Is soldering hard? Can even a shaky hands retard like me do it?

I'll give you a bump.
I actually did do it (poorly) in high school. It wasn't bad and there is some room for error depending on what you're doing.
I don't have shaky hands, I'm just a idiot.
I need to replace some Pokemon batteries, too...damn.

What retro game is this?

>>11823039 (OP)
>Is soldering hard?
Functionally no, any retard can solder 2 wires together. Soldering to circuit boards especially with ICs can be ball busting and is a bit of a steep learning curve til you get a feel for it and learn your iron and the materials you're working with.
>Can even a shaky hands retard like me do it?
Yeah, I have slightly shaky hands, have all my life, I got good at finding a point to anchor my hand and moving the iron with only my fingers and rotating my arm.

Try it out, don't start practicing with anything valuable, rare or anything you'd otherwise not want to ruin. You might have trouble with surface mount components, I do. Through hole is fine but if you're interested in doing a lot of surface mount stuff look into hot air machines. Most stuff that fits on this board uses through hole components.

>>11823225
/rgr/ - Retro Game Repair

>>11823039 (OP)
Takes practice to build up confidence. You can do it, just start out with stuff you don't care about. Go to a thrift store, get a cheap DVD player, and practice desoldering and resoldering components. Watch some YouTube tutorials for technique, and when you feel confident try recapping an older console. You'll get good in no time and be taking on all kinds of fun mods and repairs.

>>11823269
>just start out with stuff you don't care about.
yeah, do this and ventilate the working area and don't leave the iron plugged in near flammable stuff and you'll be fine

It depends WHAT you're soldering. If you're changing a battery in a Gameboy game, anyone can do it. Soldiering chips where the pins are very close together is whole other beast.

>>11823039 (OP)
yeah just make sure the iron is hot, and use leaded solder, unleaded is shit. The smoke that comes off is rosin, you cant vaporize lead with a soldering iron. Wash your hands though. Ive soldered all my own mod chips no problem. My wii chip is still working from 2007

>>11823296
>you're changing a battery in a Gameboy game, anyone can do it.
i've seen turbo retards rip the pads out or burn the board while doing that.
never underestimate the power of retardation.

>>11823039 (OP)
you will fucking die if you solder. you're breathing in high concentrations of lead smoke fumes everytime you do it.

>>11823039 (OP)
Like all things, practice. There's a million Youtube tutorials. There are soldering practice kits you can order where you built dopey li'l trinkets. Or just repair simple stuff you might otherwise trash, like replacing terminals on a bad battery leak.

>>11823225
Flux Inhaler' 2K1 Turbo Edition.

>>11823039 (OP)
Is TIG welding hard? Can even a shaky hands retard like me do it?

>>11823502
My cousin had lunch after soldering once without washing his hands and was bedridden with mild lead poisoning for a week, lel

Nah, soldering is very easy once you get the hang of it.

If you got alot of pins to solder in one go, it can be very zen like experience

>>11823039 (OP)
The SECRET to perfect solder joints is high quality SOLDER WIRE. The more shiny, fluid and melt-friendly it is, the better. Took me literally years to figure this out. Stay away from the cheap china stuff.

>>11823039 (OP)
It's easy with a good iron. Get a TS100, some leaded solder and wick and I personally use a D24 tip for almost everything. Shaky hands don't really matter much, you'll find surfaces and learn techniques to keep things balanced and succeed. Expect a few burns as you learn.

>>11823039 (OP)
Yes
Yes
Use quality lead solder, good flux, and a temperature-controlled iron with sufficient temps for retro electronics. Practice a lot on things of equivalent difficulty that can be easily replaced before working on retro. Use the flux. Be quick but not impatient. Watch tutorials. Wear eye protection and ideally a respirator. Get some solder wick too. Don't cheap out.
Non-lead solder is nice but retro wasn't built for it and you will mcfuck your games with the higher temps needed to melt it. Lead is toxic so don't sand it and make sure to wash your hands and vacuum your area, but the funny smoke is most likely not lead. You still shouldn't breathe it, make sure there is a lot of ventilation.

>>11823039 (OP)
It would be extremely painful.

