almost anywhere. home depot, walmart, hobby stores, Radio Shack. they are not hard to find. one thing to keep in mind though. if the only thing you are planning to solder is your xbox. go to radio shack and find the lowest voltage soldering gun out there, its better for your mobo!
appreciate your help...... do you have any suggestions on how I should pratice soldering or any advice when I try to solder..any guide would help too This is my first time soldering
All the cheper soldering irons at walmart etc are 110 volts (USA) I think you mean Wattage, not voltage. If you really want to get into hobby soldering dont get the cheapo walmart etc stuff do a search online for weller irons can get a VERY good temperature adjustable Weller station to start, for around $60 (they go up to the $100's, but you wont need anything that elaborate) Also contrary to opinion, solder braid ISNT the best way to remove solder, get a desolder pump , its far better. Get solder that is alreay fluxed (the walmart stuff is fine) But get a little tin of flux pate or liquid, when you "tin" wires, its best to flux them a little first. "TINNING" wires basically means touching a little solder on the wire ends, this makes a superior connection when you solder the wire to wherever your connecting it. In the case of the xbox, forinstance the LPT area, if you are doing a wire install, "tin" the wire, and also the LPT hole that your soldering to, then to solde it, put the wire on or in the solder, and touch the iron on it, you wouldnt need any more solder, the connection would be a good strong one. You know I have a degree in electronics servicing in the UK, and contrary to belief, low wattage irons ARE NOT good for pcbs,(15-20 watt etc) the best is around 40-55watt for a pcb, the reason for this is, the heat means a very fast melt of the solder, meaning you dont have the iron on the board very long at all. Of all the xbox I have modded, I have my iron set to around 50-60 watt. _ _X_X_X_X_X_[small]Is it true Michael Jackson speaks Marklar?[/small]
I just bought a 15 watt soldering iron..so you say its not best??hmm.interesting..even the cover says its for this type of job.. anyways..I just wanted to learn how to solder just in case I feel that I have to...I have a xenium s with that solderless adapter also but in case its not stable enough Ill have to solder it in then.. thanks for your info...
what I meant is, for pcb use, use a higher wattage iron, to be honest, 15watt isnt high enough, but you could do the job if you heat the solder on the wire (for a wire install) then quickly place the wire where its to be soldered, not allowing it to cool too much, the main problem with lower wattage irons is, they tend to spend too long actually touching the pcb,as the take longer to heat the solder, or the area being soldered, the heat will spread further if the iron is on longer. If you use minimal solder it would be better for a lower watt iron though, and make sure it is fluxed. I do realise that expense is an issue too, people simply cannot afford the higher wattage or grade stuff. If you havent used an iron or much experience with one, get an old broken vcr or something, take out a board , find a none soldered area, and do a bit of practice, ie clean it, tin it, tin a wire, (use flux etc)and solder it, do that a few times, because if you GET USED to the iron you have, you will get to know how much solder etc to use. Its also a good idea to have a damp sponge handy to wipe the iron onto after each use, the worse thing you can do is drop blobs of solder on a board, can cause all kinds of problems. Best thing to remember is, DONT put solder onto an iron andthen try to stick the solder to whatever your soldering, by puttingthe iron to it. The rule of thumb is, tin the wire tin the solder area then put one onto the other, and move the iron to it, touching them and making a good clean solder joint, if for some reason, (ie its quite a large area) you DO need a little more solder, let the area cool a litte, then hold the actual solder wire to the area, and quickly touch the iron onto it, this lets a little more solder flow (make sure the wire doesnt slip while doing this)Sometimes it seems like you need 20 hands while soldering I know!! But when you get used to it, its very rewarding. Dont breath solder fumes either if you can, as they are in fact poisonous Hve fun
