Advice for dealing with lifted traces

[FRANKENJAG]

I recently purchased a vox ac4c1 that had very low output when I received it. After troubleshooting the usual suspects I pulled the pcb to look for any suspect solder joints. I found that two of the push in connecter bases where loose on the board. In my attempt to secure them with some fresh solder, I damaged two of the traces.

Maybe my iron was too hot - not sure. I do know that these amps have a reputation for traces that are flimsy and weak. Regardless, I now have to deal with the damage I did. I don't have much experience with pcb boards and I have no idea how to approach this issue. Pic of my shoddy work to follow.

 

[FRANKENJAG]

 

[wabashslim]

You scrape the green stuff off the good part of the trace, solder a thin (22 ga or smaller) wire to it and the other end to the damaged contact. Insert the part thru the board, wrap the wire around it and solder. The cheesier the board the more careful you must be. Use the smallest iron tip you can, watch the heat and do it as quickly as possible.

 

[WalthamMoosical]

Is that a single-layer board? Maybe you can carefully sand or scrape off a bit more of the insulation to get to where there is still copper, and use a small length of wire to replace the missing trace (in each case). It takes a bit of careful soldering but it can be done. Perhaps on the right-most one you can just extend a wire to the pad in the extreme lower-right corner (near that red insulation).

 

[wabashslim]

you can just extend a wire to the pad in the extreme lower-right corner (near that red insulation).

Yes, sometimes it's easier to just bypass the traces altogether and run wires directly from one pad to the other.

 

[dogmeat]

put superglue under the lifted parts. and yeah, easier to bypass at some point

 

[Lowerleftcoast]

If the repairs mentioned above do not work, a wire can be run to the next component along the trace.

If the push in connector bases no longer can be secured to the board, a different kind of connector that doesn't secure to the board (or no connector) can be used. The wire can be soldered to the trace or the next component along the trace. Get 'r done.

 

[FRANKENJAG]

Thanks guys. I'll give it a shot.

 

[BobbyZ]

Too cold can screw you up too. You end up dwelling there waiting for the solder to melt and the heat spreads out and melts other things.
It's a fine line sometimes.

 

[kbold]

No longer any structural integrity at the holes.
Superglue a new connector to the PCB, cut away any lifted tracks, scrape the green off secure track and link with wire.
Don't linger when soldering to any track, as too much heat will lift the track (as quick as possible: 1 second is too long). If this is difficult for you, just use an insulated wire to a pad where the track goes to.
If it's a double sided PCB, link a fine wire from any top side tracks before superglueing connector.

 

[Axis29]

When I lifted a trace in my Bassman, trying to do a cap job and being lazy, not taking the whole board out of the amp, I just yanked it all out and hand-wired the whole thing.

Scraping up the trace sounds cheaper....

 

[Bill Moore]

I'm a mechanic by trade, and back in the 70's/80's, GM used a thin plastic film "PC board" in their instrument clusters. You can imagine what vibration did to the copper traces in the plastic. I got fairly adept at soldering "telephone" wire over the broken traces to get the circuits working again.

 

[jrblue]

Yes, sometimes it's easier to just bypass the traces altogether and run wires directly from one pad to the other.

Good advice! Work small and be patient and it's do-able. Soldering wire to the remaining trace is also quite do-able. There's no magic or mystery. It requires good prep, the right materials, and a steady hand. Don't juggle the parts -- set up solidly. This is a great skill to develop, as all of us mess up a trace now and then.

 

[gusfinley]

When I lifted a trace in my Bassman, trying to do a cap job and being lazy, not taking the whole board out of the amp, I just yanked it all out and hand-wired the whole thing.

Scraping up the trace sounds cheaper....

I took a perfectly good working AC4C1 and pulled the PCB and converted it to a handwired circuit.

I would not recommend that anyone else do this, as there it not much room in the "chassis." My preliminary 3D model told me it would work, but be very tight. It did work and it was VERY tight.

I might be tempted to try it again on a AC4C1-12 (mine is the smaller 1x10 "BL" model) if I ever find a used one for a good enough price.