Soldering Tips & Tricks

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Hey, I'm not sure if this is the appropiate place for this tread. If not, please tell me if you move it mods. Thanks!

This thread is so that we can share tips and tricks that help you solder. I've been having problems getting a wire to stick to a point. The solder sticks it on one side by only like 1 of the threads, and it eventually falls off. Any tips to help this?

[plan-9]

use flux to clean the metal you want the solder to stick to. if the metal is dirty ie..you touched it with your hands..the solder might not stick.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Ah, ok. With flux, do you just dip it in and solder, or do you dip it in, rub it on, rinse it off, then solder? I'm confused.

[thecheekymonkey]

you wont beleive how many times ive been asked this.

solder tips :

soldering iron

get a decent make one antex (uk)

wattage = 15 to 25 watt (i recommend 15-18 watt)
if you have to use a higher rated one, remember more heat = less time in contact with any components, heat = damage (ive seen some right nastys in my time)

Tip = thinner the better 1mm-2mm preferred

Flux

This is an absolute must!
even with solder thats already got flux in it, get some extra.

you can get solder flux dispencers which are like marker pens.
i personally use Flux paste.

My preferred method is to get a little bit on a cotton bud and just wipe over any points that your going to solder to (even if they are already tinned.

then wipe your wires over with it as well, you dont need much.

soldering without flux is a sure fire way to come into problems, flux basically helps the solder to stick.

no flux = possible bad connection

also, dont use too much flux, as this can give you a "wet joint" where by theres that much flux it stops the solder getting a good contact.

make sure your flux is non corrosive as well, it will be clearly marked, if it is, its the wrong flux for the job

Static

can get satic build ups into the 1000`s of volts off a carrier bag.

carpets etc, etc all build up static.

always earth yourself before doing anything.
preferably get an earth matt or something , but if now touch a radiator or pipe or something to dishcharge it.

just cuz you dont see or feel a spark, dont mean its not there.

Patience

take your time

Practice

get an old pcb, pick some really small contacts and have a bash at getting some wires on there.

Wire

Get the right wire for the job. If its case modding, make sure your wire can handle the current.

Below is an example of not using flux. I got this in as a repair, although this soldering didnt cause the problem, as you can see, the solder hasnt "Taken" properly and so has just balled.

not good ! (thats an xbox LPC)

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Thanks, thats really helpful. I've got a good soldering iron. 30 watt with a switch to make it 15 watt. I use 30 to get it up to heat quick, then put it down to 15 so that it doesnt get too hot.

[thecheekymonkey]

yeah heats a main factor in fookups.
also edited the post add in static

[ROFLMyWaffle]

preferably get an earth matt or something , but if now touch a radiator or pipe or something to dishcharge it.
Might want to tell them to make sure the radiator is off first. :D

[Quantumsource]

yeah heats a main factor in fookups.

I was wondering if using one of thouse nea looking cold heat soldering irons would be too hot or too cold, I can't find where the wattage is for it. Also why does a higer wattage soldering iron lead to more "mess" ups. I'm kinda a noob at soldering delicate electronics

[Xboxmodder999]

Originally posted by Quantumsource
I was wondering if using one of thouse nea looking cold heat soldering irons would be too hot or too cold, I can't find where the wattage is for it. Also why does a higer wattage soldering iron lead to more "mess" ups. I'm kinda a noob at soldering delicate electronics

The hotter a soldering iron is, the less amount of time you can keep the iron there, because other stuff(traces, componets, etc) can get damages. Anything over 25-30 watts is too hot, 15 watts is reccomended.

Those cold/heat things get too hot, so they can easily damage your dleicate electronics.

[Quantumsource]

I hope I loose the ebay auction for the one I bid on. So your saying I should just use a 15w soldering iron, perhaps from like radio shack

[Xboxmodder999]

Yeah, just get the 15watt Radioshack one, it's only $8. Also, you can retract a bid on ebay, just contact the seller.

