Hey Vince, when you using wick, put flux on place you wicking, it makes this process 100 times easier. Flux helps to reduce melting point of solder oxide layers + it's helps to create faster bound between wick and solder, same as in regular soldering.
I recently soldered a led christmas tree circuit board kit and loved every minute of it and am planning to get some more kits to solder. Seeing you solder made me want to get back into soldering again. Used to do it as a job nany years ago.
Loving the intro music. I’ve got so addicted to this channel I’ve been repairing all sorts of gadgetry from around the house. New tools and electronic components delivered regularly. I now feel I am on the downward slope heading towards buying tat off ebay. I’d forgotten how much fun it was so a big thank you to My Mate Vince for reigniting my enthusiasm for getting stuff working again.
After soldering, leave the solder on the iron to shield the tip from oxidizing. Clean the tip when you are ready to solder again and it will be nicely tinned.
I've been watching your vids for about that year and a half time and can say with certainty that your skills are so much more refined now! Been great to watch the journey. Well done! I bet you've inspired many to keep at it
Vince. You are an inspiration. Your dedication to fixing these items is awesome and I like best that even if you do fix or break something you still try to diagnose what was wrong in the first place. I try to fix literally anything that breaks around the house now because of you, your building confidence with harder tasks has inspired me to do the same. There are projects that i would not have attempted before i found you. Thank you.
WiiU is fantastic but arrived a tad too late but an obvious stepping stone to the switch and the library is good considering standout titles have been ported to the switch and currently shops like cex are selling wiiU titles at very reasonable prices and most are well worth picking up
Excellent Vince! Less solder under the centre part is always a good idea! Love the bending of the iron tip =D Glad you went with chip quik flux! It's fantastic stuff (as I keep saying to people lol). All you need now is to find a source for those replacement connectors! They are hell to deal with when the flaps come off on things like that =/
Hi Vince. In my very cheap USB Microscope I screw the lens fully and it's add me like 30 cm of work area! Video about upgrade is called "2MP USB Digital Microscope {follow up distance adjustment}" and it's really work, maybe your build is similar so you can do that also. If you get some focus adjustment knob turn it on maximum - when the lens is all the way down to the table ( in my case lens come out off the body ) - then gently try to screw it - if it's turn, that mean that you got thread, so try to screw it all the way in. Lens looks like black plastic cone inside that transparent cover around LED lights. Hope it will help you :)
Vince would you ever do a video on what you would need to do repairs, list a list of things you use such a soldering iron and solder and where you buy from
Lol me too! Original Xbox, PS3, PS2, Wii, Wii U and 2 PSP! All have been repaired / cleaned / modded thanks to the confidence gained from watching Vince :)
@@WaynesWorld69 Nice, It is amazing how cheap you can pick this stuff up now days. I got lucky with the PS3, it was a 60gb model and plays PS2 games as well.
@@zubberification sure is! My PS3 was $40 / 80gb model. Upgraded it to 500gb, softmodded and running Retroarch. My PSP has become my favorite console - $50 and used every day. Absolutely love it. 20 years after release I own the consoles I always wanted lol.
@@WaynesWorld69 I also paid $50 for my PSP 3000, but that is AU dollars. I missed owning a PSP, they are a great little system and personally think is the perfect size to hold. I would love to get a dock for it, but they seem to be rare now days.
@@zubberification dammit mine was $50AUD for a 1000! Still looking for a 3000 in that price range. Have a PS Vita arriving later this week and another PSP1000 needing a new analog stick sitting on my workbench. I have a charging dock for my PSP but that's all it does. Wanted a PSP when they came out and finally have one!
Leaded solder is the only kind to use. I work for the DOD in the US and we did extensive study on solder and discovered high failure rates from non leaded solder which developed ‘whiskers’ over time and bridged contacts. We now fluoroscope all circuit boards and replace all non leaded solder connections. Non leaded solder is no longer used in military equipment.
Yeah, having the same problem with my friend's Wii U Gamepad, gonna have to order a new motherboard cause the U18 chip was sold out on the only site that was selling it. Great video as always Vince 👍
On typical integrated circuits, the exposed pad is usually ground, but on power components like transistors it is often the only contact for one of the power terminals, which isn't necessarily ground! We used an "ideal diode" component on one of our boards and if I remember correctly the exposed pad was actually the power in , and the ground connection was just through the pins on the side.
thanks to your videos i am going to attempt a soldering repair on my car stereo myself. just soldering in some new bulbs but will be satisfying and hopefully stop my ocd on the fact that they dont work lol.
I was struggling with the same plastic hinges on 3DS and 2DS but found a way to get them back. So what I do, I lift the contacts up from the motherboard and push the plastic in a way that would look like it is fully open. So those clipping parts first. After you close it, contacts will bend down and that is it. 4 test - all successful.
Good to know the chipquik tacky gel flux is good! I was disappointed with their liquid flux. For gel/paste flux I've always used the MG Chemicals 8341 that they sell on Amazon in the US, but I don't know if you can buy it as easily overseas.
Oh sorry for the comment spam, but something to consider: On rare occasions I've actually tinned the pad on the bottom of the chip itself rather than the pad on the board. It's a pain though so I only do that when it's really being uncooperative. I think this way the solder will go molten quicker since it's only thermally attached to the chip which has much less thermal mass. It might also make it easier to sit on the board sometimes.
