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/vr/ - Retro Games

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8843462 No.8843462 [Reply] [Original]

Anyone here know much about soldering? Never done it myself so want to test out on an old Mad Catz controller I got a few months ago, analog sticks have a dead zone so gonna replace. Might even eventually do mod chips on older consoles just for experience/fun

>> No.8843532

>>8843462
yes me, its easy enough if you have a steady hand. this is really a /g/ thread though. what do you want to know?

>> No.8843537

Isn't that a picture of a cold solder? Aren't you never supposed to touch the tip directly to the solder?

Disclaimer: I know dick all.

>> No.8843583

>>8843532
It’s more of a /diy/ thread, /g/ are a bunch of retards that just want to argue about which programming language is the most cucked.

>> No.8843587

>>8843583
>Guys I just heard about coding as a job, that it can pay well, etc., though I've never done it before in my life.
>Should I start with assembly, or does it make more sense to install gentoo before attempting to learn programming?

>> No.8843602

>>8843462
Soldering is literally as bad as cigarette smoke for your lungs and your home environment. Just pay someone to do the work for you

>> No.8843605

>>8843602
I like the smell

>> No.8843615

>>8843602
Windows do open you know.

>> No.8843616

>>8843462
enjoy your first iron burn, they are beauties.

>> No.8843648

>>8843605
Personally I like the taste

>> No.8843651

>>8843462
Soldering is based and flux eliminates the #1 pain which is oxidation. Just buy proper equipment, at least one of those Chinese portable ones with temperature selector and replaceable tips, and read on how to not ruin the tips many times over.

>> No.8843664

>>8843616
>tfw been soldering for years now and haven't been burnt once

my closest call was switching to a different soldering iron that didn't cool off as fast as my previous one and accidentally playing hot potato with it when I was trying to put it away after not waiting long enough.

I know I'll fuck up some day though.

>> No.8843897 [SPOILER] 
File: 65 KB, 900x720, 1650800921113.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8843897

>>8843602
rookie-mistake

>> No.8843907

>>8843602
bro open the window, fans, air filter... do it in the garage? Dont breath it directly in? i dunno stop being a fucking idiot.

>> No.8843925

>>8843602
My mom smoked half a pack a day for 15 years and she's still here. 5 seconds of solder smoke in my lungs every once in a while is fine

>> No.8843931

>>8843602
But it takes the edge off anon and all the cool kids are repairing their electronics

>> No.8843980

>>8843602
>lead fumes
>as bad as cigarette smoke
Nah, it’s way worse. Make/buy a fume extractor.
Good on you OP, soldering is fun. Glad to hear you’re practicing before jumping into a serious project. 3 bits of advice:
1. Always use flux.
2. Start with lower temperatures like 350-400c.
3. Expect to screw something up at least once.

>> No.8844073

>>8843980
Lead fumes are not a big problem. Soldering doesn't get hot enough to produce much. The main dangers are:
Flux fumes (rosin flux especially, which is a sensitizer, i.e. promotes development of allergies, so it can cause asthma), and tiny little beads of lead solder caused by cleaning the soldering iron. These are hard to see, bounce and roll all over the place, and get caught in clothes etc. They can easily end up in your food.

But most complaints about lead-free solder are from boomers who want to continue using their shitty soldering irons with no temperature control. Get a modern soldering station with sufficient power and tight temperature control, and use SAC305 solder, and you won't have any difficulty.

>> No.8844084

>>8844073
I learned new stuff today. Thanks anon.

>> No.8844097

>>8843462
Listen up bud. Never ever do soldering on your own. When you heat up old solder points, ESPECIALLY pcb's from the mid to late nineties fumes of C4H8Cl2S get free. Which is basically really bad for your health. Dont be stupid OP.

>> No.8844161

Put the tip of the iron on the joint to heat it, push the solder from the opposite side onto the joint

>> No.8844184
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8844184

>>8843462
I replaced a broken pin on an 3.2ghz Pentium 4 a few days ago.

>> No.8844193

>>8843462
DIY /ohm/ general is what you want.
The short answer is don't start on something you really care about, get the right kind of solder for your use-case and advice for hobbyists aren't necessarily applicable to pros who need shit like a pricy iron that'll keep the heat no matter how much you use it in a day.
If you're going to do a lot of soldering realize that lead fumes are pretty bad longterm and you should get/make a fume extractor.

