Hacking Replacement LED shell. please hell

[Klightx15]

So my transparent clear blue replacement shell with an LED circuit board came in today from dealextreme. i was wondering what i need for soldering the LED to the top of the ds circuit board. and how? i dont know how to use a soldering iron or gun.

 

[thieves like us]

if you've never attempted to solder before, I wouldn't recommend installing the led portion. given the tiny nature of the components on the ds's motherboard, more than likely, you'll end up frying something and shorting out the motherboard.

did the kit come with instructions on what / where the leads from the led board need to be soldered to?

 

[Klightx15]

if you've never attempted to solder before, I wouldn't recommend installing the led portion. given the tiny nature of the components on the ds's motherboard, more than likely, you'll end up frying something and shorting out the motherboard.

did the kit come with instructions on what / where the leads from the led board need to be soldered to?

yes it did. its got pictures and all. i just wanna know what kind of soldering tools i need too do the job

 

[linkinworm]

you need solder, and a fine tipped soldering iron

 

[Klightx15]

how strong of an iron? does it matter? what kind of solder should i use?

 

[linkinworm]

15 watt should be ok, but if your carefull enought you can use a 30 watt so the solder melts a little faster but theres more room for error then. and you want lead free solder. you could always splash out on a soldering iron with adjustable levels.

 

[Schizoanalysis]

You might need flux


DX also sell some good anti-static gloves... so you won't end up frying your DS with static electricity when you touch it...

 

[linkinworm]

oh and remember to tin things before hand will make it easier, not needed but may help a bit

 

[Klightx15]

You might need flux


DX also sell some good anti-static gloves... so you won't end up frying your DS with static electricity when you touch it...

ive seen people do it without them. and whats flux?

and thanks linkinworm thats very helpful information. btw what do u mean by "tin things before hand"

 

[Schizoanalysis]

You can do it without them... but if you fry a sensitive chip from a bit of wayward static electricity, you can throw the whole thing in the bin.

Flux is soldering paste...

 

[Klightx15]

You can do it without them... but if you fry a sensitive chip from a bit of wayward static electricity, you can throw the whole thing in the bin.

Flux is soldering paste...

alright thanks. sorry for the stupid questions im absolutely new to working with circuit boards and stuff. im good with opening shit and modifying just never done any electronic modifying. i fixed a broken screen on an ipod b4 and a shattered blackberry shell, keyboard and screen without any problems. i just want to know all the information i need before i jump in and do something.

what exactly do i need the paste for? can you just list the steps or process of general soldering that way i can see where and what it would be used for?

 

[Atashi]

You can pick up a simple soldering kit at radio shack that includes what you need - soldering iron, some solder, and a little stand I think. Most solder intended for electronics has the flux already in it, 'rosin core solder' so you don't need to get extra flux. In any event make sure the flux is rosin based and not acid based.

If you have never soldered before I'd suggest getting a cheap kit to practice on first, just to get the hang of it. You can find some howto info, just google for it.

The biggest threat when working on something like a DS is that you could get solder where you don't want it, i.e. shorting out something, so use it sparingly and as Linkinworm said, tin things before you join them together.

(Tinning means coat it with some solder, i.e. the ends of the wires, etc.)

-Atashi

 

[UltraMagnus]

Okay, where to start...
1) you don't need to tin the leads, they come tinned.
2) A 15w soldering iron will do you, although a temperature controlled one would be much better.
3) flux is a good idea, buy stuff in a syringe if you can
4) buy low melting point solder if you can find it, this has a higher lead content but is a lot easier to use
5) you don't need anti static gloves, you shouldn't be touching the ICs with your fingers anyway.
6) buy some solder braid, this is really useful if you bridge something you shouldn't
7) don't hold the soldering iron on too long, you could overheat a chip.

You have chosen quite a difficult thing for your first attempt at soldering, as others have said I would recommend you buy a kit first and have a go on that first. If you don't want to try and solder you can buy something called "wire glue" which is a conductive glue, however it is nowhere as good as a solder joint.

 

[Klightx15]

alright i got the soldering iron and rosin based solder, i was wondering if the soldering iron has to touch what im soldering and then feed the solder through or if i hold the iron above it while i feed the solder near the tip

it also says to solder to either IC Pin 1 or 2. what if i solder it to both or bridge them by accident? will it affect anything?

 

[linkinworm]

well you need to heat the point you want it to stick onto, solder wont melt onto a cold surface, it would just come straight off( a common amatur error) i usualy apply heat onto the contact point and feed a small bit of solder onto the point, but you dont want to leave the heat on, you want to basicly touch the contact point for about half a second feed the solder on and take off quickly. practice on some old pcbs if you can to try not to burn stuff.

and its best not to bridge anything, becasue then them 2 pins will be connected and most likely it will loop the voltage back through its self, if you do that, you basicly need to get desoldering braid, or try just scrape it all off using the iron and a blade, of course its extreamly difficult with the blade method and you risk breaking stuff if you're not careful

 

[Klightx15]

thanks linkinworm, im about to do my first solder on the led board. i practiced a bit before but my ring finger slipped and touched the metal and i got burned

lol

 

[Klightx15]

i did it! everything is back together and the LED lights work, i didnt mess up!

the only problem is that the case wasnt made as good as the original. the screws were touchy, putting them in was a pain since they got stuck all the time and wouldnt go in all the way i had to carve out some plastic on the power button and inside where the hinge mechanism was supposed to go in because there was some plastic lining from the case mold im guessing.. the volume button gets stuck but i lubed it up with some oil and now its all good. one of the screws on the hinge wouldnt screw on all the way so its a little loose but i dont think i should worry too much about it. the lens with the blue outline for the top screen came VERY scratched so i tried melting or heating up the screen to softer the plastic and polish it but a little bubble formed from what looked like a thin laminate that was on the screen, i peeled it off and it turns out the screen wasnt scratched, just the very very thin laminate on it. it had me worried for a second. the case looks great i just wish it had better build quality. and the LEDs could have been cooler (it would be cool if it included button LED's and different colored lights)

 

[linkinworm]

you could always add another pcd to controll the led and add RGB led's