solder thread - what have you been modding/fixing?

>>4159809
I suck at soldering, so at some point I'm gonna go get some cheap shit electronics at goodwill to try fucking and unfucking them.

I would probably prefer paying someone to fix my VB though, that soldering is just too precise, and not THAT expensive from my understanding.

>>4159847
soldering is a useful skill to have when your into retro electronic stuff. Just practice at some broken old junk

>>4159809
>I hope none of you do this
You know better than that. Neo /v/ is chock full of fools who pay a lot more than $100 to have some faggot replace every single cap on their console with cheap chink electrolytic shit. Many won't even buy something unless its been recapped. Not sure if that's worse than the fools who try it themselves using some shitty instructables guide and at best accomplish the same thing.

>>4159884
>cheap chink electrolytic shit
that's what your precious "retro" consoles shipped with, dumbass.

>>4159914
and how is the longevity of those cheapo caps?

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>>4159809
I've been fixing up an old Pac-Man board. I am also building a switch between my Ms. pac man/pac man games so I can play both in one cabinet.

>>4159914
chink can commonly mean chinese/north korean (supposedly)

anyway made in japan stuff is a world apart. they're the best for capacitors

>>4159809
Soldered a Williams style leaf switch on my Joust arcade machine two weeks ago. P1 start had took a shit, no way to fix it. Luckily I had one, those switches are almost impossible to find, very different than normal leafs.

>>4159950
Nice.

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Pace MBT 350 but to be fair I am an electronic repair tech so I do this professionally. Got to buy my station from work because we signed a deal with Hakko and had to buy all new equipment.

>>4159914
The fuck are you talking about?
He's talking about retards paying people to replace the caps in their consoles. These people often times cheap out and use chinese no-name caps since you can get a huge fuckload of them for 3$.
From what I can tell at least Sega and Nintendo only used quality caps by japanese manufacturers atleast in the old days. Caps I pulled from a single AV Fami were made by Rubycon, Panasonic and Chemicon. No cheapo caps to be found.

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Adding a mega amp to a genesis 2.

>>4159847
A store by me will solder both lenses in a Virtual Boy for $50

I replaced the loose sticks from a PS1 controller with the sticks from a broken PS2 controller.

It's pretty nice but uninteresting.

Ok so within the past few weeks I've fixed
25 Sega Genesis model 2
>Various issues such as broken sodler points at the AC, loose cartridge conenctors, the usual.
4 NES systems
>Not just pin connectors, replacing RF Modular Boards, & jumping traces.
2 Game Boy Advance systems
>Had to solder on new switches. Tried cleaning them, was no good.
15 Original Game Boys
>technically wasn't soldering but the repair to remove dead lines involves a soldering iron.
A TurboDuo
>Just a recapping
A CDX
>Also just a recapping
2 Atari 2600
>Cracked solder at the AC port
4 Game Boy Colors
>Dead Speakers

That's just soldering repairs. Plenty others that do not require solder. Tomorrow I'll be fixing the monitor chassis in a Popeye cocktail, Mortal Kombat 3, & Star Wars arcade cabinets.

>>4160376
Do you do that for a career?

>>4160403
Yes. I'm the head tech for a store. Only reason there were so many Genesis Model 2 to repair was I hadn't dug into them for 3 years & the Game Boys I hadn't in almost a year. The rest is just what comes in that I happened to get to these past few weeks.

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I'm probably going to have to recap my Vectrex soon.

>>4159914
Sure they did kiddo. That's why they've lasted decades and cheap shit people are using now is dying in a few years or less. You've never even opened a console have you?

>got into soldering when I wanted to RGB mod my N64
>since then I've gotten very good and have fixed and modded a ton of shit

How do I best make money off this? buy broken consoles and fix+mod and resell?

>>4160535
Yea that's really the only way to make money on it besides getting a job at a store that needs that kind of service. It's tough though buying broken stuff to fix than resell because of how many people do it now. I remember buying TurboDuos that needed caps, Sega CDX with bad lasers, or Turbo CDs with bad gears for like $20. These days any one of those consoles will run you $100+ for a broken unit.

>>4160120
I heard that's shit
>Genesis 2
Why waste your time on that and just buy a Model 1?

>>4160430
How do you guys diagnose problems like that?
I want to get into fixing consoles but don't know where to start

>>4160650
Meant for >>4160376

>>4160595
>These days any one of those consoles will run you $100+ for a broken unit.
You can still make nice profit with it, selling fixed units for $300+ like that doujindance clown does.

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>>4159809
Given my shaky hands and lack of knowledge/skills/equipment, I do that. I would love to find someone willing to help me keep my decaying electronics that I love alive. I think they should be rewarded for their knowledge/expertise.


