Whoa! I won't endorse anything I wrote THAT long ago. But at least you know the retro is legit :-) Hope you enjoy the channel!

I've seen people recommend that, but it feels more complicated because if you cut them then they don't stay in place as well, so in the end I never do that :-b. Is it really necessary if you make sure to cut the leads well above the solder joint? (honest question, not saying it's not).

If you bend the legs back they won't move and there's no chance they'll fall out. It's impossible for them to fall out. Far safer on the solder joint especially on old PCBs.

sir i would argue quarter century old isnt exactly newer :D

You're welcome. Glad it was useful!

You're welcome. Glad it was useful! Happy soldering :-)

😃

Thanks for the kind words! I wasn't sure there was much demand for a desoldering video since this is one of my least popular videos :-) I'll keep it in mind.

@@NoelsRetroLab I second Paolo Selvini's request, I'd be interested as well at your take on a desoldering video (maybe you've already added one to your channel, I'll check !)

I'm interested too... I like that de soldering machine too...

Glad it was helpful!

Nice! Glad that was helpful! I'm sure you can tackle replacing the capacitors. Just keep the polarity straight and use the polarity from the existing capacitors, not the markings on the board! 😀

I'm really glad you found it useful! I don't have a tutorial on SMD (and I'm not super experienced with them either), but I might make one some day. I'll probably do a desoldering one before then since that I need to use *all* the time :-) Cheers!

@@NoelsRetroLab I'd be really interested in a desolderig lab/tips video, I noticed on you 'Amstrad CPC6128 Back Screen repair video parts 1 & 2" you used a desoldering gun, so it would be nice recommending some brands/models, and also of course idscussing pros and cons and applications of regular desoldering pumps & use of desoldering braid. PS - I'll post another comment on your CPC repair vids because I'd like if possible some advice about lightweight/portable and affordable oscilloscopes (can't see the one you use in the vid, shows just the probe & the screen), and also I might ask you for help because I have a spare CPC 6128 that boots to a black screen with white border without prompt, I had a go at identifying problems with it a year ago (did the same swaps as you did on socketed chips, and also checked for hot chips), I reckon it might some bad RAM or the CRTC like was the case in your video. SO I'll go thru the same steps as you did (checking voltages on chips, and getting a scope to check signals too)

@@laurentd9980 Feel free to comment there, or ask me on the FB page, Twitter, or Discord if you prefer. The short answer is that black screen with white border is unusual. Normally a bad RAM causes black border with grayish screen in the middle. Start checking voltages and make sure the Z80 is active (M1 and RFSH). Could be a bad Gate Array, which would be a bummer. Keep me posted.

@@NoelsRetroLab thanks, I'll ask in your CPC repair video comments, although I'll check and add your FB page and Twitter, didn't know you had these accounts of course (As to Discord, never used it yet ! :-) Anyway I think I actually made a confusion, it must have been black border with grayish screen as you said, and when I looked up in Google most answers hinted to RAM as you said too. I'll check later in the week and keep you posted, and many thanks for taking the time to reply to my messages, I really appreciate it :-)

@@NoelsRetroLab I made some tests yesterday and added a new comment with my findings in your CPC Repair part 2 vid (ukposts.info/have/v-deo/aZebn6SCg7B9r58.html), with a question to you as your take on a handheld oscilloscope I consider buying, I hope you can give me your thoughts on this :-)

True about the ESD-safe brush. Although, to be 100% honest, I'm not sure how important that is for this kind of electronics. I get the sense they're not as sensitive to it as newer, smaller technologies, but I may be wrong. It certainly doesn't hurt :-)

Noel's Retro Lab The MOSFET based ICs have always been quite sensitive, like the 4xxx series. Nowadays, many (especially interface) ICs have some protection, but it is more for „normal“ EMI protection. The old ICs did not have it, I think. Just think of the protection diodes, that you find in C64 models after ASSY250407. The mean thing about ESD is, that it does not necessarily destroy the circuit at once and it takes plenty kV that a human can notice it. Most ESD damages happen at much lower voltages, that humans don’t feel, like a couple of 100V. And the result might be early failure or the specification of an IC are not reached anymore. It rarely happens that somebody touches a circuit, feels the discharge and the circuit is broken, so there is nearly no „learning“ effect. Most hobbyists would say „I have never ruined anything with ESD.“ Those, who say so, most probably have. Professional assembly houses pay really a lot of attention on ESD protection. The floors are covered with ESD paint or carpets, the chairs are ESD, the tables and instruments are grounded, people wear esd shoes and coats, the shoes are tested on a daily base. Tables and floors are measured regularly. This is expensive, but a good investment. When I watch youtube, I very often see those green cutting mats and also these light blue rubber mats, which are great, if you cut paper or repair wind-up toys, but with anything semi conductor, it is a bad choice. In my lab, every horizontal surface is covered with esd mats, which are grounded. It is not that expensive. The difference is like spending 10€ on a cutting matt or 25€ on an ESD mat.