>>11823039 (OP)
cheat

>>11823039 (OP)
the real question is why does it have an L in it

Get liquid flux and it becomes much easier.

>>11823039 (OP)
Drink a little whiskey before you start. Take the edge off.

>>11824571
I had liquid flux last night and nearly shit myself inside out.

get a t12 compatible soldering set with digital temperature adjustment, soldering flux, a roll of soldering wick

Tries

>>11823039 (OP)
Sure. It's easy. Here's a tutorial.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhhVIRXwnQE

>>11824256
That's not even cheating. Cheating would be using solder paste with an airgun and a solder wick. That shit is magic. Want to solder a 100 pins in like twenty seconds, you got it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxPWwHUJCqM&t=35s

No, don't listen to boomers

>>11823039 (OP)
Watch these. Then order some practice boards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIT4ra6Mo0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrhg5A1a1mU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GLeCt_u3U8

You need isopropyl alcohol, wire, flux, solder, some desoldering wick, brass wool for tip cleaning and last but not least an exhauster. This all can add up to a bit of an investment at first. Most modern tips aren't cheap as they contain the heating elemenet. So fucking one up through improper use hurts. Don't clean your tip with a wet sponge, use brass wool and always tin it before turning off the iron when you're done. Maybe buy a very cheap station to practicing first before upgrading to something nicer once you got the hang of things.

>>11823519
do you really touch that much lead when soldering? i once went to a restaurant after a long air gun shooting session and nothing happened to me

I had this discussion before and I feel these old posts are still very good advice:

https://desuarchive.org/vr/thread/11558653/#11561903
https://desuarchive.org/vr/thread/11558653/#11561919
https://desuarchive.org/vr/thread/11780875/#11785020

In short:
Do not cheap out on the iron and solder. You don't need to get some several-hundred dollar special but that $5 one from Walmart that is just a stick you plug into AC with no controls isn't going to cut it. Your equipment actually does make a big difference.

Pace's old soldering videos are still king for teaching basics

Have a ventilated area

Use flux

Practice first on either old electronics you don't care about or buy some of those cheap DIY soldering kits from Aliexpress (Many are in the $1-4 range, some under a dollar) to practice on since if it works as it should you know you were successful

There are different techniques depending on if you are doing through-hole or surface mount so pay attention to the differences in both when watching example videos

You generally heat the component and pad you are soldering and apply solder to said heated components, NOT directly to the iron unless you are drag-soldering the pins on SMD chips.

>>11823039 (OP)
It's really easy in 90% of situations. It only gets kinda difficult when the components get really tiny and you accidentally bridge traces or short something. It's good to have a magnifying glass and check that your work looks clean. You can always just remove the solder and try again though, most repairs and mods are simple enough.

>>11823039 (OP)
Don't wait around. Learn before getting too shaky to even begin and you will manage.

>>11823510
Probably not with that. It looks a LOT like a MIG to me.

>>11824559
Nah, that would be 'why can't americans enunciate it?'

>>11826796
I once saw a kid chewing the dog end of a roll of 50/50, I shit you not. Naturally I told him to GTFO of his mouth right away but he was at it for at least 5 mins before I realised it wasn't the usual chicle. If there was brain damage, it was impossible to tell afterwards. He was already pretty retarded to begin with though.

>>11826829
>50/50
what's that?

>>11827114
Solder that's half tin half lead. Do you even solder?

>>11823039 (OP)
Buy a practice board, they sell those. Don't try to learn on real devices.

I did most of my learning on real consoles. I fucked things up a little bit a few times, but I kept those things, and eventually I got skilled enough to fix anything I broke with relative ease.

>>11823039 (OP)
not if you've got a nice adjustable iron like that one. just turn down the heat, so you don't cook the traces and try on some cheap shit

Soldering caps and stuff is easy.

I hate soldering stranded wires/making connectors & cables though or trying to TIN them, shit is always aids and flimsy

do NOT buy pure tin solder by the way that shit is garbage. And wont mix well with console lead solder that is on the boards.

Buy TIN/LEAD rosin 60/40 mix solder.


