Electronics > Beginners

Atari 2600 resoldering skills

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tooki:
Fair enough. I'm certainly not criticizing anyone for having imperfect soldering skills (it takes practice, and we all have to start somewhere), only the need to share it prematurely as a model for others. And I most certainly don't want to quash their enthusiasm! :(

WyverntekGameRepairs:

--- Quote from: TERRA Operative on December 30, 2019, 02:53:51 pm ---Ooh, soldering thread!

What do you all think of my crappy efforts? (I think I have a habit of using just a tiny bit too much solder, maybe I should use thinner solder..)
I don't often get the chance to have someone look at my stuff.  :-/O

--- End quote ---

That soldering is incredible, excellent job! I’m almost to that point, I just need to get better soldering tools. The ones I have are cheap and cause problems like insufficient temperature, bad construction, lack of insulation on the handle, and oxidation. It ruins my joints quite a lot as you can probably tell. I also need a bit more practice. Thankfully, I’m building a class AB amplifier for solder practice, and I will have my brand new soldering kit by then. Better tools = better quality soldering ability = more effective practice = better joints.
But yeah, your joints are near perfect.


--- Quote from: tggzzz on December 31, 2019, 04:15:23 pm ---The OP is an enthusiastic 18yo.

Based on his reply to my earlier post, he seems more likely to learn and improve than many posters on this forum.

--- End quote ---
Thanks, I appreciate the kind words :D
I indeed am eager to learn, I just have a tendency to deny my flaws and faults because I want to impress people like you - Because I look up to people like you. It’s a bad habit, but I’m trying to get rid of it. I know things through experience, you see. I can get my hands on something and do something, and point out from what I know how some things work or how to do things. But I don’t really get to learn the basis fundamentals of it too much because you can’t exactly experience the fundamentals until you know them in the first place. I know how to solder, how a joint is supposed to look, what you should and shouldn’t do... I can make a joint shiny enough to reflect the environment around it... But the small details, even down to tiny things like smearing and shape, I might overlook. I’m not a “details” person down to the precision scale that you are.
Just know that I am indeed improving, and no matter what I may say, I take your feedback into consideration. I strive to learn and grow more as much as I possibly can.


--- Quote from: tooki on December 31, 2019, 04:34:13 pm ---Fair enough. I'm certainly not criticizing anyone for having imperfect soldering skills (it takes practice, and we all have to start somewhere), only the need to share it prematurely as a model for others. And I most certainly don't want to quash their enthusiasm! :(

--- End quote ---
You are right. And I understand what you are saying, both in your Great Wall of Text and in this quote. I should definitely not flaunt my skills and claim to know precisely what I’m doing when I in fact still have a lot to learn and do to improve. This is why feedback is crucial, I want to do a professional job and be able to know what I am doing wrong. Your feedback helped me learn proper terms in soldering, as well as what should be happening. I always welcome constructive criticism!

--- Quote from: Shock on December 30, 2019, 03:38:55 pm ---If you want to resolder boards to look minty fresh, you need to suck away the old solder and then clean old flux and dirt away with IPA first, it may need a good scrub.

Solder again with a very clean tip and apply fresh solder. If the solder doesn't wet well (you can tell as it balls up instead of flowing into the joint and the entire pad) you may need to add additional flux, clean or look at the temp.  If you stay on the joint for more than a couple of seconds or go in multiple times without adding flux it will reduce the wetting and look clumpy. Last step is to clean away residue.

I was taught to look at oven or wave soldered boards (at least the high quality boards) and make my joints as good as that. It should not look hand soldered at all and if you can fool someone you have done a decent job. Something to work on anyway.

Another tip is take photos in good light but at an angle after the board is cleaned, you cannot inspect joints properly from top down or while they are dirty. Don't get discouraged though most people suck at soldering.

--- End quote ---

Thanks for your advice, this is very helpful! I’ll take a look at some references and see if I can practice to get my joints looking like that.

-Sterling

tggzzz:

--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on January 01, 2020, 05:50:05 pm ---I just need to get better soldering tools.

--- End quote ---

Don't jump to that conclusion; a bad workman blames their tools.


--- Quote ---I also need a bit more practice.

--- End quote ---

That's more likely. 

Look carefully at the Pace videos, their age, and the tools they had to use.


--- Quote ---I indeed am eager to learn, I just have a tendency to deny my flaws and faults because I want to impress people like you - Because I look up to people like you. It’s a bad habit, but I’m trying to get rid of it. I know things through experience, you see. I can get my hands on something and do something, and point out from what I know how some things work or how to do things. But I don’t really get to learn the basis fundamentals of it too much because you can’t exactly experience the fundamentals until you know them in the first place. I know how to solder, how a joint is supposed to look, what you should and shouldn’t do... I can make a joint shiny enough to reflect the environment around it... But the small details, even down to tiny things like smearing and shape, I might overlook. I’m not a “details” person down to the precision scale that you are.
Just know that I am indeed improving, and no matter what I may say, I take your feedback into consideration. I strive to learn and grow more as much as I possibly can.

--- End quote ---

Keep trying. Keep learning. Keep asking yourself how you can find ways to see how other people do better.

Learning is a combination of understanding the fundamental theory, understanding the practical details, and practice. You need all three.

There's a cliche with a grain of truth: it takes 10000hrs to become a master of anything.

Shock:
Other than Paces channel, Marc Siegel has some old videos and John Gammell (Master IPC trainer) has some recent videos.

https://www.youtube.com/user/paceworldwide/videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/MrMarcSiegel/videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/jkgamm041/videos

TERRA Operative:

--- Quote from: WyverntekGameRepairs on January 01, 2020, 05:50:05 pm ---
--- Quote from: TERRA Operative on December 30, 2019, 02:53:51 pm ---Ooh, soldering thread!

What do you all think of my crappy efforts? (I think I have a habit of using just a tiny bit too much solder, maybe I should use thinner solder..)
I don't often get the chance to have someone look at my stuff.  :-/O

--- End quote ---

That soldering is incredible, excellent job! I’m almost to that point, I just need to get better soldering tools. The ones I have are cheap and cause problems like insufficient temperature, bad construction, lack of insulation on the handle, and oxidation. It ruins my joints quite a lot as you can probably tell. I also need a bit more practice. Thankfully, I’m building a class AB amplifier for solder practice, and I will have my brand new soldering kit by then. Better tools = better quality soldering ability = more effective practice = better joints.
But yeah, your joints are near perfect.

--- End quote ---

Nah it's not the tools as such, well past a point anyway. While it can be hard to solder well with a cheap 'rug burner' pencil iron with no temperature control, the difference between say a Hakko FX-888 and my Hakko FM-206 is negligible when it comes to solder joint quality. It's true that crappy tools = crappy job, but once you have a half reasonable temperature controlled iron, it's mainly down to user skill, which comes with lots of practice.

To solder well, you need practice, flux, a half decent iron, flux, practice, and a little more practice.
Oh, and don't forget flux and some practice too. :D

Don't give up! Pay attention to what is happening while you solder and experiment on some old circuit boards. Try a little less solder, a little more. Longer and shorter heating time, a different angle of the soldering iron, etc etc. Soon you'll get a feel for it and find your groove.
Also don't forget to have fun too. :)

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