I was trying to modify a Linksys WRT54G OpenWRT router to install a USB port. See:
my USB mod page here
and when removing some surface mount resistors crushing them with small wirecutters, I managed to damage some
very tiny circuit board traces right next to the resistors. Beyond my ability to repair, you need a low power microscope to even see them....

The resistors are next to the Broadcom chip right center.
(How does Broadcom not get nailed for sexual harassment, as "broad" is a term for dumb but pretty women?)...
Looking at the guilty wirecutters closely, one of the tips was chipped off making it short by around a few hundred micrometers... Which was enough to gouge out the above traces.

(insert language like that the American President is known to say...)...

You need a hot air SMD rework tool with a fine nozzle. tweezers and a magnifier lamp for that sort of work

I know your pain. I work on SMD PCBs all the time and I need the magnifier just to see the components. My preferred method of removing resistors without the hot air rework station is just to heat both ends quickly in succession and flick the resistor off with the soldering iron tip. After a few thousand goes you get it down to a fine art.

Lately I have been thinking of getting a set of jewellers magnifiers like you see the watch makers of old wearing, because the glasses and the magnifier just don't cut it anymore. Maybe it is an option for you as well. In my case I will be able to see how much I am shaking while I am trying to repair that track.

Maybe that's why I love repairing valve radios, you can see the parts.

Good luck with the repair.

Regards, Frank.

The closest I come to working on stuff like that is when I need to repair Ericsson/Aastra/Mitel DECT phones at work, which get dropped and otherwise abused by the lucky people that don't have to pay for their repair or replacement. The SMDs on these phones are about half the size of those pictured on the modem's motherboard above so I don't even try with those. The bits that would normally be repairable/replaceable are the screens and microphones but even these are too hard to handle these days due to the stupid lead-free solder used in the manufacture (it sets too quickly to successfully unsolder a screen's ribbon cable) and the delicate nature of the microphones, as they simply cannot handle the heat from my iron).

I'll try and post a photo tomorrow night.

There's probably better gear available than what I used to carry out these repairs but the bottom line is, I'm not really geared up to be a specialist at fixing this stuff - when something can be repaired it simply saves the firm a bit of money.

A friend who works on SMD stuff frequently has invested in an industrial quality electronic microscope after growing tired of the el cheapo $60 version he'd been struggling with. I thought he was crazy to pay $4K for the new one but it makes a huge difference and has paid for itself many times over.

I note that Jaycar has a markdown special on its 2MP version at the moment:

https://www.jaycar.com.au/5mp-usb-2-0-digital-microscope-with-professional-stand/p/QC3199

Yes I do a bit of SMD rework/prototyping. Down to 0603 chip parts and 0.4mm pitch QFPs.

The trick when reworking lead free boards is to first resolder the target with leaded solder, this melts at a lower temperature, mixes with the lead free stuff and makes it easy to work.

To repair damaged traces or lifted pads, I use a single strand of wire from a stripped ribbon cable conductor.

I did some practice with the ruined router board, and found that all I really need do is to chip the resistor enough that I can see the white ceramic substrate, as a gap that crosses the resistor body. So that the resistive material is broken between the solder ends. It won't look pretty, but this should be less trauma to the circuit board. I'll solder the new connection or part atop that. As I said, not pretty... But should be less risky give the crudeness of my tools. (You heard the one about the workman blaming his tools...)


I can work with the biggest SMD stuff:


Here I salvaged and reused SMD parts to replace the regular parts in this transistor radio.

They quit marking the ceramic caps. But they still mark the resistors. Cap makers got lazy?

Photo uploaded to Post 4.

The trick when reworking lead free boards is to first resolder the target with leaded solder, this melts at a lower temperature, mixes with the lead free stuff and makes it easy to work.

I do a bit of that, as can be seen in the right of the photo about halfway up the board where there are two small blobs of solder where the phone's microphone is supposed to be. This is the reverse side of the board - the mike goes on the other side.

With a vice, a maggie lamp, my reading glasses and a soldering iron with a finer tip, it'd be a tad easier, though I don't want to get into this sort of work too much otherwise it's just another cap I have to wear.

Before anything else, you need a roll of wrap wire. You’re punishing yourself as soon as you started on that.
You’ll roll back the insulation further than intended every time (as you have), and have less visibility with the actual soldering.
You can’t make a fillet on any fine SMD connection with it either.