Hacking brown crap while soldering?

[Presto]

hey guys i was soldering my wiikey and this brown crap started to appaear on the board like oil ish. What is it? Now the solder wont stick to it how do i remove it so i can finish the install?

 

[kai445]

flux. try rubbing alcohol (99% concentration), and use a stiff bristle toothbrush and a blunt wooden toothpick if you need to scrape it off.

 

[Presto]

flux. try rubbing alcohol, higher the concentration the better.

did it damage the board at all?

 

[5uck3rpunch]

There is no flux or rosin in this .015 guage solder. That is the wierd thing. Can it be the flux or rosin from the board on the drive from the manufacturers?

 

[kai445]

did it damage the board at all?

Well, if its really just flux, and depending on how burnt it is, im going to say probably not.

If you're having problems with *lots* of brown gunk, you arent doing a very good job and might want to practice a little on an old soundcard or something to get the hang of it..

 

[kai445]

There is no flux or rosin in this .015 guage solder. That is the wierd thing. Can it be the flux or rosin from the board on the drive from the manufacturers?

Can you take some pics?

 

[5uck3rpunch]

I know how to solder. I did it for 3 & a half years. It's more clear than brown. It started off fine & then after getting to the 4th solder points set, it seems to be excreting from somewhere. I cleaned the soldergun on a wet paper towel. I gave it breaks to cool. I didn't burn the board or remove any solder pads on the board. I have never seen anything like it.

EDIT: I don't have a camera here. We're at work actually trying to do this during training. LOL!

 

[Presto]

its a clear ish brown ish yellowish goo

 

[kai445]

If it aint flux or rosin I'm out of ideas haha. If you were good about keeping the tip clean and were careful not to scorch the pcb, then i dunno.

 

[5uck3rpunch]

Damn. I need to fix this. I guess I'm going to have to de-solder it & use the wired method. I'm using Radio Shack solder. It might be a bad product.

EDIT: I got the copper braid after work, removed all of the solder & also got the WiiKey off the board w/ no visible damage. I'm going to try the wired method tomorrow. WISH ME LUCK!

 

[5uck3rpunch]

Sorry for the double post - this is a day later.

The copper braid worked & I removed all the solder & stuff (flux???). Presto & I tried the wired method & it worked for the 1st 3 SMALL pads but then the 4th kept coming off. I got frustrated & removed it all with the copper braid (which works VERY well - you do NOT need a solder sucker). We are now going to pay someone to solder the Wiikey on these 2 Wii's. What a pain in the ass.

Believe me, it's better to stay on the safe side than to wreck 2 Wii's. They are still IMPOSSIBLE to get. If that wasn't the case I wouldn't be so nervous about doing them.

 

[cruddybuddy]

Man, I agree. It's damned hard to solder those tiny modchips. The pictures on the internet make the chips look much larger than they are. I was REALLY wishing I had a magnifying lens last night when I was soldering the Wiikey.