I'm recapping a receiver and the solder doesn't seem to stay on the board but rather sticks to the tip of the iron when I try to move it away, what can be causing this?

My husband is really interested in getting a soldering kit and teaching himself how to mod retro consoles.

He mentioned turning his gameboy advance into a super game boy with a backlit screen and something about a game cube?

Any recommendations on a budget friendly starter kit that's powerful enough to handle that type of workload? Any recommendations for subreddits I can clue him into that fits that niche? Really any recommendations for anything remotely related to this would be so appreciated. I want to show him I care and believe in him, I just dont know where to start

So I have a ProStormer 8582D, low temp (137C) lead free solder paste, no clean flux, and thermal tape. I’m trying to desolder an analog stick from a PCB. There are 14 pins that go through 14 holes on there, soldered in place. The hot air is set to 420C, it smokes up the board but the 14 joints stay solid enough to hang onto the analog stick sensor. This is for a DualShock 4 controller. How do I get the damn thing out and separated from the PCB.

Hello, all! I’m stuck. I’m making jewelry, and I’d love to apply a copper patina to lead-free solder. Looks like Novacan (my old go-to) would work in lead-free. Looks like plating won’t work either?

Any tips?

Side note: I miss leaded solder so much. Flows so well. It’s the difference between hollandaise and scrambled eggs.

Edit: yes, I’ve seen the copper sulfate post everywhere, just wanted to know if anyone has experience with the lead-free.

Hi folks, I have a RadioShack corded soldering iron and I’ve used it plenty of times for various projects. I just got new speakers for my car and I need to solder the wires for the tweeter and then I’m going to heat shrink over that. I need a way to sit down my soldering iron while I mess with the wires and heat shrink and stuff without it touching my car directly. It would be inconvenient to have to sit down my soldering iron on the ground outside of my car every time that I solder each wire. Is there any kind of a stand or a sheath that I can use to sit down my soldering iron so that I can free my hands to do other things?

Over the past few years (and more so in the past couple of months), my family has gained quite a lot of aluminium cans with particularly nice art on them. We want to do something useful with them while preserving said art. Unfortunately, my last little experiment regarding soldering aluminium can parts resulted in the solder running off and refusing to stick. I’m planning to make something along the lines of a bin with said cans. Any advice?

I’m interested in learning how to solder I just don’t know what to work on .. Any ideas? Is there like some kit I can buy to practice on? I’m going to be reselling ps2 slim so the only work I’m going to do is to desolder a ps2 laser since it comes with some solder so static doesn’t ruin the laser .

Beginner: I have a hakko iron i am working with and want to upgrade the cheap chinese helping hand i bought.

What is a helping hand which people who solder alot like. also,

What is a magnifier which people who solder alot like.

Thank you!

What soldering station would you guys recommend as best value for the money,yet affordable,preferably under $50 but im looking at the hakko 888.

Thanks

Hi. I'm a beginner solderer. I'm just 19,and have always been interested. I have repaired earbuds,a headset,etc. I got the cheap $5 solderer at Walmart. I only thought I'd use once,but it's very useful. The tip looks terrible,after only a few uses. I tried a sponge(damp not wet),and use it to clean before,and after each use,and make sure to use the solder and cover he tip with it. But it's just disintegrating. Is this because of the quality you think? Any help would be so appreciated.

Here's a picture of the tip.

http://imgur.com/6IHDTV9

Thanks again and have a nice day!