Wow! When I started this thread I never dream that the central issue would be servicing! I'm not a designer. I'm a Production Engineer. Most of my experience has been in low volume, new product introduction. That is such a hand-on activity. Yet we would train people right off the street to do it. I've seen both high and low end gear made this way. Its cheaper to make because its repeatable. Its lighter too. Forget comparrasons to Mobile phones. They are made to be replaced - have you seen the abuse they get?
I can assure anyone who has never removed a SMT part that its far easier. A soldering iron and a pair of tweezers will do it. If you want to get really professional, a hot air pencil is not an expencive piece of kit. Do we really start servicing a circuitboard in the field anyway? The Killer app in SMT is the single sided board. All the components are on one side -the same side as the solder joint - so you dont need to remove the board to swap a component.
I was really thinking about how a 0805 passive would compare to metal film etc. The performance angle.
I can assure anyone who has never removed a SMT part that its far easier. A soldering iron and a pair of tweezers will do it. If you want to get really professional, a hot air pencil is not an expencive piece of kit. Do we really start servicing a circuitboard in the field anyway? The Killer app in SMT is the single sided board. All the components are on one side -the same side as the solder joint - so you dont need to remove the board to swap a component.
I was really thinking about how a 0805 passive would compare to metal film etc. The performance angle.