Congratulations on another successful repair. Nintendo has stopped claiming videos as of a few months ago, so you don't have to worry about showing gameplay anymore. They ended their partner program as well, so people are free to monetize gameplay videos of Nintendo games now.
Solder wick/braid does come with some flux on it but I find it's never enough and I want to add more. I've also heard one person recommend having a little bit of solder on your iron tip so that it makes better thermal contact with the braid--also, touching your iron tip to the solder and the braid instead of putting the braid in between the iron tip and the solder. Still haven't mastered solder wick though, I often find myself struggling to use it successfully.
A few sheets of wet kitchen roll folded flat and wring it out so it's not dripping with water. (Home made solder iron cleaner) glass blowers use same principle to mould glass Don't press down on chips when placing on boards. If you find you're having to do that then you've far too much solder on the ground plane to make contact around the chip. Before taking chips off the board place a bead of leaded solder around the chip Ideally the board should be heated before desoldering/reflowing. Doesn't have to be baking hot just enough to minimise flex and damage
The NOR flash probably contains the bootloader. It could be that one chip has a newer version of the bootloader than the other and the mismatch between the bootloader and main software works in one direction but not the other (e.g. it's backward compatible but not forward compatible or vice-versa). In general Serial NOR Flash is most commonly used to store firmware for chips (including bootloaders for CPUs, the BIOS/EFI on PCs etc) and configuration for FPGAs, so if you find one that's most likely what it's being used for, especially if it's SPI (as opposed to I2C).
the copper will dissolve through the scratches. It will work, for a while. But it will dissolve. The plating is the only thing keeps tips from dissolving.
funnily the handhelds of nintendo have always been region free ... up until the 3ds, which is region locked :/ ... (and some DSi games, but that is only a handful)
yet another brilliant fix vince, since i started watching you, youve inspired me to have a go at fixing faults on things. so keep up the good work and thank you for the awesome content
Vince, one more thing to consider about flux is if it glows in UV. It allows you to easily check if you cleaned all flux or not. Also, sometimes you can flash UV light at a board and see if it was touched by anyone before you and if yes, then where exactly. It is not a 100% guarantee (some fluxes do not glow in UV, some people clean flux well) but it takes only a few seconds and does nothing wrong while can provide you with useful info. Obviously, it is not a super important thing, but a nice thing to have in my opinion.
i don't think Nintendo is claiming videos anymore. yes, they did that a lot until somewhere last year (dont know when exactly), but what they said basically is that if you play their games and have commentary over the game your video will not be claimed
Would a dab of hot glue perhaps hold the ribbon cable in? It wouldn't necessarily be permanent, but it would hold the cable in it's place. Just a thought!
I had guessed that chip had an exposed pad on the bottom by the difficulty you were having. For chips with contacts on the bottom I have so far gotten the best results by using a nozzle that's close to the size of the chip (which it looks like you did) and just pointing it straight down on the chip and holding it as close as I can without touching. By the time you get the solder on the exposed pad to flow, the leads will likely have melted as well. Ideally you want to concentrate your heat on the leads, but given the choice, it's definitely better to heat the chip than the board. Worst case you overheat the one chip instead of the board and all of the components nearby. And with an exposed pad or BGA/LGA chips, you really don't have a choice as the solder joints are inaccessible. Chip packages are designed to withstand soldering temperatures and you will melt the solder well before the chip heats up to a dangerous level, as that black epoxy they're made of is not a very good heat conductor so the heat doesn't easily reach the actual chip inside. If you want to get really fancy you can get hot air nozzles that are shaped to direct air at the leads of a specific chip package type, but I've never had the luxury of using one and I've gotten by without just fine. Probably better for high-volume work though. Also be aware that with a big exposed pad like that on the bottom, the surface tension will make it difficult to lift the chip up as you would with a normal QFP or SOIC, you will likely have to twist or slide it. This can be problematic when there are other components nearby as you might knock them out of place. I've so far mostly worked with a particular SOIC chip with an exposed pad, and I've found I can grab the sides with a pair of broad tweezers, give it a little twist back and forth and lift it up.
Great video Vince. I knew you could do it. You should join a Rossmann board repair stream sometime and chat with us. I'm sure Louis would love to have you in a stream sometime. Great community. Another channel you may also want to check out is Paul Daniels. He also does a lot of repair. HE is also the person who wrote the Flexbv software that the repair community uses. Once again great video and keep them coming please!
Soldering iron tips are generally plated, and if the plating is compromised, the tip won't last as long. You probably cracked the plating by bending the tip like that, but if it's a cheap tip and you don't mind it maybe not lasting as long, then it's no problem.
@@Mymatevince No problem! I'm kind of wishing I could make my own youtube videos so I could demonstrate these things instead of just writing about them haha. Maybe you should start up a discord or something for people to chat with you if you have the time, you seem like a guy I'd love to talk to.
