Two iron chip soldering -- two terminal mounting...

I used to tack one side down of a chip resistor/capacitor/diode (two terminal device).  You had to hold the part with tweezers, and the component didn't always go on straight.  Then it took time to straighten it out before tacking down the other side.  This is the way we are told to mount SMT parts by hand.

I'm glad I figured out a faster/easier/better way to do this.

Now, you still need to do this on some parts (like the electrolytic caps in the SDR-Cube kit.. this particular style doesn't two iron reflow well due to the design of the plastic spacer on the bottom.. other SMT electrolytic capacitors worked fine in the past..)  But on your normal 0602, 0805, 1206, 1210..etc. chip parts.. I'm telling you.. no lie.. this is the fastest way to stick solder down the capacitor/resistor/diode.

Probably the only better way to mount these parts is to paste solder and reflow.  I am a bit of a klutz, though, (right angle header!) and when I'm building a one off.. even when I hotplate solder, I'll typically solder the two terminal devices down this way after the IC's are mounted.. just because I don't want to bump the board and lose parts.

Here's (not quite) a "Frank Capra" moment.. this is how easy it is to use this method.  Video follows:

What I did in this video is: 

 1. Applied a little flux (I use an X-ACTO knife blade it seems to work better than toothpicks or resistor leads).. I put a small "ball" or "blob" of solder to each pad... Ideally.. the same amount you need to do a good joint.  On a larger capacitor, say a 1 uF ceramic chip, you would use more.. on a 0605 you would use less.  Less is better than more-- adding is easier than wicking off.  (tho neither are that hard, really.)

 2. Then clean the tips of both irons off.  Position the chip component near the pads to solder two.  With both irons drag the component over to the blobs.. release the component.. heat up the blobs.. the chip will flow into the blobs by the surface tension (reflow soldering) of the molten liquid solder.  The solder mask will force the chip in to the ideal position which usually is perfectly centered.  If it doesn't perfectly center it is the board and not the technique. I'd advise to leave it where it flows since it is the "lowest stress" point for the chip.

3. Let the component cool.  

4. Reflow each side of the capacitor with one iron (at a time).. with flux applied.  Pull away from the component body and you should get a perfect joint on both sides.  

5. Clean flux off and inspect.  Make sure (like any other method) you have enough solder and not too much on the connections on each side.

That is all that is to it.  It's much faster and does a better joint than tacking one side down while holding the chip and then doing the other.. uugh.. that takes forever and usually turns out ugly...