# Soldering circuit boards



## monkeyass (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi,

i am currently in the process of soldering my xbox, i am currently trying to patch up two points on the circuit, the cable connection has been destroyed, as in burnt off the board so i am using copper wire to patch up both point. However i am currently having difficulty gettign the solder to stick to the board, i have flux but i wasn't totally sure hwo to use it at firts i left the flux on the board and tried applying the solder to no avail after wiping the board i still have no avail. Does anybody have any tips on how to get solder to stick to small points? please don't tell em alot of patient because my tether is nearly worn lol.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

Solder will not stick to the board unless there is a contact pad or trace underneath. You really don't need flux if you are using risin core solder.


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## monkeyass (Feb 23, 2006)

There is a connector on the board and i can see the metal but because it is so small the solder is not sticking, maybe i should use a needle to dettatch the solder form the iron?


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

If it's not sticking the pad is probably gone. What kind of iron are you using, they do make them with fairly fine points?


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

what colour are the conductors
which you are trying to solder onto ?


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## Space Cowboy (Apr 19, 2005)

Get your jumper ready and tin (solder lightly) the ends. Then take a small knife and just lightly scrape your contact points on the circuit board till they are shiny. Use a HOT iron thats been tinned (lightly apply solder) I perfer a 50 watt iron with a very small tip. After tinning the tip wipe the tip on a wet sponge to clean it.

Apply the tip of the iron to the scraped metal on the circuit board and apply a SMALL amount of solder. You want to see the solder FLOW. As soon as it flows attach the jumper and remove the iron. Let it cool or blow on it and your solder joint should be shinny .. like a mirror or a drop of mercury.

Repeat on the other connection and you should be all set.

Good Luck


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## monkeyass (Feb 23, 2006)

Sweet, thankyou very much for your information. The actual trace is brown so i am guessing it is copper maybe, but i'm not totally sure i've had luck with soldering onto the point and the solder sticking, however as soon as i try to connect the wire between the points the solder obviously comes back off i think this is just going to take some fiddling about with.


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## buck52 (Mar 9, 2001)

Space Cowboys advice is very good

At home I have a soldering setup that is good for basic stuff

At work we have radio controlled hydralic equipment... the solder joints are minute and we have a 1000 dollar soldering setup to work on, and repair those components ... Most of that work is done under a magnifying glass with a pin point tool

buck


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## Super-D-38 (Apr 25, 2002)

Be sure you scrape it clean, you know solder won't stick to the plastic "over coating"... 
Won't get a contact even if it did stick to plastic.. 

The point on the board must be clean and shiny, not "brown".. It needs to look like a new penny.. 

Follow Space's steps and it should work fine.. 
Remember, small solder joints aren't strong to begin with. Once it's on only a very slight tug to see if it stuck..


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## Space Cowboy (Apr 19, 2005)

Another thing to keep in mind is to make sure your iron is *hot* before you start.

You want to get on and off the board as quickly as possible.

Otherwise you may end up lifting the traces off the circuit board.

Post back and let us know how it turns out.

Laters


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## john1 (Nov 25, 2000)

I would suggest you follow the track back to a soldered connection on the board,
and carefully make your joint on to that.

Some of these tracks are a bit too small to work with
unless you are very experienced with trying to connect to tiny copper tracks.

John


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