After I made this comment I looked it up and it looks like soldering iron tips are usually copper, plated with iron or steel and then probably tinned from the factory. The iron/steel plating will definitely be harder than the copper core, and I think also that if there's a crack in the plating, over time solder will start to mix with the copper on the inside. I know with lead-free solder when the plating is compromised, you end up with your iron tip basically getting hollowed out as the solder eats away at the copper interior. I'm not sure how bad it is with lead solder though (this is why you sometimes hear people recommend *not* to use a wet sponge with lead-free). Barely related but a previous boss of mine told me that one of the things that kills electronics over time is that the solder from component leads actually starts to migrate into the copper tracks and change their properties. I'd never heard that before and it's really interesting to know.
Hi mate well done just to let you know about 12 months ago Nintendo changed there copyright infringement settings and now you can show gameplay and music from them online without the worry about being claimed anyway more to the point well done on the fix
I don't think you have to worry about Copyright claims anymore. I sometimes do gameplay videos and a few years ago they were all claimed, but the claims have been lifted since Nintendo has changed their ways to make it easier for people to release videos about their games.
When soldering a chip with an exposed pad on I find it quite difficult to do the whole thing at once with hot air reliably. I've got the video paused but maybe your luck is better than mine :) I usually tin only the exposed pad, use hot air to flow that and then go in with the iron to solder the leads on the outside. People do say you can do the whole thing at once, though, so I might just be bad at it. Seems like this would be a great candidate for solder paste though!
It always looks simple when following the professionals. I have tried changing a QFN IC on a PS4. After four times (4!) I have not once seen that little jump. But I got lucky in the fourth time, and it works anyhow. :)
This is what Louis Rossman does... Just enough on the pad and the solder will wick up the leads when drag soldering along the sides. Flux will help the solder flow. But pros are pros :)
Awsome work! This is my favorit console (have no switch) but a ps4. Do anny one have anny sugestion how to clean a wiiU screen? Is it ipa or just soapy water?
Ian H it’s technically not emulation. The Wii U has most parts from the original Wii, and the original Wii is just a beafed up GameCube. Idk why Nintendo didn’t make a disc drive to take the small discs cus that’s all they had to do, would’ve improved sales dramatically
Probably works great but acetone is much more dangerous. If you get it in your eye it can cause permanent damage very quickly. I have heard that ethanol (either just high-proof vodka/rectified spirit or denatured alcohol/methylated spirits) is better than IPA and not any more dangerous. What I usually do if I *really* want to clean it is heat the board, dump a bunch of IPA on it and scrub, then quickly rinse it off with more IPA. Heating the board makes the flux residue dissolve more easily but because IPA evaporates so quickly you've got to be fast.
Hi Vince, first of all: Great video as always, love your british accent 🗣! I‘ve got a question: you‘re using some kind of small (grey?) notebook (or convertible?) in your videos, showing how much you paid for your „trying to fix“ items. I‘d like to know which brand/model it is?! Thank you and keep on fixing! 👍🏻 greetings from 🇩🇪
Hi Vince it would be really interesting if you could get something gas powered and try to fix something like Mustie1 (not eccentrically cars or motorcycles).
Hi Vince, loving the videos as ever and you've actually inspired me to get some old broken stuff back up and running. List so far is a Game Gear Cap replacement, Original Gameboy Screen Replacement/Mod and an Gameboy Advance SP IPS screen mod. I'm not selling or anything just more of a hobby. Wondered mate would it at all be possible for you to send me some recommendations of kit to get me started eg soldering iron, hot air station, work mat, magnifying glass, flux etc. Now that you've been doing these for a while I'm sure you're up on the best gear for the job! You've probably not got a tonne of spare time on your hands but any help/advise would be greatly appreciated! Keep up the good work pal!
BTW really loved a comment on a video I was watching the other day where you explained the British pronunciation of Kilogramme, Kilohms etc! Was laughing my head off at that! :-)
Thanks Paul. I will do a video on all the tools that I have been using as a lot of viewers have asked for that. I just need to set aside some time to do it. Hopefully it will be in the next month :-)
Great revisit, in the end there were some 'beginner's mistakes". Now everything works fine thanks to your new knowledge. I was looking for some flux from Amazon, (i couldn't find the real Amtech Flux)and i have found this CHIPQUIK (10cc version for 13 euros here in Italy). After this video i will buy it, thanks for your review. P.S: It's amazing to see this kind of fix. I have studied a lot of electronics theory at university but i've never seen the practise part of it. My adventure of fixing stuff starts now! Thanks!
Great vid but too much to do for someone without the tools, experience or extra motherboards to swap pieces out. It will cost more than just a replacement I think. Guess I’ll just buy a new game pad :( I believe mine has a bad u18 chip too
Great one! Vince, i have a new 3ds xl with a strange charge issue where it has to have the charger plugged in and shuts off if you remove it possible bad ic chip. Im selling it and figured you may want to make a video of it. Selling, so i dont need it back. Would you be interested in it for a video?
