Is aluminium foil a good substitute for kapon tape when soldering?

I want to desolder a tiny surface mount button from the motherboard of a phone. There are a lot of similarly tiny components surrounding it that I do not want to damage with heat from the soldering iron. Can I use aluminium foil in lieu of kapton tape to protect these components?

If you are using a iron, then just apply it where needed. Other nearby components won’t that that hot unless you do something really wierd.

Also, Kapton tape doesn’t protect against heat. It keeps things from getting soldered by being a physical barrier to molten solder. The reason Kapton is used instead of other tape is that Kapton can stand high temperatures. It’s also useful that solder doesn’t wet Kapton.

Read More: SMT Assembly

#PCB Assembly

Picture of Oliver Smith

Oliver Smith

Oliver is an experienced electronics engineer skilled in PCB design, analog circuits, embedded systems, and prototyping. His deep knowledge spans schematic capture, firmware coding, simulation, layout, testing, and troubleshooting. Oliver excels at taking projects from concept to mass production using his electrical design talents and mechanical aptitude.
Picture of Oliver Smith

Oliver Smith

Oliver is an experienced electronics engineer skilled in PCB design, analog circuits, embedded systems, and prototyping. His deep knowledge spans schematic capture, firmware coding, simulation, layout, testing, and troubleshooting. Oliver excels at taking projects from concept to mass production using his electrical design talents and mechanical aptitude.

What Others Are Asking

How do you hold SMD part in place while soldering?

I go through this every time I have PCBs I need to populate with SMD parts, and this has become more an issue as pin spacings have gotten tighter, and my hands have become less steady with age. How do you hold SMD part in place while soldering?

How much larger should a plated-through hole be than lead diameter to get good solder wetting?

I’m designing a new PCB where I have a whack of connectors that have to line up with the metalwork. There are some problematic connectors. All 4 pins are round. I want to have the holes as small as possible while allowing for good solder adhesion over the full length of the pin. I’m looking for guidance on how much clearance around the component lead I should have in order to get good solder wetting and adhesion.

Read Detailed Advice From Blog Articles

Scroll to Top