>>4160659
I am still scrambling to save up enough so I can get my Duo, Express, and Super CD-ROM^2 fixed and RGB modded (and in the case of the Express screen replaced with a more modern screen). CRT monitors need fixing, MegaAMPs to be installed in Genesis systems, clock batteries in Xboxes need fixing, RGB mod a Wondermega, UltraHDMI precision soldering to be performed on a N64, Jasper 360 disc drive to be replaced, etc. My to-do list is just overwhelming my ability to earn enough.


>>4160376
It is hard to even find a person capable and even willing to do such work in my area. The closest to a tech shop in my area of middle of nowhere is a Gamestop. Just to get an idea, how much is it for such work to be done?

sodder

>>4160440
>le epic recap maymay
Just make sure you use caps rated for 50hz if your vectrex is PAL. lel

>>4160535
You won't make much fixing consoles but if the alternative is a minimum wage job you hate it's an alternative. You can make more with mods but you have to choose your services, pricing and customers carefully. If you offer reasonably priced simple mods you attract the stupidest most troublesome shits who are too stupid to use a screwdriver let alone as soldering iron and making fuck all for dealing with that.

>>4160687
Is this medical condition, and your hands shake constantly, or it's just psychological thing you probably can overcome, and you simply don't feel confident enough working with small parts?

>>4160430
How do I get into that line of work? I think I would enjoy it more than my office job even if the pay wasn't as good.

Ive been tryhing to fix a repro i bought about 2 years ago that was smashed cause i had it outside the plastic shell :/

Its one of those Mort of Games Snes boards and i cant find any documentation about it so i can test every signle pin and trace until i find the broken one, i want to fix it cause it has 5 games on it and i dont wanna drop another $50 onj a replacement.

>>4160648
I've heard different.

And I like the model 2 more. I'd actually mod my CDX if I thought there was enough room for this and the rgb amp.

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>>4159847
It really helps to have an iron that isn't complete garbage.
Also flux is life.

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>but the parts are so small
>but my hands aren't steady
>but how could I ever be precise enough to solder tiny pins?

It doesn't matter. Solder wants to stick to hot metal even more than it wants to stick to itself.

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>>4162902

>>4162873
Correct.

I bought an $80 solder station with temperature control and it really makes a difference.

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>>4159809
am i strange for being afraid to use leaded solder? I use lead-free solder which as you can imagine flows like shit and smells like... mint? not that I'm inhaling fumes or anything, I mean the actual spool has a strong mint smell, so strong that I noticed it the second I first got it

>>4159809
I hope anyone that plans to solder more than once buys a nice iron. A cheap single setting iron is the fastest way to destroy something.

>>4162940
Probably gonna blow your mind. Most likely your solder has rosin built in. But is still cheap enough to need flux and lots of skill to be properly used. Anyway if it has rosin that is where the mint smell is from. Rosin is made from pine tree resin, so that is where the smell comes from.

>>4162940
>flows like shit
That it does, anon. That it does. Needs significantly higher temperature too which risks damaging the components and board.

Fuck RoHS. I say that as a former quality and environmental manager for a technology firm.

>I've never used flux

Why should I?

>>4159809
I have the same iron sitting in the box still.Also got a bunch of old DMG-1 Gameboys I need to fix the fuck up. Couple of Game Gears. I'm so out of practice though I'm scared I'll fry the fuckers. I got some old wires, and connectors for making phone chargers. So Im practicing on those fuckers. And I had a bottle of flux that was leaking. That shit is all over the fucking place.

>>4163967
Your solder is probably already flux cored anyhow so there's little reason to bother with it unless you're a plumber using solder bars and a fucking gas torch.

>>4164085
If you're gonna do any fine pitched SMD stuff additional flux is pretty much required.
Other than that the flux normally in flux cored solder is good enough.

Flux is like cowbell. It could always use more.

>>4160650
Honestly you just do it, I know that sounds like I'm being an ass but half the battle with repairs is when something's wrong, looking inside & looking for something that doesn't look right. 9 times out of 10 when somehting is broken it'll look broken. Like cracked solder on a Genesis AC port, leaking caps in a TurboDUo, broken traces in an N64 game cartridge. These are all common problems that I feel anyone could look at & be like "That's not right, I'll try to correct it." As you get more experience doing simpler things you get into more complex things that require more know how like changing PPU in NES systems.
& the most important rule about fixing things is to never say "What if I make it worse?" because you can't. It's already broken. Worrying about things like that will make it harder for you to focus at the problem at hand.

>>4160740
Most of the people I meet that use the "shaky hands" are really just saying their afraid to do it. I do this shit everyday & I can't draw a straight line. Unless you are prone to seizures or have Parkison's a little nervous tick isn't going to ruin a solder job.