I replaced the motherboard in my gamepad, but when resembled, the game pad still does not charge and light does not come on. The only part I couldn't reconnect were the speakers. The original board had them soldered and new board had the connectors. Do the speakers need to be plugged in to finish circuit? Or could it be another problem such as the battery or the ac adapter?
quería preguntarte si has reparado o has topado con el fallo de la Wii U cuando el gamepad ya no carga, yo desarmé mi control(gamepad) , primero la batería, la abrí y la pila me marca 4vcd, pero en el conector que llega a la pila al medir entre los 4 pines no hay voltaje que llega del cargador, sea por el puerto en la parte superior del gamepad o sea por la base de carga, el cargador es original y entrega los 5.25vcd correctos,llegan dentro de la consola en varios circuitos,pero al conector donde se conecta la pila se supone que entre al menos 2 de ellos debería aparecer el voltaje que llega del cargador y no es así, no hay voltaje, de igual forma al desconectar el conector de la batería entre ellos(son 4 cables) no aparece ningún voltaje al abrir la pila o su carcaza(viene bien sellada) la bateria por dentro, midiendo directo en sus polos marca el voltaje correcto, está cargada, de allá pasa a una tarjetita me imagino de control o regulación de la carga(hay un micro de los que están como sellados) y bueno, de alla llegan los 4 cables q van a la consola a traves del conector,alli en esos cables no hay presencia de voltaje, en la pila sí, como 3.5vcd, bueno mi principal duda es cómo se alimenta este gamepad? hay una especie de conmutacion desde que esta conectada la bateria para que active le circuito y deje pasar el voltaje de la batería al gamepad? debería de haber presencia de voltaje en el conector o los pines donde se conecta la bateria a la gamepad? ya llevo varios días con este problema y no sé si en definitiva la gamepad ya no se puede arreglar(nota que el led de carga nunca ha vuelto a encender aún con el voltaje alimentando sea a la base o al puerto). Te agradezco de antemano si tienes alguna ayuda al respecto.Saludos.
Hello, I have a Wii U Gamepad that when I go to turn it on, the blue light comes on for a second and then fades out. No video ever shows up on the screen. Do you know what is the likely cause? What steps would you take to troubleshoot that? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Yah the video on the wiiu pad is faster than the latency of your tv, most tv's have horrid latency due to all of the post processing they do, but most popular brands have what is called a "Game mode" that turns off this extra processing, which in the end you'll loose like dynamic contrast and such.
I think I killed this on mine as I have been using a usb cable soldered to the original battery harness hooked to a portable charger and she just stopped working. Hopefully this works for me lol Thanks for the video! We will see Ohhh I haven't cleaned it yet but somehow 2 of the pins on the chip are soldered together on mine. 3and 4th ones up from 1< 😎 hopefully I can clean it off lol
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Hey Vince, when you using wick, put flux on place you wicking, it makes this process 100 times easier. Flux helps to reduce melting point of solder oxide layers + it's helps to create faster bound between wick and solder, same as in regular soldering.
I recently soldered a led christmas tree circuit board kit and loved every minute of it and am planning to get some more kits to solder. Seeing you solder made me want to get back into soldering again. Used to do it as a job nany years ago.
where did you get it? sounds like a good idea:)
Loving the intro music. I’ve got so addicted to this channel I’ve been repairing all sorts of gadgetry from around the house. New tools and electronic components delivered regularly. I now feel I am on the downward slope heading towards buying tat off ebay. I’d forgotten how much fun it was so a big thank you to My Mate Vince for reigniting my enthusiasm for getting stuff working again.
I love the classical music and the start Vince. And the video I really enjoyed it.
After soldering, leave the solder on the iron to shield the tip from oxidizing. Clean the tip when you are ready to solder again and it will be nicely tinned.
I've been watching your vids for about that year and a half time and can say with certainty that your skills are so much more refined now! Been great to watch the journey. Well done! I bet you've inspired many to keep at it
Seeing Vince get excited with an improvised solution to a pointed tip issue: NOOOOOOICE
I once put one of these grey clips on by just laying it on top of the connector and pushing it down.
Vince. You are an inspiration. Your dedication to fixing these items is awesome and I like best that even if you do fix or break something you still try to diagnose what was wrong in the first place. I try to fix literally anything that breaks around the house now because of you, your building confidence with harder tasks has inspired me to do the same. There are projects that i would not have attempted before i found you. Thank you.
I watch your videos before I got to sleep and honestly I find them very interesting
I actually enjoyed the WiiU a friend of mine when I was stationed in South Korea had one with ZombieU. So much damn fun playing that game.
Thanks for the revisit Vince. Another win and job well done.
WiiU is fantastic but arrived a tad too late but an obvious stepping stone to the switch and the library is good considering standout titles have been ported to the switch and currently shops like cex are selling wiiU titles at very reasonable prices and most are well worth picking up
Don't be afraid to use flux on the braid, Vince! It works a treat!
Excellent Vince! Less solder under the centre part is always a good idea! Love the bending of the iron tip =D Glad you went with chip quik flux! It's fantastic stuff (as I keep saying to people lol). All you need now is to find a source for those replacement connectors! They are hell to deal with when the flaps come off on things like that =/
Thanks Chris, the bent iron tip is a winner. I hate those clips, I have never been successful getting them back on!!!!
