[NEW] Share your installation Tips and Tricks !

U

uXlider

New Member
Hi there,

it`s my second viking installation so far (only ordered 2 chips so far ... at this point ... thanks to ben for the deal)
but even on my second installation i`ve discovered a better way to do the installation.
so i thought about to make a thread where you can share your "viking installation experience".

I thinks it`s a pretty good idea to share any tips and tricks for the viking installation.
This way we will get a "easy way installation" who everybody will get benefits from and
it will make the D.I.Y. more attractiv for the people that actually think it`s difficult to
D.I.Y but don`t have the money to buy a ready soldered one.
Otherwise the very postive side-effect is ... a bigger community ... many ideas ... maybe better tools for the viking ...


So please share your Tips and Tricks ...



So here are mine Tips and Tricks so far (based on CG2 sleeper installation):

In my opinion for the most people it`s very dangerous and difficult to solder directly to the traces.
But it`s also very difficult to prepare the solder points (holes) with x-acto knife.
So i found a very good Tool to prepare the board for soldering to the holes.

I call it "fiberglass-rubber" i don`t know if there exits a specific word in english ... sorry im a german :(
it`s a "rubber" with fiberglass which is a pretty good tool to remove the "board isolation" very quickly .
In combination with a mini fluxer you will get very good results.
Just scratch the isolation off and take a little bit flux on the holes ... voila.


"The Preparation Tools":



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The Results:




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Prepare the viking chip before you attach it to the controller board,
because this will make life much easier ;)



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Ready soldered board:




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To fix the "open" traces and hold the wires in place i prefer nail varnish ... yes nail varnish,
just rip it off your wife, girlfriend however it will do a pretty good job ;)



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Fixed traces and wires :





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To get a better chip fitting i prefer to cut the edges of the places shown below.
This way your chip will get a good basement and the shell will close completely.



Better fitting :




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These are my Tips and Tricks so far ... so please share yours ;)


[sorry for bad english]
 
Fredrow

Fredrow

Active Member
Ahhh..... You stole my color of GREEN that I love to use when I leave a post!!!! :evil: :arrow: :mrgreen: :arrow: :eek: :arrow: :lol:



Well here is a link to a instruction set that I follow/came up with for doing the prep work to the Viking360 board and placing it onto the controllers PCB. I wish I had more time so I can finish that darn D.I.Y instruction page I kind kind of started, well here is the link for it http://www.east-seattle-electronics.com/Viking360_chip_prep_work.html


Also here is another sweet tip for all you D.I.Y peeps, I didn't really like the "fiberglass-rubber" prep-pen. Einar and myself tried these pens out when back when Viking360 first started up and we both didn't really love the pen. I don't know how Einar feels about it now, but I still do not like it. I wasn't a big fan of having little slivers of fiber glass everywhere around my work area.

But I didn't manage to come up with a pretty cool trick myself to remove the solder mask. I use 220-GRIT Sand Paper. It really works like a champ, you do not have to press hard at all just graze the surface of the PCB until the copper landing becomes nice a shinny.

When Viking360 first started up, I must have destroyed like 10 controller PCB, (you would have to ask Einar for the exact amount) I managed to muff-up each board by using the excato knife to remove the solder mask on the PCB. One key part was doing it right on the Via holes, because once you damage the VIA hole you are screwed. The VIA hole is almost impossible to repair after it has been muffed-up by using the exacto knife. At this point is when Einar started to use the exacto knife right on the traces, one; because it was easier to do it on the traces then it was on the VIA hole with the exacto knife, and two; if you messed up and accidentally cut the trace with the exacto knife, it was an easy fix compared to the VIA holes. Then shortly after that I started to use the 220-GRIT sand-paper, and since then I have had not troubles at all. Also when using the 220-GRIT Sand-paper you can do it right on the VIA holes which gives you a bigger surface to solder to, then in return you will be left with a much stronger solder joint than if you just soldered straight to the trace.

 
Itz CHARLEY

Itz CHARLEY

New Member
i dont solder viking chips but i have done 8 pin chips.

I think the best tip for any solder is to put solder on all of the points you are trying to solder. If you do this you're not trying to hold a wire, solder, and a soldering iron.

An even beter idea is to do one wire at a time, and tape it right next to the solder point so it doesn't move. I do both of thes things so i can steady my iron with both hands.

and if you dont want to get burned alot, make putting your soldering iron down to do other things such as taping, a habit. It is a bad thing when you burn yourself so bad you can't feel it.

And you may want to try stripping wire with your teeth. It sounds dumb but it is very easy to do because you can tell when you have bitten through all the insulation.
 
U

uXlider

New Member
Fredrow said:

Also here is another sweet tip for all you D.I.Y peeps, I didn't really like the "fiberglass-rubber" prep-pen. Einar and myself tried these pens out when back when Viking360 first started up and we both didn't really love the pen.

Click to expand...

but anyway the "fiberglass-rubber" does a good job for me ... look at the pictures ... also it`s pretty easy to handle with.
i never tried the sand paper ... but maybe next time i will try it ;)
 
Fredrow

Fredrow

Active Member
Uhhhh........ Yeah I looked at your pictures and read your write up before I left my first post on this topic.....

But thanks for telling me again to look at your pictures!!!! I am very impressed!!!!!! :!: :arrow: :?: :arrow: :idea: :arrow: :lol:
 
xDXxAscension

xDXxAscension

New Member
Nice write up.

I plan on getting a DIY kit before long, I found an old controller shell laying around of course I'll probably just buy a new controller to do it with. Nail Varnish, I would have never thought of using that.
 
