Surface Mount Chip Removal - Using Only Soldering Iron and Magnet Wire

This is a simple way to remove a surface mount chip using a soldering iron. Most people use just solder wick, and try to peel each pin one by one. This method uses solder wick and a piece of magnet wire to pop off a surface mount chip. This instructable shows an SO8 package, I have been successful using this method for larger chips such as 64-pin 4-sided chips.

Chip mounted on a board

solder wick

magnet wire of appropriate size such as 32 AWG

Here is an SO8 chip that I need to safely remove from the circuit board.

Using solder wick, remove as much solder as possible. It is not necessary to remove all solder, but more is better. I use a bit of clean-free flux to help start the wicking process.

When desoldering, you should not have the soldering iron at full temperature. The soldering iron should be hot enough to melt the solder, but not too hot or else you can damage the pad, or overheat the chip package and crack the package.

Next, insert a piece of magnet wire under the leads. This example is a piece of 32 AWG wire. You want to use magnet wire since regular wire will have solder adhere and thus not do what is required.

Bend the end of the magnet wire around the board edge or another component or something on the board. This end needs to be fixed in place.

In this video I reheat the pad and carefully pull the magnet wire under the lead. You do not want to be pressing down on the lead of the package as you would push the lead back down on the pad and any remaining solder will adhere to the lead to the pad. The wire should essentially pop out from under all the leads.

Now using the magnet wire again, place it under the the leads of the other side of the chip and secure one side in place. Use the soldering iron again to heat the pads and pull the magnet wire out, separating the lead from the pad.

Once the last side is done, the chip will come off.

If done correctly, you can reuse the chip if necessary.