Hi Vince. In my very cheap USB Microscope I screw the lens fully and it's add me like 30 cm of work area! Video about upgrade is called "2MP USB Digital Microscope {follow up distance adjustment}" and it's really work, maybe your build is similar so you can do that also. If you get some focus adjustment knob turn it on maximum - when the lens is all the way down to the table ( in my case lens come out off the body ) - then gently try to screw it - if it's turn, that mean that you got thread, so try to screw it all the way in. Lens looks like black plastic
cone inside that transparent cover around LED lights. Hope it will help you :)
Good video man👍, I find it strangely relaxing watching you examine & fix stuff, lol.
Vince would you ever do a video on what you would need to do repairs, list a list of things you use such a soldering iron and solder and where you buy from
I'm excited if you want to work on more wii u consoles. Such a overlooked system.
glad you got it fixed I found that if haveing a tough job putting it down and comeing back to it works out best nice one.
Watching your videos have led me to buy a Xbox, PS3, Wii, Wii U and a PSP.
Lol me too! Original Xbox, PS3, PS2, Wii, Wii U and 2 PSP! All have been repaired / cleaned / modded thanks to the confidence gained from watching Vince :)
@@WaynesWorld69 Nice, It is amazing how cheap you can pick this stuff up now days. I got lucky with the PS3, it was a 60gb model and plays PS2 games as well.
@@zubberification sure is! My PS3 was $40 / 80gb model. Upgraded it to 500gb, softmodded and running Retroarch. My PSP has become my favorite console - $50 and used every day. Absolutely love it. 20 years after release I own the consoles I always wanted lol.
@@WaynesWorld69 I also paid $50 for my PSP 3000, but that is AU dollars. I missed owning a PSP, they are a great little system and personally think is the perfect size to hold. I would love to get a dock for it, but they seem to be rare now days.
@@zubberification dammit mine was $50AUD for a 1000! Still looking for a 3000 in that price range. Have a PS Vita arriving later this week and another PSP1000 needing a new analog stick sitting on my workbench. I have a charging dock for my PSP but that's all it does. Wanted a PSP when they came out and finally have one!
Leaded solder is the only kind to use. I work for the DOD in the US and we did extensive study on solder and discovered high failure rates from non leaded solder which developed ‘whiskers’ over time and bridged contacts. We now fluoroscope all circuit boards and replace all non leaded solder connections. Non leaded solder is no longer used in military equipment.
Yeah, having the same problem with my friend's Wii U Gamepad, gonna have to order a new motherboard cause the U18 chip was sold out on the only site that was selling it. Great video as always Vince 👍
Yes! Just in time. Great stuff, Vince.
Steve Speck 👍
Hi Vince. Thanks for the very helpful and informative videos. I really enjoy watching and learning from you. Keep up the good work.
On typical integrated circuits, the exposed pad is usually ground, but on power components like transistors it is often the only contact for one of the power terminals, which isn't necessarily ground!
We used an "ideal diode" component on one of our boards and if I remember correctly the exposed pad was actually the power in , and the ground connection was just through the pins on the side.
thanks to your videos i am going to attempt a soldering repair on my car stereo myself. just soldering in some new bulbs but will be satisfying and hopefully stop my ocd on the fact that they dont work lol.
I love that excited "yes!!" that Vince let's out on a win! Know that feeling well.
Thanks for this and all the viddy vids you do. Have you ever considered using solder paste? A lot of SMD work goes a lot easier with the paste.
Congrats on the fix and tip.
The 'copper wool' is much better than the wet sponge pad.
I was struggling with the same plastic hinges on 3DS and 2DS but found a way to get them back. So what I do, I lift the contacts up from the motherboard and push the plastic in a way that would look like it is fully open. So those clipping parts first. After you close it, contacts will bend down and that is it. 4 test - all successful.
Not sure how this slipped past me....
Keep up the good work fella!
Good to know the chipquik tacky gel flux is good! I was disappointed with their liquid flux. For gel/paste flux I've always used the MG Chemicals 8341 that they sell on Amazon in the US, but I don't know if you can buy it as easily overseas.
Oh sorry for the comment spam, but something to consider: On rare occasions I've actually tinned the pad on the bottom of the chip itself rather than the pad on the board. It's a pain though so I only do that when it's really being uncooperative. I think this way the solder will go molten quicker since it's only thermally attached to the chip which has much less thermal mass. It might also make it easier to sit on the board sometimes.
Congratulations on another successful repair. Nintendo has stopped claiming videos as of a few months ago, so you don't have to worry about showing gameplay anymore. They ended their partner program as well, so people are free to monetize gameplay videos of Nintendo games now.
How did I miss this one? Oh well, more great Vince content to watch whilst waiting for the next update :)
Solder wick/braid does come with some flux on it but I find it's never enough and I want to add more. I've also heard one person recommend having a little bit of solder on your iron tip so that it makes better thermal contact with the braid--also, touching your iron tip to the solder and the braid instead of putting the braid in between the iron tip and the solder.
Still haven't mastered solder wick though, I often find myself struggling to use it successfully.
A few sheets of wet kitchen roll folded flat and wring it out so it's not dripping with water. (Home made solder iron cleaner) glass blowers use same principle to mould glass
Don't press down on chips when placing on boards. If you find you're having to do that then you've far too much solder on the ground plane to make contact around the chip.