>>4160687
The work I do varies in price based on how long it takes & parts but most of the console repair stuff I do costs under $100. Most of it is less than $50 & closer to the $20 rang. All thsi is in a store to so this isn't just me accounting for my time & parts. Like to fix a loose AC port in a Genesis is only $20, that covers the time I put into it & the store still makes money. Replacing the laser in a X'Eye is only $60. Once again that is enough to cover parts, labor, & the store makes a little money to keep the lights on. To replace the capacitors in a TurboExpress is only $40, the Duo is $75 because it has almost 3 or 4 times the amount of caps so it takes 3 or 4 times as long to do.
If a GmaeStop is the closest thing to a tech shop in your area look harder. There is someone somewhere in the area. While most electronic shops have since closed down because of the lack of need to repair things the need is still there & you can always find the one guy who's still doing it.

>>4162940
Gonna die anyway.

>>4163967
It makes for a cleaner & easier job. If your just doing little things here & there there's no need because like >>4164085 said your solder most likely already has a flux core. If your doing a little more than you can even get a flux pen. Simple easy & absolutely no risk of mess.

>>4162940
There is no lead in the fumes. The fumes are the burned off rosin flux core inside the solder wire.

Rosin fumes are not dangerous long term. Short term side effects you might see are slight irritation breathing and maybe headaches if the smell bothers you.

If it helps you feel better, OSHA requires ZERO safety measures for solder fumes. Not even a fan. If you don't like the smell now you can get a fan to blow it away but it's safe.

What is a good soldering iron to get?

>>4164085
Flux core is only enough to remove oxidants from the wire; there is not enough to remove it from the copper or plated pads and leads you are trying to bond it with. If you don't use additional flux you probably have shitty cold joints and are gonna wonder why your shit stops working in 2 years when a layer of oxide forms between the solder and the component lead.

I'll be fixing a few RGB monitors. I have a 13" PVM to repair, and three Ikegami HTM-1700R/A's. The Ikegami's are my priority.

>>4165627
Hakko fx-88d or weller wes51 are great irons for a hobbyist.

Or look for a used pace st-50 station.

>>4165637
Thanks senpai.

>>4159950
Props, pal. By all means post pics.

>>4159884
That's why he said that, to mock them.

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>>4159809
That's an interesting idea for a thread.

Recently? Retro related?
Recapped my Amiga 600.
Changed out the barrel battery on a 486 board for supercapacitor.
Changed out a bad DRAM chip on my Osborne 1.

>>4162873
OPs pic related will be good enough for any job and any person that isn't uther shit or newfag at soldering. It already has basic temperature control and changable tips and literary cots like $25.

>>4165632
Not him, but I'm kind of interested in something. If I were to make some kind of insulative casing for the whole board (Minus some important things you'll need to get at for regular functionality, IE, Cartridge slot, power button, etc) Would that prevent oxidation? Hell, even Elmer's glue would work, it'd just be a bitch to get off the board safely so you could replace things the next time you worked on it.
I've never done much with soldering, but I might try it if there's even a reason to believe it might help.

>>4165583
Do you only do "physical" damage repairs that you can identify without tools?
Don't you use an oscilloscope and a binary probe?

>>4160093
>From what I can tell at least Sega and Nintendo only used quality caps by japanese manufacturers atleast in the old days.

if they are quality caps, why do they need to change them in the first place?

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>>4166248
>Osborne 1

Those things are cool as fuck. But can you use it for anything? Text adventures on the go?

>>4159809
used analog weller units are not that expensive and regulating your output is very important with newer, where the trace lines are much smaller. only an idiot using a $15 soldering iron on a ps2 or newer hardware.

>>4159809
I'm modding my megadrive II for 60hz and language switches.

And I need to recap my game gear and MSX computer (let's hope I get rid of the jailbars and screen tearing)...

My solder is just a velleman solder station, nothing fancy but it does the job well.

I have never soldered anything in my life. I know it's not hard and I plan on learning it someday.

While that doesn't happen, the number of GB carts with no working batteries increase. Also have a bloody Game Gear here. It sucks so bad that Mario Picross has a dead battery. I want to play it but what's the point if you can't save the progress. Argh.

I live in a small apartment and I'm afraid to do anything that might mess up these granite counter tops that they'll make me pay for

total noob here but why do you need to change tips?

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>>4166356
>Text adventures on the go?
Yes! Also Ladder.

i made a breadboard of a atari 8 bit to pc serial port adapter. my first time doing something like this, added leds and a chip to invert the signal to one or more of the leds. didn't convert to an actual soldered board and case, but have all the materials. i'm all proud of it and shit cause im a retard

>>4160648
Model 2's are infinitely easier to find than Model 1s with the good sound-chip. If you find a model 2 chilling at a flea market for $5 and spend $30 on the MegaAmp I think that's a win.

It's also likely many of us got Genesis 2's as young'ns and want that same system.

