(Part 2) Top products from r/consolerepair

Is it necessary to clean up flux? Almost never. Is it a good idea to do it anyway? I'd say so. Here's a good article about all things solder and flux to bring you up to speed.

Flux is SUPER carcinogenic, or so I've been lead to believe, and it also causes serious gastrointestinal issues if ingested, in even relatively small amounts. I generally try to leave all the circuit boards I work on clean of big globs of flux, but I'm no perfectionist. Flux is non-conductive, so don't worry if you leave a bunch behind or it looks like the flux might be bridging a connection. I oftentimes leave smaller flux contamination spots on the board, unless it's in a spot where I'd be likely to touch next time I'm handling the board.

Here's a pretty good soldering iron, the Hakko FX-888. It's more than enough iron to last you through all your projects in the foreseeable future, and it comes with extra tips and a tip cleaning canister. To be honest, though, it's pretty expensive, and I totally understand if it's out of your price range. Personally, I use a Chinese clone, which works extremely well, for what I paid for it.

I'd also recommend anyone working on anything with a soldering iron to get a set of helping hands. Finding one which isn't broken or of shit quality is a real crapshoot, but, once you have one that works, you'll wonder how you ever got by without one. Personally, I recommend spending the cash to get one with some sort of LED built in, but here's a link to a cheap and functional set of helping hands.

If you're going to be desoldering things often (or trying to make beautiful solder joints), you definitely want to get yourself some desoldering braid, which is just stranded copper wire filled with flux paste. When you put heat to the top of the braid and put the bottom of the braid on the component, the braid will wick excess solder from the component. Once you master using this stuff, it's a real boon for disassembly (or cleanup of solder blobs). You might also want to look into a desoldering pump, which is okay for some things, but not nearly as versatile as desoldering braid.

Last, but certainly not least, is having the right solder for the job. Personally, I use silver bearing solder, because I've been told it is more resistant to cold joints, and slightly more conductive. Here's a link to a spool of silver bearing solder, which I'd buy, were I in the market for a new spool.

One more link for you... When I was looking for a link to that Chinese clone soldering station, I stumbled on this DIY SMD soldering practice kit. Might be worth your time to invest in one and try your luck. For $2, it's a great way to go from soldering zero to soldering hero in a day or two. Also, check this page for more DIY kit ideas.

Let me know if you have any more questions! My inbox is always available, if you'd feel more comfortable PM'ing me questions, too. (That goes for anyone who needs a hand, not just /u/websurferathome)

I don't know about making repro crats, but I do know about mods and repairs. I have done an overclock mod and 2 s-video mods on my genesis consoles, as well as lots of repairs on other consoles.

I have the basic tools like screw drivers, needle-nose pliers, and some tiny cutters just like these.

My soldering iron is a cheap 35 watt fixed temperature hunk of crap. Get a better one. I don't have any recommendations, but this one is linked to from this subreddit's sidebar. It has good reviews, but I haven't tried it myself.

I also have a spool of thin rosin core solder that is about 1mm thick. I also have a spool of de-solder wick which comes in handy.

To hold down and/or secure wires I use some rubbery electrical tape or hot glue. I use the electrical tape whenever I can, since it is easier to remove than the hot glue. The hot glue is useful in small amounts to keep wires from getting accidentally pulled out of place.

A multimeter is very useful. You probably won't need a really fancy one, just a basic $10 one.

I bought one of those parallel cables that all the old printer's used for only $1.99 at a thrift store. It's packed with different colored wires, that are just the right thickness to use for most console repairs/mods.

Although not the cheapest, ebay is probably the easiest way to find faulty systems.

Some equipment recommendations:

• A TS100 soldering iron. I use a more expensive Hakko FX888-D, but I've heard great things about this one for the price. Try to get a chisel tip for general purpose use, it has a balanced combination of size and heat transfer.
  
• iFixit 64-bit toolkit, for handling all the various screws you'll encounter.
  
• Soldapullt desoldering pump. Don't bother with the Chinese knock-offs, they seem to break easily.
  
• Fine 63/37 solder. One roll will last you a long time. Don't bother with cheap Chinese solder, it will not have the advertised metal composition and give poor results.
  
• I like this flux, but it's kind of pricey.
  
• Desoldering braid is essential.
  
• Neoteck multimeter. Very good for the price.
  
• If you need to remove SMD components, a 858D hot air station available under various Chinese brands you've never heard of. Kind of sketchy, but works and has not burned down my home yet.