Before taking chips off the board place a bead of leaded solder around the chip
Ideally the board should be heated before desoldering/reflowing. Doesn't have to be baking hot just enough to minimise flex and damage
Good to see you getting more and more confident and more like a Pro :)
Thank you Anonymous :-)
your welcome
Very good video. I had similar experiences kid you I changed the main board.
I loved Wii U! Hope for both Zelda games for Switch!
The NOR flash probably contains the bootloader. It could be that one chip has a newer version of the bootloader than the other and the mismatch between the bootloader and main software works in one direction but not the other (e.g. it's backward compatible but not forward compatible or vice-versa).
In general Serial NOR Flash is most commonly used to store firmware for chips (including bootloaders for CPUs, the BIOS/EFI on PCs etc) and configuration for FPGAs, so if you find one that's most likely what it's being used for, especially if it's SPI (as opposed to I2C).
FINALLY!... A youtube site ahead of the curve, that realizes marching band music is going to be the next big thing...too cool!
Sets chip*
Let me just keep tapping it.
Me: 🤦♀️
You gotta learn when to stop Mate. 😞
the copper will dissolve through the scratches. It will work, for a while. But it will dissolve. The plating is the only thing keeps tips from dissolving.
bro i saw this channel like 2 years ago with almost 100k now u have 500k
Yes, new My Mate Vince video.
Here we march again..!!
Region locked hard- or software is such a stupid idea... thanks god that the Switch is region free - Nintendo finally got it.
funnily the handhelds of nintendo have always been region free ... up until the 3ds, which is region locked :/ ... (and some DSi games, but that is only a handful)
yet another brilliant fix vince, since i started watching you, youve inspired me to have a go at fixing faults on things. so keep up the good work and thank you for the awesome content
Vince upload? Excited to see how you solve this one
Anthony Verdi definitely
Vince, one more thing to consider about flux is if it glows in UV. It allows you to easily check if you cleaned all flux or not. Also, sometimes you can flash UV light at a board and see if it was touched by anyone before you and if yes, then where exactly. It is not a 100% guarantee (some fluxes do not glow in UV, some people clean flux well) but it takes only a few seconds and does nothing wrong while can provide you with useful info. Obviously, it is not a super important thing, but a nice thing to have in my opinion.
i don't think Nintendo is claiming videos anymore. yes, they did that a lot until somewhere last year (dont know when exactly), but what they said basically is that if you play their games and have commentary over the game your video will not be claimed
Would a dab of hot glue perhaps hold the ribbon cable in? It wouldn't necessarily be permanent, but it would hold the cable in it's place. Just a thought!
Hi there where did you acquire the uk motherboard, thanks and great video 👍
I had guessed that chip had an exposed pad on the bottom by the difficulty you were having. For chips with contacts on the bottom I have so far gotten the best results by using a nozzle that's close to the size of the chip (which it looks like you did) and just pointing it straight down on the chip and holding it as close as I can without touching. By the time you get the solder on the exposed pad to flow, the leads will likely have melted as well.
Ideally you want to concentrate your heat on the leads, but given the choice, it's definitely better to heat the chip than the board. Worst case you overheat the one chip instead of the board and all of the components nearby. And with an exposed pad or BGA/LGA chips, you really don't have a choice as the solder joints are inaccessible. Chip packages are designed to withstand soldering temperatures and you will melt the solder well before the chip heats up to a dangerous level, as that black epoxy they're made of is not a very good heat conductor so the heat doesn't easily reach the actual chip inside.
If you want to get really fancy you can get hot air nozzles that are shaped to direct air at the leads of a specific chip package type, but I've never had the luxury of using one and I've gotten by without just fine. Probably better for high-volume work though.
Also be aware that with a big exposed pad like that on the bottom, the surface tension will make it difficult to lift the chip up as you would with a normal QFP or SOIC, you will likely have to twist or slide it. This can be problematic when there are other components nearby as you might knock them out of place. I've so far mostly worked with a particular SOIC chip with an exposed pad, and I've found I can grab the sides with a pair of broad tweezers, give it a little twist back and forth and lift it up.
Hey Vince would love to know what heat gun you use in your videos! Much obliged.
Great video Vince. I knew you could do it. You should join a Rossmann board repair stream sometime and chat with us. I'm sure Louis would love to have you in a stream sometime. Great community. Another channel you may also want to check out is Paul Daniels. He also does a lot of repair. HE is also the person who wrote the Flexbv software that the repair community uses. Once again great video and keep them coming please!
I got one of those tip cleaners in black, best thing ever.
Soldering iron tips are generally plated, and if the plating is compromised, the tip won't last as long. You probably cracked the plating by bending the tip like that, but if it's a cheap tip and you don't mind it maybe not lasting as long, then it's no problem.
Thanks RF :-)
@@Mymatevince No problem! I'm kind of wishing I could make my own youtube videos so I could demonstrate these things instead of just writing about them haha.
Maybe you should start up a discord or something for people to chat with you if you have the time, you seem like a guy I'd love to talk to.
After I made this comment I looked it up and it looks like soldering iron tips are usually copper, plated with iron or steel and then probably tinned from the factory. The iron/steel plating will definitely be harder than the copper core, and I think also that if there's a crack in the plating, over time solder will start to mix with the copper on the inside. I know with lead-free solder when the plating is compromised, you end up with your iron tip basically getting hollowed out as the solder eats away at the copper interior. I'm not sure how bad it is with lead solder though (this is why you sometimes hear people recommend *not* to use a wet sponge with lead-free).
