Can a surface mounted chip be removed with a Heat Gun?? How???

Question

I have a rather stuck on chip that needs to be removed to do some body work underneath it. How or can you remove the chip with a heat gun???

Answer 1

Possible but you can't recover the chip.

I have tried it in several occasions. You need a sharp knife to scrape the epoxy while heating it. Be careful not to apply too much force while scrapping the epoxy so as not to damage the patterns underneath. Don't apply so much heat too. Do it slowly.

Good luck.

Answer 2

I'm assuming you don't need the chip any longer.  Just cut each lead on the chip and then just use a very small screwdriver and gently pry it off the board.   The epoxy used to attach surface mount devices usually is not too strong, so you should not have a problem.

The type of heat gun needed is a very specific type with small tips that direct the heat to the small chip.  A normal heat gun will damage the board if you are not careful.