Itz CHARLEY

Itz CHARLEY

New Member
Fredrow I bought some 220 grit sandpaper today and it works pretty well at getting that solder mask off, but it gets a larger area that I want it to when I use it. is there some special technique to just getting the mask off of the vias, not everything around it?
 
Fredrow

Fredrow

Active Member
Itz CHARLEY said:
Fredrow I bought some 220 grit sandpaper today and it works pretty well at getting that solder mask off, but it gets a larger area that I want it to when I use it. is there some special technique to just getting the mask off of the vias, not everything around it?
Click to expand...


I cut the sand paper into a small square then fold it a couple times in one direction. This will give you a smaller surface on the sandpaper to work with.
The control on this is not perfect, so sometime it will remove the solder-mask around the VIA hole too, but this is not a big problem at all. When you go to solder a wire to the VIA hole, the solder will just flow on the VIA and will not spill out onto other areas creating a solder bridge.
 
Itz CHARLEY

Itz CHARLEY

New Member
ok as long as the solder doesnt bridge easily im fine. I got a desoldering iron this weekend anyways. One time i accidentally bridged two pins on an 8 pin and it took me like 30 minutes to get it off. I am surprised that the chip didnt melt because it got so hot from all my attemppts that it burned me.

Yes ps3 you could do that but I fold a 2 inch square once and use the folded edge to rub on the board. Besides the vias are so small it would barely make a difference.
 
modded matt

modded matt

Active Member
I personally use a fiberglass pen, I love it, the key is to keep the fiber brushes very short like almost not even out of the pen.
I run all my wires to the back of the controller near where the chip is going to sit gluing them in place neatly as I go.
I then lay the viking chip in place where it goes on the controller. I modified gameroms picture to reflect how the chip actually sits on the controller. this helped me land all the wires properly. the pic is old but you get the drift.
Untitled.jpg
 
Ben

Ben

Member
modded matt said:
I personally use a fiberglass pen, I love it, the key is to keep the fiber brushes very short like almost not even out of the pen.
I run all my wires to the back of the controller near where the chip is going to sit gluing them in place neatly as I go.
I then lay the viking chip in place where it goes on the controller. I modified gameroms picture to reflect how the chip actually sits on the controller. this helped me land all the wires properly. the pic is old but you get the drift.
Untitled.jpg
Click to expand...

Haven't seen that chip in a while, thats the old chip. I glue the board in first, and then wire it up..
 
modded matt

modded matt

Active Member
yea its the origional, well the origional. but it is orinted the way it would sit when glued to the mobo. all the other pics are shown with it turned so the pointed end is up, which is slightly confusing
 
odingalt

odingalt

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Flux flux flux. I can't even get an install done unless I use paste flux. I use no-clean lead-free in a tube. "No clean" flux can be cleaned using rubbing alcohol and a q-tip. (No clean doesn't actually mean you don't have to clean it off, it just means that you don't need special noxious solvents).

Don't forget to put electrical tape on the 'back' side of the mod chip so it doesn't short out against the microsoft circuit board. I double up the tape so the mod chip will stick to the circuit board while I'm working with it.

We use a "Pro Edge" knife to scrape back the traces carefully (Pro Edge is the same thing as Xacto Knife). I bought a little tube that had various size and shape blades until I found one that worked ergonomically well for me, my hands and my work station. I do my best to ONLY expose the trace I need to solder to. If you nick a nearby trace that's fine but if you're able to only expose the trace you need, you'll reduce the chances of bridging or shorting out your connections when you solder the wire on. I know Fredrow uses like a sandpaper. I did try the fiberglass brush but the one I bought seem to make a mess with little fiberglass bristle leftovers going everywhere, plus I kept exposing more than just the trace I wanted to solder to, so I gave up on it. You can get the fiberglass brushes off E-Bay if you search hard, I found one guy that had like 3-4 on sale. I think it was a German brand or something.

Once I have the traces exposed, I always pre-tin the traces first. Flux, solder, clean. THEN I apply a second coat of flux, then I solder the wire on. This really makes a good connection if you have the patience to basically solder each trace two times. Of course then I have to clean again with q-tip and rubbing alcohol one last time after the wire is soldered on.

Make sure you clean your soldering tip. We have all sorts of stuff to keep the tip clean: sponges, the metal bristley brass brush thingy, we have a little machine with brass brushes that turn and buff the solder tip, we also use that leaded tip-tinner. There are a variety of ways but if you only have to pick one then go with a plain old sponge with some water in it. Not too much water, wet the whole sponge then squeeze out most of the exess water, leave just enough water in the bottom of the dish that it will keep the sponge at the same dampness for about an hour. If you get too much water into the sponge, the sponge can't realy get the bad stuff off your soldering iron for you.

I can't think of any other major tips. Those are the basics. A little patience in using the right (clean and well kept) tools for the job will save you a lot of heartache in the long run.
 
Itz CHARLEY

Itz CHARLEY

New Member
About cleaning the tip of the iron, I use a wet towel to clean it and I also regularly tin it. but my tip is starting to bend because it is cheap and I may need a replacement tip. Is it safe to solder with my tip even though it is a little bent and dirty?
 
odingalt

odingalt

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Well I could be careful eventually the tip will come off maybe and burn you or burna hole in something or start a fire when it finally falls off lol. Check around for replacement tips, even for my $200 Hakko iron the replacement tips are like $10, on a Radio Shack iron you might be able to get tips <$5.
 
Itz CHARLEY

Itz CHARLEY

New Member
yeah I saw one for 3$ at radio shack when I bought the Iron. I had I tip break off an iron before so I will definitely get a replacement before that happens.
 
modded matt

modded matt

Active Member
dont tin your iron too much, cheap tips can be adversly affected by the chemicals in the tinning solution. if you clean it off on a sponge every time its used you should rarely need to use the tining solution
 
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