Fix Ripped off Solder Pads on Flight Controller

by Oscar

Ain’t it annoying when you rip off the solder pad/copper off a flight controller (or PCB)? Fear not, you might be able to repair it!

sponsor-banner
Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. I receive a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these affiliate links. This helps support the free content for the community on this website. Please read our Affiliate Link Policy for more information.

I pulled the RC1 and Radio 5V solder pads off my brand new Naze32 board when I was removing the pre-soldered pins. As I primarily run PPM, and it’s currently not possible to do PPM apart from RC1 pin (as far as I know), it pretty much means I had to run PWM, or ditch the board and get a new one. (because I am using UART2 on RC3 and RC4 pins)

naze32-remove-pins-ripped-off-solder-pad

In fact the RC pins are all very important for the Naze board, they all have their own jobs, and not interchangeable at the moment:

  • RC1 – PPM
  • RC3/4 – UART2 (TX/RX)
  • RC5 – LED
  • RC5/6 – SoftSerial 1
  • RC7/8 – SoftSerial 2

How to avoid pulling off PCB Solder Pads

Don’t apply too much heat on solder pads for too long, and don’t apply ANY force to them while soldering / de-soldering.

Fix Ripped off Copper Solder Pads

Luckily enough I was able to repair mine! Although I don’t know how reliable it is going to be, at least it seems to work for now.

  1. You can repair this by using a knife to scrape and expose the trace for that pin/solder pad
  2. put solder flux on the trace, and tin it. Clean and remove excessive flux
  3. finally solder a tiny piece of tinned tiny wire (30 awg or 28 awg) to connect the trace to a header pin or something. i didn’t even use a wire, I just push the header pin right in, as close to the trace as possible, and solder them together. (See RC1 pad, and 5V Pad)

naze32-scrape-expose-trace-RC1-ppm-ripped-off-solder-pad naze32-solder-connection-expose-trace-pin-ripped-off-solder-pad

Leave a Comment

By using this form, you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. Note that all comments are held for moderation before appearing.

7 comments

BETTY HUNT 16th October 2019 - 11:22 am

Very helpful information!

Reply
Bull FPV Shannon 6th March 2019 - 7:40 pm

Kew i was wondering if scraping trace would work. I just had my diatone mamba minis rx signalwire pad break loose right before her maiden. Its on the corner next to standoff bolt so im hopin the trace is big enuff

Reply
tom 4th November 2016 - 5:24 pm

I have prob destroyed 5 micro minimosd trying to solder the pins on. Very poor design. At least sell the damn things with the pins attached.

Reply
Rob Hill 31st May 2016 - 5:05 pm

Same here. vid out. cant see where it goes to. and help please

Reply
Tom W, 29th September 2015 - 12:59 pm

Hi Oscar
I had the video out pin solder pad pull off of a micro minim OSD module when I tried to solder a connector pin to it
You can purchase some conductive glue to repair the pad as long as you can identify where the trace made contact with the
pad. Two ounces for $1.50 on E-bay.

Reply
ken 12th October 2015 - 4:49 am

Thanks both soloution works well.

Reply
Nestor 16th April 2016 - 4:58 am

Hi Tom,

We’re you able to figure out where the pad made contact to the video out pin? That exact pad came off my micro minim osd as well :/

Reply