ANSWERED Soldering feedback?

[Rich007]

Hi guys,

I've flashed a number of drives in the past, and played around with jailbreaking etc quite a few other items. However never had a need to solder.... until now!

http://imgur.com/a/CtDXX

Thoughts? Its a kind of a spare xbox which is why i've tried it myself without too much practice. I did practice and get used to solder etc on an old lite-on. By all means if you think i should bin it and never touch a soldering iron again then let me know! I'm now convinced i need to get a new soldering tip, as the current one is a flat head end which is perhaps 5mm across, whereas i feel one which comes to a point would do a better job?

Any way, assuming you cant see obvious issues, i try running Jtag tool, get to the bit where it reads the NAND and
"Trying to find device
Unable to continue"
I followed all the steps to install the nandpro drivers and stuff, so i dont think it can be anything but my soldering.

Finally, I've read a few places that some people find it easier using wires rather than QSB, I appreciate QSB are quick, and easier, however do novice solderers typically get on better with QSB or just wires?

I got the nand-x and stuff earlier this evening and i knew it would either be an uber joy filled night, or one of despair and sorrow (obviously been the latter!)

Thanks in advance

Jasper mobo, windows XP 32bit, 30w solder iron, all team xecuter equipment

 

[peterrepek]

Buy a tines tip and retry. On some point there are too much solder you don't need that quantities for make a contact.

If is this your first try then retry few times and you will see that you can do it.

 

[bandit123]

are you using flux at all
also clean and retin the tip after every application there are loads of tut on how to solder

in all fairness i have seen worse this isnt too bad compared to some
a bit more practice and u should be ok to go

 

[Rich007]

Thanks. my iron has a grub screw, are most of the tips similar specs, in that most things will fit?

Also without just knowing by sight, are there any diagnostic tools to work out which joints are wrong? I'd attempt to take it clean off, clean it up and try again, but if its only 1 or 2 connections wrong then i'd rather not start over.

Thanks

 

[bandit123]

what power is ur iron

 

[Rich007]

banditt, yeah I am, however both the flux and solder came with a kit for a 150w soldering iron. Probably a stupid question which i should have asked before starting, but are the solder & flux rated for the irons? and would i find it a lot easier with better quality solder/flux.

I hope to do around 5-7 xboxes provided i can get it nailed and feel comfortable doing it to what distracts my mates from their girlfriends!

 

[Martin C]

Flux and a good iron. Oh, and LOTS of practice. The QSB points are by far the easiest thing you'll ever have to solder. You should be able to do these with your eyes closed.

You want to practice the CPU_PLL_BYPASS and STBY_CLK as these are the two which catch all novice solderers out.

 

[Rich007]

what power is ur iron

It's a 30w

 

[bandit123]

k i use 15w maybe that explains the scorch marks on the QSB

my older iron had the flat tip which was annoying so i filed it down to a point and it worked perfectly

best advice is to keep the tip clean so no oxidisation

r u using flux???

 

[knowlzy10]

TBH m8 i think a little more practise till u attempt this on a working motherboard as bandit says about the iron needs to be a minimum of 30watt any less is for pro's really seems a fair few scorch marks on the qsb's

 

[peterrepek]

The diagnostic tool is called Ohm Meter but you have to know what measure.

Try one tinnest tip around 1mm will be OK.

Then remove only the two bed connection. Nobody says you have to do all the work from the begining. But somtimse is easier to start from the scratch then repair if you do not have the right equipment.

 

[marshamods]

I see some crappy joints and possible shorts. Get quality equipment, practice, and you should have no problems.

 

[bandit123]

i cant stress on how much the correct equipment helps its worth forking out a few quid for the better quality bits
as soon as i purchased my weller iron and used it the first time i knew straight away it was a good thing

 

[knowlzy10]

30w should be fine m8 i seen them cause more problems with a 15 w cause of applying to much pressure IMO once u no what your doing fair enough

 

[marshamods]

TBH m8 i think a little more practise till u attempt this on a working motherboard as bandit says about the iron needs to be a minimum of 30watt any less is for pro's really seems a fair few scorch marks on the qsb's

those arent scorch marks. That is from the rosin in the solder.

 

[bandit123]

here is a lil pic of some of my soldering stuff

---------- Post added at 23:13 ---------- Previous post was at 23:12 ----------

those arent scorch marks. That is from the rosin in the solder.

fair enough lol :facepalm:

 

[Rich007]

TBH m8 i think a little more practise till u attempt this on a working motherboard as bandit says about the iron needs to be a minimum of 30watt any less is for pro's really seems a fair few scorch marks on the qsb's

may sound daft, but i think the "scorch marks" is flux....? its stuff out of a pot which is like wax. I've just tried lightly scraping it off the QSB's and its coming off in the same sort of form as it is in the pot.

I'm sure if you say its scorch, then its scorch, but im just trying to help the picture telling the 1,000 words its not quite showing!

 

[bandit123]

may sound daft, but i think the "scorch marks" is flux....? its stuff out of a pot which is like wax. I've just tried lightly scraping it off the QSB's and its coming off in the same sort of form as it is in the pot.

I'm sure if you say its scorch, then its scorch, but im just trying to help the picture telling the 1,000 words its not quite showing!

ur correct mate lmao u can officially give me a :facepalm: i dish loads out to people and dont get many back so honour the moment lmao

 

[knowlzy10]

may sound daft, but i think the "scorch marks" is flux....? its stuff out of a pot which is like wax. I've just tried lightly scraping it off the QSB's and its coming off in the same sort of form as it is in the pot.

I'm sure if you say its scorch, then its scorch, but im just trying to help the picture telling the 1,000 words its not quite showing!

ok m8 never heard of flux ill leave it there:rolleyes2:

ill just remove that little fsd picture with my gt off my signiture cause cant be mine:facepalm:

 

[bandit123]

ok m8 never heard of flux ill leave it there:rolleyes2:

ill just remove that little fsd picture with my gt off my signiture cause cant be mine:facepalm:

lmao :rolleyes2: