Soldering Pictures...

[fldash]

This is on an old SCSI card I thought I'd test with using IDE cable broken apart... Am I applying enough solder? I can pickup the board using the cable even though there looks to me almost no solder no the connection...

http://img483.imageshack.us/img483/9728/img0638rk5.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4175/img0639lg6.jpg

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2892/img0646xf0.jpg

[fldash]

Apologize for the large pictures, but I wanted to show the detail...

[evlspcmk]

im just concerned with the amount of exposed wire you are leavingon a Wii mod you cant have the wire going straight up in the air, its gotta be bent and with wires exposed that much its just asking for trouble

[fldash]

Thanks, I can get down the amount of wire showing by a lot. Should I be concerned about it being a 'cold solder' since you can't see much of it?

Also, I have a launch day Wii, should I have to add solder to the points or just tin the wires and attach them much like the way I have??

Thanks...

[RichEO]

Thanks, I can get down the amount of wire showing by a lot. Should I be concerned about it being a 'cold solder' since you can't see much of it?

Also, I have a launch day Wii, should I have to add solder to the points or just tin the wires and attach them much like the way I have??

Thanks...

What do you mean cold solder? Do you mean a dry joint? Don't use a cold-heat soldering iron if that's what you mean. You need more solder on it. Personally I tin the points and the wire then hold the wire on the pad and a quick heat with the iron. But it's all personally preference, tin the pad or the wire or both, but make sure you melt the pad when you solder the wire otherwise it won't be a strong joint.

[darandon]

My advice to you is to shorten the wires a lot and when you are soldering u need a little more solder and keep the wires parallel with the board because there is not that much room in the wii. Once done put some electrical tape over the points just to protect it from any contacts.


Hope it helps

[fldash]

I meant a connection that looks solid but doesn't have enough of a join to be reliable. I think more solder will help as long as I'm careful, I've seen some very bad soldering jobs and I want to stay away from the burnt look and from possibly taking off a pad...

Thanks for all the advice...

[dave3533]

Heres an example I just did up on a circuit board I had laying around. Its 30 AWG wire, which is what you should use for a Wii chip install. In my opinion I used a tad too much solder, but the wire length is about right. The pad just below the wire is how it looked before adding the wire. Thats my thumbnail for scale.

As far as your joint being cold, its hard to tell. A cold solder joint is not shiny or has a pitted look to it. Also try to avoid moving the wire while the solder is cooling. A clean iron tip is also a requirement. I use an empty popcan to clean my iron, I just take the tip and scrape it on all sides against the opening of the can. Works very well, comparable to a wet sponge.

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u186/dave3533/DSC00006-1.jpg

[Knives]

Just pay someone to do it for you.

[fldash]

Just pay someone to do it for you.
I'd rather not, I'd rather practice and do it myself. Paying someone to do it doesn't teach me a damn thing...

[PhatheadWRX]

here is one of my installs with 30 awg

http://members.cox.net/frenchbrownlv/wire.jpg

not the most beautiful on the top two spots, but it shows how tiny the spots really are and how you only need a very small amount of wire exposed

[AceMilo]

Let me guess, you put some solder on the iron then touched both the wire and the pad with the solder on the iron at once, right? That is not a solid joint at all and there's way too much wire exposed. You need to tin the pad you are soldering to first by heating it and applying solder to the pad from your spool. Then you need to tin the wire and heat the solder pad and wire again together for just enough time to melt everything together, then remove the iron. Honestly, I highly recommend you not soldering a chip in a wii as your first project, just have someone do it for you, you will most likely end up destroying your wii if you try it yourself. The pad you tested on is about 100x larger than the points on the wii (no exaggeration).

[fldash]

The picture above your post clearly shows the size of the soldering spots on the Wii. One is just as large as the one I used, the others smaller, but I've done them on my test board too without an issue. After I successfully mod my Wii, I'll post pictures for you to prove I didn't destroy it...

Let me guess, you put some solder on the iron then touched both the wire and the pad with the solder on the iron at once, right? That is not a solid joint at all and there's way too much wire exposed. You need to tin the pad you are soldering to first by heating it and applying solder to the pad from your spool. Then you need to tin the wire and heat the solder pad and wire again together for just enough time to melt everything together, then remove the iron. Honestly, I highly recommend you not soldering a chip in a wii as your first project, just have someone do it for you, you will most likely end up destroying your wii if you try it yourself. The pad you tested on is about 100x larger than the points on the wii (no exaggeration).

