How do you hold SMD part in place while soldering?

I go through this every time I have PCBs I need to populate with SMD parts, and this has become more an issue as pin spacings have gotten tighter, and my hands have become less steady with age. How do you hold SMD part in place while soldering?

For ICs: Just flux pen a little, then put some solder on one pin in the corner. Then put the chip near it. Now just flow the solder with your iron and nudge it into place with a pick, tweezers or the finger whatever works for that part. Then you can align all the other sides by heating the solder a little and nudging it. Then tack the opposite corner and off you go.

For little parts: put a bit of solder on one pad then heat it up and slide one pad of the component in with the tweezers. Pull the iron off and it stays in place, you can use as much force on the tweezers as you need to. Then just finish up the other pins. You can go pretty fast with this if you’re placing multiple parts just prepare one pad on each footprint, then slide in the parts and then go back and do the other pins.

Read More: SMT PCB Assembly

#PCB Assembly

Picture of Oliver Smith

Oliver Smith

Oliver is an experienced electronics engineer skilled in PCB design, analog circuits, embedded systems, and prototyping. His deep knowledge spans schematic capture, firmware coding, simulation, layout, testing, and troubleshooting. Oliver excels at taking projects from concept to mass production using his electrical design talents and mechanical aptitude.
Picture of Oliver Smith

Oliver Smith

Oliver is an experienced electronics engineer skilled in PCB design, analog circuits, embedded systems, and prototyping. His deep knowledge spans schematic capture, firmware coding, simulation, layout, testing, and troubleshooting. Oliver excels at taking projects from concept to mass production using his electrical design talents and mechanical aptitude.

What Others Are Asking

Do I have to protect PCB from radio frequency reflection?

I am designing a system on megahertz frequency bands (~ 400-1000MHz.) This device is connected to a variable antenna which does not necessarily stay in match with the circuit so there will be some reflection of the power back to the circuit. The feeding power would not be more than 0dBm at maximum. Do I ever need to take care of the reflections at all?

Read Detailed Advice From Blog Articles

what are PCB pads?
Will Li

What Are PCB Pads? What Are Their Functions?

In the manufacturing process of PCBA, soldering is a very important process, which is used to achieve the electrical connection between all components and the printed

A Complete Guide to PCB Mounting Holes
Will Li

A Complete Guide to PCB Mounting Holes

What Are PCB Mounting Holes? PCB mounting holes refer to the holes that are drilled through the printed circuit board (PCB), so the board can

Scroll to Top