Learning to solder?

[Gryson]

I eventually "splurged" for a cheap Chinese vacuum desoldering station, the ZD-985:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CA-PHONECAS...V/122323770529

(be warned that the included power cable has ground on the wrong wire and is potentially dangerous - best to throw it away)

I was nervous at first, but man, that thing makes life easy. Haven't had a single problem with it after countless uses.

[gamevet]

Desoldering is something I have trouble with. I don't really have the best tools for it though. Older solder seems to be harder to remove than the newer stuff. I nearly went insane trying to desolder the 68k from one of my genesis consoles, but somehow I eventually managed it. You usually want to add a little bit of fresh solder to the pin, it makes it easier to work with. I'm more a fan of desolder pumps, but sometimes I find wick works better. I've done entire mechanical keyboard switch replacements using just a pump.

I prefer a solder sucker. I'd also recommend lining the tip of your soldering iron with a thin layer of solder, that will attract the old solder to it.

[RottenToTheGore]

We seem to have a post about learning to 'soddur' quite regularly on this forum. Why? Soldering isn't some tremendously hard skill that takes a seven year apprenticeship to learn. Just do it.

Honestly, if you can walk and chew bubblegum at the same time, you can 'soddur' the shit out of anything. Now stop fucking around on forums and go do it. I am seriously tired of people treating soldering like its hard to do. OK, there might be the odd job that can be tricky, but you'll figure those out when you get to them.

Have to disagree. If someone new to it decided to just pick up an NESRGB, there's a damn good chance something's getting screwed up. I'd rather see threads on people learning instead of "I just ripped 8 traces out of a board, WTF do I do?"

Adding onto what's been suggested so far, I recommend planning out your job step by step. Get all the tools and parts you'll need ready and don't cut corners. Like if a joint isn't strong enough and a wire just isn't attaching, don't do something like giving it a hot glue bath.

[Blades]

That's why I suggested practicing on something broken so you can make mistakes. I sucked at first like everyone.

don't do something like giving it a hot glue bath.

Lol do you remember Drakon.

[RottenToTheGore]

Lol do you remember Drakon.

Who could forget?!

[Raijin Z]

A flux-drenched desoldering braid, and a soldering GUN helped me remove the ancient solder from the RF unit I pulled from my Atari 7800 while AV modding it. A soldering station with air is almost essential if you're doing more than installing mod chips and crap. Despite my EE degree, I do almost nothing, and absolutely nothing, professionally. No EE jobs within hundreds of miles of where I live, and moving ain't possible.
I recommend watching Youtube guides on soldering, and maybe checking out Voultar's channel.

[nv0bdizc]

Despite my EE degree, I do almost nothing, and absolutely nothing, professionally.

I have never, in almost ten years working alongside EEs, ever seen one actually sit down and solder something!

Occasionally, I've seen a lab tech pressed into adding some probe wires to boards, but that's usually a job which gets delegated. I've always assumed soldering is to EEs and technicians as a tooth scraping is to a dentist and their hygienist.

[Raijin Z]

See, I wouldn't know, as even my professors said that the only way I would get a job in my field without moving across the country (or to India) is if I stalked someone who already worked in such a capacity at a factory or other major business, until they died, and then race to the office of the company offering to take over for them.

[CrossBow]

See, I wouldn't know, as even my professors said that the only way I would get a job in my field without moving across the country (or to India) is if I stalked someone who already worked in such a capacity at a factory or other major business, until they died, and then race to the office of the company offering to take over for them.

Sad but likely quite true. My line of work used to require soldering skills 10 - 20 years ago. But now in this age of tablet based throw away appliances, there is pretty much ZERO need for my soldering skills. Likely why I was moved up stairs and put into an escalation group. The only soldering I do now is what you see me do on my channel doing console mod work or repairs...

It is a dying skill and it really shouldn't be because so many things can become very simple repairs with just a bit of solder. In fact I have an old but decent Asus laptop that won't acknowledge when the power brick is plugged into it. I suspect the power port has come loose from the PCB and likely just needs some solder to tack it back down. That is the easy part...the hard part has been that I haven't figured out how to take the damn laptop apart without breaking it?!

[Raijin Z]

In fact I have an old but decent Asus laptop that won't acknowledge when the power brick is plugged into it. I suspect the power port has come loose from the PCB and likely just needs some solder to tack it back down. That is the easy part...the hard part has been that I haven't figured out how to take the damn laptop apart without breaking it?!

Almost 100% guaranteed to be the issue. it's the most common point of failure in laptops. "Let's use a barrel connector instead of something more durable, because quality products lose money." There's more than likely a video of someone disassembling the laptop on Youtube, but if not, I tend to draw the laptop, and leave the screws on the paper in the position they were pulled from. If it gets hectic, record video of the process as well. Thankfully, many manufacturers have stopped using seven different lengths of screws with the same diameter and threading, so motherboard punctures are unlikely anymore. Epoxy would be recommended in the repairs, as well, since the barrel connector will have likely broken part of the board off with it. Once bonded, it should be much tougher than before, though.

[CrossBow]

I'm not sure until I can get into it far enough. Part of the issue is that like my Dell laptop I use for work. it isn't immediately obvious how some stuff comes out. A lot of the stuff on my Dell is snap together crap along with screws. But you are correct in that my work Dell only uses 2 different sized screws and the screw holes are actually marked with the size of screw to use in that spot. My work laptop is several years older than the Asus I'm talking about. Also..that Asus power plug doesn't really move or anything to indicate it is loose, but since the PSU is working and I'm getting voltage off it, the fact that the laptop appears to never see it plugged in tell me that the power socket has likely come loose. And yes..it is a barrel jack in fact.