Any Advice On How To Not Mess Everything Up?

[FalloutFloyd]

G'day all!

 

i've recently got myself a soldering iron and am eager to TSOP my 1.1. I've not yet used the specific soldering iron (waiting for a practice kit to arrive in the mail) but i do have some experience with soldering so i generally know what i'm in for. The main issue is that the fear of messing something up and rendering the console useless is immense! I've barely used it as is so as to not wear out the hard drive, so it'd be a shame to have to bin it.

What would be the correct method to join the required points. From many of the sources i've seen, the general strat (without using conductive ink or wire) seems to be

• apply solder to iron
• apply iron to points and move it around for no more than ~2 seconds
• pray that the points have been bridged

is this correct? would it be a good idea to use flux on the points or would it not really do anything?

 

Cheers!

[SS_Dave]

Sounds like you need to get some old computer circuit boards and practice on them 1st or you will have a nice looking door stop. The points you need to link on the Xbox are small and real easy to lift and that just makes a lot more work fixing it

Flux is your best friend when it comes to soldering.

Good quality solder helps and don't use the lead free crap and a temperature controlled solder station is a must.

other tools are a good light and a magnifying glass, cutters ,isopropyl alcohol with a toothbrush to clean the board after.

Things like too much heat and not enough heat can cause damage as well as holding the idon on the joint for to long, It's just something that comes with practice.

I would also search for youtube videos and watch a heap before  you even open your Xbox .

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.
 

[prtscn]

don't use like 400C of temperature.

Melting point of lead free solder is about 180-200.

Soldering paste is your best friend.

 

For starters, you have to train. People train by using thick gauge copper wire and apply solder to it. Also faulty motherboards.

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by prtscn

[SS_Dave]

31 minutes ago, prtscn said:

don't use like 400C of temperature.

Melting point of lead free solder is about 180-200.

Soldering paste is your best friend.

 

For starters, you have to train. People train by using thick gauge copper wire and apply solder to it. Also faulty motherboards.

 

I just set my Hakko soldering iron to 250c (200c is the lowest) and there is not a chance in hell I could solder any thing at that temperature with 0.5mm lead free solder.

As a Xbox board was made with lead type solder that's what you should use in the repair and modification of it .If a PCB is made with lead free solder you must only use lead free.

I also set my soldering iron to between 350-400c depending on the size of the joint and component I am soldering.

With lead free solder it has a very small range of optimum temperature to work with to obtain a reliable joint and I would recommend that you start with leaded type solder then progress to lead free.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

 

[prtscn]

2 hours ago, SS_Dave said:

I just set my Hakko soldering iron to 250c (200c is the lowest) and there is not a chance in hell I could solder any thing at that temperature with 0.5mm lead free solder.

As a Xbox board was made with lead type solder that's what you should use in the repair and modification of it .If a PCB is made with lead free solder you must only use lead free.

I also set my soldering iron to between 350-400c depending on the size of the joint and component I am soldering.

With lead free solder it has a very small range of optimum temperature to work with to obtain a reliable joint and I would recommend that you start with leaded type solder then progress to lead free.

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

 

Every solder has its own melting point. But for motherboard 200 is optimal temperature, above is risking lifting pads.

Thermal mass, etc, is also a factor.

Edited May 12, 2020 by prtscn

[SS_Dave]

3 minutes ago, prtscn said:

Every solder has its own melting point. But for motherboard 200 is optimal temperature, above is risking lifting pads.

Thermal mass, etc, is also a factor.

You can not even melt 0.8mm leaded solder at 200c let alone solder to a circuit board 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.

[FalloutFloyd]

12 hours ago, prtscn said:

don't use like 400C of temperature.

Melting point of lead free solder is about 180-200.

Soldering paste is your best friend.

 

For starters, you have to train. People train by using thick gauge copper wire and apply solder to it. Also faulty motherboards.

 

regarding temp, would you recommend ~100 degrees higher than the melting point (so in this case, like 300 or a tad under). I have also heard of people lifting pads if the iron is *too* cold as well

 

edit: oops i can't read. i do have some 60/40 lead solder so 200 sounds like it'd work

Edited May 13, 2020 by FalloutFloyd

[SS_Dave]

11 minutes ago, FalloutFloyd said:

regarding temp, would you recommend ~100 degrees higher than the melting point (so in this case, like 300 or a tad under). I have also heard of people lifting pads if the iron is *too* cold as well

 

edit: oops i can't read. i do have some 60/40 lead solder so 200 sounds like it'd work

330°C to 350°C

 

Basic Soldering Guide: The melting point of most solder is in the region of 188°C (370°F) and the iron tip temperature is typically 330°C to 350°C (626°F to 662°F). 

 

 

And I use around 350c - 375c for 90% of the soldering I do.  to little heat means you have to hold the soldering iron on the joint for longer andthat can cause just as much damage as to much heat and also to little heat will cause a dry/cold solder joint that will fail very quickly.

 

 

Cheers

SS Dave

Soft modding is like masturbating, It gets the job done but it's nothing like the real thing.