Interesting! Do you have a link to a mat you'd recommend? I might give it a try.

Actually, I just realized that my silicon soldering mat is supposed to be ESD as well! I only use it for soldering because it's harder to clean, but you're making me consider using it all the time now.

Noel's Retro Lab Depends on where you are located. It should fit your workbench and have two snap fasteners. One for grounding and one for a wrist band. I think, I have bought mine from different sources, like ebay, Conrad and Bürklin (they all look the same, though).

I can't recommend an absolute temperature. It depends too much on the solder, the tip, and the soldering iron you're using. I would say use the lowest temperature that heats up the joint enough after about a second so the solder melts well. In my case it's 330C as you can see there. With worse solder that can be 350C. And then, if you're working on a ground plane, you may have to raise it to 400C or more depending, but that's pretty rare.

I set my soldering iron to 280C and for most things it's fine but for the earth onto a large ground plain that zaps the heat, might want to crank the temperature up to 350C. Don't forget to use a decent flux with it and be generous with it as well as this will help the solder to adhere to the surfaces.

Glad you found it useful! Yeah, having a wider, chisel tip and putting some solder on the tip are huge to get good heat transfer. I wouldn't worry about selecting your soldering station based on the brass cleaner. You can easily buy it separately for pretty cheap. But if you really want to, this one is my favorite not very expensive model: www.ebay.ca/itm/Hakko-FX-888D-Canada-FX888D-29BY-Digital-Soldering-Station-CND-Duty-Paid/252282095008

Get yourself some desoldering braid (sometimes called wick.) It's a small ribbon of copper mesh type material. Place it over the excess solder you want to get rid of, put the iron on top of it, and it will literally suck it away.

@@Otakunopodcast Thank you, that is very helpful!

The soldering station doesn't have to be very expensive (mine was around 80€). But another one that I bought first that was totally fine was a Yihua 937D www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074Z84TDL and it runs about 30€. I think that's a great one to start with. Solder is the most important part, so if you get a good quality one, and one that's not too thick, it'll improve your soldering hugely.

Sounds good. I'll add it to the list. The short of it is: When you measure voltages you're always measuring the DIFFERENCE in potential between two places, that's why you have two leads. Most of the time you'll put the black one on "ground" which is usually all over the board (including heat sinks normally, which makes for a handy place). Then with the red lead you can probe different places and it'll tell you the voltage with respect to the other lead.

@@NoelsRetroLab Now I get it. Thank you very much!!! I really love your videos. It is a real joy to watch!

After watching the video, I think I was pretty much set up for failure all those years ago. I didn't have a station, just the iron that plugs directly into the mains, with no indication of it was hot enough or even on at all. The only hint of safety was a small kickstand that flipped out of the base so it could be set down (theoretically) without the tip making contact with the surface. A really stiff cord, however, made positioning it so that it wouldn't fall over practically impossible. It did come with a small sponge in a basin, but no instructions anywhere to add water. I'm not even sure I ever actually soldered anything. Just young idiot me not knowing how long it would take to warm up (ten minutes? an hour? no clue) so I just picked it up and touched it to see if it was even getting warm. Dropped it and ran to the sink to run cold water over the burn (thanks end of cartoon PSA). Mother got upset over The Evil Thing That Hurt Her Son, and I guess I've only ever dealt with sockets and cables in electronics since. I've always wanted to try again with better equipment and instructions. I watch a lot of videos of people getting old consoles and computers and even before testing they recap just to be sure, and it's an oddly satisfying experience. Like ASMR for the eyes? Now that I know it's pretty simple with the right stuff, I might invest after next paycheck into proper tools and start looking for an easy kit to begin with.

I've ordered solder from here before (MG Chemicals brand) and had really good experience: www.circuitspecialists.eu/mg-chemicals/solder-wire-wick-and-flux You can also try Mouser and Digikey (especially if you have something else to go over the free shipping threshold).