Hardware soldering tips

mijuu

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Will be soldering a 3ds xl tomorrow to downgrade it can anyone give me any tips? gist seems to be put flux on the pads tin the cables fill the pads with solder and then heat and solder the cables to the pad OR flux the pads tin the wires and then just heat the cable up slightly and solder that way which is the better method?

What i got from a rgh soldering video he fluxed the pad first then individually filled them with solder and then heated the pads up and soldered the wired in with the already pre filled pads then cleaned it up afterward with alcohol.

Which way is best advised?

any other tips would be also appreciated if anyone has any, or even their own take on how youd do it yourself.
 

CrispyYoshi

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First thing: Get yourself a $30 or so Weller solder, because I've had several cheap soldering tips burn to the point where they can't produce enough heat to work with.

Both methods work fine but starting with the wires first seems safer. Make sure you don't put too much solder either, because it is possible it won't work.

Admittedly, I've actually broken an XL due to my inexperience and put the cheap tips on the motherboard for too long. I live in the US and got @hundshamer to do my N3DS, but I've done some successful solder mods for backlit+frontlit screens on DMG/GBC gameboys.

I agree with the previous poster though: Definitely practice on some mockup motherboard or something before attempting it on an actual 3DS, because it can be tricky the first time around.
 
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LameNobody

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First thing: Get yourself a $30 or so Weller solder, because I've had several cheap soldering tips burn to the point where they can't produce enough heat to work with.

Both methods work fine but starting with the wires first seems safer. Make sure you don't put too much solder either, because it is possible it won't work.

Admittedly, I've actually broken an XL due to my inexperience and put the cheap tips on the motherboard for too long. I live in the US and got @hundshamer to do my N3DS, but I've done some successful solder mods for backlit+frontlit screens on DMG/GBC gameboys.

I agree with the previous poster though: Definitely practice on some mockup motherboard or something before attempting it on an actual 3DS, because it can be tricky the first time around.
I agree with both of you guys... practice on random broken electronics..


Except i hated the weller irons...(the sp25 at least) The tips were massive... and heated awfully

I ended up picking up a hakko fx-650 for $30, i fucking love it.
 
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mijuu

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Can anyone recommend old school soldering jobs which could be used as practice. For example tsoping the original xboxes.
 

mijuu

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Ive ordered a hakko fx600 from japan. Does it need a transformer step down for it to work in the uk or do i just use a plug converter? jpn is 100v
 

dark_samus3

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Ive ordered a hakko fx600 from japan. Does it need a transformer step down for it to work in the uk or do i just use a plug converter? jpn is 100v

I don't think it will but I'm not entirely sure... I'll Google it real quick

EDIT: nope Japan uses the same plugs and a close enough voltage that you'll be fine :)
 
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mijuu

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Only thing im worried about is uk is rated at 230v so i think i need to get a step down from 230 to 110 at least. As its a 100v rated device only and not compatible with 230 or i just havent got a clue, entirely possible.
 
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JoostinOnline

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I don't solder much, but I'm very satisfied with this iron. It takes 45-60 seconds to heat up all the way (assuming it's on a high setting), but it stays steadily heated after that.

You don't even need to practice on a working thing. If you have some broken electronics, take them apart and practice adding and removing parts/wires. If not, go to your local thrift store and pick up something to practice on. Learning not to burn things (yourself included) and applying solder well is important.
 

dark_samus3

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Only thing im worried about is uk is rated at 230v so i think i need to get a step down from 230 to 110 at least. As its a 100v rated device only and not compatible with 230 or i just havent got a clue, entirely possible.

Oh you're in the UK *facepalm* well yes you'll need a step down regulator... I need to stop assuming people are from the USA :unsure:
 
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mijuu

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what would be a good all round tip size and type for the 3ds and for soldering stuff such as chipping consoles and rgh 360's jtags etc.
 

dark_samus3

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what would be a good all round tip size and type for the 3ds and for soldering stuff such as chipping consoles and rgh 360's jtags etc.
well for soldering to small pads probably a 1.5 mm tip and maybe a 3 mm tip for bigger pads and for grounding pads that are hard to heat maybe 5 mm
 

mijuu

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goddamn i bought 0.5mm chisel. fook.

went for a hakko fx888 d in the end. the digital selection on this thing kinda makes my skin crawl though.
 
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dark_samus3

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goddamn i bought 0.5mm chisel. fook.

went for a hakko fx888 d in the end. the digital selection on this thing kinda makes my skin crawl though.

I was looking at getting a hakko fx888d I really like their irons... 0.5 mm should actually be fine it just might take a bit more time to heat pads
 

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