So I went out to radioshack last saturday and bought some soldering supplies.Here are all the stuff i got.
15W Solder Iron (Radioshack Brand)
15W Solder Iron Extra Grounded Tip (Radioshack Brand)
0.32 Rosin Core Lead-Free
Desoldering Vacuum Pump(Works Great)
This all ended up being $27.27.
These supplies are great for xbox 360 soldering.Ive done the research.
I got home later that day and found a spare PCB board in the attic.So I started practicing.I practiced soldering wires on to the mainboard and desoldering.The desoldering part was kinda hard cause you have to position the desolder vacuum so it sucks up all the molten solder.I was gonna get a desoldering bulb but then i saw the vacuum and went with that.But Im getting better.I dont have a shaky hand at all unless my reflexes are really slow in the night.I tried to desoler surface mounted component chips but it didnt work out fine.I guess ill be doing more soldering then.I got these soldering supplies so i could solder cold cathodes onto my xbox 360s 12V power source.Shouldnt be much of a pain in the A$$.All though just to be safe im putting more effort into soldering wires better on practice baords.I can depend on my iron.If you ever go out to buy soldering supplies for the 360,consider getting these.Anyone else with their own opinions feel free to post them as replies or something.
Went to Wal-Mart the other day for some solder and wow wal-mart is run by idiots. ALl they had was 1 spool of 1/8in dia. solder. Who's going to use 1/8 solder? And for $5 too!
I agree with NDarkness solder braid works like a charm,but for instance if you got a point that has solder in it a desolder pump works good.I remember when the regular XBox v1.1 had solder in the d0 points,a desolder pump worked like a charm for me.I think when removing solder they both have advantages,just that particular situation a desolder pump came in handy.I think different wire gauge has impact as well.For instance 32 Gauge wire is good for chips,but for your 5v and ground I would probably recommend a thicker gauge wire such as 22 or 24 gauge.I think Wal-Mart sucks also BurningAs probably not much different everywhere else as the Wal-Mart in my area is ran by a bunch of idiots also.
Im gonna go to radioshack sometime and get me the soldering braid.I know how it works and stuff and trust me,it looks like a h311 of a lot of difference cause the vacuum pump is just sometimes hard to deal with cause i have the iron in my right hand which has precision and stuff and the pump in my other left hand.So when i heat up the metal or solder ready for desoldering,its sometimes hard to keep the pump from pushing back when u press the sucking button and the pump moves back.I have to hold it extremely hard and steady for it to be in the position for sucking up and working propery.And what i think is that if I had gotten the braid,it wouldve been easier now that you mention it.But I have practiced yesterday on soldering wires onto certain points on a pcb board similar to the xbox 360s power source and desoldering (which went pleasant when im dealing with my own solder i have applied.).Im making progress at least.Thats the good thing.I only had two mistakes when i soldered the wires and they were,two of the wire heads hadnt been soldered all the way.All in all im getting better.Im getting ready for the big moment when i install all my mods,like cathode lights and whispermax fans.Its an easy accomplishment but I just have to be safe and get it right the first time.I dont wanna let away 470 dollars of gaming.And also,is a soldering braid good for surface mounted desoldering.Not that im gonna do any of that,just asking. And to BurningAs>I think you should goto radioshack like me man.They had everything there and way better than that gay walmart.Walmart is self-sufficient but there not experts at most of the stuff they sell.Especially when dealing with do it yourself electronics or some other computer supplies.I guess you had bad luck.By the way im gonna have to also get a bigger supply of rosin core.I got the 8 oz which is small.And i only got it cause it was lead-free.lol.Im gonna buy the bigger roll.Anyways,happy soldering and good luck to what ever u do!^_^
