Solved I just pulled the battery cable connector off the laptop motherboard

Ghot said:

You're gonna need a higher wattage soldering iron. Absolute minimum 60W.
You won't need to turn it all the way up, but it's nice to have the extra, when needed.

If the wattage is too low... it'll take forever and when you solder... you'll get "cold" solder joints, which ADD resistance.


Note: Google doesn't agree, but then Google probably didn't spend 7 years as an electronics tech.

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What's the wattage on the Hakko I posted in post #38 above?

Maybe it's not just wattage alone as this was what I just read on reddit:
"As others have mentioned, the 888D doesn't have the direct heater-in-tip design like more modern irons, like the Pinecil and FX-951D. Those stay at a constant temperature much more easily, since there's less thermal interia from the tip. It's less about soldering constantly and more hitting a joint that is heatsinked by the board or component. The 888D is more likely to take too long to respond, causing the temperature to drop too much and then overshoot as it tries to recover.

That being said, the 888D is extremely well-built and just... feels nice in the hand. I know others have gotten more performance for cheaper, but at the same time, it just feels nice to use. I've also never really had trouble with it heating solder joints up, although I've not done a lot with large ground planes lately.

I know that's a bit of a nebulous description, but if you know how good tools feel, you'll get it. The Aliexpress clone irons are fine for hobbyists, for sure, but buy once cry once, you know?

For instrument cluster sort of work, the 888D is probably fine. If you're dealing with large ground planes, or other soldering jobs where the components and/or PCB rapidly quick the heat away, the FX-951 or something from JBC might be a better idea."

What exactly is a ground plane as I just realized, @MrPig was the first time I heard of it and then I see the same term mentioned again.

A ground plane is a large expanse of copper on the PCB used as a ground plane for electrical connections or as a shield against external EMC & a method to cool hot components (heatsink!)
Whereas you have a thin trace with a pad or via leading to a chip lead a ground plane is effectively a sheet of copper with holes & vias.
A good heatsink!

The HAKKO 888D is rated at 70W so reasonable heft.

Almighty1 said:

What's the wattage on the Hakko I posted in post #38 above?

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70W

MrPig said:

A ground plane is a large expanse of copper on the PCB used as a ground plane for electrical connections or as a shield against external EMC & a method to cool hot components (heatsink!)
Whereas you have a thin trace with a pad or via leading to a chip lead a ground plane is effectively a sheet of copper with holes & vias.
A good heatsink!

The HAKKO 888D is rated at 70W so reasonable heft.

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Thanks for the explanation. The PCB side of this is not a through-hole so the only way to melt the solder is with the tip on the actual stand-off itself. Had to use a toothpick to prevent the flux from filling up the hole and turning solid like I accidentally caused. I'll have to try the desoldering when I have time on something else in the future.

Thanks @Ghot as well.