caution. If it's to
> cut a trace on the board, all that really changes on desktop vs laptop
> is that only one card is in jeopardy, and it's easier to get to. But I
> wouldn't be caught dead messing with the traces on a modern multilayer
> circuit board unless I had both the proper tools and the proper
> training.

It's a wire in an aftermarket device mentioned previously (a multiport 
card reader device inserted into a case drive bay). Nevertheless 
PCB/PWBs aren't so fragile that you'd need to fear them, even the fine 
trace type. I work on them frequently with only an ordinary Weller 
soldering station which is the same type that most any PWB fab house 
will use, too. The only thing that's critical is temperature and you can 
easily get temperature charts online for different trace sizes and board 
thicknesses/stackups. Some desoldering braid and an appropriate tip 
temperature is all anyone needs.