>> No.8844740

>>8843462
Everyone on /vr/ is an expert on soldering. All you have to do is watch a youtube and then buy the expensive soldering iron the faggot shills.

>> No.8844757
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8844757

>>8844740
no need to be miserable, buy a radioshack iron and solder/flux and with a bit of practice you'll have fun with it too

>> No.8844774

>>8844097
Stop being a faggot on the internet.

>> No.8844836

>>8844193
>pros who need shit like a pricy iron
Pricey irons are even more beneficial to beginners, because constant temperature makes soldering much easier.
>lead fumes are pretty bad longterm and you should get/make a fume extractor
You should get a fume extractor to remove flux fumes, not because you're worried about lead fumes.

>> No.8844960
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8844960

>>8843605
>>8843648

>> No.8844976
File: 77 KB, 1000x563, 8023bd3la6n11.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8844976

>>8843462
Have an infographic OP

>> No.8845069

>>8843462
1. Flux is your best friend
2. Never forget flux
3. Always use extra flux
4. Resin core of the wire is never enough for a clean job and a proper solder (except some small shit)
5. You got flaky solder, you got it wrong
6. If your solder is sticking to the iron or isn't flowing nicely, apply moar Flux
7. Check your iron temperature
8. Iron tips are not the same
9. Clean you tip before use
10. Tint your tip before use
11. Tint your tip after use
12. Clean your tip after use
13. Store your shit properly
14. Have a source of ventilation pushing the smoke away from you
15. Always clean extra flux with propan-2-ol

>> No.8845110

>>8843462
Get a decent Iron with good heat control.
Practice on a piece of junk electronics you aren't afraid to destroy.
Only hold the iron on the solder joint long enough to heat the solder so you can wick it away or make sure the component is seated.

>> No.8845158

>>8843462
It's not that hard after the first day.
Just check if somebody in the web or youtube has done the same thing or device before you.
That way I learned you shouldn't put the tip at max temperature when dealing with a PS1.
I bought one of those chinese soldering kits in amazon and has worked great this year.
Maybe later I get better gear.

>> No.8845692

>>8843897
>>8844960

>> No.8845696

>>8844976
>E
when you lost all hope and the will to live

>> No.8845719

>>8844740
Expensive, lmao. The soldering station is the cheapest and on par with a radioshack iron price and it will make soldering a million times easier.

>> No.8846046

>>8845696
kek

>> No.8846107

>>8844976
>recommending conical tips
Chisel tip is easier 99% of the time.

>> No.8846114

Get good solder with lead and rosin. I was trying to fix something and the solder just kept turning into balls and not sticking very well. Used my other solder and it sticks fine. You can use flux to help the solder stick too. Some of the chinese solder will just lie and say it has rosin.

>>8845110
I ruined an nes ppu making it way too hot. If it starts to get too hot to touch the chip let it cool down.

>> No.8846131

>>8845069
I've never seen flux in real life and have always just used rosin core solder. Where do you get it?

>> No.8846183

>>8846107
This is true

>> No.8846272
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8846272

>>8843907
Better yet: All that combined with some fucking SAFETY GOGGLES and a couple m95 masks.

>> No.8846462

>>8846114
>chinese solder will just lie
This is the secret to good solder joints. Buying high quality, no china solder. The shinier the better.

>> No.8846476

>>8843602
This motherfucker has never heard of a mask, a fan, or proper ventilation before. Good grief.

>> No.8846606

Even if you have the youtube tools don't think it's as easy as it appears, some people are just inept:
https://youtu.be/YHtCXrmlLiI

>> No.8846618

>>8843980
I don't think it's lead fumes, it's the flux that's bad to inhale.
I don't think the lead becomes airborne.
There is also lead free solder, but don't breath the fumes.

>> No.8846627

>>8843651
what the hell is flux? I solder guitar pickups and I never do it "correct" becuase I can never get it hot enough without touching the solder directly to the solder itself so I just throw globs of it on there and mash the wires into it. It technically works so I guess I'm doing something right.

>> No.8846629

>>8843462
I refilled the solder on my game boy cartridges, and also the GameCube controller ports on my GameCube. I attempted to change the capacitors on the disk drive of the GameCube but fucked up the traces, so instead I threw it away, the disc drive not the GameCube. I instead purchased a gcloader and now I just run all my games from an SD card. Amazing stuff.