Barely related but a previous boss of mine told me that one of the things that kills electronics over time is that the solder from component leads actually starts to migrate into the copper tracks and change their properties. I'd never heard that before and it's really interesting to know.
I'm glad I saw this video, now I know what's wrong with my friend's Wii U! But I'm not comfortable enough with a soldering iron..
Hi mate well done just to let you know about 12 months ago Nintendo changed there copyright infringement settings and now you can show gameplay and music from them online without the worry about being claimed anyway more to the point well done on the fix
I don't think you have to worry about Copyright claims anymore. I sometimes do gameplay videos and a few years ago they were all claimed, but the claims have been lifted since Nintendo has changed their ways to make it easier for people to release videos about their games.
When soldering a chip with an exposed pad on I find it quite difficult to do the whole thing at once with hot air reliably. I've got the video paused but maybe your luck is better than mine :)
I usually tin only the exposed pad, use hot air to flow that and then go in with the iron to solder the leads on the outside. People do say you can do the whole thing at once, though, so I might just be bad at it.
Seems like this would be a great candidate for solder paste though!
It always looks simple when following the professionals. I have tried changing a QFN IC on a PS4. After four times (4!) I have not once seen that little jump. But I got lucky in the fourth time, and it works anyhow. :)
Marcian0 It does look easy when pros work! Like you said, it never is.
This is what Louis Rossman does... Just enough on the pad and the solder will wick up the leads when drag soldering along the sides. Flux will help the solder flow. But pros are pros :)
I just realised vince... you have the same screw driver kit i got for Christmas but mines blue!
Awsome work! This is my favorit console (have no switch) but a ps4.
Do anny one have anny sugestion how to clean a wiiU screen? Is it ipa or just soapy water?
Hey Vince !
Would you be so kind and will tell me which soldering station and hot air gun you are currently using ?
Greetings from Austria.
I recommend solderpaste and heatgun for this kind of work :-)
I love the WiiU, especially with custom firmware - best gamecube emulator and even better if you use the switch GC adapter and GC controllers!
Ian H it’s technically not emulation. The Wii U has most parts from the original Wii, and the original Wii is just a beafed up GameCube. Idk why Nintendo didn’t make a disc drive to take the small discs cus that’s all they had to do, would’ve improved sales dramatically
hey vince here's a tip that works great for me, when cleaning up flux on a board i use acetone then ipa
Probably works great but acetone is much more dangerous. If you get it in your eye it can cause permanent damage very quickly.
I have heard that ethanol (either just high-proof vodka/rectified spirit or denatured alcohol/methylated spirits) is better than IPA and not any more dangerous.
What I usually do if I *really* want to clean it is heat the board, dump a bunch of IPA on it and scrub, then quickly rinse it off with more IPA. Heating the board makes the flux residue dissolve more easily but because IPA evaporates so quickly you've got to be fast.
my opinion i've only been an electronics repair man for 33 years, never got it in my eyes yet thank god, have a good day
Acetone, is how Paul from Mr Carlson's lab does it. It's a great channel on here. Probably the best one I have found. The man's a genius.
Hi Vince, first of all: Great video as always, love your british accent 🗣! I‘ve got a question: you‘re using some kind of small (grey?) notebook (or convertible?) in your videos, showing how much you paid for your „trying to fix“ items. I‘d like to know which brand/model it is?! Thank you and keep on fixing! 👍🏻 greetings from 🇩🇪
Thanks :-) That is a GPD Pocket.
Hi Vince it would be really interesting if you could get something gas powered and try to fix something like Mustie1 (not eccentrically cars or motorcycles).
Hi Vince, loving the videos as ever and you've actually inspired me to get some old broken stuff back up and running. List so far is a Game Gear Cap replacement, Original Gameboy Screen Replacement/Mod and an Gameboy Advance SP IPS screen mod. I'm not selling or anything just more of a hobby. Wondered mate would it at all be possible for you to send me some recommendations of kit to get me started eg soldering iron, hot air station, work mat, magnifying glass, flux etc. Now that you've been doing these for a while I'm sure you're up on the best gear for the job! You've probably not got a tonne of spare time on your hands but any help/advise would be greatly appreciated! Keep up the good work pal!
BTW really loved a comment on a video I was watching the other day where you explained the British pronunciation of Kilogramme, Kilohms etc! Was laughing my head off at that! :-)
Thanks Paul. I will do a video on all the tools that I have been using as a lot of viewers have asked for that. I just need to set aside some time to do it. Hopefully it will be in the next month :-)
Great revisit, in the end there were some 'beginner's mistakes". Now everything works fine thanks to your new knowledge. I was looking for some flux from Amazon, (i couldn't find the real Amtech Flux)and i have found this CHIPQUIK (10cc version for 13 euros here in Italy). After this video i will buy it, thanks for your review.
P.S: It's amazing to see this kind of fix. I have studied a lot of electronics theory at university but i've never seen the practise part of it. My adventure of fixing stuff starts now! Thanks!
