i thought while the cars off the road i might as well get the ecu socketed and go for a chip upgrade. were can i get the socket that needs to be soldered in from. is there any caution required when removing the ecu from the car.

 

thanks muchly

No, no don't do it!

 

If you need to ask those questions then you do

not have enough experience.

 

Safer to pay someone else to do it!

its pretty easy if you know what you are doing, you should be able to get the sockets from either RS or Maplin. Best way is to cut the old chip out rather than trying to desolder it totally, as i did which is a pain in the ass. Howver lesson learned and the second time i did it (yesterday) i just cut the legs off, then desoldered them afterwards. youll need a decent soldering iron with a pretty small tip, and a solder sucker.

Originally posted by Simmo303

No, no don't do it!

 

If you need to ask those questions then you do

not have enough experience.

 

Safer to pay someone else to do it!

 

i wasnt gonna do my self, just needed to know what type of socket and where from. i wouldnt trust my self with a garden fork never mind soldering iron :rofl:

With all due respect to those who manage to socket their own ECUs, it is better handled by a professional.

 

The ECU board is highly sensitive to excessive temperature changes and if you attempt to desolder the chip using the wrong type of soldering iron (i.e., too high temp) then the excessive temp will do fatal damage to the ECU. When I get ECUs socketed I hand them over to a professional outfit who have the correct tool to desolder all legs at once and remove the chip - leaving minimal chance for it to go wrong. Potentially, each leg you desolder could be the one that causes damage. And replacing an ECU will cost you a lot of money.

 

Hope this hasn't p*ssed people off as it is just my 2p worth.

 

Regards,

Originally posted by Danny

With all due respect to those who manage to socket their own ECUs, it is better handled by a professional.

 

The ECU board is highly sensitive to excessive temperature changes and if you attempt to desolder the chip using the wrong type of soldering iron (i.e., too high temp) then the excessive temp will do fatal damage to the ECU. When I get ECUs socketed I hand them over to a professional outfit who have the correct tool to desolder all legs at once and remove the chip - leaving minimal chance for it to go wrong. Potentially, each leg you desolder could be the one that causes damage. And replacing an ECU will cost you a lot of money.

 

Hope this hasn't p*ssed people off as it is just my 2p worth.

 

Regards,

 

hasnt pissed me off, i know i'm great at soldering.

:dance: :dance: :D :D :D :dance:

 

its the desoldering that is the hard bit, but like i said cutting the legs off makes it a much easier task, unless of course you really want to save the previous chip.

The person who did mine cut the old chip out too. I think he used some sort of special tool as it took a day longer that said because he had to take the tool from work. Probably the a soldering iron. ;)

 

He also sprayed something over the whole thing when he did it and left the ECU open to dry for a few hours.

 

Any one know what it would have been?

 

Stuart

probably just a laquer, most pcbs have a laquer coating

Conformal coating.

 

If I hadn't just had a big clear out, I'd have sent

you a socket f.o.c.

Use a turned pin or ZIF socket (Zero Insrtion Force - like a CPU socket - if you're thinking of changing chips occasionally) - don't use the cheapo flat pin sockets as the chip can work loose more easily.

 

 

Stu - was probably some solder flux remover/circuit board cleaner.