Game Gear cap replacement?

[aaron]

how difficult is a full-on cap kit replacement for the game gear? i have like 4 GG's with various issues and was wondering if i should try my hand at it. i have very very little soldering experience but i thought maybe this would be a bit of good practice. anyone have experience doing this?

[Hobie-wan]

I have the parts to do several, but I haven't gotten to mine yet. It won't be hard, but the circuit board is cramped so you'll need a decently fine tip. Lots of other components nearby to watch out for. But these aren't tiny surface mount caps that need replacing.

[nightrnr]

The hard part for me is actually getting the old caps off.
Sometimes they are so corroded that there is nothing left to solder the new caps onto.

Also, There are like 4 or 5 different models of Game Gears, so make sure that you know which caps to order (but it mostly boils down to 2 basic sets of caps).
http://members.optusnet.com.au/eviltim/ ... epair.html

In any case, I say go for it. Even if you mess up one, you still have some extras to get right. ( I'd practice on one that has less hope of fixing though, like if there's a missing section of the screen or lots of dead pixels).

It's a great 1st project though (was for me at least). Good luck!

[Onyxthecat]

I've done 4 GG's so far with no issues. Just take your time and get a decent soldering iron or its gonna be a major pita.

[Ziggy]

i have very very little soldering experience but i thought maybe this would be a bit of good practice.

Why not hone your soldering skills on something worthless, so if you mess up it's no big deal. Old broken electronics like an alarm clock, old CD player or radio, etc.

The hard part for me is actually getting the old caps off.
Sometimes they are so corroded that there is nothing left to solder the new caps onto.

If a solder pad is damaged, there's an easy fix. Just follow the trace from the damaged solder pad, where ever it goes, solder to that instead.

[aaron]

thanks for the responses, guys. i'll be looking for a good soldering iron soon. any suggestions are welcome, though i'm sure they've been posted on this forum before.

[Ziggy]

Despite me soldering a LOT, I've actually been looking for a "good" iron as well. My hobby, and profession, is a good excuse for me to spend a lot on an iron, but alas, I have no money. So naturally I was looking for the best 'bang for your buck.'

Here's what I plan to get:

It got great reviews on Amazon (100 reviews with a 5 star average rating). There's a lot to like about it. For starters, I like how it displays temperature in degrees (both F and C) and not just levels of hotness. For example, this cheap Weller station just has the numbers 1-5 which isn't very useful when you care to know the actually temp.

That cheap Weller station isn't all bad tho. It's actually what I use at work because my boss bought it before I worked there, and most people are too naive to know any better. It works well enough for me to use it "professionally" but I honestly would rather be using something better. If you're gonna spend $40 on it, I would recommend getting something else. I know the Hakko is roughly double the price, but it's worth it for me. Worth it for you? Well that depends how much you think you'll be using it. You might not be able to justify spending that much if you don't plan to use it very often.

Then there's this one:

Never heard of that brand, but it has an almost 5 star rating with 90 reviews. The only thing I really don't like about it is the digital temp screen, it only displays C and not F. Other than that, it looks good. Looks like it would be really comfortable to hold. And it's price is right smack in the middle of the Hakko and Weller stations that I've linked.

If you're looking to not spend that much, you can almost get away with anything. Solder stations are better because you can control the heat, but if you're not planning on using it that much, this might be something you're really concerned with. You can always just start off with something cheaper, and upgrade later if you want.

I've used the Weller 25w and 40w irons, they're not bad.





You can get them in hardware stores. They have a variety of tip sizes (different shaped tips for different jobs). They're cheap, and they'll get the job done.

Or you can go to Radio Shack and pick up one of their irons:

http://www.radioshack.com/family/index. ... nSession=1

They have different irons: 15w, 25w, 40w, and even a 60w now. They're cheaper, but I would recommend going with the Weller. I feel like the Wellers have a better heat recovery time, and the temp stays more consistent. The Radio Shit irons only have one tip per iron, so you don't get a selection of different shapes.

So, if you wanna spend the money, a station is a better choice. Even if it's the cheap Weller station, it'll still be better than a stand alone iron. Temperature control is pretty important. Also, tip shape and size. I know the Weller and Hakko stations have a wide variety of tips, as well as the stand alone Weller irons. So this is something you should definitely consider.

Another thing I'll point out, you should pick up some tools for desoldering as well. I recommend this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... esoldering

It's cheap and you can do a MUCH better job at desoldering than you could with a desolder bulb. But you might wanna get type of solder sucker anyway. And a desoldering wick is also something you'll want.

[aaron]

(a bunch of helpful, thoughtful information)

wow, thanks! i'll see what i can come up with. i'd honestly like to get a good bearing on soldering because there are lots of little repair things i'd like to do on my systems, but i feel like i've always been prohibited by my lack of experience and proper tools. seriously, thanks again!

[Ziggy]

No problem. Also, check out this video if you haven't seen it before:

You might have seen me post this suggestion in other threads before, but if you haven't, I always recommend to people to practice on junk components. I know I said this above, but I didn't mention my usually suggestion of using project "perf" board. You go to Radio Shack (or Amazon) and pick up some perforated PCBs (aka "perf" or project board) and some cheap components (like resistors, capacitors, small timing ICs, etc) to practice your soldering. Using a perf board and some cheap components, you can practice soldering and desoldering countless times. And if you damage any components... who cares? They're just cheap generic components. This is in contrast to practicing soldering on a video game console.

My last tip for you right now, and for any one else for that matter, is to never call anything broken. Broken is a loose term, I like to think of it as a temporary situation and rarely a permanent condition. If you solder enough times, you will eventually break something while trying to fix it or mod it. From my experiences, when you break something there's usually always a way to fix it. So I'm just letting you know, don't ever throw anything in the garbage.

[aaron]

No problem. Also, check out this video if you haven't seen it before:

You might have seen me post this suggestion in other threads before, but if you haven't, I always recommend to people to practice on junk components. I know I said this above, but I didn't mention my usually suggestion of using project "perf" board. You go to Radio Shack (or Amazon) and pick up some perforated PCBs (aka "perf" or project board) and some cheap components (like resistors, capacitors, small timing ICs, etc) to practice your soldering. Using a perf board and some cheap components, you can practice soldering and desoldering countless times. And if you damage any components... who cares? They're just cheap generic components. This is in contrast to practicing soldering on a video game console.

My last tip for you right now, and for any one else for that matter, is to never call anything broken. Broken is a loose term, I like to think of it as a temporary situation and rarely a permanent condition. If you solder enough times, you will eventually break something while trying to fix it or mod it. From my experiences, when you break something there's usually always a way to fix it. So I'm just letting you know, don't ever throw anything in the garbage.

i like your attitude, zig.