I just ordered 2 microchip ICs from Farnell UK, and it arrived this morning.
It was in a ESD bag, and I took them out of the bag, only to find they are really tiny, and won't fit in the standard IC holders, which is really annoying!
They look really hard to solder, so I was wondering if you have any information or tips on how to use these (are they SOIC or something)?
I just ordered 2 microchip ICs from Farnell UK, and it arrived this morning.
It was in a ESD bag, and I took them out of the bag, only to find they are really tiny, and won't fit in the standard IC holders, which is really annoying!
They look really hard to solder, so I was wondering if you have any information or tips on how to use these (are they SOIC or something)?
you could try and return it but it wasnt their fault so they might be a bit funny - also alot of money to do it.
You could just get a SOIC -> DIL converter. You then solder the SOIC package to the converter and plug it into a DIL socket.
As to the soldering of SOIC: Make sure the pads are clean and with only a tiny bit of tinning. Put a dab a solder on pin1 (or any corner pin) with soldering iron and tweasers line up the IC and tag it down with pin1, then put a bit of solder on the diagonal pin (that you already) done and it is now held in place for you to go over all the pins
You will need a fine-tip soldering iron (although i prefer a fairly big tip to get the heat to the IC), fine solder and also some flux if you are haiving some probs getting the solder to flow where you want it.
I will probably need to do another order soon from them, and if its only £10 minimum order with free shipping, I will order some more DIL ones later... I'll have a go with the SOIC but if I mess it up then for 1.36 its not the end of the world...
Solder wick is another nice thing to have when you are soldering surface mount ICs. If you accidentaly solder two pins together the solder wick will clean it up. You can even do QFPs and use the wick to fix any pins that get soldered together.