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    Soldering help

    I was thinking to learn some basic soldering skills.
    Is there some kind of "starter kit" for noobs and some good online resources where to learn from?
    Also, for anyone who already did that, is the Xstation within the reach of a beginner? I did look at the instructions online and it doesn't look that difficult, just pay a lot of attention.

    #2
    Best way to learn soldering is to practice doing it - you can watch the techniques on YouTube, it's really not that difficult with the right tools (EEV did a good series on soldering a few years back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Sb21qbpEQ)

    Flux, chissel tip on a temperature adjustable iron and lead-based solder with a bit of practice and a steady hand and it should be doable if you have good close vision (I tend to use a magnifying glass or USB scope these days), though it's probably worth getting a for parts PS1 to work on before committing the mod to your actual console. Lead free solder is pain to work with as it flows terribly.

    The trickiest part will be not lifting traces on the board which can happen if there's too much heat and bridging the pins (you need to carefully inspect, it only takes a fleck to bridge them when the pin pitch is close).

    If you can stretch to a Wellar or Hakko they're worth the cash and will last decades (I still have my Wellar from 1996), but there are couple of chinese Hakko clones that are sold on eBay are fairly decent (just don't get one of those fat irons that simply plugs into mains socket). Unfortunately I can't find the Katsu 936D I got a few years back, so I can't vouch for the eBay link - perhaps they've cracked down on the clones a bit - if you're not planning on using it for years to come, it'll be okay.

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      #3
      For the XStation install I don't think you'll have too much trouble. You'll want to introduce new solder to reflow the points that the QSB connects to (not 100% essential but I like to) and make sure you reveal the copper on the two vias that it connects to as well. Then it'll just be a case of tacking down the QSB board from there by introducing more solder. I found lifting the legs on the cd controller to be a little more tricky, but again just gotta take your time and be patient.

      Might be an idea to watch a video like this to give you an idea of what is involved, have timestamped the relevant part.

      Last edited by speedlolita; 08-04-2021, 12:00.

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        #4
        Cheers guys.

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