>> No.8846643

>>8846618
>I don't think the lead becomes airborne.
It can, but it's not easy for it to happen. The flux is the main thing you have to avoid inhaling.

>> No.8846670

>>8846627
I like to think it's like fat or oil for cooking, it conducts heat very easily and flows into crevices and whatnot, ensuring coverage and a solid connection. As for soldering pickups, I suggest the time tested trick of putting a bit of solder on your iron first and placing that onto where you're soldering, the liquid lead will quickly heat the component and allow for quick solder application. Ideally it should be done without the magnets inside to prevent any loss of magnetism but I'll leave that up to you. Wish you well with that.

>> No.8846830

>>8845692
the expert way

>> No.8847138

most i ever did was use a continuity tester, a db25 connector, a psx extension cord and a soldering iron to make an adaptor for my old dell machine into which i can plug my psx controller and play zsnes games with it (didn't have any actual pc games other than AoE)

>> No.8847195

>>8846627
Old but still relevant. If you have 20 minutes, you problaby won't come across a more concise tutorial anytime soon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIT4ra6Mo0s

>> No.8847216

>>8846627
If you literally just want to find out about flux though, skip to 6:50 in the video linked here >>8847195

>> No.8847257

>>8845069
>10. Tint your tip before use
>11. Tint your tip after use
wtf why are you applying paint to your soldering iron tip dumbass

>> No.8847262

>>8847195
based, I wonder why old instructional videos are much better in explaining soldering. My go to video to share is this NASA one which basically does the same thing to explain oxidization.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RXugDd0xik

>> No.8847509

>>8846131
Amazon

>> No.8847520

If I want to learn, what can I use if I can't find learning pcb kits? I wanted to test it on a cheap tv controller and remove/reassemble parts of it, I don't want to risk killing one of my consoles on a botched attempt.

>> No.8847561

Some good info ITT; i'm gonna throw in "keep your tips tinned, and never ever sharpen them". Soldering iron tips aren't a solid piece of metal; they're a copper core inside a thin cast iron shell for hardness, coated in a very thin layer of nickel/chrome to protect against oxidation. If you try to sharpen or reshape the tip with a file, all you're doing is exposing the iron or even the copper to the air, which causes it to rust away at warp speed once it heats up.

>> No.8847616

>>8847561
lol I've never heard of anyone trying to do that but you know it must've happened at some point. pretty stupid. also, brass wool is better for cleaning your bit instead of a wet sponge. always clean and retin the tip when your work is done.

>> No.8848758

>>8846131
>Where do you get it?
in the forest unironically

>> No.8848760

>>8846627
>what the hell is flux?
magic soldering-juice

>> No.8848895

>>8847520
Get an old tv or any old electronic

>> No.8848914

>>8848895
>Get an old tv
Yeah... don't do that. At least not a CRT.

>> No.8848947
File: 48 KB, 600x600, pinecil-bb2-01.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
8848947

How would people rate this soldering pen? I want to use it for basic repairs and maybe install an xstation once I lean more.
https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-soldering-iron/?v=0446c16e2e66

>> No.8848995

>>8848947
Well, you certainly won't get a better one for that price that's for fucking sure.

>> No.8849018

>>8848995
Do you think it would be good for capacitor changes and other consume mods?

>> No.8849192

>use clean things
>use solder wire with flux core
>heat thing you want the solder to stick to
>remove solder wire, then iron
>get one of those clamp things unless you have three arms

>> No.8849214

>>8848947
>>8849018
I've just ordered one a couple weeks ago and heard good things
good for casual soldering I think

>> No.8849345

>>8844757
I have it on good authority that you need an [insert brand youtube told them to buy] here. Dozens of no-skill children couldn't possibly be wrong.

>>8845719
>The soldering station is the cheapest
Google translate has failed you again

>> No.8849446

>>8845069
best flux?

>> No.8849576

A soldering station that uses a laptop power supply is around $25 which will make the job a lot easier.
If you want to see an exemple of using a cheap soldering iron to solder this is what will happen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzBAv_puMDM

>> No.8849974

>>8849576
>Amateur Equipment
Yes. It's totally not the no-skill lad who's younger than the equipment that's the amateur. To be fair, his parkinsons is a big part of his problem.

>> No.8849978

>>8848947
I love mine, keep in mind you'll rarely have to go above 300C on most things. Get some quality solder and you'll have a breeze. Plus it uses standard tips.