>>4166332
electrolytic capacitors have an average lifetime before they fail

they say that for every 10 degrees C increase in operating temperature, their lifetime is halved

good brand caps last quite a long time

>>4166271
Not yet. I haven't had the need too, but eventually I will, & that could be very soon.

>>4166332
A lot of the things that need to be recapped are from the later part of a generation. When they were cutting corners to make products cheaper or get them out faster. For example it's pretty rare for a Genesis to need a recapping, but a Game Gear needs it 90% of the time; because Sega was trying to make the console on the cheap as much as possible to beat out the Game Boy, I don't blame them because as long as it worked for than 5 years the customer was happy, I doubt anyone was thinking 20years.

>>4166621
Size mostly. What you're soldering determines the tip. Although once you get the hang of it, you can get away with using bigger tips for pretty much everything you want.

>>4166789
Gratz anon
That's awesome

>>4162940
I fell for the leadless solder meme too. it flows like TOTAL shit, actually it doesn't even flow thinking about it

>>4162940
>>4166982
Lead solder is best solder.

Replaced a blown capacitor on a sonic 3 cart purchased for 2 leafbucks

>>4166215
Sorry, I just saw your response. I've been in the process of moving and currently have my cabs/pcbs all stored up. I'll post some images later sometime.

>>4166257
A Weller is fine too.

>>4166271
It's very unlikely you will ever need anything more than a multimeter to track down faults on /vr/ consoles. You mainly just need to know what's broken so you can replace it. Analysis equipment is more for reverse-engineering.

>>4166271
>Don't you use an oscilloscope and a binary probe?
Not him but I have used a logic probe to troubleshoot a NES that had glitched graphics and an ascii pad for the SNES.

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>>4166603
Silicone work mat.
Pic related, it's the blue thing behind the shiny new soldering iron.

>>4166916
I use a 1.6mm chisel tip for almost everything, otherwise a sheepsfoot with a reservoir for drag soldering. JBC has a very effective U-shaped reservoir tip for drag soldering through-hole chip or socket leads but that gear is out of my price range.

>>4167420
Are there any good soldering irons that don't make you hold it from a mile away.
That part always made me think I wouldn't have fine control if I tried to solder

>>4167386
Not really, a multimeter alone won't help you track down a broken chip for example.
Probing/analysis equipment is mostly used for debugging and fault detection in high end repair shops and by hobbyists.
There's not even anything to reverse engineer, you already have all the data, schematics and manuals, you use the proble, like logic analyzer, to see if something is doing what it should do or not.

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>>4167503
The iron needs a bit of thermal mass and you don't want the hottest part of the iron too close to the plastic handle housing the electronics.
You don't need control as fine as you might think.

>>4167386
True. Depends on the console, the problem, and how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. But a multimeter will do the job 99.999% of the time.

>>4167506
Depends on the chip and how much you know about the system. I can only think of a few situations with retro consoles where a broken chip can't be tracked down to a single chip just by the symptoms. Even then, there are usually ways of narrowing it down without more sophisticated equipment.

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>>4159809
Either buy a solder iron and fix my monitor or take it to the shop where inspection alone costs a lot of monies

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>>4167503
Depends how much you love those fingertips of yours

>>4169125
I got a better one then your pic related.
>You just remembered about your own mortality, enjoy those years left before it all fades to nothingness.

>>4169179
>if it smells like chicken
>you're doing it wrong

>>4161127
At my store I was hired as a regular sales associate. Owner didn't feel repairs were important enough to have a single person doing it most of the time. Got by long enough with random employees doing what every they could when ever they could. I was versatile enough & was able to prove it was worth the investment. So you want to get into this line of work, you have to make it yourself.

>>4161175
The only way to fix it is to check every single trace with a continuity tester. If it got cracked or "smashed" the broken contact is most likely where ever the cracks are located.

>>4161190
CDX has the worst audio & even one that is fully functional will have bad load times, poor audio, & lag. Best CDs are the second revision of the Model 2 Sega CD & the JVC X'Eye

>>4169191
>if it smells like fish
>eat all you wish

>>4162940
lead is toxic through inhalation (powdered lead oxides, sulfates, etc) and ingestion (don't eat it) you aren't vaporizing or otherwise volitalizing the lead at the temperature you are working with so you are fine. i work with powdered lead products every day with little to no PPE and my blood lead content is below detection. again, just don't eat it.

>>4170407
I stick lead solder in my mouth all the time when working kek

Not /vr/, but I added a detachable cable to my gaming headphones yesterday.

>>4161127
Electronic Assemblers generally solder all day errday.

Electronic Technicians troubleshoot and repair. Sometimes you need an associates degree in electronics to be a tech.

>>4169491

The poor audio I know of. But poor load times, and lag?! Mind backing that up with a source?

>>4170593
Our a degree in History & Art & a bunch of dumb luck.