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That guy at the repair shop told me flux is just for looks... until my motherboard repair failed
So I was fixing a dead ASUS laptop board from 2019, and a dude at the local shop in Phoenix said I didn't need flux for a simple capacitor swap. I thought he knew his stuff since he had 10 years in the game. I skipped the flux, cleaned it with alcohol, and the joint looked fine. But after 2 weeks the cap lifted right off the pad, and I had to redo the whole thing with proper flux. Has anyone else had a bad experience ignoring flux on small SMD parts?
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robinson.jake27d ago
That "just for looks" idea is dangerous. It's like skipping the little stuff everywhere, thinking shortcuts won't add up.
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elizabethwhite28d ago
You ever try welding a chain link fence back together with nothing but a wet napkin and good intentions? That's basically what you did. I learned this lesson the hard way on a set of headphones once, thought I was being clever saving a few bucks on flux. The joint looked like a masterpiece for about a week and then just gave up on life. Its like skipping the primer on a paint job, you might get away with it for a bit but its gonna peel off and mock you. Now I treat flux like it's the last beer in the fridge, I don't even think about starting a job without it.
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