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Hello. I've recently started soldering, specifically wanting to repair the joysticks on several Playstation 4 controllers I have, but I also want to get good at electronic repair in general.

Right now I've busted a board, and managed to desolder and resolder a stick but the controller doesn't turn on anymore. I'm doing this all by myself, and I think I'm following good advice (ventilation, good iron tip, using flux etc...).

But there are many variables, and a lot of experts have different opinions on stuff. Does anyone know good resources that I could use for getting good and making less mistakes ? Thanks.

Comments

JohnFen•2d ago

You don't need any real educational resources to get good at soldering. Any random primer will do. It's genuinely a simple task that doesn't require a lot of explanation or have a lot of tricks.

What gets you good at soldering is just practice. Solder a lot. A fun and easy way to do this is to pick up those cheap ($5 or less) electronic solder-it-yourself kits and do a bunch of them. Include ones that contain small surface mount parts.

You can also practice desoldering on them, or pick up broken electronics and desolder parts from those.

> managed to desolder and resolder a stick but the controller doesn't turn on anymore.

There's a chance to practice repair (which is a completely different topic from soldering)! Odds are very high the problem is that you've made an unwanted solder bridge or you have a cold solder joint.

brudgers•1d ago

Or both.

ylynbuilds•1d ago

Seconding the practice-kit thing, but for the dead DS4 specifically: before you go hunting the joint you reworked, check whether you lifted a pad or cooked a via near the stick. On those boards the stick pins sit right next to thin traces and a hot iron parked too long will pull the pad up with the pin. Easiest check is continuity from each stick pin to wherever the trace lands, and check 3.3V is present with it plugged in - if the rail is gone you probably bridged something, not broken the stick.

Other thing that got me: no-clean flux residue plus a cheap iron with a bad ground can look like a dead board when it's just leakage. Clean it with IPA and a brush and retest before desoldering anything else.

mikewarot•1d ago

My late friend Ward was a strong supporter of Build-a-Blinkie[1] and their mission to teach people to solder by doing.

My friend Jim's been soldering since the 1950s. We solder a lot of things with leads, for this, his method is to get each item to be joined tinned, then use solder as a mechanical joint. Melt in the solder, remove the iron but hold them together, then once cool, tug on the joint to make sure it holds.

[1] https://build-a-blinkie.org/events.php

cottonseed•1d ago

Get a soldering practice kit. If you're doing surface mount, get a SMD one. For next level practice, checkout azonenberg's rework challenge: https://github.com/azonenberg/reworkctf. He also has some YouTube video about it.

half_fish•1d ago

This gives me flashbacks to the last time I tried to replace the microswitches in my mouse...

After I finished, the right click felt like it was 'glued down' or 'stuck'...

I never heard the click sound again...

Yep, it was broken.

I've decided never to solder anything ever again...

But good luck to you!

roland35•1d ago

With the correct tools and materials soldering can be very easy or with the wrong tools very difficult!

There are probably some great videos on soldering on YouTube, luckily it's a mature field so not much has changed!

Some random tips...

Lead solder is easier to work with, but with lead free make sure you are using the right flux and temperature.

It helps to preheat things as much as you can. You want to have a hot pad and hot lead, then add solder to that. As opposed to putting a blob of solder on the iron and trying to apply it like glue.

Too much heat can damage the board or part of course.

Use the right tips. Fatter tips can help more evenly apply heat.

If there is a lot of copper like a ground plane, it can take longer to heat.

Watch for cold joints!

Just overall think about getting the parts you want solder on hot, touch solder to it, remove heat.

Don't eat it!

zachlatta•1d ago

For teens ages 13-18, Hack Club is running a free grant program to help kids learn to solder! They can sign up and get a free kit from us at https://solder.hackclub.com/

sandreas•1d ago

While soldering is not that hard, different tasks require different tools. Most of them can be from very cheap to very expensive. As a beginner I'd recommend the following:

A small USB-C soldering iron supported by IronOS[1], e.g. Pinecil vor TS100

A solid stand with brass wool

A KU soldering tip (looks a bit like a knife) for good heat transfer, too small tips are not good

Thin (<=0.5mm) solder wire

No clean flux (not a pen)

Isopropyl alcohol

Solder fume extractor (DIY is OK, if you're building it right) is good for your health

Solder mat (blue silicone)

Multimeter (not too cheap, around 20 bucks)

Self closing tweezers

Normal tweezers

A wirecutter (blue 5 bucks from ali express)

Manual Desoldering pump (engineer ss03 or a clone for cheaper)

Most important is cleaning (alcohol, then flux) and heat transfer (tin your tip, your pads or your wire before putting things together to ensure good heat transfer). Cleanup nicely and tin your tip after soldering to prevent corrosion.

Optional but helpful for more professional tasks:

Hot air station

Auto Desoldering pump (ZD-8965)

Adjustable power supply (fnirsi usbc, 30 bucks)

Oscilloscope (mini beginner with display Cost around 30 bucks)

Capton tape

Solid Copper wire

1: https://github.com/Ralim/IronOS

sandreas•1d ago

Oh I forgot... a big magnifier glass (8x to 15x) with an LED light is way cheaper than a microscope and very helpful for small parts soldering (SMD) :-)

radicalbyte•16m ago

I have a $40 head-mounted thing with integrated light and it's awesome for modern boards.

whycome•24m ago

tosmatos•3h ago

Thanks for the tips everyone, I'm motivated now !

radicalbyte•27m ago

You can buy a whole lot of practise kits on Amazon. Start with push-through components and move on to surface-mount if you fancy that.

I'd recommend checking out one of the many youtube channels who do repairs for an idea of the tools and stuff you need. Many have links and most use similar tools.

For $300 in tools from AliExpress you can have a pretty complete setup.

neom•16m ago

This guy does a lot of videos about what you're trying to do, and explains what he is doing and why: https://www.youtube.com/@JoeyDoesTech

scarecrowbob•12m ago

I'll also echo the "practice kit" thing, especially for desoldering- solder stuff on, take it off, do it agin.

Also, good tools and supplies- kester solder and liquid flux.

It took me quite a while to figure out that my preferences are for desoldering braid that's been soaked with liquid flux- if I use a manual pump it's going to be rough. I am hoping to get a hot air station at some point but I haven't been doing enough work to justify it over my ancient hakko.