VERY WELL DONE AND INFORMATIVE. THANK YOU!! I wish more people were well spoken with excellent voice tone. You have set the bar for how a tutorial should be done.
I'm going to be re-soldering an old guitar amp this weekend. I've never done electronic repairs before so this video should make the whole thing a lot easier!
Thank you very much for showing how to correctly repair a poor solder connection. Excellent advice. This video will save a lot of equipment from needlessly going to the landfill. Regards, Tom
i had a volume drop out on my crate glx212 guitar amp.... for close to 10 yrs now.. i absolutly LOVE the tone it produces.. i could "whack" the top of it by the input jack and regain sound.. i thought(bad soldier joint) i opened it up and I FOUND IT ! the pin that connects to the ground sleeve of cord... imma use your advice and re-flow it.. thanks
Mike, absolutely outstanding demonstration of how to repair crusty oxidized solder, the trick as you so well explained is the re-soldering of the leads. You make it look easy, but I'm here to say practice, practice... It's not that easy. Your a master at what you do. Thanks Mike for sharing! Joel
I have an old SuperStar 3900 that looks exactly like that. It developed a problem in the receiver. Tx is fine but Rx is totally dead.. until you press down on the board and everything works. Took it to the local CB hack shop (4G's in Baytown) and the guy went over every solder joint, and still no fix. Same problem and he gave up. It sat in a box in my attic for a couple of years and now the mic plug and SO203 and power plug are corroded. I'm going to follow your tips and attempt to restore and repair it. I've owned it since about 1997 and would love to have it functioning again.
Very well done! I'm a DIY but soldering and PCBs are tough for me. I have an AC board that has a questionable pin/solder joint. This will help me attempt a repair. Thank you!
I happened on this page looking for info on how to fix a 16 Track Zoom recorder, which I noticed sometimes the input crackles like it isn't connecting well. And brother you really helped me! I feel I am a good Solder -er ... person.. but you gave me tips I didn't know and you explained things plainly and exactly. Best instruction video on soldering out there.. Thanks!!
MikesRadioRepair i have a 1991 camaro rs wiper motor pulse board for the windshield wipers that needs to be repaired. Its been discontinued for 6 years.Really cant find the same one anywhere. Can I please mail it to you so you can at least just take a look at it?? Before you say no. I really have no other options at this point.
You bring up a good point on dwell time. My biggest issue sometimes is removing the old solder with my spring loaded solder sucker. Sometimes I have to hit the pad multiple times to get the old solder out and have damaged my share of pads just removing the old solder, mainly on the small circuit boards of guitar effects pedals. Then I have to run a small jumper wire to fix the connection.
Mike, can you tell me what de-soldering gun and flux you used in this video? I think I need to get them. I work on all of my old 50's and 60's Fender amps and have re-soldered many old dull joints with just some new solder on top of the old solder. Mainly because I've had amp techs tell me that the old solder makeup is different from new solder nowadays and that it actually sounds different. Now, I know we are getting into some details that most people would never hear but there are some real vintage amp fanatics out there.
I know im 5 yrs late. after watching the desoldering process, I have been doing this manually but would like to do it with a reliable desoldering tool but I can't find a good one. what would you suggest ?
Why don't use rosin solder ? You have flux in solder . If not shining can I still use Rosin solder will it stick ? What use on paper towel clean it ? looks you made it shine . I am just learning good video thank you for it .
good work, but what about when the tiny solder joint touch each other after the resolder process, isn't there something like a short-circuit fault on the board?
So this might be a dumb question, but don't you need to worry about the pool of solder around adjacent pins touching and shorting them out ? It seems like those large mounds are touching. I thought adjacent pins connected to different strips on the printed circuit board so they had to be kept isolated (?) Thanks! Update: watching video to the end I see that you do address this. Thanks again!
I have been soldering for 30 years on a variety of equipment but it’s still interesting to watch you work. I was watching one of your other videos where you were using a solder with I high silver contents. I have used similar on old Tektronix oscilloscope that specifies something similar for some of the ceramic hybrids. I would like to know about why you favour this for automotive work. My experience with this solder is it is definitely stronger but also harder and much more brittle. I would have thought the brittleness would make it’s less suitable for mobile application. For the same reason leaded is still allowed in many critical applications. So how have you found your silver alloy solder? Thanks mike Regards Chris
In all the years I have been using SN62 composition silver solder I have never had a solder joint fail. It has the highest tensile strength of any solder, that's why I use it. My take on the matter is that if it's the strongest it would also be the least likely to break. The one thing you don't want to use ANY silver solder for is to solder gold plated parts. If you solder gold plated parts with silver composition solder it mixes with the gold and apparently will pop the gold plating off. That's the one thing I use normal tin/lead solder for or if required a lead free solder that has no silver.
