Soldering kit for C64?

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yaztromo
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Soldering kit for C64?

Post by yaztromo »

I'm still a total beginner when it comes to the soldering iron.

So, I've been saving up money to at least buy right the kit.

Can anyone recommend what I need to work on C64 boards, and where I should look for some good guides? Starting from complete scratch here; No iron, no solder, no anythng :?


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motrucker
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by motrucker »

yaztromo wrote:I'm still a total beginner when it comes to the soldering iron.

So, I've been saving up money to at least buy right the kit.

Can anyone recommend what I need to work on C64 boards, and where I should look for some good guides? Starting from complete scratch here; No iron, no solder, no anythng :?
This will all depend on how much you want to spend. You could spend hundreds of Dollars (or Pounds, or ??) Here is one page to start with:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... ring-Iron/ And this page of what I think are very good stations for the money:
http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/welle ... /index.htm
Eslapion and others may go for more expensive units, but see if they offer their opinions. In the mean time, check these out.
Here is an after thought, from an electronics seller I deal with quite often:
http://www.jameco.com/1/3/soldering-station
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yaztromo
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by yaztromo »

Thanks motrucker.

What kind of wattage should I get?

Are there different kins of tips?

What kind of solder?

What is flux/braid and do I need it?

Sorry for the questions. Starting from scratch here ;)
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by icbrkr »

I'm using:



Which is a pretty reasonable price for a basic setup.

My desoldering iron is a cheapy from Radio Shack. Buy extra tips because it wears out pretty quickly, but it works well.

The solder I'm using is whatever I have lying in a drawer that someone gave to me...

I've done quite a bit of work on my Commodores with this without a problem. But before I did that, if I had no experience at all, I'd spend some time learning to solder/desolder on some old circuit board that you don't care about.
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motrucker
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by motrucker »

yaztromo wrote:Thanks motrucker.

What kind of wattage should I get?

Are there different kins of tips?

What kind of solder?

What is flux/braid and do I need it?

Sorry for the questions. Starting from scratch here ;)
A 25 watt will do, but I would go for something like this 40 watt adjustable unit:
http://www.jameco.com/1/3/soldering-station
Regular Resin core solder - NOT acid core
To de-solder you can use a solder sucker or braid
And finally, usually you want a thin pencil tip - Get the tip hot, and put solder on it - keep them tinned and clean and they will last a long time
Glad to help - If you have other questions, just ask - some one will come up with an answer.
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Zippy Zapp
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by Zippy Zapp »

Yep I would definitely recommend a variable temperature iron or if you can afford it a soldering station. You will spend a bit more but you will have an easier time. One thing I learned is that the fixed soldering irons that you can buy at radio shack or fry's for cheap just plain suck. They take forever to heat up and if you have to heat something up like a RAM chip leg that is on a ground plane it will not be powerful enough to safely do it as you will have to leave the iron on one spot for far too long and could end up damaging something.

With a temperature adjusted iron, you could bump the temp up when soldering/desoldering on the ground plane and heat it up quicker and more effectively.

Hakko FX-888 is a great station.
http://amzn.com/B00ANZRT4M


Even though this is an old series, it is very helpful and teaches the basics:



This is a great series of video lessons.
Commodore - Changing the world 8 bits at a time.
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motrucker
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by motrucker »

Zippy Zapp wrote:Yep I would definitely recommend a variable temperature iron or if you can afford it a soldering station. You will spend a bit more but you will have an easier time. One thing I learned is that the fixed soldering irons that you can buy at radio shack or fry's for cheap just plain suck. They take forever to heat up and if you have to heat something up like a RAM chip leg that is on a ground plane it will not be powerful enough to safely do it as you will have to leave the iron on one spot for far too long and could end up damaging something.

With a temperature adjusted iron, you could bump the temp up when soldering/desoldering on the ground plane and heat it up quicker and more effectively.

Hakko FX-888 is a great station.
http://amzn.com/B00ANZRT4M
Even though this is an old series, it is very helpful and teaches the basics:

This is a great series of video lessons.
Using a variable soldering station is the only way to go. I use a Weller, that I paid $15.00 at a flea market. The Hakko FX-888D is OK too, I just HATE the blue & yellow color. I know it comes in other colors, but this clown color is all you can find on the net.
http://soldering-irons.com/soldering_ir ... _iron.html
Just make sure you have a power spread from 15 to maybe 40 watts, and you can tackle just about any soldering job on a computer.
There are many tutorials for soldering in youtube
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by yaztromo »

Thanks for all the advice. Now just waiting till the 6th (payday) and I will place some orders. Will update the thread with what I end up with :)
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by SkydivinGirl »

I asked this same question on AmiBay and received from really great advice. I've become very good with soldering since then and have moved on to small surface mount soldering as well. :)

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?39 ... ering-Help

Good luck! I'm always happy to help if you need some advice.

Heather
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Re: Soldering kit for C64?

Post by motrucker »

SkydivinGirl wrote:I asked this same question on AmiBay and received from really great advice. I've become very good with soldering since then and have moved on to small surface mount soldering as well. :)

http://www.amibay.com/showthread.php?39 ... ering-Help

Good luck! I'm always happy to help if you need some advice.

Heather
Am I right that you also use a weller station? I still use the second hand weller station I bought at a flea market. I have yet to get a setup for surface mount stuff though. It's a shame that people think they have spend large amounts of $$$$ for simple soldering.
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