Recommendation for a good soldering iron....

[HiTek21]

Originally posted by: Chu
Dood . . . I don't think you realize how hard modding an XBox is. One huge tip I can give you though : you also want to pick up some razor blades and putty. To solder wires to individual pins, use them in the following way:

pic

I'm in the middle of modding my PS2 right now

-Chu

I don't have the guts to mod my own ps2 or xbox. I'll experiment on someone elses if they'll let me but none of my friends have consoles other than the original playstation

 

[Chu]

Originally posted by: HiTek21

Originally posted by: Chu
Dood . . . I don't think you realize how hard modding an XBox is. One huge tip I can give you though : you also want to pick up some razor blades and putty. To solder wires to individual pins, use them in the following way:

pic

I'm in the middle of modding my PS2 right now

-Chu

I don't have the guts to mod my own ps2 or xbox. I'll experiment on someone elses if they'll let me but none of my friends have consoles other than the original playstation

It's really not that hard if you have soldering expirence, patience, and GOOD eyesight. The Radeon 9500->9700pro hardmod is harder imho. It's just it sounds like AMD's first project, which means he is almost gaurenteed to (a) make a bad joint and/or short something he shouldn't or (b) kill something with heat.

-Chu

 

[HiTek21]

Originally posted by: Chu

Originally posted by: HiTek21

Originally posted by: Chu
Dood . . . I don't think you realize how hard modding an XBox is. One huge tip I can give you though : you also want to pick up some razor blades and putty. To solder wires to individual pins, use them in the following way:

pic

I'm in the middle of modding my PS2 right now

-Chu

I don't have the guts to mod my own ps2 or xbox. I'll experiment on someone elses if they'll let me but none of my friends have consoles other than the original playstation

It's really not that hard if you have soldering expirence, patience, and GOOD eyesight. The Radeon 9500->9700pro hardmod is harder imho. It's just it sounds like AMD's first project, which means he is almost gaurenteed to (a) make a bad joint and/or short something he shouldn't or (b) kill something with heat.

-Chu

I'm fairly decent with soldering, i've done a couple of old playstations and my friends saturn but when it comes to doing it on something I paid quite a bit of money on i can't help but feel like i'm going to screw up

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Colt45

Originally posted by: Munchies
Ok going a little off topic here.
I am rewiring the rear end of my truck. I know what I am doing, but I just suck at soldering. I am soldering 14 gauge wire together, and I cant get the solder to stick to the wire, it just beads right off!!!!!! I need some soldering 101.

flux.

I doubt that's his problem.

And, no.. you don't know what you're doing, or you wouldn't suck at soldering.

He's probably making the most common mistake; heating the solder and not the object to be soldered.

The wire(s) should be hot enough to melt the solder a millimeter or so away from the actual tip of the iron.

If you're using rosin core solder, it will wick right into the wire, no additional flux needed.

 

[BadNewsBears]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Colt45

Originally posted by: Munchies
Ok going a little off topic here.
I am rewiring the rear end of my truck. I know what I am doing, but I just suck at soldering. I am soldering 14 gauge wire together, and I cant get the solder to stick to the wire, it just beads right off!!!!!! I need some soldering 101.

flux.

I doubt that's his problem.

And, no.. you don't know what you're doing, or you wouldn't suck at soldering.

He's probably making the most common mistake; heating the solder and not the object to be soldered.

The wire(s) should be hot enough to melt the solder a millimeter or so away from the actual tip of the iron.

If you're using rosin core solder, it will wick right into the wire, no additional flux needed.

Well I tapped into the wiring harness inside the frame tube and ran all the new 12v out to the marker light tail brake and rev lights, I now need to solder in the old lights themselves which have maybe 3 feet of old wire on them, the old wire is wierd , its like..sticky almost.. sticky. Kinda funky like that. Well it is 30 years old and has been abandoned in the desert for a few years.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Munchies

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Colt45

Originally posted by: Munchies
Ok going a little off topic here.
I am rewiring the rear end of my truck. I know what I am doing, but I just suck at soldering. I am soldering 14 gauge wire together, and I cant get the solder to stick to the wire, it just beads right off!!!!!! I need some soldering 101.

flux.

I doubt that's his problem.

And, no.. you don't know what you're doing, or you wouldn't suck at soldering.