MikesRadioRepair Thanks for the heads up on the gold platings. A lot of what I work on is the higher end test gear and does have gold plating and has for many years. I’m not sure where I was reading about the harder solders not being recommend I can see that depending on the type of joint stronger may not always be better as some flex may be expected and require. I’m going to have to look into this more, but I note your recommendation and experience using it. Thanks for the reply. It still amazes me that one reason that old solder joints are hard to melt is because copper is soluble in tin and over time raises the melting point. Your probably sick of tech, videos but drop in my channel and say hello sometime. I used your trick to clean the selector switch on the Kraco the other day and yes almost every joint I have looked at so far was suspect.Regards Chris
Fantastic tips Mike, I like the idea of the red pen, I can see where that would make one's workflow go faster as opposed to one at a time like I currently did, now Ima gonna borrow yours, thanks! :)
That's what I use to do and finally realized one day I was just looking over some parts of the board several times and missing others. This way I can systematically inspect the entire board and just put a little red dot on the tip of anything I find questionable. Once the whole thing is inspected I can do all my soldering at one time. Really speeds up the process and prevents missing bad joints. Mike
after I fixed some electronics with bad solder joints, fried diodes,transistors and nicely cooked resistors people started to bring me more electronics to fix (I do not know why, I just work on the farm) but I had to turn down lots of those because do not want to mess up resoldering bunch of bad joints. I do not have desoldering iron and removing bad solder without it is a pain. And on some electronics I just can't find what is wrong (stupid metal detector wand had bad joint,fixed it,returned after a year,could not find what is bad now.).
truck driving is the very last thing anyone wants to be doing. I have no idea why any trucker would give up his Cb radio for computer monitors and other stuff as are plainly visible on the peace bridge and give this guy so much grief by giving up their prize CB radios especially since truck deliver is useless
After putting isopropyl alcohol on my motherboard with clean brush and drying with toilet paper, it looks very clean then it dries and looks very white.. should I be concerned or do I leave it like that?
MikesRadioRepair great thanks for the reply! I'm the same way I decided to keep brushing with isopropyl and little by little dry the brush with paper towels so as to keep the board clean of the whiteness.
it doesn't cause a short when the solder from two spots seems so close they overlap each other?it is not possible to short on the back on the boards of solder touches other pointS?
I feel like I don't have the equipment to do this job correctly without ruining my board. Are you able to check out a control unit for me ? Or can you tell me how to go about finiding someone more local to me who can inspect my solder joints on my climate control module for my car. ??
What happens if you leave flux without cleaning it with alcohol/brush? I soldered a project less than a year ago, live in FL with high humidity environment if that matters, and now all my solder joints look like they are 30 years old with horrible oxidation. I'm using KESTER SOLDER 32117 24-6040-0027 and keep my tip clean. Starting to wonder if not cleaning it with alcohol afterwards is causing premature oxidation.
That's a RA (highly activated) flux. Best advice is never use RA flux to solder electronics. If you do you have to remove all flux residue. It is highly corrosive and will destroy anything made of copper in no time. You should be using a mildly activated no clean flux.
I mix my own. I buy pure refined rosin cakes from Germany and disolve it in 99.9% isopropyl alcohol, about 1 1/2 tins to a bottle. They come in 20 gram tins. If you watch my soldering equipment video I show a tin of it. Its called Kolophonium and made by a company named Donau Elektronik GMBH.
VERY WELL DONE AND INFORMATIVE. THANK YOU!! I wish more people were well spoken with excellent voice tone. You have set the bar for how a tutorial should be done.
I'm going to be re-soldering an old guitar amp this weekend. I've never done electronic repairs before so this video should make the whole thing a lot easier!
Wow I really enjoyed your video Mike. Very helpful and explains it how you should solder boards.
Thank you very much for showing how to correctly repair a poor solder connection. Excellent advice. This video will save a lot of equipment from needlessly going to the landfill.
Regards, Tom
i had a volume drop out on my crate glx212 guitar amp.... for close to 10 yrs now.. i absolutly LOVE the tone it produces.. i could "whack" the top of it by the input jack and regain sound.. i thought(bad soldier joint) i opened it up and I FOUND IT ! the pin that connects to the ground sleeve of cord... imma use your advice and re-flow it.. thanks
Mike, absolutely outstanding demonstration of how to repair crusty oxidized solder, the trick as you so well explained is the re-soldering of the leads. You make it look easy, but I'm here to say practice, practice... It's not that easy. Your a master at what you do. Thanks Mike for sharing! Joel
Joel
Definitely one of those things where practice makes perfect.
