The main problem is the oxidized iron tip, not the size of solder wire. Clean your soldering iron tip on a wet sponge every time you use it and will be always as new. Anyway, good job Graham.
Big Clive taught me to leave the tip with a thin coat of fresh solder -- that is to say, not squeaky clean. Also, at some point the tip does just get degraded to the point that it is practically unusable, no matter how well you take care of them. That being said... yes, the problem is definitely the cruddy tip. 😄
@@herrpez I wrote there to clean the tip every time you use it, not after you use it. Is a very good thing to leave solder on tip after use to protect it against oxidation.Anyway, on aliexpress an t12 tip/heating element is about £2.5 , not big deal.
Brass, or stainless steel scourer ball is my go to. I find it works much better than a damp sponge. Never have to wet it, no chance of burning it when it dries out and no need to clean up the little blobs of solder that build up on a sponge👍
The higher the temp the quicker the tip gets cruddy. Although you need a hot iron, too hot leads to the problems we saw here. This is fine point soldering, the temp can come down quite a bit as long as the job is clean and a good amount of flux is used.
Tracking down shorts or otherwise damaged components is technically very skillful but for sheer craftsmanship it's hard to top those ripped up trace repairs. Very impressive win.
I use hdmi break outboards. they make testing continuity easier IMO. (you can be suere the trace is connected to the pin if it makes it through te the break out board. even the super cheap ones with screw terminals are fine for this sort of stuff even if they have no other conceivable use. I also prefer to fix the pads before installing the port personally. and i would usually Go from the nearest Via or component. rather than on to the trace itself (unless i think the distance is more of a detriment than using the trace)
27:09 don't use hot air to settle UV mask, yes it will solidify it, but it becomes way more brittle that way. Some repair shops do it because it is faster and they don't care if it breaks after a year.
Yea makes sense. After a UV cure it feels like the top bit has hardened, but it's a bit gooey underneath. That should give it some protection while also forgiving thermal cycles and vibration from cables being shoved in.
With lifted traces - is there a heat cure adhesive that could be used to stick them down to board? Something you could paint onto board, tacky enough to hold traces in place and touching it with a soldering iron would cure the adhesive? Dunno if such a product would help with torn traces.
tbh if the owner did this once, id wager itll happen again, used to repair pcs, laptops etc and could tell the ones that would be back as they treat their gear like shit and wonder why stuff breaks
You’re approach was a little different than other videos out there, but I would have to say that using your method anybody could do it well not just anybody you have to be skilled good hands have the right tools and equipment and the right side and the right flux not plumbers Right flux like what you use, that was an awesome fix, thank you for sharing.😊
Customers are lucky these repairs are good content! I can't see many console repairs being economically viable if you quote a reasonable hourly rate on your work.
The number of times I've come home with a dry mouth and slight headache from concentrating on SM soldering ports like this one. (And no I wasn't breathing in the fumes). I feel tired just watching you solder. You could get a bit tidier by using pre-made PCB track pads, but TBH I don't think it's worth the effort. Fine wire, fine solder and good flux, together with a good soldering iron - not too hot but hot enough, magnifier and a lot of patience, and 99% IPA to clean up with a brush afterwards (gently). The more you do it the better you get.
don't you need to match the length of the original traces to maintain signal integrity? when differential signals travel different distances, they go out of phase, causing loss of signal. That's why the traces on the boards sometimes have wavy lines, to compensate for different lengths.
Correct, however there's no way in hell I'd be able to length-match to any reasonable degree of accuracy. Robustness principles dictate that a well designed system will have some grace built-in to it where it will try to exceed its duties, while allowing others to be 'good enough'. So that length matching seeks to make the signal as good as it can possibly be, but if the receiving end is also well-built, it will accept a slightly degraded signal too. That being said, if you tried to run this Xbox at like, 4k-120hz on a 5m HDMI cable, that's probably not going to work anymore. But that's also not an instance this console is likely to see.
@@Adamant_IT It depends. Those pads have "wires" attached (small flat surface tips). Sometimes that's enough but sometimes you need to extend it with jumper wires.
10:00 wow the left side is kind aligned and the right side almost all the way off. what kind of tolerances they have on those ports?? almost like the pin pitch is off. at least I'd try to have the center aligned and the sides slightly off
Yea the pin pitch can be a bit mid on these eBay replacement ports. With all the pads intact, it's never really an issue, this case was just extreme because I didn't bother carefully aligning on a fitment that was going to have a dozen jumper wires anyway.
it is annoying to see you working without flux and you should use heat gun and soldering iron together to get the solder flowing for the main connector legs
I know you know about the solder, but my that was terrible trying to use that; as you said. I was cringing every time you used it. Nice video though. Like the honesty.
The only thing Is . This will all have to be done all over again if anything goes wrong with the new port. I know how long this work takes. Anyone who does it has loads of patiences
I am a bit confised by your claim that the HDMI port hasn't been repaired before. If I look at the video at 3:10 I see a lot of small solder wires that I usually see on trace repairs.