He's probably making the most common mistake; heating the solder and not the object to be soldered.

The wire(s) should be hot enough to melt the solder a millimeter or so away from the actual tip of the iron.

If you're using rosin core solder, it will wick right into the wire, no additional flux needed.

Well I tapped into the wiring harness inside the frame tube and ran all the new 12v out to the marker light tail brake and rev lights, I now need to solder in the old lights themselves which have maybe 3 feet of old wire on them, the old wire is wierd , its like..sticky almost.. sticky. Kinda funky like that. Well it is 30 years old and has been abandoned in the desert for a few years.

Ahh. It could actually be oxidation then, but try as I suggested first. The solder goes where the heat is, it won't stick if the wire itself isn't hot enough.

 

[BadNewsBears]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Munchies

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Colt45

Originally posted by: Munchies
Ok going a little off topic here.
I am rewiring the rear end of my truck. I know what I am doing, but I just suck at soldering. I am soldering 14 gauge wire together, and I cant get the solder to stick to the wire, it just beads right off!!!!!! I need some soldering 101.

flux.

I doubt that's his problem.

And, no.. you don't know what you're doing, or you wouldn't suck at soldering.

He's probably making the most common mistake; heating the solder and not the object to be soldered.

The wire(s) should be hot enough to melt the solder a millimeter or so away from the actual tip of the iron.

If you're using rosin core solder, it will wick right into the wire, no additional flux needed.

Well I tapped into the wiring harness inside the frame tube and ran all the new 12v out to the marker light tail brake and rev lights, I now need to solder in the old lights themselves which have maybe 3 feet of old wire on them, the old wire is wierd , its like..sticky almost.. sticky. Kinda funky like that. Well it is 30 years old and has been abandoned in the desert for a few years.

Ahh. It could actually be oxidation then, but try as I suggested first. The solder goes where the heat is, it won't stick if the wire itself isn't hot enough.

I need to get a new soldering iron , the one I used is a piece from home depot. It takes like 3 minutes to mel solder and to warm up the two ends of wire? Never. I will spread the wire out fan like and sand it, flux it and see what happens.

 

[Chu]

The big problem with modding is that the "good solder pratices" just don't work. The pins you are trying to attach wires too are usually smaller then your tip, and 30 gauge wires can be frustrating to work with. Here is what I would suggest :

0. CLEAN UP THE PINS OF THE CHIP. You are going to try to solder with almost no flux, the surfaces must be spotless.

1. Coat the tip with solder, and wick off as much as possible.

2. Touch the soldering iron to the pin. Your trying to "tin" the pin here. 5 seconds max with a 15 watt.

3. Tin your wire. Because 30 gauge is so hard to work with, and your trying to tin about .25mm, the only real way to do this is put some solder on your iron, and QUICKLY dip the wire in.

4. Touch the wire to the pin, and get something BESIDES YOUR HANDS to hold it down.

5. Touch the tip of the iron over the wire for 5 seconds.

-Chu

 

[HiTek21]

If you dont already have some you should get some of this Solder to mod your xbox.

 

[kt]

Anyone tried Coldheat Soldering tool? I am curious if this really works like they claim.

 

[jcovercash]

Originally posted by: HiTek21

Originally posted by: Chu

Originally posted by: HiTek21

Originally posted by: Chu
Dood . . . I don't think you realize how hard modding an XBox is. One huge tip I can give you though : you also want to pick up some razor blades and putty. To solder wires to individual pins, use them in the following way:

pic

I'm in the middle of modding my PS2 right now

-Chu

I don't have the guts to mod my own ps2 or xbox. I'll experiment on someone elses if they'll let me but none of my friends have consoles other than the original playstation

It's really not that hard if you have soldering expirence, patience, and GOOD eyesight. The Radeon 9500->9700pro hardmod is harder imho. It's just it sounds like AMD's first project, which means he is almost gaurenteed to (a) make a bad joint and/or short something he shouldn't or (b) kill something with heat.

-Chu

I'm fairly decent with soldering, i've done a couple of old playstations and my friends saturn but when it comes to doing it on something I paid quite a bit of money on i can't help but feel like i'm going to screw up

Um Not I have did several already, I did my first one no problems. THe others have all went well too. I am just looking to upgrade my equipment as I ahve about 10 do in the next month :-o

Josh