soldering help please

[sublime90]

ok i have my messiah 2 installed for about 3 years no problems ever (i installed it myself) now this 1 wire has come undone and simply will not stay! i solder it and its on good.....then i play a backed up game, everythings fine, i turn the console off the next day my copies wont load....that wire has come un soldered!!! this has happened like 5 days in a row now and its getting on my nerves, i used flux and everything. should i just discard that wire and put a new wire on? i need some help here because it simply wont stay soldered now, its just that 1 wire!!

[lufcfan]

Replace the wire, but scrape the point with a fibre-glass pen - or a razor blade (but be very careful w/ the latter option)

Use LOTS of Flux, tin your wire, place a little solder on the end of your iron and hold the wire to the point. Place the iron on the wire for a few seconds and give it a soft tug to check everything's in place properly. Then stick the wire down, reassemble and test.

Hope that helps...
LUFCfan

[sublime90]

ok i'll try that. it always seems like its going to work, i used LOTS of flux before and was generous with the solder and i tugged it and it wasnt going anywhere, then when i turn it on it had somehow come disconnected, now i have to search for the wire to replace it with, i just wish it would stay! lol, how do i tin the wire, do you mean coat it with solder? i have a 15w soldering iron and sometimes i think it gets so hot that it doesnt work, i tried soldering it and the solder just sticks to the iron itself, i never really had soldering problems before now this has to happen

[Warlock]

Or if you have enough extra length on the wire you can just cut the tip off. Your probably not getting the point clean which is why you are getting a poor bond.

[lufcfan]

Don't use too much solder as that can cause as many problems as having too little.

As for tinning - yes just coat the wire so a little 'blob' is on the end of the wire.

If you're having problems with solder sticking to the tip - just clean the tip. To do this, melt a blob of solder onto the iron tip and roll it around in the blob, or use some tip tinner/cleaner if you have some laying around.

[Warlock]

Originally Posted by sublime90

how do i tin the wire, do you mean coat it with solder

Exactly. I use tip cleaner when i solder. Just dip the hot iron tip in it and It keeps the solder from sticking to the tip of the iron

[sublime90]

yeah i have tinner and i just used it but no luck, i think i need to clean the surface in trying to solder (like you guys said to) because of the fact its not sticking it must be dirty, this is causing me such a headache, its the 1 wire with the smallest point to solder to, i'll eventually get it

[lufcfan]

yeah - if the point aint clean it can cause mega problems when trying to get stuff to bond...

[sublime90]

heres a little update guys, i cleaned up the area im sodlering to, lightly with a razor blade, use a small amount of solder got it to stick!, it booted up a backed up game so it looks like all is well, the true test will come tomorrow wether or not it actually stayed connected....because it would always stay connected for about a day then the next day it was re soldering time. so tomorrow will be the big test

[lufcfan]

Great news mate!

Hopefully everything will be fine tomorrow. I have my fingers crossed for you

Keep us posted

[sublime90]

will do and thanks for the helpful hints and quick replies

[lufcfan]

No probs mate

[sublime90]

it happened again, i didnt even play any games last night i just powered it on and watched it boot then shut it off, tried it tonight...what do you know the wire came disconnected again! this is really ticking me off now, tomorrow im replacing that wire with a brand new one and really giving it a good cleaning and it just better stay i have no idea how its coming disconected when its not even on, it never stays on for more than a day now wich is really weird