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Soldering circuit help.

I

imported_bparks

Member
I have an IPOD mini that is broken. There is a mini molex connector on a flexible ribbon with 14 bus wires inside it that connects the click wheel to the motherboard. Half of the solder joints are cracked between the connector and the ribbon. It will still work if I could solder the circuits back together and don't really want to spend $50-$60 for a replacement click wheel on ebay. Does anyone have any advice and/or ideas on how to successfully solder this connection? I have heard about what can happen if it gets to hot and I have also heard about a cold soldering technique. Please fill me in on what to do, or if you think I should take it in to a professional, where should I look to find one?
 
Just use a fairly low-watt iron (15-30) and be careful and you'll probably be okay. How close to the broken joint are other components that might be damaged by too much heat?
 
Any new soldering iron should work provided the wattage of the tip you put there is not too high. you could use a high wattage on the tip, but you will have to be more careful. You could simply solder re solder it by just applying heat and rejoing the joint, or you could put a little more solder "fresh" solder down. I think the former would be better as putting more solder down can get messy and you may accidently cause a short.
 
Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Just use a fairly low-watt iron (15-30) and be careful and you'll probably be okay. How close to the broken joint are other components that might be damaged by too much heat?
Click to expand...

The connector on the ribbon is actually about an inch and a half to any actual components where it attaches to the circuit board I just feared I may cause damage to the ribbon itself if it were to get too hot. The circuits are so small and close together I am having trouble seeing how to solder it without accidently soldering two pins together. I am not the best at soldering but I do understand how to do it just not on something so small.

I also have this to add. I have a wood burning tool with different tips and was wondering if it is asically the same thing as a soldering iron? I don't have anything else.
 
I would not worry about damaging the other components. if you are soldering a ribbon (shouldn't there be a a connector for this?), the best course of action may be to apply solder to the board and quickly put the ribbon in the solder while the heat is still applied. As for a wood burning tool, I have no idea. I have never done such a thing.
 
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