u/Ellisd86

New to soldering, so I grabbed an old 300w amplifier took it apart and played around. I practiced pulling some out some components, then soldering them back in place. (Through hole I think?)

Practiced cleaning and tinning the tip of the iron, and using flux to guide solder between two pads (as I will be installing an IPS screen on a handheld and need to create a “short” by connecting two pads together)

Then I decided to create this monstrosity just to practice soldering pieces together since I didn’t have any wires to practice on. I see why it’s suggested to buy a third hand as I had to do some funky holding to keep the pieces in place as I soldered them together!

How did I do? Anything else I need to practice/do my connections look terrible?

P.s. I’m aware this configuration of components doesn’t make any sense for functional use. I was just having fun soldering things together 😆

This year I got into retro handhelds, mostly doing software modding, but now my interest has moved into physically modding them as well. Bought all the necessary equipment ( using recommendations from the mega thread buying guide) and components to start modding a PSP by adding an IPS screen to it.

As a kid I messed around with soldering on old junk tech that my brother and I would take apart. Never actually built anything complex, just simple connections like push a button and turn on a bulb type projects. I Also was a metal smith major in college and have hundreds of hours of silver soldering under my belt. So I thoroughly understand the “process” of soldering such as how and why flux works, proper heating of both pieces, and steady hands for small piece work. I also understand the fundamental difference the in silver soldering (where you are technically joining two pieces of metal together on a molecular level) and in electrical soldering you are “trapping” a metal wire in the solder as it cools.

I’m really just looking for advice on micro soldering. Like how much should I practice before diving in on an actual device? What / how to practice on without buying a practice kit? What should i have a leg up on since I’ve done metal soldering? Is adding modding chips and screens good beginner practice or should I aim for something a little easier? (If so what?)What are some good videos or tutorials for the kind of soldering I’m trying to do?

My soldering stuff comes in today and I’m just a little nervous and overwhelmed at where to begin to make sure I don’t destroy my handheld.

Did some practice the other night.

New… but not “new” to soldering.