I ordered the memory module from Micron last week and went at it with the soldering iron last night. Using the instructions found on Glitch's web site, the ePods now has 32 MB of RAM. Truthfully speaking, I was amazed that it worked.
I had never worked with surface mount devices so there was a lot to learn.
Lessons learned:
1) Use a good soldering station if available.
2) Experience with soldering is helpful, but SMD soldering is different enough that it will take a while to develop a good technique
3) Use tips that approach the size of the SMD.
4) Use a microscope to perform the desoldering and soldering if possible. I used a stereo long focal length microscope that is designed for SMD work, and it made the job much easier.
5) Be patient and take as much time as you need to do the job right.
THE major problems performing this hack are desoldering the DRAM and mounting the SMD caps and resistor. desoldering the caps went smoothly once I settled on using two irons to heat both sides of the cap simultaneously. I had tried to use a razor blade to slide under the caps while heating each side in turn. That didn't work too well and was much slower than using two irons.
Desoldering the DRAM went pretty smooth. The approach that seemed to work the best was to slide a razor blade under the DRAM and heat the legs of the DRAM repeatedly. Starting with the legs closest to the razor. The idea here is to slowly allow the DRAM to lift away from the PCB without placing too much mechanical stress on the legs of the DRAM. The DRAM chip will bend a little, but don't go overboard. Once the DRAM had lifted a little, fold a small piece of paper and slide it under the razor blade to use as a wedge. This will allow the DRAM legs to be lifted far enough away from the solder pads so that the legs will be completely free from the pool of solder on the pads. It takes a while, but the DRAM will come off.
As for soldering, the SMD CAPS and resistor are pretty small. It takes a while to develop a technique that results in a good solder joint. The CAPS presented the biggest problem in terms of keeping the CAP centered over the solder pads while heating the pad and the CAP. In addition, the ePod solder pads have a rounded blob of solder which makes it next to impossible to place the CAP on the pad and keep it straight. The first few attempts at soldering these little guys did not look pretty. A technique that seemed to work a little better was to pre heat the solder pad and flatten the blob of solder a little. Then using needle nose pliers hold the CAP firmly (Don't apply too much force) over the solder pad. Heat the pad and once end of the CAP at the same time. Once you see the solder pad change to liquid remove heat and let cool for a couple seconds. Test the joint by applying a little force with the pliers. If the CAP doesn't move, solder the other end of the CAP. Finally, reheat the first side to make sure the bond is really solid. I also added a little more flux core solder to the joints to ensure everything was firmly bonded.
When soldering the DRAM the main thing that will be of concern is to make sure that no short circuits are created. The solder pads are pretty close and it would be easy to get a line of solder between two pads if care is not taken. Just as Glitch had recommended, soldering two corners of the DRAM and then working down each side seemed to work best. I found that pressing on the legs of the DRAM with the tip of the iron until the solder on the pad melted worked best. This ensured that the bottom of the leg was in contact with molten solder and should allow the bottom of the leg to have good electrical contact with the pad. I went around all the legs on the DRAM a couple times to make sure each leg was firmly bonded to the solder pad.