I have an old SuperStar 3900 that looks exactly like that. It developed a problem in the receiver. Tx is fine but Rx is totally dead.. until you press down on the board and everything works. Took it to the local CB hack shop (4G's in Baytown) and the guy went over every solder joint, and still no fix. Same problem and he gave up. It sat in a box in my attic for a couple of years and now the mic plug and SO203 and power plug are corroded. I'm going to follow your tips and attempt to restore and repair it. I've owned it since about 1997 and would love to have it functioning again.
Very well done! I'm a DIY but soldering and PCBs are tough for me. I have an AC board that has a questionable pin/solder joint. This will help me attempt a repair. Thank you!
I happened on this page looking for info on how to fix a 16 Track Zoom recorder, which I noticed sometimes the input crackles like it isn't connecting well. And brother you really helped me! I feel I am a good Solder -er ... person.. but you gave me tips I didn't know and you explained things plainly and exactly. Best instruction video on soldering out there.. Thanks!!
You just know when you hear wisdom based on knowledge and experience! Great video!
This video I can surely make use of thanks for the infos and all your hard work for my radios Michael !
Thanks. Just hope someone can find some of it useful.
Mike
MikesRadioRepair i have a 1991 camaro rs wiper motor pulse board for the windshield wipers that needs to be repaired. Its been discontinued for 6 years.Really cant find the same one anywhere. Can I please mail it to you so you can at least just take a look at it?? Before you say no. I really have no other options at this point.
Thank you to Mikesradiorepair for the above video: How to resolder bad connections and old oxidized joints.😀
Thanks for the tips, great video
Best solder repair video I found! Thanks, Mike!
I-I-I know. It helped m-m-me fix my 1981 Panasonic CT-1110A T-T-TV.
Are you using 99.9 iso to clean up those post solder?
I found this really relaxing. Nice work.
Learned some good tips watching this, thanks!
Great tutorial. You just saved me $$$$.
This was very helpful. Thanks!
You bring up a good point on dwell time. My biggest issue sometimes is removing the old solder with my spring loaded solder sucker. Sometimes I have to hit the pad multiple times to get the old solder out and have damaged my share of pads just removing the old solder, mainly on the small circuit boards of guitar effects pedals. Then I have to run a small jumper wire to fix the connection.
Bravo, it's excately what we need to know !!
Patience, humility for learn.
Thank you.
I am soooooooo intrigued by watching you do this. Do you still do soldering work for outside customers? Thanks, Ronnie
Yes I do.
You really saved my Gameboy cartridge problem with this video!! Thanks Mike!
Man, great video! Didnt just show how to do also learned me great knowledge about the basics in soldering! Thanks!
Mike, can you tell me what de-soldering gun and flux you used in this video? I think I need to get them. I work on all of my old 50's and 60's Fender amps and have re-soldered many old dull joints with just some new solder on top of the old solder. Mainly because I've had amp techs tell me that the old solder makeup is different from new solder nowadays and that it actually sounds different. Now, I know we are getting into some details that most people would never hear but there are some real vintage amp fanatics out there.
I would also interested in the type of desolder gun you are using.
I know im 5 yrs late. after watching the desoldering process, I have been doing this manually but would like to do it with a reliable desoldering tool but I can't find a good one. what would you suggest ?
excellent work Mike! 73!
Can you recommend a inexpensive solder station?
Why don't use rosin solder ? You have flux in solder . If not shining can I still use Rosin solder will it stick ? What use on paper towel clean it ? looks you made it shine . I am just learning good video thank you for it .
Cracking video thanks.
good work, but what about when the tiny solder joint touch each other after the resolder process, isn't there something like a short-circuit fault on the board?
Very Useful thank you
So this might be a dumb question, but don't you need to worry about the pool of solder around adjacent pins touching and shorting them out ? It seems like those large mounds are touching. I thought adjacent pins connected to different strips on the printed circuit board so they had to be kept isolated (?) Thanks!
Update: watching video to the end I see that you do address this. Thanks again!
Thanks a lot.
Wow, awesome tips there Mike, thx so much!
BTW What kind of solder machine is that? Looks really great.
great video
I have been soldering for 30 years on a variety of equipment but it’s still interesting to watch you work. I was watching one of your other videos where you were using a solder with I high silver contents. I have used similar on old Tektronix oscilloscope that specifies something similar for some of the ceramic hybrids. I would like to know about why you favour this for automotive work. My experience with this solder is it is definitely stronger but also harder and much more brittle. I would have thought the brittleness would make it’s less suitable for mobile application. For the same reason leaded is still allowed in many critical applications. So how have you found your silver alloy solder? Thanks mike Regards Chris
In all the years I have been using SN62 composition silver solder I have never had a solder joint fail. It has the highest tensile strength of any solder, that's why I use it. My take on the matter is that if it's the strongest it would also be the least likely to break. The one thing you don't want to use ANY silver solder for is to solder gold plated parts. If you solder gold plated parts with silver composition solder it mixes with the gold and apparently will pop the gold plating off. That's the one thing I use normal tin/lead solder for or if required a lead free solder that has no silver.
