Board 8 > Wow, micro soldering kind of sucks!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Decided to try and replace the hdmi port on an xbox that broke. Spent like $200 on a microscope and heat station, and wow, I suck.

Any solder-enjoyers in the house? Any tips besides "use more heat"?

Figure out which of your friends really likes soldering (there's always one) and make them do it

I'm uncoordinated so I just pay a guy who runs a computer repair shop to fix all my shit lol. Props to you for trying yourself tho

Use chisel tip instead of a heat gun if you can. If you still can't reach certain spots then file down a tip until it's small enough. Heat gun should really only be used on surface mounted chips.

NFUN posted...

Figure out which of your friends really likes soldering (there's always one) and make them do it

Im the handy guy of my friend group, lol. I guess I need to get good.

TomNook7 posted...

I'm uncoordinated so I just pay a guy who runs a computer repair shop to fix all my shit lol. Props to you for trying yourself tho

Im usually instantly excellent at repairing things, so I underestimated how hard it is to make solder go where you want, lol.

GranzonEx posted...

Use chisel tip instead of a heat gun if you can. If you still can't reach certain spots then file down a tip until it's small enough. Heat gun should really only be used on surface mounted chips.

Any specific recommendation on tips? Like brand/material? I bought a j hook styled tip to copy what tech repair YouTubers seem to use, but the tip doesnt hold heat nearly as good as like, yeah the chisel tip.

Weller and Hakko are the brands I trust the most and you can usually get an entire set of tips together for a reasonable price. If you find yourself struggling to heat the joints, try using leaded solder and copious amounts of flux. I also prefer using desoldering braid over the sucker.

If you're soldering an HDMI port chances are you have to secure it upside down. Don't be afraid to use electrical tape to hold the new port down onto the board.

Hakko is the brand that I see most of the professionals using, but why does it look like that? Weird design choice.

I once bought a Raspberry Pi Zero and soldered the pins onto it. Bought an gun and all.
It was fun, but that was the only thing I've ever soldered.

Try macro soldering!