Soldering onto PCBs

Discuss VO-related projects (Twin Sticks, etc.)
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Trump111
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Soldering onto PCBs

Post by Trump111 »

Thank you for everybody's help so far for my Dreamcast Twin Stick mod.

I had them up and working this morning when I found that the PAUSE (START) button wasn't responding.
It turned out to be a bad joint I made on the Microsoft wired pad and I tried to fix it by adding a touch of solder and flux.
Then, the whole thing came off, and now, the spot is but a while circle and an odd bit of copper.
I tried to solder the wire back on, but solder no longer adheres at all to the board,
so am I screwed or is there some way I can return the joint back onto the board?

This particular spot is the small ST here at http://slagcoin.com/joystick/pcb_diagra ... agram1.jpg and it does not go through the board to the other side.

I hope I didn't just destroy the START button...
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MentholMoose
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Re: Soldering onto PCBs

Post by MentholMoose »

Trump111 wrote:Thank you for everybody's help so far for my Dreamcast Twin Stick mod.

I had them up and working this morning when I found that the PAUSE (START) button wasn't responding.
It turned out to be a bad joint I made on the Microsoft wired pad and I tried to fix it by adding a touch of solder and flux.
Then, the whole thing came off, and now, the spot is but a while circle and an odd bit of copper.
I tried to solder the wire back on, but solder no longer adheres at all to the board,
so am I screwed or is there some way I can return the joint back onto the board?

This particular spot is the small ST here at http://slagcoin.com/joystick/pcb_diagra ... agram1.jpg and it does not go through the board to the other side.

I hope I didn't just destroy the START button...
It sounds like you lifted a pad (i.e. separated the metal soldering point from the PCB). This is typically caused by overheating the pad, by either using a soldering iron at too high a wattage, or going to slow and heating the area too long.

But all is not lost. If you look carefully at the diagram you linked, there actually is a point for "ST" on both sides of the PCB. Can you try to use the pad that you didn't lift?
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Trump111
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Re: Soldering onto PCBs

Post by Trump111 »

I just got home to test the START.
Looks like messing up the back one kills the one on the front too. The ground part works - of course, or else the whole pad is shot - but since START isn't used for much anyway, I thought I can just let it be.
I thought about exposing the copper traces and connecting the sections with a wire, but they are way too thin and condensed there.

BUT, that's not even the worse problem.
Then the Y button did the same on me...
Now that's something I can't go without.
So I sucked it up and got a new pad. I'll probably (carefully) get this one to work.

If my soldering iron is too hot, there's not much to do about it since the heat is not adjustable...
Trump111
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Re: Soldering onto PCBs

Post by Trump111 »

Cool, looks like the Y button is still alive at the front.
I can still use it... whew.
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MentholMoose
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Re: Soldering onto PCBs

Post by MentholMoose »

Trump111 wrote:I thought about exposing the copper traces and connecting the sections with a wire, but they are way too thin and condensed there.
It is probably possible with a thin enough wire (something like 30 AWG would probably do it).
Trump111 wrote:If my soldering iron is too hot, there's not much to do about it since the heat is not adjustable...
What wattage is the iron? If it is a higher wattage (like 30w), you can still use it but have to do things much faster to not overheat the PCB.
Trump111 wrote:Cool, looks like the Y button is still alive at the front.
That's good. :)
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