MikesRadioRepair Thanks for the heads up on the gold platings. A lot of what I work on is the higher end test gear and does have gold plating and has for many years. I’m not sure where I was reading about the harder solders not being recommend I can see that depending on the type of joint stronger may not always be better as some flex may be expected and require. I’m going to have to look into this more, but I note your recommendation and experience using it. Thanks for the reply. It still amazes me that one reason that old solder joints are hard to melt is because copper is soluble in tin and over time raises the melting point. Your probably sick of tech, videos but drop in my channel and say hello sometime. I used your trick to clean the selector switch on the Kraco the other day and yes almost every joint I have looked at so far was suspect.Regards Chris
Fantastic tips Mike, I like the idea of the red pen, I can see where that would make one's workflow go faster as opposed to one at a time like I currently did, now Ima gonna borrow yours, thanks! :)
That's what I use to do and finally realized one day I was just looking over some parts of the board several times and missing others. This way I can systematically inspect the entire board and just put a little red dot on the tip of anything I find questionable. Once the whole thing is inspected I can do all my soldering at one time. Really speeds up the process and prevents missing bad joints.
Mike
And it really makes good sense, especially if you get called away from the project, you'd have a better clue where you may have left off!
after I fixed some electronics with bad solder joints, fried diodes,transistors and nicely cooked resistors people started to bring me more electronics to fix (I do not know why, I just work on the farm) but I had to turn down lots of those because do not want to mess up resoldering bunch of bad joints. I do not have desoldering iron and removing bad solder without it is a pain. And on some electronics I just can't find what is wrong (stupid metal detector wand had bad joint,fixed it,returned after a year,could not find what is bad now.).
Nice job Mike really good video series some really good videos so far full of information and tips.
truck driving is the very last thing anyone wants to be doing. I have no idea why any trucker would give up his Cb radio for computer monitors and other stuff as are plainly visible on the peace bridge and give this guy so much grief by giving up their prize CB radios especially since truck deliver is useless
Thanks Mike!!
hi Mike how do reduce flux to liquid? cheers
After putting isopropyl alcohol on my motherboard with clean brush and drying with toilet paper, it looks very clean then it dries and looks very white.. should I be concerned or do I leave it like that?
MikesRadioRepair great thanks for the reply! I'm the same way I decided to keep brushing with isopropyl and little by little dry the brush with paper towels so as to keep the board clean of the whiteness.
it doesn't cause a short when the solder from two spots seems so close they overlap each other?it is not possible to short on the back on the boards of solder touches other pointS?
ah thats the other guys sloppy work? seems like the joints are touching each other in a lot of spots, how does it even work?
I feel like I don't have the equipment to do this job correctly without ruining my board. Are you able to check out a control unit for me ? Or can you tell me how to go about finiding someone more local to me who can inspect my solder joints on my climate control module for my car. ??
What is the desoldering iron you are using?
Almost all of my desoldering equipment is made by Pace.
MikesRadioRepair costly aren't they?!
What happens if you leave flux without cleaning it with alcohol/brush? I soldered a project less than a year ago, live in FL with high humidity environment if that matters, and now all my solder joints look like they are 30 years old with horrible oxidation. I'm using KESTER SOLDER 32117 24-6040-0027 and keep my tip clean. Starting to wonder if not cleaning it with alcohol afterwards is causing premature oxidation.
That's a RA (highly activated) flux. Best advice is never use RA flux to solder electronics. If you do you have to remove all flux residue. It is highly corrosive and will destroy anything made of copper in no time. You should be using a mildly activated no clean flux.
He sounds like Alan Alda
Is that R.A. type liquid flux? Thanks
I mix my own. I buy pure refined rosin cakes from Germany and disolve it in 99.9% isopropyl alcohol, about 1 1/2 tins to a bottle. They come in 20 gram tins. If you watch my soldering equipment video I show a tin of it. Its called Kolophonium and made by a company named Donau Elektronik GMBH.
Thank You.
Are you still in repair business?
I came to doing compare between this vs my cell phone circuit board
the bigger the glob....the better the job. lolz
I fought myself blowing the smoke out of my face but it was on my cellphone
That ball solders are my work. Sad to admit and I'm a beginner.
Mikes radio chat to much talk through and not repair show