Ciao Dimerin. Quindi? Come va 'la tua avventura'? Anch'io sono in Italia con la passione di aggiustare console ed altri elettronici.
normaly a multilayer pcb has some where in the corner a number and on the back a higher number that gives you the layers
Hello I’m still interested in the 1960 doughboy pull string
Great vid but too much to do for someone without the tools, experience or extra motherboards to swap pieces out. It will cost more than just a replacement I think. Guess I’ll just buy a new game pad :( I believe mine has a bad u18 chip too
I really enjoyed my WiiU
Great one!
Vince, i have a new 3ds xl with a strange charge issue where it has to have the charger plugged in and shuts off if you remove it possible bad ic chip. Im selling it and figured you may want to make a video of it. Selling, so i dont need it back.
Would you be interested in it for a video?
Thanks for the offer. I will politely decline it at the mo. Would it be worth swapping the battery? Might be a simple fix :-)
Nice Video. Sometimes you need to make your own tool so it can make it easier to work.
Hello there , hi Vince , greetings... Nice job with a bit strange tablet like console GamePad....interesting peace of tech
Hay My Mate you should try to do a Wii u console it's self
I replaced the motherboard in my gamepad, but when resembled, the game pad still does not charge and light does not come on. The only part I couldn't reconnect were the speakers. The original board had them soldered and new board had the connectors. Do the speakers need to be plugged in to finish circuit? Or could it be another problem such as the battery or the ac adapter?
Why do device boot times feel like they treble with first boot after a fix? :o)
Where can I buy a UK region board because I can only seem to find US region boards online?
What microscope are you using, been looking to get one myself, cheers
Had to stop and go back and watch the other 2 videos
Hey Vince
Small tip for you
Put a tiny bit of flux on you soldering wick and I'll won't stick to the board when you trying to remove old solder
Hi what do you search for, or where can you order a uk motherboard from?
Thats awesome u found the problem
29:50 WEiLL, HELLOW THERE CAP'N HOOK.! :'D (y)
The us gamepad has a different message for could not to connect to Wii U console below at what to do to pair it
Probably best to use the NTSC version and use an adapter to convert it to PAL
quería preguntarte si has reparado o has topado con el fallo de la Wii U cuando el gamepad ya no carga, yo desarmé mi control(gamepad) , primero la batería, la abrí y la pila me marca 4vcd, pero en el conector que llega a la pila al medir entre los 4 pines no hay voltaje que llega del cargador, sea por el puerto en la parte superior del gamepad o sea por la base de carga, el cargador es original y entrega los 5.25vcd correctos,llegan dentro de la consola en varios circuitos,pero al conector donde se conecta la pila se supone que entre al menos 2 de ellos debería aparecer el voltaje que llega del cargador y no es así, no hay voltaje, de igual forma al desconectar el conector de la batería entre ellos(son 4 cables) no aparece ningún voltaje al abrir la pila o su carcaza(viene bien sellada) la bateria por dentro, midiendo directo en sus polos marca el voltaje correcto, está cargada, de allá pasa a una tarjetita me imagino de control o regulación de la carga(hay un micro de los que están como sellados) y bueno, de alla llegan los 4 cables q van a la consola a traves del conector,alli en esos cables no hay presencia de voltaje, en la pila sí, como 3.5vcd, bueno mi principal duda es cómo se alimenta este gamepad? hay una especie de conmutacion desde que esta conectada la bateria para que active le circuito y deje pasar el voltaje de la batería al gamepad? debería de haber presencia de voltaje en el conector o los pines donde se conecta la bateria a la gamepad? ya llevo varios días con este problema y no sé si en definitiva la gamepad ya no se puede arreglar(nota que el led de carga nunca ha vuelto a encender aún con el voltaje alimentando sea a la base o al puerto). Te agradezco de antemano si tienes alguna ayuda al respecto.Saludos.
u did not clean the pads on the second region lock chip,
Hello, I have a Wii U Gamepad that when I go to turn it on, the blue light comes on for a second and then fades out. No video ever shows up on the screen. Do you know what is the likely cause? What steps would you take to troubleshoot that? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Also, the Wii U Game Pad will turn on the console and console displays on TV fine, just no video on gamepad itself.
I have a question my has no charge but a wireless charger works what is the problem?
Yah the video on the wiiu pad is faster than the latency of your tv, most tv's have horrid latency due to all of the post processing they do, but most popular brands have what is called a "Game mode" that turns off this extra processing, which in the end you'll loose like dynamic contrast and such.
£14.00 Pounds!!! Worth it if youre only after the motherboard.. APU dropped a like..
I think I killed this on mine as I have been using a usb cable soldered to the original battery harness hooked to a portable charger and she just stopped working. Hopefully this works for me lol
Thanks for the video!
We will see
Ohhh I haven't cleaned it yet but somehow 2 of the pins on the chip are soldered together on mine. 3and 4th ones up from 1< 😎 hopefully I can clean it off lol
Nice one Vince 👍
Hey, you do still watch👍👍👍 I wasn't sure. Thanks for sharing the knowledge, sorry it took me so long to come back to this video :-)
@@Mymatevince Oh yeah, I still watch :) I'm glad you came back and fixed it, wasn't sure if you even seen my comment.