Some Basics Of Soldering And Broken Trace Repair (off the cuff and unscripted)

[TheGermanGuy91]

Dude you saved my Street Fighter 2 cartridge with this video. I couldn't fix the trace , so I bridged it with a tiny wire.

[RenegadeFury]

couldn't you tape it and then solder

[googleboughtmee]

What are the causes of a trace being broken in the first place?

[googleboughtmee]

Isn't there already flux in some solder that you buy?

[CrysisLTU2]

@googleboughtmee It burns off quickly. It's perfect for through-the-hole soldering, but for stuff like SMD and trace soldering - the flux inside the solder is pretty much useless.

[googleboughtmee]

@CrysisLTU2 thx for info :)

[doginmylense]

From now on I will tin my wires and buy some flux that will make thing much easier great tips.

[Suiton1]

I find this very easy to masturbate to.

[BalloonFight]

Like x1000. Please keep up the tutorial videos. :)

[phalxor]

you da man, If i ever start soldering I'll refer to this

[andersevenrud]

Thnx Luke! I've just expanded my soldering knowledge :D

[GustoTheGamer]

Solder Sucker LOL

[L6RD7BLU3]

WOW man I just learned some awesome stuff in this vid nice stuff!

[jpstyles85]

thanks for posting vid, very informative, very clever stuff.

[superrobotfan1099]

solder flux is toxic !

this should be done in a good ventilated area

[liquidus2172]

hey luke what cam you use to film your videos?

[ArcadeMameMachine]

With regards to attaching the little piece's of wire to a circuit board, I normal leave it on the main piece of wire and cut after its been soldiered, it makes it easier to handle, great and informative video.

[shaurz]

There's a Konami logo on one of the chips, how odd.

[shaurz]

@shaurz Oh wait, this is an arcade board... I thought it was an AES, heh.

[ultimateshadowx9]

It looks like one trace, unless you have HD playing 8D

[shevanero]

off the cuff and unscripted,still badass!

[MaxinMaytrix]

Dude that iron is so dirty XD You should get a damp sponge and wipe the tip on it melt some solder on the tip and repeat that is technically the "Right" way to clean and keep ii clean with out having to take a file to it. Also after you get it clean make sure to keep some solder on the tip that will help it stay clean.

[Bojack222]

great video! :)

[Sunshinefornobody]

Thank you for the tutorial :)

[RetroGamerVX]

Good stuff, my favourite sort of video! :o) Is there not also a pen you can get to re-draw the traces?

[james42519]

why not just bypass the trace and use a wire like most people do? less chance of messing stuff up and easier. 

[wbovela]

Really cool this. Specially talking about flux is helpful.

I've seen tips about reflowing chips or even entire pcb's using a heat gun. Some pcb's (ie the xbox 360 with the rrod) that fail can be fixed by reflowing the whole thing without actually going over each and every chip and trace. What are your thoughts on that? Is there a good approach to reflowing a board in general?

[GamerBoyGU82]

the soldering tips last a little longer for me when I put them away tinned (a little solder on it)

[aeneasfate]

I tend to use metal kitchen scouring pads instead of soldering sponges for cleaning. There are different types though. I use ones that are flat ribbons woven like a chain-link fence. I'm not sure how well it would hold up for somebody who uses as much flux as you do though, I still use a soldering iron that's almost thirty years old.

Also, do you use anything to replace the resin coating over your PCB repairs, or do you find it not worth worrying about corrosion around the area?

[lukemorse1]

@aeneasfate That seems like it would work out ok, how long does each scouring pad last?

After I repair the area and clean it I put hot glue over it. I had my hot glue gun out and was going to mention that but forgot. I try not to use much flux but even on the trace I was trying to repair in the video it was WAY too much.

I make sure to coat the area after the repair because even though it may not corrode as bad as bare copper the solder will eventually oxidize and loose contact, so I sure do

[aeneasfate]

@lukemorse1 I'm still using one from a couple of years ago. But then again most of my repairs and projects don't need flux, so the most I need to do is shake out any loose bits of solder once in awhile.

[Emperix]

Thank you so much, Luke. I was wondering how to get the solder to cover the wire. Didn't realise that flux was needed.

[WickedClownNZ]

this is awesome luke. and its bound to help out tons of people that havnt learnt to solder :) great vid here bro

[MetalTiger88]

lol "the solder sucker" =D

anyway, great tutorialvideo man =)

i did one of my dreamcast padhacks for my naomi cabinet yesterday and now player 2 finally works fine^^ when i did my first padhack, i scratched away that black plastic kinda thing on the D-pad and soldered some wires on to the copper points underneath. but i guess my soldering pen got to hot and it burned out the traces xD i didn´t use any kind of flux also, so it was a pain in the ass to stick the solder to the contactpoints^^

[superman1234393]

That was pretty interesting stuff there.

[TheBladeJunker]

Great video, thanks I learned a lot. :D

[Locut0s]

Another fantastic vid luke. Thanks!!

[delatroy]

Exposure to bad weather conditions like being in storage lol

[lukemorse1]

@delatroy yeah man, if you knew how the storage was here you would die. Just large shipping containers stacked on top of eachother, nothing to protect stuff from extreme heat or cold. Just hope the stuff I have in storage now makes it through the winter here or Ill be making repair videos on my own once fully working stuff again :/

[FumiyaSugawara]

Nice man very detail, hey i can send u a couple of tips for ur solder pen man let me know.

[lukemorse1]

@FumiyaSugawara hey bro, thanks a lot. I really appreciate the offer. The postage to send the tips however is probably the price of a new soldering pen lol.

[28steryan]

Live Luke TV, time to sit back, lube up and watch somma this.

Great tutorial man.

[lukemorse1]

@28steryan put some plastic on the floor you sexy game randy nutter ;). Thanks stevie

[28steryan]

@lukemorse1 I like to jerk off with hot solder, it excites me.

[alecjahn]

@28steryan One day I'll make it to Blackpool and we can get slippery together.

[28steryan]

@alecjahn We could shit on the floor in a pub.

[alecjahn]

@28steryan I would never do that in public, however your bedroom floor is a different story.

[alecjahn]

And if you can't repair the trace... you can always painstakingly follow the trace to its start and end and run a wire across the board. I've definitely done that before... it takes a lot of patience and a good eye.

[whiteoreoxx]

This video was great! Can you show us how to solder ic chips to a circuit board?

[lukemorse1]

@whiteoreoxx awe man, basically the same thing but just a different part on the board. thanks man

[LoricElf]

FLING THE SOLDER!!!

[lukemorse1]

@LoricElf Weeeeeeee! flying solder

[duzhang]

Very nice Luke, now to complete this, can you put up a video on how to desolder, especially caps (the micro ones).

[56kflyingtoaster]

great video always good to get some helpful tips from someone else

[X3CuT1oNR]

This is why Luke is the man! Ive got to learn how to solder myself soon.

[ngu0061]

@X3CuT1oNR you're a cyborg? joking xP

[MysticArksRevenge]

@X3CuT1oNR Yeah, I should too, then I could remove certain chips or repair certain electronics.