[thecheekymonkey]

yes mate, just get 15-20 watt iron.

take a little longer to heat up, but ideal for people not used to soldering, as it give you more time in contact.

but rules to follow

15-20 watt
practise
flux
good solder (60/40 mix)
patience
practice
try to be in as less contact as possible with anything your soldering, i dont mean rush or anything, or be quick and not make a good contact.

just take you time, and you`ll be fine.

seriously ive been doing repairs on xboxs for over 3 years now, and some of the nightmares ive been sent to repair have been outragious.

ive had people using cheapo £1 shop soldering irons to solder into there

[Quantumsource]

If I get one of those 15 <--> 30W , and i have it set on 15W, how long potentially could It be left on a solder point without worry of damage.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

I'd say 6 seconds. I have that soldering iron. Its cool cuz you can set it at 30w for about a minute and a half, switch to 15w, leave it for about another minute and it's up to heat, apposed to waiting 30 minutes with the old 15w iron I had before :rolleyes:. Also, Cold heat = very no. It's like a soldering gun and uses an electrical heat which can damage a lot of electronics, diodes, ic's, etc. I is angry though cuz i need to wait a week for my flux to come into the local R$ :mad: .

[Xboxmodder999]

Originally posted by ROFLMyWaffle
I is angry though cuz i need to wait a week for my flux to come into the local R$ :mad: .

I have 3 Radio Shacks within 10 miles of my house, so I can always find what I need :)

[ROFLMyWaffle]

wow. I live in a town in northern florida with a pop of like 4000, thats half the high school at my old school in il with a pop of like 120,000. Its hard to get used to. I have 1 radioshack in 150 miles of my house

[Xboxmodder999]

I live Near(half hour) Salt Lake City, Utah, and the population is about 65,000.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Lucky duck

[thecheekymonkey]

Originally posted by Quantumsource
If I get one of those 15 <--> 30W , and i have it set on 15W, how long potentially could It be left on a solder point without worry of damage.

i wouldnt put any time limit on it, just dont worryif you use this method and have a steady hand, you`ll be ok.

flux all points (including wires)

tin all points seperatly (apply a little solder to each) including wires

then joined wire and point together, heat with iron until fused, remove iron and hold points together for a second .........done

if its your first time soldering , just get an old PCB to practise on.

mind you, really you couldnt go wrong with a gamecube (if your modding with viper etc) as they are very very easy.

xboxs are a little more difficult while ps2`s are much more harder.

(these are just general rationales, most people with moderate soldering skils will find xboxs easy, however ive been modding for nearly 7 years now and i still come out in a rash when i do a ps2 (very rare nowadays and only for people i know;) so dont ask lol.

you`ll get the hang of it, but better to experiment on an old pcb so go down local tv repair shop and ask for an old circuit board

good luck

[ROFLMyWaffle]

lol, you n00b :D . The first thing I did was put a blue messiah in my bro's ps2. THE FIRST THING I EVER SOLDERED. I didn't even pratice before but I did it perfectly, no shorts! :D

[Quantumsource]

What kind of Solder would be best to buy, and what kind of flux would be best to buy? I've been practicing alot with broken electronics, and I'm finding it difficult to bond wires to chips

[thecheekymonkey]

Originally posted by ROFLMyWaffle
lol, you n00b :D . The first thing I did was put a blue messiah in my bro's ps2. THE FIRST THING I EVER SOLDERED. I didn't even pratice before but I did it perfectly, no shorts! :D

muhahahah!

i started out doing the 12c508 pic chips on psx / ps2 then prgressed on to messiahs / messiah 2`s eetc, ive done all the differet versions etc. and to be honest ive done probably hundreds (yes literally) od ps2`s in my time.
but gave them up to concetrate on xboxs, as they are easier, less fookin about and have much more potential.

when i say i break out in a rash i mean, it all the messing around that comes with a ps2.

opening it up and stripping it down just to pop a chip on is a ballache (it is when you have 4 or 5 to do, 1 after each other lol.

i`m simply saying in order of difficulty for someone new to soldering / modding its Gamecube > xbox > ps2


so less of the noooooob ;)

[ROFLMyWaffle]

lol. yeah. those are some pretty small points but I would have to say that the xbox is easier that the gamecube. All the points are next to each other and there are not very many different things standing up from the mother board in that spot. The yellow is the hardest on the gamecube and it's still pretty easy. I can't see how anyone can fook up an xbox. A ps2 though, thats a different story.

