need some soldering advice

[lynx]

If you need to get an accurate under-load reading then you've been told correctly, but I've never needed that information. It is also one way of checking the charge state of some types of battery (particularly NiCd) but you can use the alternative method below.

If you just want to test battery's voltage, just put the multimeter probes on the battery terminals.

If you want to check if the battery is charged, test as above, then put the battery under load for a few minutes, then test as above again. As long as you do this fairly quickly then a battery which is not charged won't recover in time and you will see a large difference between the two readings.

[Col. Skillz]

well back to soldering...ive got it!! Once again, cleanliness was the problem. i was also just trying to solder onto the PCB itself, probably a dumb thing to do, as the solder seems to stick only to metals. anyway, i cleaned up the areas with a little rubbing alcohol, and voila! It's still a bit tricky getting the right size glob to be the shape i want it, and sticking when i want it, but im sure ill get better at it.

whats really easy are the area that already have solder on them, just put the tip on there, melt it a bit, and add a little of my own for a really good joint. i couldn't even pry it off with a screwdriver. the wire part is also really easy. i was having trouble getting the solder to stick before, but after some rubbing alcohol, the solder stuck like a charm. then just lying the wire ontop the solder and melting them boh together was easy too. is it best to do it asap? will the longer the solder is "molten" the weaker the joint be? the only trouble i had with that was getting the wire centered and as far down on in as possible, without spending a bit more time than id like or messing up the shape of the glob a little. not sure if any of that matters.

So I'm going to practice a little more and get to it in the next few days, just to make sure ive got everything right...

1. make sure everything is clean, wipe it with an alcohol q-tip if needby, tin iron often
2. mount the chip using double sided tape (the thick foam kind or what?)
3. put the globs of solder on the chip and wii drive where they need to be
4. measure, strip, and tin the wires(the shorter the better? do i need 2 wires for grd and pwr, or a thicker one?)
5. connect the wires by melting them into the globs
6. test to make sure its all good

hopefully im all set, just need to master getting those globs under control. also im using a weller soldering iron wlc100, ive got it set between 3 and 4, so its around 20-25 watts id say. would it be bad to let the tip touch the connection points for too long? i usually leave it on there, tinned, for a few seconds, then apply the solder. i want to know if i should leave it there a little longer, or a little less. i dont want to burn or short out the board, but i want my joint as strong as possible.

[lynx]

Sounds like you've just about got it now.

I didn't realise you were trying to solder to the board itself, you are quite right that you can only solder to the metal parts.

I don't know if it's been made obvious, but essentially putting a blob of solder on the contact pad is the same as tinning your wire. Once everything is tinned then making the joint is much easier as you've discovered.

It doesn't really matter if you heat up the board a little before applying the solder, in fact it might even be necessary since you've effectively got a large heat sink there. Same thing when soldering wires to the board, the only drawback being that the hotter things get the more likely you are to damage the insulation and the longer it takes for the solder to solidify, during which time your wire might move and spoil your joint.

Things are different where components are concerned though. Heat tends to destroy electronic components so you need to pre-tin all the contact points then apply only the minimum amount of heat necessary to the component. In general, only solder a couple of legs at a time, then allow the component to cool down. You can start on another component if you've got more than one to attach. If you start with diagonally opposing legs first you can check that all the legs are touching the correct pads with no risk that the component is going to move around.

[Col. Skillz]

well for me tinning the wire has less, er, variables. its just like a coating. there doesnt really need to be shape or size. its no big deal though, i just need a little more time with it im sure.

you mentioned components are sensitive, will i be dealing with components or just the board and wires? im going to assume components are like microchips and batteries and stuff?

i still have a few questions, mostly to do with the wires.

1. do i need thicker or 2 wires for the ground and power connections?

2. would it be safe to tape or hot glue the wires the the board somewhere, for some added stability/neatness? or is it best to just cut them the right length and leave them be.

other than that everything sounds good. i wanna practice a bit more but should be working on this very soon

[Col. Skillz]

OK, I'm 1 day away from soldering this puppy. yesterday i did a little test to make sure Ive got down what i need. making the blob, tinning the wire, and joining the wire and blob.

It went pretty well, but im having trouble tinning the wire again. it's doing the same thing it does when a connection it dirty, but it impossible. I strip a fresh wire, use some rubbing alcohol on it, and it's not sticking. and it doesnt stick without the alcohol either. it makes no sense to me becuase it stuck fine the other day after using the alcohol.

So unless anyone knows why i cant tin my wires, im considering just avoiding it. not tinning the wires. is this a really bad thing to do, will my joint be weakened much by not tinning the wires, or will it be fine? i really dont know what i can do at this point to fix these wires, so yeah.

any advice on that or last minute tips would be appreciated =)

[Col. Skillz]

Well I fucked up

Everything was going smoothly till i got to the last 2 little pads on the wii drive..i couldn't get any solder to stick to the one on the left, and each time i kept trying to reapply i kept losing more and more solder until eventually there wasn't any left...just this hardened flux bullshit that leaks everywhere and then dries. so its now impossible to get that little pad back. It pisses me of SO much

wii still works fine though, so im looking into an alternative...im thinking of putting my wiikey on a clip, and just clipping it on. I don't know if it will work though, now that im completely missing that little pad. maybe its still connected somehow though, because the wii drive still works fine...idk. its either the clip or a flatmii, id much rather get the clip...

http://www.wii-clip.com/V14_WiiKey2.htm

http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/u...l/DSCN1716.jpg

as you can see it was going well, the pads were A LOT easier than i thought. the solder im using has flux flow out of it all over the place though so it looks brown an nasty around the solder, could i have my temps too low?

http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/u...l/DSCN1712.jpg
http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/u...l/DSCN1714.jpg

theres the area and solder point/s that gave me trouble..the picture where the damage has been done is really blurry. again it looks like i burn the entire area, but its just the flux that for some reason comes pouring out of this new solder im using... anyway, if you look at the ones i circled , its the third from the left, and thrid from the right. right in the middle of those 5...its just gone, and covered by a thick layer of that flux...i dont think theres anything i can do for it =(
[IMG]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Chris/Desktop/New%20Folder%20%283%29/DSCN1712.JPG[/IMG][IMG]file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Chris/Desktop/New%20Folder%20%283%29/DSCN1712.JPG[/IMG]

[accat13]

Very sorry to hear about your misfortune.I do not own a Wii but maybe if you can get some clearer pictures someone else maybe able to offer some advise on a possible fix.

[Col. Skillz]

yup, at least i didn't mess up my drive though. if i did it again id succeed, the points were just so small it was a shock, and i guess i tried so many times that i just sucked up all the solder on the point i needed.

anyway, ill get a flatmii and just use that. im out 25 bucks because i cant use the chip (the chips works im sure though) but i learned how to solder an open up the wii. I guess I'm just saying that to make myself feel better, heh

anyway, epic fail on my part, im trying to get this thread deleted, thanks for everyones help