An iron is less than $15 at Radio Shack/ Harbor Frieght/ Lowes… You did all of the hard work already.
I guess I have to rely on that greek lurp LWK after all since he has the soldering equipment
Im jk LWK is a cool guy <3
I like David. He’s a nice guy, lol. Definitely knows his electronics.
Get the smallest soldering iron radio shack has and some solder. You should be able to handle it. Just watch acouple of vids on YouTube
Hi there guys I’m new to this so I’m sorry if I’m posting on the wrong forum. Need help looking for someone who can mod arcade sticks I recently had someone worked on my arcade stick and the guy did a horrible job on it. I’m trying to do the rj-45 mod so if anyone can point me to the right direction where I might be able to get some help I would really appreciate it.
Check the stickied posts, or the 2nd thread post here. You can find locally available modders there, since we have no idea where you live.
Depending on the number of mods you intend to do – and whether you might do other light/hobby electrical work in the future --, I think it’s better to spend the extra money and get a higher-quality soldering iron that will last longer, have better temperature control, give you better fine tip control, and not break like tinfoil.
The solder and soldering braids Radio Shack sells are fine but the irons themselves are not very good. They don’t conduct heat as well, you have no way of knowing what temp they’re at – at best, you have a two-setting switch for 15(?)W or 40W that tell you nothing! --, and they tend to break easily. I know this after about a dozen mods with the equipment. The soldering irons tend to be break down very quickly and become less effective after several heat cycles. This can happen within a dozen sessions easy. As far as fine tip control’s concerned, I never felt I had it with the RS unit!
One thing I do know from personal experience… 15W will NOT cut it for a lot of electrical work. It won’t melt the solder very well on old-style Hori PCB’s boards with the buttons soldered in. At best, you’ll get a “lumpy”, semi-solid consistency on the solder. You need at least 30-40W soldering irons to liquefy and lift off old solder with vacuum bulbs or solder braids let alone lay down new solder for secure line connections.
You don’t have to spend $100 or more on a decent soldering iron. You can probably still get a good soldering iron AND fine tip (which you have to buy separately; these are not included with most soldering irons) for $50 or less online. I can almost guarantee you that won’t find the best/most appropriate soldering irons at Radio Shack, Home Depot, or Lowes. They tend to sell lower-quality electrical irons or propane units that are not appropriate for small electrical/electronic work. The propane units in particular seem to be overkill and more likely to lift and actually destroy trace on PCB boards.
I have about 3 joystick mods left to do (where I have to install new PCB’s that require some soldering) and I WON’T do them without a decent soldering iron. The Radio Shack soldering irons are mediocre at best… Proceed at your own risk!
P.S. – You get lots of differences in opinion on what makes a good soldering iron and which brands are good. Quite a few people online seem to think that the manufacturer Weller makes decent soldering irons for things like joystick mods…