Thank you! I'll give this one a shot

Edit: blech! 17 bucks!? lords of Amazons bring me luck

Edit2: Yay! $8 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LKNEBG/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=

Wouldn't help too much. I'd just recommend going through the above steps.

Also, rubbing alcohol and a nice fiberglass pencil can help as well in some cases.

Something like:
https://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Brush-Fiberglass-Colors-vary/dp/B0019V18D2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484439545&sr=8-1&keywords=fiberglass+pencil

As someone who has gotten into doing this over the last three years or so, my best recommendation is to start with a decent temperature-controlled soldering station.

I started with a $10 kit that included a cheap pencil iron, stand, small amount of solder, desoldering pump and desoldering wick. I thought it would be a good place to start but it was horrible and taught me more bad habits than anything else. Most of the time, it couldn't get hot enough to melt the solder either.

I'm not saying you have to spend a lot of money, I'm just saying if you go as cheap as possible, you'll just end up wasting that money when you inevitably find that you need a real soldering station. I got the Aoyue 936 (don't ask me how to pronounce that brand name, way too many vowels) and absolutely love it. I got it for $40 when Fry's had a sale on it but it's worth the $50 Amazon is asking. Pick up one of those brass wire sponges to go with it, they're much better at cleaning your iron than the traditional damp sponge and keep the iron hot at the same time.

Good luck!

I was hoping it didn't have to come to this.
Do you think this tool would be enough for one time usage?
https://www.amazon.com/Hobbico-Soldering-Iron-60-Watt/dp/B0006NGZK0/ref=sr_1_7?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1475078341&sr=1-7&keywords=soldering
I'm not sure what else I can use a solder for.

Thanks.

I recommend either replacing the buttons with a soldering iron or spraying some Deoxit into them and pressing on them a bunch of times.

I've fixed countless GBA SP and DS Lite shoulder buttons with the help of Deoxit.

I found something like https://www.amazon.ca/Retro-Bit-Power-Adapter-Black-Nintendo-Consoles/dp/B001S2VT6I/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Retro+Bit+Universal+3+in+1&qid=1570125648&s=gateway&sr=8-1


Anyone have experience with these?

Also, something like this might work - Bayka 60W Soldering Iron

A little cheaper than the Hakko

Depends on the plastic. If you are referencing automotive lubes then yea dont use lithium grease for auto plastics. But for the plastics in analog sticks, it should be fine.
Personally I use this for my game stuff.

You can get an digital to analog audio converter and use the optical out on the Xbox for audio. Don't forget a cable if you don't have one already.

You could drill it out if you're careful. There may still be some edges on the head even if it appears to be round, you could try placing a rubber band between the screw head and your bit, that can sometimes give you just enough traction to work the screw loose. You could also buy something like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Boa-Grabit-Damaged-Screw-Remover/dp/B00096JDL2 They are great additions to your toolkit, but they won't work with GameBit screws.

Here we gooooo!!!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I45Y8Q/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_3?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000P0TZ5G&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1GK1PEGVBH90WXJPVFS0

I used this and put it in the sun for about 4 hours wrapped in plastic wrap. L'Oreal Oreor Creme 40 Volume... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000A3ZN7W?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

You can try screw extractors, depending on the size of the screw. http://www.amazon.com/Alden-8440P-Grabit-Damaged-Extractor/dp/B001A4CWHO/ref=sr_1_1/187-8195755-9660224?ie=UTF8&qid=1406149736&sr=8-1&keywords=screw+extractor

Wash it in your bathtub.

Seriously though, sounds like your blue ray lens is dirty. Use this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00178HN0O

You can also buy replacement batteries for a reasonably low price. http://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Replacement-Battery-Pack-Nintendo-DS/dp/B0023UWKJ4

Have you tried using one of these thing?
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Boy-Cleaning-Kit/dp/B00003GPUC

They are for cleaning the gameboy's contacts and the one I had a long time ago could also clean the carts - one side was for gameboy, the other for carts.

It's gotta be just dirty contacts... It's impossible for the game genie to have broken the game cartridge, I think...

Grab one of these. Copy it all back and you can copy to another mem card. There was a company in the UK that made one too (thought it was Codemasters but I cant find it anymore) that was a cheat system/memory manager that worked the same, but this will do the trick.

*Found it, it was CodeJunkies, only thing is they ship from the UK