Bad Solder point?

Death666 · Post by **Death666** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:22 am

Hello , im kinda new to modding but i studied electronics so i wanted to do a mod to my dreamcast . specifically the VGA mod so i can connect it to my lcd screen .

while i was connecting one of the wires to the mother board by accident i put to much solder so i wanted to remove it , but i removed the original solder which was on of the the pins and i cant seem to put any solder there anymore it likes goes off like it cant be soldered . there was another way by connecting it on the top of the board but its much harder and im not that good at being steady

.

so i wanted to know if there was any way to fix it

thanks in advance ( i will try to post screen shots later on )

kasar · Post by **kasar** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 8:42 am

if you are unable to use some solder point, try follow the PCB wire line (the one is broken), and get a small knife or similar, and then scratch carefully it, then you will see the pcb place you scratched at plate or gold colour, so you will able to heat it and solder there carefully

timmeh87 · Post by **timmeh87** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:02 pm

You need to use flux. Stop. Unplug your iron. Go on wikipedia and read about flux.

Use flux even if your solder has some in it.

Death666 · Post by **Death666** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 5:17 am

thanks for your help timmeh87 , i will try the flux first then if it doesnt work i will try what kasar said , i just hope i can find flux where i live .

if it works i will post some pics . next step will be adding some led's .

Death666 · Post by **Death666** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:09 am

hey guys.. i done the mod and i tested it and it worked ... but for some strange reason after a while the screen turns black and randomly goes back on .. i noticed with the loading screen it stays on but when there are animations or anything that changes it turns off , so im not sure what did i do wrong .

plus is there an easier way to solder the vga port coz the wires are too short and i burnt the plastic

.

( i didnt want to make a another topic for this lol )

( here are some shots )

this is the circuit front and back

this is where all the common goes to the power supply ( is it wrong if i connect them like that ? i thought maybe i need a bigger wire )

Death666 · Post by **Death666** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:33 pm

so ?

no one faced this problem? i cant seem to dig up an answer in the forum

JAY · Post by **JAY** » Thu Jul 17, 2008 6:44 pm

I'm not sure what the problem could be, but I did notice something worth mentioning: the circuit you put together is done in a fairly weird manner. You didn't use the copper pads on the board to solder the components down, and instead just lumped the solder onto the leads on the plain side of the board. You are supposed to have the component on the plain side of the board, and have the leads feed through to be soldered to the copper pads on the back. Also, the board you have has copper rows, and your diodes and resistors are placed in parallel with those copper rows. If any of those components is touching the copper row with both of its leads, then the copper row is going to bypass the component and short it out. Use the rows for common points, so you don't have to make a big line of solder to connect several leads together (like with your resistors). If two components happen to be on the same copper row, but you don't want them to be connected, take a knife or thin screwdriver and scratch off the copper between the leads.

If you have a multimeter, check for shorts or poor solder connections. I would also redo the circuit, since, even if it isn't what is causing the problem, it's very risky to have the components arranged as you have them on that board.

Death666 · Post by **Death666** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 3:51 am

i didnt notice that :S ..so its like those prototype board

thanks for pointing that out ..but if it was shorting each other out the screen wouldnt work right? ..i sent a pm for the creator of this mod ( the one posted in http://www.instructables.com ) i will see what he has to say , i might redo the whole thing again ( for the third time

) .

btw the diodes that im using its not zener right? coz he told me that it might be the cause .

GonzoMPM-1 · Post by **GonzoMPM-1** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 1:24 am

I'm going to be harsh here, so I hope you don't take it wrong.

Take a break, go get a 100 in 1 project and by the parts to build some of its circuits to external bread boards, and get a LOT of practice soldering.

You are going to "brick" your project very soon.

On the circuit, as someone else posted, you've bulloxed up that board pretty good.

If the edges of your resistors and other components touch copper on the side you've used as your component side, they will sort past the circuit and fry things.

I don't mean to be harsh. We all have to learn. But your skills aren't quite where they need to be for a project as advanced as you've bitten off.

Good luck to you and don't give up. Just practice some more before the big game.

Death666 · Post by **Death666** » Sat Jul 19, 2008 5:49 am

GonzoMPM-1 wrote:I'm going to be harsh here, so I hope you don't take it wrong.

Take a break, go get a 100 in 1 project and by the parts to build some of its circuits to external bread boards, and get a LOT of practice soldering.

You are going to "brick" your project very soon.

On the circuit, as someone else posted, you've bulloxed up that board pretty good.

If the edges of your resistors and other components touch copper on the side you've used as your component side, they will sort past the circuit and fry things.

I don't mean to be harsh. We all have to learn. But your skills aren't quite where they need to be for a project as advanced as you've bitten off.

Good luck to you and don't give up. Just practice some more before the big game.

lol dont worry , thats the main reason i joined this forum , i used to come here to read a lot before the site got redesigned . i decided to join so i can get some experience since a lot of the members here are really good with modding . i guess i will try the simple mods first then try to do this again sometime

. live and learn

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Bad Solder point?

hmm?