Done watching, thank you very much for the informative repair video. I have learned significantly more troubleshooting & repair lessons in this tutorial video and to your other repair videos as well compared to my ENTIRE 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE due to the rotten & outdated standards of education here in the Philippines. I hope you will soon have a mini-series for Schematic & Boardview-free Voltage/Power Rail Tracing[12V/18-20V Main Voltage Rail, 5V, 3.3V, CPU/GPU Core Voltage Rail, DRAM Voltage Rail, IGPU Voltage Rail, System Agent/Northbridge Voltage Rail, PCH Voltage Rail, BIOS Voltage Rail, Battery Power Rail], Proper method of testing/checking of potentially faulty MOSFETs & ICs/Controller Chips, CPU/GPU/PCH Reballing and BIOS Bin File Editing.
The console is practically not worth taking apart they go used for 150€. So everyone demanding a perfect micro soldering job can save their time. More of a educational video anyway.
Sorry but you really do need to learn how to clean your soldering Iron tip, had to stop watching the video because your soldering technique was just so bad.
The main problem is the oxidized iron tip, not the size of solder wire. Clean your soldering iron tip on a wet sponge every time you use it and will be always as new. Anyway, good job Graham.
Big Clive taught me to leave the tip with a thin coat of fresh solder -- that is to say, not squeaky clean. Also, at some point the tip does just get degraded to the point that it is practically unusable, no matter how well you take care of them. That being said... yes, the problem is definitely the cruddy tip. 😄
@@herrpez I wrote there to clean the tip every time you use it, not after you use it. Is a very good thing to leave solder on tip after use to protect it against oxidation.Anyway, on aliexpress an t12 tip/heating element is about £2.5 , not big deal.
And a distinct lack of flux.
Brass, or stainless steel scourer ball is my go to.
I find it works much better than a damp sponge.
Never have to wet it, no chance of burning it when it dries out and no need to clean up the little blobs of solder that build up on a sponge👍
The higher the temp the quicker the tip gets cruddy. Although you need a hot iron, too hot leads to the problems we saw here. This is fine point soldering, the temp can come down quite a bit as long as the job is clean and a good amount of flux is used.
Tracking down shorts or otherwise damaged components is technically very skillful but for sheer craftsmanship it's hard to top those ripped up trace repairs. Very impressive win.
(25:27) The expressiveness of your face says it all. Congratulations. Thanks for sharing. All the best.
Thank you for your hard work! You inspire to learn and start repairing. ❤
I find it easy to do the trace repair before soldering the port, try it
I use hdmi break outboards. they make testing continuity easier IMO. (you can be suere the trace is connected to the pin if it makes it through te the break out board.
even the super cheap ones with screw terminals are fine for this sort of stuff even if they have no other conceivable use.
I also prefer to fix the pads before installing the port personally. and i would usually Go from the nearest Via or component. rather than on to the trace itself (unless i think the distance is more of a detriment than using the trace)
LOL have you consider clean the tip?
You might as well be soldering with a rusty nail looking at the state of that tip!
Next time make sure to follow the original paths as close as possible. They are high speed, length matched differential pairs!
Donest master.
27:09 don't use hot air to settle UV mask, yes it will solidify it, but it becomes way more brittle that way. Some repair shops do it because it is faster and they don't care if it breaks after a year.
Yea makes sense. After a UV cure it feels like the top bit has hardened, but it's a bit gooey underneath. That should give it some protection while also forgiving thermal cycles and vibration from cables being shoved in.
With lifted traces - is there a heat cure adhesive that could be used to stick them down to board? Something you could paint onto board, tacky enough to hold traces in place and touching it with a soldering iron would cure the adhesive?
Dunno if such a product would help with torn traces.
Other challenging task... have you ever tried or considered using solder paste (as used for surface mount assembly)?
I would never even attempt to fix that!
Put flux first on those pins so that it will stick and shaped.
Also put flux on that copper.
Your soldering iron has too much heat burns the flux
tbh if the owner did this once, id wager itll happen again, used to repair pcs, laptops etc and could tell the ones that would be back as they treat their gear like shit and wonder why stuff breaks
HDMI prots should be more sturdy. Any abuse is not very well tolerated... and ruins a device.
And ppl usually buy new then repair
You’re approach was a little different than other videos out there, but I would have to say that using your method anybody could do it well not just anybody you have to be skilled good hands have the right tools and equipment and the right side and the right flux not plumbers Right flux like what you use, that was an awesome fix, thank you for sharing.😊
Customers are lucky these repairs are good content! I can't see many console repairs being economically viable if you quote a reasonable hourly rate on your work.
I always find cleaning the tip with toilet roll is fantastic
Good job !!! What is the size of your copper wire?
Amazing work!
