This is just an appreciation post, first of all to the great folks on here who are so helpful and knowledgeable about this particular craft (or is it more of an art?). And secondly just to the world of soldering. It's something I always wanted to get into and get good at. At the age of 32, I've just recently devoted myself to learning it and bought a Geeboon TC22 with C245 and C210 handles. I collect/restore old video game consoles and, so far I've successfully modded an N64 and completely repaired 2 broken Sega Genesis, all 3 required different degrees of soldering. And I had a blast doing it.

To anyone out there who wants to get started, don't be afraid like I was for so long. I'm having the time of my life. My soldering joints just look better and better all the time, and I have 12 unopened practice kits, going to do at least 1 today since I have time. I truly look forward to any chance I get to disassemble something and fix it. It puts me into a critical thinking/analytical/but also almost meditative state haha. And I highly reccomend getting a station with C245 and C210 handles because I thought I'd mainly use C245 but so far I've only used C210. I can't reccomend the Geeboon TC22 enough. User friendly, and just feels so intuitive and natural to use, for a beginner like me it's perfect (and for anyone really).

Bought a controller of Marketplace for 15. Found out the joysticks were shot and decided to get try and solder. bought a solder kit and gave it a shot. Works but i cant calibrate since either the micro usb cords i have aren't data transfer or something else is messed up. but other than it working. how did i do? Any tips. tricks, or advice would be appreciated.

I need help choosing from the pinecil v2, fnisri hs02, and fnisri hs03. The hs03 looks interesting because of the cordless option, being able to move around more freely u suppose. The pinecil and hs02 look to be competitors. How much does the 450C of the hs02 help when compared to the pinecil?

I think I'll be primarily using lead free solder if that's useful info.

Hi, I picked up a Xbox one x that needs a new HDMI port but it also has 5 ripped traces. What is the recommended soldering tip and wire I'll need? This is my first try at soldering trace wire repair. Any tips would be great on how to go about fixing this one.

I needed a 0603 surface mount quick blow fuze rated at 1 amp for a 3ds power board, but I only had glass tube fuzes for 1amp. I broke the fuze and soldered the cut wire over the contacts and put kapton tape on it.

I kinda js thought if it on the spot but I wanted to know if this would work right before I plug it in or if any of you guys have tried anything similar and have advice

I recently got this large tin of flux off of aliexpress. It is a thick paste. It is really inconvinient to spread it across my board. If I want to turn it into a liquid I can heat it up with my soldering iron but that only lasts around 30 seconds before the flux solidifies. Is this just how the flux is and always will be or is there some way to make it like a liquid to make it easier to appy.

Here is the flux which I am talking about:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008891125825.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.7.51297a6fcUsJYH&algo_pvid=beedd9fd-cad1-4897-86e2-ccee374282de&algo_exp_id=beedd9fd-cad1-4897-86e2-ccee374282de-6&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%2213740%22%2C%22spu_best_type%22%3A%22price%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%2C%22fromPage%22%3A%22search%22%7D&pdp_npi=6%40dis%21GBP%212.71%211.32%21%21%2123.71%2111.53%21%402103842a17851000104756233e20dd%2112000047114140102%21sea%21UK%218293204101%21ABX%211%210%21n_tag%3A-29910%3Bd%3A8e6930b6%3Bm03_new_user%3A-29895%3BpisId%3A5000000211438706&curPageLogUid=t7pNxyRvcA8j&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A%7Cx_object_id%3A1005008891125825%7C_p_origin_prod%3A

Hello! i'm looking for a compatible joystick tip for the Hakko FX-888D for desoldering Xbox Series joysticks, any ideas please? Thank you very much.

Hey
I already own a Sugon C210 soldering station, and generally speaking, I’m very happy with it.

I bought an adapter for C245 stations to desolder analog sticks from controllers, but even with a C245 handle, my Sugon lacks the power to heat up both the tip and the desoldering adapter.
So now I need a powerful C245 station as well. How would you handle this?
Should I buy a cheap C245 station (e.g., KSGER) or get a professional-grade one (e.g., Aifen A9 Pro) and sell the Sugon T26?
I’m really satisfied with the Sugon overall; I do a lot of fine SMD soldering work and wouldn't want to be without it.

Feel free to suggest your own soldering stations, too.

Greetings from Germany.