Stephen0205 - first project - playstation 1 :)

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:22 pm

how the hell did you manage to screw up the board AND _SOLDERING IRON_ so bad?!

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:26 pm

OMG, you must have been pressing really hard to bend the tip like that and damage the board! Yes, definitely practice on dead boards first before soldering and desoldering to important boards. I did that myself. Use some desoldering braid, I find it great.

Go to YouTube, or this video I found (not mine) - thread

stephen0205 · Post by **stephen0205** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:27 pm

well i have nooooo idea, i did it like in the video, but when i plugged it in the shaft on it, after like 3 mins on the stand, tip not touching, went a brownish color like it hadbeen rusted or burned really badly.

the tip, i dunno, i was just tapping it, like against where i was trying to solder and it just kend of bent.

please tell me its just cause it was like 8 quid

stephen0205 · Post by **stephen0205** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:32 pm

i have no idea how i did it seriously, i have another tip there, so im good for that, i dont have braid, the thing i have to desolder is like a suckie thing which it came with.

yeah i do need practive, a lot of it, ill put the time in, i just need to find some old baords and have a go, maybe a better iron :/

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 3:37 pm

Yes, the tip will go brownish quickly, that is oxidizing. When you finish soldering a joint you need to brush off the excess on a damp sponge and leave it. Every now and again, re-tin the soldering iron to keep it ok. If you aren't using the iron for a while, like several minutes, turn it off.

I know some people put their iron into flux to fizzle the oxidizing layer off, I don't as I don't have any (only have a flux pen), so every now and again I gently rub the iron, whilst hot, over very fine grain sandpaper, lightly, then tin the iron - works, probably not the right method. My irons are cheap, so its fine. I pay about Â£4 on e-bay per iron, recon to use a soldering iron per project on average!

Also, don't tap the soldering iron tip on anything, you will end up burning through the tip or bending it.

schmellyfart · Post by **schmellyfart** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 6:10 pm

Dang dude. Here, watch the movies in this thread: http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?t=10436 Seriously.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:14 pm

Good advice.

stephen0205 - take your time to master: general soldering, desoldering components, soldering to existing components, soldering to traces (do you have a flux pen?), and soldering to small areas - the fine soldering in my project is to solder 16 wires to the controller contacts which has a total area of 17mm; without any shorts (using multimeter to check each and every contact).

Once you can do this, your soldering skills will be fine!

Let us know how you progress!

Joes2Silly · Post by **Joes2Silly** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:09 am

Not to bash you or anything, but I would advise you not to tear into a crystal xbox considering how rare they are....

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:42 am

If you need a spare dead board to test on, assuming of course the Xbox isn't dead and you want it, I am sure someone has an old board they could spare stephen0205 for improving his skills - I might have a spare one if that helps...

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 10:45 am

don't waste your money. I'm sure he has some form of old/dead electronics in his house. old CD drives, dead hard drives, anything.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 4:14 pm

I am sure he does have some old electronics lying about (I certainly do); I was just trying to help.

Stephen0205, did you get around to reading the links above on soldering? They are useful, yes? I don't know about other people here, but seeing guides like those is how I learnt how to do it.

stephen0205 · Post by **stephen0205** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:54 am

yeah i had a look at the links nd videos in that post, they were very helpful, thanks.

Yeah i got a load of dead motherboards from computers over the last few years, they were all nacked, so they got shuved in the shed, i dont seem to throw stuff out ha.

But yeah i plan to practice and get better before i tear into the screen and the ps1.

Ok ill leave the xbox be, still works, maybe ill mode it to be a media center or something.

Just thought id do it with something working, dambage it by desoldering something, see it not work, resoler it and wola.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 3:43 am

Not good idea to remove components, turn a system on then put them back and turn system on again. Why do that when you have some nice dead boards in the shed to use?

Just desolder some components from your old boards, eg some capacitors - for example, if you get into modding other systems you will need 100uf capacitors and 220uf capacitors, and resistors - that should give you enough to be getting on with! Also experiment with tinning wires and soldering them to the boards.

The holes you leave will give you the chance to practice soldering wires to, and the traces from the boards practice to expose traces and solder joints to them.

Spend a little time doing this, get proficient (it isn't difficult, frankly).

ian2120 · Post by **ian2120** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 5:44 pm

bacteria wrote:Go for it ian2120 ! You want to make a PSone portable too??

Not necessarily a PSone, but I've been on the forums long enough to know that i have the potential to make one (not before my new compy though...). But if this project turns out to be as good as it looks, my decision will be made. The soldering advice being provided is really what I've needed all along. We shall see what the next 6-10 months bring...

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 6:36 pm

Good. I learnt my skills for soldering from reading threads here, looking at videos posted here and YouTube and just experimenting with old boards. Soldering isn't difficult, you just need to know what you are doing, and practice it.

BTW - stephen0205 - how are you progressing - soldering skills ok now??