Post by: TonyF11 on February 21, 2007, 10:15:00 AM
Post by: xxMiGzxx on February 21, 2007, 04:24:00 PM
also the solder im using is kinda thick and tended to stick to the iron alot which made it sorta hard to do does that always happen or would thinner solder work better?
Post by: xxMiGzxx on February 21, 2007, 10:03:00 PM
Post by: Sandren on February 22, 2007, 01:51:00 AM
Post by: Sandren on February 22, 2007, 05:45:00 AM
Can you still boot to the ms dashboard?
Post by: FallsInc on February 22, 2007, 05:56:00 AM
what does the solder say on the side of the reel?
Post by: Sandren on February 22, 2007, 06:06:00 AM
thx FallsIncAlthough 80w still seemes to hot for me.
Post by: TonyF11 on February 22, 2007, 08:34:00 AM
QUOTE(xxMiGzxx @ Feb 22 2007, 11:29 AM) 
240v 80w 50hz, the motherboard got a little burnt in the process as well i think i might just need a new box...
80W WAY TO BIG!! . A 15W is the best. 30W is the biggest you may get away with without damage. I would not like to see the damage a the 80W iron as made to xbox motherboard and its surface mount components.
Please people read to find out what you need before starting a modchip install. There`s loads of info within these forums so that the above never needs to happen. 80 WATT!!
Post by: Sandren on February 22, 2007, 11:03:00 AM
If xxmigzxx can take pics of the mb then we'll see if he has hurt the motherboard or not.
Post by: Chancer on February 22, 2007, 02:45:00 PM
QUOTE
30W is the biggest you may get away with without damage.
QUOTE
it is not recommended to affect the the xbox mb with anything higher than 30W
Old wives tale or urban legend if you prefer.
A 15 watt is not the best either. If you get a cheap 15watt some of them don't have enough power to burn the carpet let alone melt solder correctly
Note the wattage.
Higher wattage = solder melts quicker flows correctly. work time is reduced to seconds.
Lower wattage = holding soldering iron on longer to try get correct solder flow. Risk of board damage because of the time taken on the work piece. Risk of ripping a trace as the solder does not stay molten long enough when withdrawing the soldering iron
Post by: Allegro1 on February 22, 2007, 02:58:00 PM
My first "real" soldering station was a Weller WTCPN. I still have it and it still works fine.
It listed for $100, but I got it through an educational discount at school for about $75 in 1981. They are still fetching about $40-$50 on ebay.
nuf sed
Post by: TonyF11 on February 23, 2007, 12:06:00 AM
Practice makes Perfect and all that.
Post by: Sandren on February 23, 2007, 12:11:00 AM
QUOTE(Chancer @ Feb 22 2007, 10:52 PM)
Higher wattage = solder melts quicker flows correctly. work time is reduced to seconds.
I suppose you're right , but if you do a misstake(or if you have very shaking hands) the consequenses are usually worse than if you used <30W, right?
I used 30W when I soldered my chip (I've only modded one xbox
) and the solder melted very quickly.And if what I have read is correct then 80W is too high for the mb.
But of course you can succesfully solder the chip with a high wattage soldering iron. Correct me if i'm wrong, I want to learn.
Post by: Chancer on February 24, 2007, 12:07:00 PM
QUOTE
I suppose you're right , but if you do a misstake(or if you have very shaking hands) the consequenses are usually worse than if you used <30W, right?
Not really. Why should they be? If you slip or have shaky hands the power of the soldering is of little consequence as you could damage components with either. People usually go out buy a cheap soldering with a very low power. They then find they do damage because they are having to hold the iron on the joint for such a long time.
80 watts is very high but again it all depends on the tip size as well. i could chip an Xbox with a 100 watt weller gun but I am used to soldering. It does not mean to say i would advise using that high a wattage.
QUOTE
ANTEC C15 2430V 15WATT (4 years old).
4 years? Don't you use it very often? I had an Antec XS 30 and it lasted one day the handle part where the element goes in melted
... mind you the stations and irons are switched on at 7.30 am and not turned off until evening. I go through an element for the Weller every 3 months. Same with one of the Pace rework irons. The tips last about 2 weeks on average. They do get some hammer of course.While on the subject I have 3 of these
so cheap at £20 . I thought they would be crap but they are a bargain. Spare iron is £3 yes £3
I use them for all sorts of jobs and have even installed the 164 pin Flat Pack Micros in the Sony FE2 chassis TV sets with one of these.
Post by: TonyF11 on February 24, 2007, 02:07:00 PM
Post by: Sandren on February 28, 2007, 11:29:00 PM
Howz it going with the topic starter? solved your problem?
Post by: Chancer on March 01, 2007, 01:09:00 AM
The Stations and irons i have are not simply for modding Xbox consoles . These are use everyday for hours at a time repairing all sorts of Domestic electronic equipment.
The fact I use elements and tips at an alarming rate is nothing to do with looking after them. They are used in exactly the correct environment but it is simply the high usage that sees them off.
I would guess you don't need to go to the extremes of expense equipment wise to mod several Xbox consoles a week, it simply is not worth the outlay for what is a very basic and easy soldering operation. That was the reason for highlighting the cheap Temp controlled station. That station is probably less than the cost of the crap irons that places like Maplins and the like sell.
As a general rule if you are not too confident with a soldering iron then the better quality iron will be easy to use. If you are confident and adept at soldering then it is usually possible to make a crap tool work for you. Plenty of practice makes it easy. Soldering is not the magic art some would like to think it is.
Post by: Sandren on March 01, 2007, 12:13:00 PM
. My guess is that your job is to repair/trim electronics. sounds pretty fun, but don't you get tired of removing (for e.g) the xbox shell, take out everything, solder a (for e.g) a modchip and then put everything back again? I read in one post that you have installed over 500 chips (those were only the duox2s) in xboxes. Which means that you have to do the procedure 500+ times.I struggled for 5 minutes to just remove the power connection to the xbox mb.
Post by: Chancer on March 01, 2007, 01:30:00 PM
It's all I know how to do and all I trained for so i will have to stick with it.
Post by: Sandren on March 05, 2007, 12:05:00 PM
So it's moste hardware modifications/repaires?It sounds like something I would like to do in the future as I like electronics and stuff.