Yes the solder joints are terrible, but it works and I'm proud of myself.
this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2026
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I so badly want to learn how to fix old tech like this. I'm fascinated by the tech repair YouTubers that can bring an old gba back to life. Someone I know has an old Pokemon Crystal with a dead battery from childhood and was broken up about losing their childhood save. I don't think it's possible to bring the file back but I'd love to get the cart working again at least.
the hardest part of soldering is holding the damn thing in place. if you have something to clamp it, it becomes a hell of a lot easier.
Lol yeah I've seen people use fancy microscope looking things and using that orange tape to tape it to a surface depending on where they to solder.
Just so you know, the orange tape is called Kapton tape. It's useful for higher temperature work (such as soldering) since it can continue to stick up to 400°C.
That's the name! I kept thinking Krafton but no...that's the company who's in trouble for doing those shenanigans with Subnautica 2 lol.
Yeah two shots of rum right before get those shaky hand jitters out
For the most part you do not need expensive JBC tools or some super expensive testing tools.
If you plan to dive in, start simple with some USB soldering iron, multimeter and some cheap 20V labratory PSU. I found FNIRSI offers a USB-PD soldering iron with JBC tips for under $100 that is comparable to Weller 80W professional soldering station I got at work.
The other part is just trial and error. Try with simple electronics or guides. Get the general idea on how things work. Most of problems are already solved. It is easy to find repair guide for some old gaming tech or how to chip your consoles.
Have fun!
Its ridiculously easy! Get a hakko
Oh thanks! I'll take a look.
Is there something I can use for practice? Or how did you learn to actually do it?
There are solder practice kits you can get. They're usually a PCB and a bunch of components to install, then once the whole thing is correctly assembled it should do some simple function. They're usually pretty cheap so you shouldn't have to worry about messing it up, and the kit should be trivial to replace in comparison to the part you actually want to work on.
ok cool, I'll take a loko for those.
Not long ago, I bought about 15 different little soldering kits on AliExpress for like 1-5 dollars each. Insyructions will be in Chinese, but that does force you to learn the more universal symbols in the schematics. Also, you can translate the Chinese with your phone. Anyway, after doing those and a bigger AM/FM radio lot, I'm pretty confident in my soldering skills.
Ye just get a solder kit and practice on some PCBs!
ok Thanks, I'll take a look around for those.
Oh and as far as how I learned, mostly trying to fix broken stuff (radios, amplifiers, VCRs etc,) and then making guitar effect pedals. Thats a good way to learn circuits!!
Note, dont try working on a tube amp or CRT right away. They aren't evil scary like people say but you do need to study up before you go poking around zappy bits. Anything else like an old radio or VCR is totally fine if its unplugged.
I did this pedal 10 years ago. Support these guys!! Dont use amazon.
https://store.generalguitargadgets.com/products/mxr%E2%84%A2-phase-90%E2%84%A2-replica-complete-kit
Now i mostly work on old consoles. Need to recap my 2600, and I modded a dreamcast and a ps1. Granted the Dreamcast didnt even need soldering besides replacing the clock battery holder.
Or, get some broken gameboys on eBay and try fixing them!
It's not hard. My Game Gears were broken and now I fixed 4 of them by replacing all caps.
I got the Pinecil for soldering and it's so easy to use and versatile. I got a couple of flux pens so the result looks nice and clean.
Pinecil, haven't heard of that. I'll take a look, thanks! Is there anything you used to practice ahead of time? Before jumping right into the actually hardware you were trying to fix?
I went right off the deep end. I followed along with someone else doing it, some YT video.
Oh damn lol. Brave.
Just took a look at the pinecil. That looks pretty slick. Have you run into any issues with it? Battery not lasting or it not getting hot enough?
Another happy owner of a pinecil here. For me it gets plenty hot and works great. There isn't a battery though, you're meant to use it wired with either USB C PD 65 Watts or 12V standard size barrel plug at similar wattage. More info on the pinecil wiki: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil_Power_Supplies
Also, here's some more general info about pinecil from their wiki: https://wiki.pine64.org/wiki/Pinecil
Seems a bit over-engineered to me. Why would a soldering iron need a CPU?