Tonight, I will attempt to replace the gyro on my 9116 PCB that
did a 200 foot nose dive.

Pictured are the raw gyro, and the tools I will use to attempt
replacement.

This same gyro is more than likely used on the majority of
Double Horse products, and possibly even the majority of
gyro's in general because it is cheap.

If anybody can take pictures of the 9104, 9100, and other
boards, we could at least look for a visual match.

The manufacturer specifies a max temp of 250C.
Most solders melt around 180-220C, , which is
why I have the thermocouple attachment.
This way I can closely monitor airstream temp.

More to follow.

I will start by using my iron with a small tip, solder wick
and flux to remove the gyro mount from the PCB.

The iron and wick will remove most of the solder, and then
a quick pass with the hot air gun will set it free. I hope.

Here goes....

Solder wick, flux, and an iron is all you need to get it out
of the PCB. After soaking up the solder, mine slides right out.

Here it is after cleaning the flux off with alcohol and cotton
swabs.

Note how the pin orientation divot is opposite the etching.
I hope that is not a sign of bad things to come.

The next step is to verify a roughly 200C air stream from my
hot air gun. We will start there, and work our way up slowly.
I will be using a very sharp hobby knife to gently lift it off
once the solder becomes molten. This is a very delicate step,
as it is very easy to break pins, or lift traces off the board.

Time for a smoke, so I can be as relaxed as possible

Here is the mount with the old gyro removed.

I ended up using the iron to remove it, the hot air just
would not melt it without getting the part too hot.
The gyro is already bad, but it's good practice for installing
the new one.

Residual solder has been cleaned up with solder wick,
and the flux removed with alcohol and cotton swabs.

I plan to use the iron to install it as well, and will apply
fresh solder to the pads.

Then after setting the part in place with flux, just a quick
touch of the iron to allow the solder to wick under the part
on each pin, allowing the part to cool between joints.

By the way, if this actually works, I will post a link to the part.

Smoke break time !!

This is how it looks after application of fresh solder
to the pads. There is extra solder on the pads so we
will not need to add any when we mount the part.

Actually, this might be a little too much, but it should
be fine.

Here is the part, soldered in place.
I held it on with my finger, so I could make sure
it was not getting too hot.

Hopefully, it didn't.

Time to mount it in the PCB

Note the completely smashed corner of the PCB.
This probably wasn't the best board to try this on, as it
may have damage elsewhere. But if it works...
I will be one proud SOB.

No dice. It acts differently than the other gyro did,
but will not come close to center, this time in the
complete opposite direction


It is possible I got the wrong part, but I suspect it is
damage elsewhere on the board, and will try this gyro
again when I get a fresh PCB.

All is not lost yet...

Spending yet another $16.00 and ordering
a shiny new PCB now...

Expect an update in about 3 days