The number of times I've come home with a dry mouth and slight headache from concentrating on SM soldering ports like this one. (And no I wasn't breathing in the fumes). I feel tired just watching you solder. You could get a bit tidier by using pre-made PCB track pads, but TBH I don't think it's worth the effort. Fine wire, fine solder and good flux, together with a good soldering iron - not too hot but hot enough, magnifier and a lot of patience, and 99% IPA to clean up with a brush afterwards (gently). The more you do it the better you get.
don't you need to match the length of the original traces to maintain signal integrity? when differential signals travel different distances, they go out of phase, causing loss of signal. That's why the traces on the boards sometimes have wavy lines, to compensate for different lengths.
Correct, however there's no way in hell I'd be able to length-match to any reasonable degree of accuracy.
Robustness principles dictate that a well designed system will have some grace built-in to it where it will try to exceed its duties, while allowing others to be 'good enough'. So that length matching seeks to make the signal as good as it can possibly be, but if the receiving end is also well-built, it will accept a slightly degraded signal too. That being said, if you tried to run this Xbox at like, 4k-120hz on a 5m HDMI cable, that's probably not going to work anymore. But that's also not an instance this console is likely to see.
You should consider using something called "wylie soldering lug for pads repair".
I was thinking of those when I saw the missing pads... but with the traces ripped up, I'd still need to run a bunch of jumper wires?
@@Adamant_IT It depends. Those pads have "wires" attached (small flat surface tips). Sometimes that's enough but sometimes you need to extend it with jumper wires.
10:00 wow the left side is kind aligned and the right side almost all the way off. what kind of tolerances they have on those ports?? almost like the pin pitch is off. at least I'd try to have the center aligned and the sides slightly off
Yea the pin pitch can be a bit mid on these eBay replacement ports. With all the pads intact, it's never really an issue, this case was just extreme because I didn't bother carefully aligning on a fitment that was going to have a dozen jumper wires anyway.
Just a question, how much was this job in particular due to the tediousness of the work versus the price of the Xbox?
will it cause any issues with the bridging wire not been as long as the original wiggly trace Graham ?
you need a better microscope like amscope or mechanic scope. They are not even that expensive now on aliexpress or ebay.
Hands of a surgeon.
it is annoying to see you working without flux and you should use heat gun and soldering iron together to get the solder flowing for the main connector legs
I know you know about the solder, but my that was terrible trying to use that; as you said. I was cringing every time you used it. Nice video though. Like the honesty.
What thermal paste do you use?
cool video Graham
the large solder was definetly not your friend in this one Graham
I like watching videos like this, I'd be hopeless at it but I find it interesting.
some amazing work there...any time i see ripped pads/traces im outta there
The only thing Is . This will all have to be done all over again if anything goes wrong with the new port. I know how long this work takes. Anyone who does it has loads of patiences
You must also be able to hold your tongue at just the right angle... this is a critical skill...
Owner will certainly test to destruction, as they did before. 😏
Nice one
That tip is way too small and it need to be clean too ...
I am a bit confised by your claim that the HDMI port hasn't been repaired before. If I look at the video at 3:10 I see a lot of small solder wires that I usually see on trace repairs.
That's the traces ripped off of the PCB
@@Adamant_IT Thank you, I rewatched the section and it is now clear.
Done watching, thank you very much for the informative repair video. I have learned significantly more troubleshooting & repair lessons in this tutorial video and to your other repair videos as well compared to my ENTIRE 4 YEARS OF COLLEGE due to the rotten & outdated standards of education here in the Philippines. I hope you will soon have a mini-series for Schematic & Boardview-free Voltage/Power Rail Tracing[12V/18-20V Main Voltage Rail, 5V, 3.3V, CPU/GPU Core Voltage Rail, DRAM Voltage Rail, IGPU Voltage Rail, System Agent/Northbridge Voltage Rail, PCH Voltage Rail, BIOS Voltage Rail, Battery Power Rail], Proper method of testing/checking of potentially faulty MOSFETs & ICs/Controller Chips, CPU/GPU/PCH Reballing and BIOS Bin File Editing.
A nice bit off bridge building.
Use more flux please.
Not enough flux dude.. flux helps solder flow.
might as well call it Let's fix Consoles :p
It's always painful to watch you micro soldering 😂🤣
Why didn't you repair the traces?
I'm happy to have inflicted this psychic damage on you 😄
Surely trace repair would've been the same amount of work?
@@Adamant_IT Depends on the technician, however, no questions asked about the retracing especially for consoles that is about and mostly 3 years old.
The serial number is clearly visible at the start; you might want to blur that out.
Listen to this song nate dogg the hardest man in town
The console is practically not worth taking apart they go used for 150€. So everyone demanding a perfect micro soldering job can save their time. More of a educational video anyway.
It really depends on the area and country some places it would be better to fix it and some buying a used one
Clean and use flux
Please use more flux. You won't regret it.
Sorry but you really do need to learn how to clean your soldering Iron tip, had to stop watching the video because your soldering technique was just so bad.