[fldash]

Here's one more pictures trying to show the size of what I've been soldering. I know the wires still have too much exposed and they need to be attached parallel to the PCB instead of perpendicular....

http://img157.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0656bw5.jpg

I also know the soldering joints look shitty... but they are contained and solid...

[fldash]

More pictures, disregard the huge blobs of solder on the board, was trying to figure out the best way to tin small points...

Also included one with my thumb to show relative size... I have fairly small fingers...

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5554/img0658sn7.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0658sn7.jpg)

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7636/img0665tb5.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0665tb5.jpg)

[fldash]

One issue I've noticed I'm having is with trying to tin points on a PCB. The solder wants to crawl up my solder gun instead of staying on the PCB. Am I not heating the spot where I want the solder to go enough?

[numms]

More pictures, disregard the huge blobs of solder on the board, was trying to figure out the best way to tin small points...
Also included one with my thumb to show relative size... I have fairly small fingers...
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5554/img0658sn7.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0658sn7.jpg)
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7636/img0665tb5.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0665tb5.jpg)
These points look more the size of the Wii pads, but they're very close together. Looks like you've got some good, solid connections in there. Just remember, take your time. Also, you may want to tape the wire down in place to hold it steady, this will make sure that the connections are at a good angle for putting it all back together again.

One issue I've noticed I'm having is with trying to tin points on a PCB. The solder wants to crawl up my solder gun instead of staying on the PCB. Am I not heating the spot where I want the solder to go enough?
Flux should eliminate most of this. People do it without flux, but it DOES make a world of difference when working with the solder.

[AceMilo]

Looks better than original pic. You probably aren't heating the pad enough to get the solder to flow to it thats why its staying on the iron. I usually just lay the iron on the point and just hit it with some solder and it flows onto it, it only takes a second. The red wire looks better than the others since you still see the wire on the other points which isn't good. You should be applying enough solder to the pad to not have to add more when soldering the wire to the point, this will give you the best joint.

[fldash]

Thanks for the feedback. I was really apprehensive about burning off the pad, even on the test board so I most likely was not heating the pad enough to allow the solder to flow onto it (just like you said). I will practice again tonight, my chip should be in on Thursday or Friday.

Looks better than original pic. You probably aren't heating the pad enough to get the solder to flow to it thats why its staying on the iron. I usually just lay the iron on the point and just hit it with some solder and it flows onto it, it only takes a second. The red wire looks better than the others since you still see the wire on the other points which isn't good. You should be applying enough solder to the pad to not have to add more when soldering the wire to the point, this will give you the best joint.

[richman]

I just bought a 15 watt iron from radio shack, would this be ok to use. I just read about 15 minutes ago , that NOW they don't recommend these cheap 15 watt irons. What are you guys using. I guess I'll practice on an old broken xbox tomorrow.

[fldash]

Use a 15 watt iron if you have never soldered before...it's more forgiving if you keep it on the pad too long.

[AceMilo]

I use a 15/30 watt switchable from radio shack and it works great.

[numms]

I just bought a 15 watt iron from radio shack, would this be ok to use. I just read about 15 minutes ago , that NOW they don't recommend these cheap 15 watt irons. What are you guys using. I guess I'll practice on an old broken xbox tomorrow.
I used the cheap 15 watt iron from radioshack. I used a dremmel to make the tip sharper and so far I've installed 4 cihps with no problems.

[fldash]

Today is the big day... chip should be in sometime this afternoon. I'm not that worried about the install, I was tinning the smallest points I could find last night without a problem. I'll take some shots of my finished work and post them up here...

[fldash]

Oh my, that was the most stressful thing I've ever done. Those points were smaller than I could even imagine. I didn't even attempt the reset switch disable wire, hopefully I'll be able to install a switch (like the upgrade switch) in between two other points in the future to disable it if needed.

Cyclowiz updated to 3.0B successfully also.

Thanks for all the feedback guys but it was more scary than I ever could have imagine. One thing that pisses me off is I broke that plastic clip on the drive cable even after knowing how it works... One side still works tho, so it clips down pretty decently...