Wondering if anyone has retinned the PCM connector for connecting to a chip? (Tony Wildman) My son had some problems with the chip or connection, not sure which, and his PCM connection is pretty much free of solder. I feel that the connector would make a better connection if the "soft" solder was present to help make a better connection. I know that it has been said many times to be careful to not clean the connection too much but his truck would not fire, clean the connection, would fire right off. Did this many times until he worked with Tony to get a different chip and live tuning. Now runs reliably! I didn't want to do something what would cook the PCM. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Jody retinned my PCM before live tuning, I watched him, and as long as you can operate a fine tip solder iron confidently, its straight forward. He did express that you must be careful not to leave any slag between each contact, or youmay get a random circuit jump.

 

Brandon, that's what I was looking for. I understand not having solder touching 2 contacts and having it basically even on all terminals. Will have to get a smaller soldering iron as my Weller is a little big and too hot.

Thanks for the reply.

 

You want either no (preferred) or a thin, flat layer of solder for a 'board to board' style connection. techinal term for them would be 'gold fingers', as they should be hard gold plated.

use a hot iron and enough flux so the puddle is thin. clean the flux off so the acid doesn't continue to eat the copper traces and connector contacts. If you get too much solder use a piece of braided wire to wick excess solder away, works great.


I would only solder them if their is already a problem with contact, such as the plating is worn off. good luck.

 

I solder alot and most definately use flux it is the single most way to evenly distribute the solder without overheating and getting a glob of death. I'm assuming you will be using flux filled tin alloy solder so a cheap pencil tip plug in soldering iron will be all you need. If you feel froggy and want to drop a 100 bucks or so you can get a adjustable soldering iron.

I solder electronics as part of my job and mainly use 600 degrees on stuff that's fairly heat sensitive. Always clean anything you solder with alcohol and a fine hair brush or a old toothbrush will work well. Clean it with alcohol even if you don't use solder (HIGHLY recommend you use it though) because the solder will be filled with flux and as the above poster stated the acid in the flux will speed up corrosion process.

"the bigger the glob the better the job" doesn't work on electronics so just apply some flux onto the pin take your pencil tip and get a small bead of solder onto the tip and then hold it onto the pin until it wicks onto it. If you feel you need more solder on it then re-apply flux and get another small bead onto your tip and repeat the process. When you've got it coated wait a good couple minutes before putting alcohol on it to clean it or you could run the risk of getting a cold solder joint (makes it brittle thus weaker). Sorry for the novel and hope this helps.

 

One of the the things i do to our circuit boards to keep corrosion down is use a clear paint on the joints..Krylon clear coat.. good luck

 

Wow! Thanks for the excellent advice. I will see how the truck is behaving now and if it isn't causing a problem, we won't touch it. I will print this thread and if it starts to act up in the future, we will know what to do. Thanks guys!

 

you can always send it to me and ill do it for you , thank you will be sure it will be done properly. allways at your service...

 

Thanks, Pete. That offer will be on the printout that I will make.

 

anytime my friend.....

 

I have a rebuilt PCM in my 97 and somebody before me cleaned the contacts to the cooper on top but not the bottom so I removed the coating using a scotch Brits pad on the bottom. Will I have any issues with connecting the chip and it not working?