[Xboxmodder999]

It's easier to install a Gamecube chip then a xbox xbox, but xbox's are also pretty easy.

[thecheekymonkey]

dont matter how easy you think they are, always hard to some one else ;)

[Quantumsource]

Can someone give me some hints on soldering the purple and yellow wire for the qoob, the chip solders are really hard for me, I am better at the programming I gusse.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

I'd just say hold your breath and go for it. :D

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Hey, I got one more question. My soldering iron is pitch black and the tip is almost impossible to solder with because the black... whatever is blocking it from heating the solder. Any ideas how to clean it? I've heard scotch brite works, but I'm sure thats not good for the tip. Would you use that tinner stuff? If so, how do you use it?

[Quantumsource]

I used CLR on my old soldering iron that had black stuff on it, leave the tip soaking in clr for like 2 hours, and then just rum the black off with a napkin or cotton swap.

PS. OMG Flux makes it all so easy.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

lol. Just called up r$. They don't have any in yet :( . I gotta resolder those damn viper wires! :confused: . Anyway, How exactly did you apply the flux. Dip the wire in it, solder it to the board, and wipe the excess flux off? I'm still confused on how to do this.

[Quantumsource]

Well I'm not going to claim that my way is the best but what I did was put a real small ammount of flux on both the wite and the point i was soldering to, the head both, then put solder on the point and with the soldering iron ans older touch the point, slowly and carefully attach the the wire, and slide the iron up the wire a bit so that the solder attaches to both the pin and the wire. Then the flux should be melted away, and if you want you can clean it witha Q-tip (cotton swab). Also watch your fingers, In practicing I burned my self several times,but got my finger on ice verry quickly before it like hurt more. Once again, I was a newbiee at this but after hours last night of practicing I would call my self somewhere around intermediate

[thecheekymonkey]

Originally posted by Quantumsource
but got my finger on ice verry quickly before it like hurt more.

:D

ahh bless

neigh mind pal, you listened at least to advice given by others, so if you do fookle it up, you where`nt blinded by ignorance ;)

seriously though, hope it goes well, it should do just take your time.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

well Quantumsource, good to know you had success. that leads me to another question. It's really hard to keep a steady hand at times and I was wondering if there were any good small soldering irons that you hold closer to the tip other than those butane ones. Btw, those are really fun, but heat is hard to control. :D :(

[Quantumsource]

If you have a shaky hand thes a few things you can do, one thing is to make sure your rest your elbow on the table or surface you are working on this will will help you get control of your hand.

Second, hold the solderig iron sort of like a pen or pensil, and if it still shakes you could apply a bit more force doenward (not too much) to help stable your hand as well.

Third, try your other hand

If all else fails try using something to prop the iron in the pace you want. Ie clamps, books, stuff like that. Although, its better to just use your hands.

Maybe stop driniking Coffee, lol

P.S. I'm not sure about smaller irons, the butane ones tend to get too had and are harder to control temperature wise, and smaller electric ones have larger watts, and are also get too hot for this case.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Yeah, I usually keep my forearm on a stack of books and the object I'm soldering on a lower surface. That way, I have a little more control. You should try it sometime. It really helps. Even though I hold it like a pen, its still shaky unless i do this, but if i had a smaller one that i could hold closer to the tip, that would be alot better.

[thecheekymonkey]

sounds like you lo are contortionists lol.

just drop a few diazepan (like valium) ;)

that`ll stop the shakes.....................and probably the soldering as well, second thoughts better not.

I aint some soldering guru or anything, ive just been doing it a long time, specially tiny surface mount stuff etc.

you`ll find a method that suits you, same with the shaking etc, you`ll find a method of doing things etc .

good luck ;)

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Got my flux today. I'll try it out by fixing the plug on my bass :cool:

[nonzero]

Originally posted by thecheekymonkey
you`ll find a method that suits you, same with the shaking etc, you`ll find a method of doing things etc .

