Am I ready to install a chip?

[ar1stotle]

OK, I've been practicing my soldering on a PC motherboard for about a week... just looking for some opinions on whether or not I'm ready to install a chip in my Wii. I'm not sure if I want to do the quicksolder route, but if I can work with wires is the quicksolder that much easier?

*Note: It looks like I burned the board because I have soldered/de-soldered/re-soldered those points at least 10 times for practice.
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5462/p1080029vk3.th.jpg (http://img528.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1080029vk3.jpg)http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/2233/p1080034fq9.th.jpg (http://img507.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1080034fq9.jpg)http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/4492/p1080035uf1.th.jpg (http://img529.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1080035uf1.jpg)

Also, I was told that when soldering, I should tin the pads by first applying heat to them, then applying the solder. However, I also hear that I shouldn't touch the Wii pads or they'll come off. I have a 15w iron.... what's the best method?

Thanks!

[ar1stotle]

anyone?

TIA

[ng12345]

i believe thecheekymonkey has a good thread somewhere on this forum with a help file and how to solder

i've only done three soldering jobs -- both without any previous practice (aside from a tech class i took in 7th grade where they gave me this huge ass soldering tip)

my first job was soldering a chip into the GC
the second and third job were soldering chips into two diff Wiis

both worked without a hitch -- i used a 15w for the wii, placed a little bit of solder on the pads, tinned the tips of each wire, placed the wire on top of the bit of solder, heated both, joined, and done

i can't really see the joints in those pictures (try taking a shot that is more zoomed in so you can actually see the joints), and use the macro mode on your digicam.

also what is all the brown stuff around your solder points -- i hope that wasn't you missing and burning the board

[ar1stotle]

i believe thecheekymonkey has a good thread somewhere on this forum with a help file and how to solder

i've only done three soldering jobs -- both without any previous practice (aside from a tech class i took in 7th grade where they gave me this huge ass soldering tip)

my first job was soldering a chip into the GC
the second and third job were soldering chips into two diff Wiis

both worked without a hitch -- i used a 15w for the wii, placed a little bit of solder on the pads, tinned the tips of each wire, placed the wire on top of the bit of solder, heated both, joined, and done

i can't really see the joints in those pictures (try taking a shot that is more zoomed in so you can actually see the joints), and use the macro mode on your digicam.

also what is all the brown stuff around your solder points -- i hope that wasn't you missing and burning the board

Tomorrow my mom will get her rebel and I'll be able to manually focus. The brown, as I mentioned, is from me de-soldering the points (I just re-used those same points like 10x for practice). So that's from the solder braid.

[AceMilo]

Half of those points don't look very good, theres not enough solder on the points, but the rest look ok. Just don't leave that much wire exposed on the real thing. Also, don't use the quicksolder on any chip, its a bad idea, use wires.

[ar1stotle]

Half of those points don't look very good, theres not enough solder on the points, but the rest look ok. Just don't leave that much wire exposed on the real thing. Also, don't use the quicksolder on any chip, its a bad idea, use wires.

OK, I'm going to try with a new tip later this week, which should be better for heat conduction and make it easier for me to get the solder on.

As for not quicksoldering... would you recommend the "quicksolder pwr/grnd and use short stripped wires for the rest" method? And if not, do I need 2 wires going to pwr/ground? Or is 1 30awg wire sufficient?

[AceMilo]

OK, I'm going to try with a new tip later this week, which should be better for heat conduction and make it easier for me to get the solder on.

As for not quicksoldering... would you recommend the "quicksolder pwr/grnd and use short stripped wires for the rest" method? And if not, do I need 2 wires going to pwr/ground? Or is 1 30awg wire sufficient?

The only chip which I would say maybe quicksolder is the cyclowiz, the wiikey and the clones are simply too thick. Quicksolder is also harder to remove, especially for a beginner. I have been soldering for about 5 or 6 years and I still refuse to use quicksolder whenever possible, it's just not a good idea most of the time. I use 30 awg wire for all my wii mods and never had a single problem, including for the power and ground. Just find a place you want to mount the chip (I use the middle of the drive on the metal insulated with tape) and run wires from the chip to the board. Make sure you tin every point your gonna solder to first.