Having ruined my PS1's motherboard, I'm using it as a practice board for a while before I tackle my PS2, which looks like it's quite a bit beyond my capability for now. The most intimidating thing about the mod (I'm planning on using Duo Ultra 3 ) for a version 8 SCPH-39001 PS2 is the IC legs that I need to connect to.
On my PS1 motherboard, I've practiced quite a bit, and I have found I can solder onto a leg if its lifted quite easily, but when I try to put it back down with a bit of new solder, I'm finding that the solder spreads to the neighboring legs, causing a nasty bridge. Even when I heat up the leg to lift it, it seems like the solder which originally was holding the leg immediately begins to spread. This is concerning me as I'm not sure how I will be able to handle this problem once I am working on my precious PS2. Any advice?
You need a 15 watt needlepoint soldering iron.. and a very steady hand.
Desoldering braid helps if you get spread between pins, but it shouldn't happen if you tin the wire ends first and get some solder.. you need a damp piece of sponge or rag too.. .
It's not an easy job but I have done a few and it is possible. Get some more scrap old soundcards and things.. you don't need to lift the pins to solder the wires underneath.. I don't know where you got that idea from. You stick them to the top of the pins..
Quote:You need a 15 watt needlepoint soldering iron.. and a very steady hand.
Check on the iron, and hopefully the hand gets steady with practice. I'm going to continue to practice until I'm confident.
Quote:Get some more scrap old soundcards and things..
As I mentioned, I'm using the PS1 motherboard as a practice board (I've already nuked a resistor on it when I got too close with a 25W iron and have since started using a 15W iron. Nonetheless it's now a practice board.) which has lots of similar soldering points to practice with.
Quote:you don't need to lift the pins to solder the wires underneath.. I don't know where you got that idea from.
I tried lifting it up to bring it safely far away from the other legs.
Every ps2 I have chipped hasn't needed any pins lifting at all. If you need to lift a pin.. for diagnostics or whatever.. then you apply heat to just that one pin while using a strong needle to lever it up and away from the board. Once it lifts you run some desoldering braid between the leg and the board and apply the iron again to get rid of any excess solder.
To remove the whole chip it's easier to use a large plate bladed iron of about 30 watts to heat all the pins on each side at the same time while levering with a large needle behind the pins where it will also act as a heatsink to protect he chip internals somewhat from heat. Do one side at a time allowing everything to cool down in between and then replace with a new chip by sticking it on the remaining solder on the pads.
30 years experience talking there.. I am a soldering expert ;)
Never rush.. If you start getting shakey take a break.. and use a magnifier lamp stand thing so you don't do like I did and wreck your eyes. It also helps to fix the board down.. I use a couple of packs of Blu-Tack on the bench and then just stick the board to that.
Try to get some tin/lead (60/40) mulitcore solder.. If you can get the thin stuff it's better, but not essential. Keep the iron tip well tinned and clean. Heat and speed are the trick with SM components.. The lead free solder IMHO isn't as good and seems to need more heat. I don't really see any health risk from lead unless you are using huge amounts of solder day in day out.. World has gone safety mad... way too paranoid considering most domestic water supplies will give you more lead in a pint of water than you will get from a whole year of 5 days a week solder fumes. (and considering Mercuric Oxide is allowed as a flavour enhancer in foods)
