a few re-cap/soldering questions ...

ElectricDreamz

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a bit of a blood bath on this Sanyo EZ20 soundamp, i know but ... my work so far:

IMG_0622.jpg


so ... questions ...

* yeah, it looks like i'm toasting the board quite nicely where i've soldered ... i know my solder-pullit has suction, and i think i'm heating the stuff hot enough but it takes like 15 times of trying to snag that old solder to clean the holes on the board (thus, the iron stays near it longer, thus the burn marks i'd imagine). any guesses what the hell i'm not doing right?

* secondly ... notice how some of the solder joints are soldered together (two different components) ... is it supposed to be like that? specifically the little guys with the heat sinks seem to have a nearby solder point that's soldered - not just next to it - but TO IT

any and all other critiques welcome as well ... thx guys ...
 
sometimes the old solder needs a dash of flux to soften it up so you can get it with your sucker
the yellow arrow is where the flux needs to be cleaned off
orange circles are where the wires need to be shortened so as to not short to another circuit
DO NOT PLUG IN THE WAY IT IS !!!
 

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sometimes the old solder needs a dash of flux to soften it up so you can get it with your sucker

that's opposite of what i hear (long time repair peeps), read (randy fromm arcade school), and watch (on YT).

use a little solder itself for de-soldering purposes, never flux.

flux binds the solder and makes it more difficult to "suck out".

flux is best used when soldering on new components.
 
it looks like your using the wrong solder. it looks like 60/40 your using and if you use the (with proper ventilation) a lead based solder like 63/37 you will get much better results on the older boards. or maybe not enough flux too.

second i think i know where your talking about on the solder pads that are connected and in theory you could bridge every solder pad together that is electrically connected and it wouldn't hurt so yes its common when multiple component leads are on the same trace and right next to each other to have them connected/bridged together. if they are not on the same trace than NO they shouldn't be bridged together.
 
FWIW ... the solder i'm using:

https://www.amazon.com/Solder-SN60-...8&qid=1489443789&sr=8-1&keywords=13288+solder

it looks like your using the wrong solder. it looks like 60/40 your using and if you use the (with proper ventilation) a lead based solder like 63/37 you will get much better results on the older boards. or maybe not enough flux too.

second i think i know where your talking about on the solder pads that are connected and in theory you could bridge every solder pad together that is electrically connected and it wouldn't hurt so yes its common when multiple component leads are on the same trace and right next to each other to have them connected/bridged together. if they are not on the same trace than NO they shouldn't be bridged together.
 
heh sorry if i wasn't clear ... yes, definitely gonna trim those extra lengths of wire off before putting it back in the chassis. just had left them there as i was soldering cap-by-cap

sometimes the old solder needs a dash of flux to soften it up so you can get it with your sucker
the yellow arrow is where the flux needs to be cleaned off
orange circles are where the wires need to be shortened so as to not short to another circuit
DO NOT PLUG IN THE WAY IT IS !!!
 

yes that is 60/40 just as i suspected and if you switch to 63/37 it will flow much nicer. BTW: what is the manufacture date on that solder?? it looks old and flux does go bad over time. a couple years old is no problem but 5-10 years you start to have problems. here is what i use and i really like it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181950195312?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
shouldn't be too old ... only picked it up a month or two ago ...

yes that is 60/40 just as i suspected and if you switch to 63/37 it will flow much nicer. BTW: what is the manufacture date on that solder?? it looks old and flux does go bad over time. a couple years old is no problem but 5-10 years you start to have problems. here is what i use and i really like it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/181950195312?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
* secondly ... notice how some of the solder joints are soldered together (two different components) ... is it supposed to be like that? specifically the little guys with the heat sinks seem to have a nearby solder point that's soldered - not just next to it - but TO IT

Yes. If you see 2 solder blobs touching...then it's supposed to by that way.
 
I am a notoriously cheap bastard, so I like the price. But I have to wonder, why is this thing so cheap?

Try not to bend the legs over before you solder them into place. It can be difficult to desolder the legs later if they are bent over.

Also, get this:

https://www.amazon.com/Velleman-VTD...=1492180104&sr=8-12&keywords=desoldering+pump

It changed my life.

Yes, I know that Hakko makes the best version but I didn't feel like dropping $300 on a desoldering pump so early in the hobby.
 
I am a notoriously cheap bastard, so I like the price. But I have to wonder, why is this thing so cheap?

I hear ya....I'm pretty cheap myself. I thought it was too good to be true myself until I used it to desolder all the caps on the following so far:

- 4 Sanyo monitor chassis
- 1 Kortek chassis
- DK PCB audio caps and transistors
- 2 Nintendo sound amps
- 1 Nintendo power supply
- currently using it on a Q*bert power supply (wow this is a hard rebuild)


...so it takes about 5 mins to rise to full heat level. Other than that, it's the best $13 I've spent on this hobby. Hands down.
 
so i've worked through the caps (slowly improving) but HOW THE HELL do you pull the components with the heatsinks???? i've reflowed solder on the parts including where the heatsinks are attached, and they just don't wanna budge

i can even feel the board itself getting hot to the touch. i'd be surprised if i haven't fried this sound amp at this point.

any helpful tips would be wicked appreciated
 
will go that route if i have to, although now i'll end up wanting to replace them all in the interest of bulletproofing the Sanyo's and ... well ... remember that whole "cheap bastard" thing? ;)

but i will bookmark this regardless.

yea, Nintendo sound amps can be a real bear.

If you hit a brick wall, you might consider a reproduction:

https://www.twistywristarcade.com/t...tml?search_query=nintendo+sound+amp&results=2

I ended up getting one after I tried twice to rebuild an amp that just ended up being a lemon.
 
And while you are at it...you might consider sand1's hum-killer mod found here:

https://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=388792&highlight=hum+nintendo

Nintendo games are notorious for having a background hum. Some are pretty loud like my Widebody mario bros. Drove me batty.

sand1 finally cracked the code and his SUPER simple and cheap mod totally eliminated the hum on all my Nintendo games.
 
I am a notoriously cheap bastard, so I like the price. But I have to wonder, why is this thing so cheap?

for the hobbyist it will work great for you. spend the money and you will be amazed and wonder why you didn't get one sooner.
 
so i've worked through the caps (slowly improving) but HOW THE HELL do you pull the components with the heatsinks???? i've reflowed solder on the parts including where the heatsinks are attached, and they just don't wanna budge

i can even feel the board itself getting hot to the touch. i'd be surprised if i haven't fried this sound amp at this point.

any helpful tips would be wicked appreciated

unscrew the transistor off the heat sink and than desolder the three legs and it will drop right out.. BTW: if you get one of those cheaper heated desoldering guns like theyeti suggested you will be amazed at how clean the holes are and how easy the components drop out.

BTW: the tips on those guns need to be replaced every 1-3 chassis worth of work otherwise they start to drip solder back out of the tip and for the time it takes to clean the tips i would just replace them since they are only a couple dollars.
 
BTW: the tips on those guns need to be replaced every 1-3 chassis worth of work otherwise they start to drip solder back out of the tip and for the time it takes to clean the tips i would just replace them since they are only a couple dollars.

This is very true. I'm on borrowed time with my tip and it's starting to leak. Thanks for reminding me security0001. I need a couple new tips! Thanks for the tip! (No pun intended) ;)
 
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