I highly recommend holding the thing you are going to solder in one hand and your iron in the other - hopefully the shaking of both hands will cancel each other out :D

[Quantumsource]

holding both object would probobly make you even more un stable. just casue both hadnds ahake, dosn't mean that they would cancel each other out.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

think he was kidding :D

[Quantumsource]

Yea I kinda suspected, but I wasn't quite sure, any way, Gotta a bit of a neat fact for people who leave near BEST BUY, they have these real cool controloers for 9 bucks, in black, blue, white and green, they are made by Datel, and the have a nice heavey feel, and arn't to big, verry nice for modding of just to match colors.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Picked one of those up the other day. They're pretty nice for the price.

[plan-9]

i'll probably have some soldering to do this weekend on my xbox. d0 looks pretty small. anyone got any tips on that point?

[Xboxmodder999]

Originally posted by plan-9
i'll probably have some soldering to do this weekend on my xbox. d0 looks pretty small. anyone got any tips on that point?

Use the underside d0 point, it's 10x easier to solder to.

[thecheekymonkey]

Originally posted by Xboxmodder999
Use the underside d0 point, it's 10x easier to solder to.

you cannot get better advice than that, the DO underneath the board is easy.

i really dont understand why people use the topside D0.

11 screws take board out, turn over, solder replace board, screw up bish bash bosh done :D

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Did my friend's box the other day and the top d0 is the easiest to me. Small points are no problems. Honestly, I just didn't want to take the board out and did it fine. :D

[plan-9]

once i get the chip i'll take a look at how small the d0 on topside is. cant wait to get this chip. so bored. :)

[ROFLMyWaffle]

lol. xbox is very fun to mod. The LPC is just asking "put a header on me and slide a chip on!"

[Cloaked Alien]

I used a 30Watt soldering iron to mod my GameCube and it worked like a charm and I'm no soldering expert either. I might just have been lucky though.

A bit OT, but the heatsink in the gamecube was dead easy to remove, just put a flat-headed screwdriver underneath one of it's "screw-legs" and twist, it'll smoothly loosen and then you can just lift it off without using any force.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Hey, does any one have tips for replacing the heat sink paste? Mine's too gunky.

[Cloaked Alien]

Originally posted by ROFLMyWaffle
Hey, does any one have tips for replacing the heat sink paste? Mine's too gunky.

Shouldn't any normal CPU cooling paste work?

[Janneman]

Replacing the paste (or silicon slices actually) is problematic because the heatsink has 'feet' at the screwholes. So if you'd remove the slices the sink cannot touch the chips. What you could do is trim those feet with a dremel and then use some thermal compound like Arctic Silver or something. (I did an xbox cpu with that)

You should watch out to screw the screws evenly tight and not to use too much force.

I don't know if all the to be cooled chips have exactly the same height, this might be a problem, you'll need to find that out for yourself.

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Thats a good idea. I'm also thinking of just cleaning up each pad of paste or something so it's not hanging over the chip. I might replace it though.

[Artlover]

My thoughts on soldering iron wattage.

While it's true higher wattage means you can't leave the iron on the work as long without risking circuit damage, it should also be noted that with a higher wattage iron you don't need to leave it on as long to get the job done. You have to think about how heat conducts. Don't know if anyone has ever just played with bits of metal or pipe and a blow torch. But lower heat for a longer time will conduct further down the metal then higher heat for a short time.

It also depends on the solder and working enviorment. Try using 4% silver solder with a 15watt iron under a fan. It doesn't work to well. Tho for regular grade lead based solders, 15watt is sufficent.

AFAIK, in "MOST" cases, there is no risk at all in using a higher wattage iron if you know how to solder is as much as heating the joint up right, and taking the iron off when you're supposed to. Myself, I use a 30watt iron for everything. Truth be told, I've used a 100watt gun to fix a mother board once (I wanted it fixed right that second, and didn't want to wait for the 30w iron to heat up).

Then again, I've been doing this for over 2 decades, so it's easy for me. I wouldn't suggest a noob try doing any fine work with a 100watt gun. :p

[ROFLMyWaffle]

Thats some good info. Thanks!