Another note, I was using this solder station for years that heated stuff up but was unweildy.
I recently got a PINECIL soldering iron and I love it. it heats up in literally seconds and you can control the heat so easily. Its also cheap as fuck especially with sales

>>11827671
Stop prescribing materials and saying pinecil is good to use.
I give that trash away for free because it is only useful for leaded solder and the shitty half baked risc-v powering it will fry and deregulate temperature +\- upwards of two hundred degrees
You collective bunch of morons don’t have any experience
Stop getting these idiots to break all their shit or god forbid delude themselves into thinking they can sell this shit online

>want to solder stuff
>buy a cheap iron, solder and flux
>let the iron get hot
>slap some flux on the board points
>press solder on the board and press iron on the solder
>solder refuse to melt after several seconds
>but somehow hot enough for the heat to transfer up to where I'm holding it, becomes too hot so I back off
>wait and try again, pressing down on the solder a little harder
>solder immediately melts, but because I was pressing down the iron makes a mess of the solder point, have to clean it up

Am I doing something wrong here

You should fix whatever nutritional problem (or similar) is giving you shaky hands before it fucks your shit up

>>11829032
You can try 60/40 solder since that will melt at a lower temperature. Ideally a better iron, but maybe you want to do it cheap and will stick with that thing. Bigger tips transfer heat better, so make sure you're not using a needle dick tip for whatever you're doing. Just some ideas. If the solder is making a mess it might be because it has rosen flux in the core that leaves brown shit behind

>>11826814
Damn dude... just cuz you fucked up the thing gotta go and call you short. That's uncalled for.

>>11826814
>let cool
>don't blow!
What would even happen if you blow on fresh solder?...

>>11826829
Maybe it fixed his retardation. Like a reverse effect

>>11828229
Sorry I didnt respond sooner to you, forgot I posted.

Now, GO KILL YOURSELF RETARD.
Give me all your "free" pinecils you absolute knob.

>>11827204
i practiced on my 360, but i think i was cheating by using a microscope

>>11829032
>Am I doing something wrong here

Yes:
>>buy a cheap iron, solder and flux
Don't cheap out on those, multiple people have said this, especially on the iron. This is not some elitist or gatekeeping thing, it makes a big difference.

>>press solder on the board and press iron on the solder
Also wrong, you use the iron to heat up the components you want to solder and press the solder to the now heated components, not onto the iron. See >>11826814

If your iron isn't making good contact you can use a small dot of solder on it to aid in heat transfer, but you are not supposed to melt the solder onto the iron itself.

>>solder refuse to melt after several seconds
Your iron is either not hot enough or your tip has corroded. You need to clean the tip frequently during soldering with a damp sponge or soldering wool (Do NOT use normal steel wool) and when you are done you need to melt solder onto the tip before putting it away to keep it coated. This helps protect the tip from corroding. If it's a cheap iron like you said it's likely not worth fixing the tip if it has corroded.

>>but somehow hot enough for the heat to transfer up to where I'm holding it, becomes too hot so I back off
From where? The iron? That should NOT happen, toss that faulty shit away if it is. If you mean the component itself, how close are you holding it? Even then, if you have been holding the iron long enough that the heat travels up and burns you, you are holding it down way too long and risking damaging the component if you haven't already.

>>solder immediately melts, but because I was pressing down the iron makes a mess of the solder point, have to clean it up
I don't even have any idea what's happening here, but it definitely sounds like at least you iron is trash if not also the solder. Are you using lead-free solder? That stuff is terrible. Try 63/37 solder, it has a much smaller range where it melts compared to the more common 60/40.

Soldering pro here is very easy to solder just make sure you have some good fan ventilation and wear a covid mask, some disposable gloves, and safety glasses. Soldering can help improve dexterity skills and are many DIY soldering kits available online to help give you practice.

>>11829343
Think of it like blowing your boyfriend

>>11829068
>>11830124
Thank you to you both, I decided to watch the Pace videos on soldering and I feel more confident now, next time I need to solder I'll be sure to invest in a proper iron and some soldering wool, perhaps some of those little tweezer holders too

>>11823039 (OP)
I've soldered Nintendo DS boards before with a wood burner without ruining anything so there is a fairly large margin for error if you want to experiment.