I had initially thought that I could add a socket with some solder paste and a hot air station but testing this on a parts board showed that the socket itself would start to melt before the paste had a chance to become molten. While technically possible, the socket itself is easily damaged. It's also very difficult to know if all of the solder paste has melted if any of it gets under the socket.

I found a guide on YouTube that showed that it is possible to hand-solder each pin if the plastic center of the socket is removed. This is the method I ended up using and, while tedious and difficult to maneuver, is safe and does not risk damaging any of the neighboring components.

I held the socket in place with some mounting putty and then it was just some careful soldering one pin at a time. This can be very awkward because the board must be rotated for each side.

Although I don't think this is necessary, I put the little plastic center back into place with some double-sided tape. The shape suggests that it prevents the chip from falling into the socket but it didn't seem to sit any deeper with or without it.

Here is the modification completed.

I just noticed that I put the plastic bit in backwards. The arrow is supposed to point towards the notch but since the chip can't be inserted backwards anyways, it's only a cosmetic flaw that no one will see but I will know and it will haunt me forever excuse me I have to fix this right now... 😮

You can also hand solder it without removing the plastic. I do them that way with one of those bendy point tips

It should be possible but it's the pins at the very corners that are the most difficult. How can you possibly get to those pins without melting the plastic?

with the bendy point tip 😀

I was watching a video on YouTube and saw someone use a PLCC socket with a grid arrangement instead of a diagonal one for the support frame on the bottom. This one looks to be designed with hand soldering in mind unlike the diagonal one which is probably meant for wave soldering.

Nice job!

Kahenraz wrote on 2021-11-27, 10:32:

a very low melting point solder

Rose's metal ?

It's some alloy of tin, silver, bismuth, indium, and copper. It's a lot safer than things such as Wood's Metal which contains cadmium which is toxic and should never be handled with bare hands.