I'm with Evan here.?
I'd never drill out a through-hole so I could insert a new diode.?
Nor would I use a push pin to try to (partially) clean out the hole.
Just clip the old diode or BS170 or whatever out and solder the new one to the stubs.
There is no need for the leads of the new part to go through the board.
?
Heating the board again and again to clean it with a solder sucker or solder wick is a fools errand.
The heat will compromise how well the pads adhere to the board.
If the pads get lifted off you then have?to figure out how to re-attach the broken traces.
Been there done that many times over a 45 yr career designing circuit boards.
?
The above is especially true for a multilayer board with internal traces and planes like the QMX.
A drill could easily cause shorts between internal layers near the hole.
Some parts such as BGA's (not found on the QMX) have pins (or balls) underneath the part,
and a single broken traces means throwing away a high value board since it can't be repaired
with a wire across the surface.? When dealing with RF or high speed clocks,? a patch wire
across the surface can behave much differently than the engineered trace through the board.
?
ChipQuik would work well enough when removing connectors and switches that must be
replaced with correct physical alignment,? or a heavy part that might break free due to vibration
unless it is properly mounted.? For a diode it's a waste of perfectly good ChipQuick.
?
Jerry, KE7ER
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On Thu, May 22, 2025 at 06:59 PM, Evan Hand wrote:
The QMX series of radios uses a 6-layer PCB. Making the drilling hole larger could cause gaps in the internal layers. It would be better to use a thin lead and solder the fat lead above the board. Look at the board trace pictures and the schematics to verify that the connections are still there.
