PCB Repair

[zudmsc]

In the process of testing a board, I broke a trace on the PCB.  I was working with a 3 pin transistor and "pushed" it.  In that process the solder broke off the board along with part of the trace.  Can this be repaired?  I can try to take a pic later if need be.

Michael

[shardian]

Sure can be. Basically, you scrape away the green stuff insulating the trace so you have something to solder to. Then you bridge the broken area with a small piece of wire. You lay the ends of the wire on exposed good trace and solder it in place.

There are plenty good tutorials on the net how to do this.

Oh, did you also break of the solder lug where the pin of the transistor was?

[ChadTower]

Another method is to bypass the trace entirely, placing a jumper wire connecting the trace's two endpoints.  That is what I usually do.  It's easier to add a thin wire to a solder pad than it is to connect it to a copper trace.

[shardian]

Yeah but repairing a trace is just so darn pretty.

[ChadTower]

Can be... it's a fragile repair, though, even if you manage to do it without further delaminating the trace.  The pads are designed to take soldering heat but the trace isn't.  If it gets tugged later the trace often lifts right off the board.

[zudmsc]

Ok thanks.  I havent soldered in years, so this will be a fun project to try it on.  I got the PCB out of a free monitor so worst case senerio is I learning something new.  :-)

Michael