Epitronics just has this wonderful charm to it - the way you say things like *error*, “beep”, PCB (piece-se-bee) “flux”, etc is just a perfect mix of silly yet understandable - some words are almost mesmerizing (especially words related to soldering/desoldering) The smiley faces everywhere, the bloopers, the magic smoke moments, it’s all just amazing.
I never heard of desoldering needles either!! That's EXACTLY what I needed the last time I re-capped a board! I ended up butchering the thing but that would have been the PERFECT tool for the job!
That reminds me of an anecdote going around back then. A guy upgrading his 5150 went to dealer and asked if he could order a 100 W power supply. The salesman said that the 65 W power supply is all it can take, it would blow up the motherboard if they put something like 100 W power in it...
I had no idea desoldering needles existed. Funny enough - I have been using a rather thin awl that I got from my father's old bookbinding shop, in the exact same way, even bought another one. I feel a lot better about what i always theught was a bit of a creative abuse of tools and pcbs now.
One advantage of Tantalums is their longevity, compared to electrolytics. The other is the size (generally smaller than electrolytics with equal specs). The disadvantage is of course that they go with a bang and a light show and leave nasty scorch marks or burn holes into your PCB.
A little while ago I did some research and figured out that the problem with the pinecil is that it doesn't actually read the temperature of the tip. It's reading the temperature of the heater, which is apparently pretty poorly coupled to the tip, because it doesn't pump the heat into the tip as soon as it's sucked away by a joint with a big copper plane. You can get third-party soldering stations that are compatible with Hakko/JBC/Pace/etc. tips (you pick the brand and it comes with the right connector and/or compatible third-party handle). I got to the point of researching the different tip options for each brand, but got stuck in analysis paralysis and never ended up buying anything. So unfortunately I can't suggest a better option.
I would love to have a little chat with whoever decided to bend the legs on all the tantalum caps on old IBM PCBs. Especially with those 3-legged caps. Ugh. My approach has been to snap the cap in half (or thirds) with some flush cutters, then lift each leg out separately, while being able to push and pull on the leg from the component side of the board, to free the bent part from its joint to the annular ring, and either straighten it or angle it through the hole. It still didn't go perfectly, and I made at least one hole a little ugly on my 5150. But everything still had full continuity and now works perfectly with fresh caps... so... job done.
Having fixed up an XT, you're not joking about the high heat needed for the caps. I didn't even have a good iron when I did it and it was a very bad time. Hopefully replacing the foam in your Model F wasn't too awful, but that's a task I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I did also opt for a Noctua Redux. (I used a Molex to fan header adapter) Combined with having the [broken] HDD disconnected in favor of an XT IDE + CF, it's so much quieter.
@Epictronics1 have you tried using a desoldering alloy like Chip Quik, Fast Chip, etc on stubborn desoldering jobs? It is usually marketed as for use with SMD devices but it does wonders on through-hole with large groundplanes/heatsinks as well. You apply flux, heat up the joint until melted, then apply some of the product to the melted solder. It alloys to the solder and dramatically lowers the melting point, allowing a long working time. You can often apply it to several joints and have all of them stay liquid for several seconds allowing you to remove the component in one go. Just make sure to remove all of it before resoldering as normal.
I bought one which had an 8-slot MB stuffed into it. I obtained a later (256K) motherboard and managed to put the magic smoke back in, but it has CGA... Repairing it reminded me of my early days as a PC tech when I first entered IT.
Whenever I solder cables with multiple wires, I try to cut and solder them in different places (not next to each other). It reduces the risk of shorts and keeps the whole package slim(er).
when i got my 5150 i took the cover off the power supply to do a visual inspection and it didnt have any rifas in it. but to make up for it my trs 80 model 3 has two power supplies and they had the rifas which i changed.
10:37 Is that a lifted pad...? :( I've crossed paths with vintage IBM PCBs trying to fix an old Bigfoot keyboard. It was impossible to heat anything on that thing. I need a set of desoldering needles, yesterday. Great job as always. :)
hey i recognized that mobo is double layer which why it was harder to desolider it if i were you i would use hot iron on other side heating legs up and vaccum hot iron on front side (under mobo where legs sticking out) make it easy come out which i remeber adrain down this work before you and it good thing that you got needle push rod just push them out the hole i have forgotten that you need needle hot iron in order get solider out hole is wick with pointer small iron tips i done some of work like that back 20 years agos some mobo get you confuse little bit because one trace doesnt have line attach to it which just porotypes mobo not completed one if you take look at side by side you can tell origin one completed have line thur it and prototype doesnt so just piece of inform help you identity it which one not prototype or origin one i fixing get 3d printer which i can come up with new ideas for soliding tools and make it easy for you to desoliding anything just be hooked up to vacuuming and use floor padel turn on vacuuming so it can suck lead out of mobo without having use other desolider tools that have vacuuming in it but doesnt heat up higher enough kits i make can become in handy but i need to know which tools you using so i can get 3d printer machine line up size fit it like add on kits to your tools love watching you fixing old pc it fun video and satify and be sure smash that like button for epictronics cant wait for more
I'm no expert on grease, but apparently, due to the fact that lithium grease has a petroleum base, it may damage plastics over time. Lithium grease is more for applications that need lubricants that are resistant to heat and pressure so we don't really need it for PC restoration anyways
Part 1 here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-49ZOxgc2pXI.html Part 2 here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kxbkkpe6wfM.html I have ordered PCBs for part 3 :)
1 simple question: why on earth you didn't clean the board first to start heating...? P.S. After so much heat stress, do not persevere or linger with the soldering iron, but use a mini drill instead...
Not sure what you mean. I didn't particularly heat stress the board. I stopped when a reasonable amount of heat wasn't enough and let it cool down a bit
@@Epictronics1 Well, it is true. "Radio Industri FAbriker" were the geniuses that developed the first RIFA caps, well X2 suppression caps to be accurate. I think an American company tool over the production
