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geekhack Community => Other Geeky Stuff => Topic started by: Phaedrus2129 on Thu, 18 March 2010, 11:43:48

Title: Tools!
Post by: Phaedrus2129 on Thu, 18 March 2010, 11:43:48

Just got some electronics tools to work/play with. Went to Harbor Freight Tools and got:

Digital Multimeter
30W electrical soldering iron (the type that heats the solder without putting current through it)
Solder
Safety glasses

I'm also going to pick up a solder sucker of Amazon and may be able to get my hands on an oscilloscope.


Now, I know HBT isn't a great place for tools. The vast majority of what they sell is cheap Chinese knock-offs. But that's ok. I'm not a professional electrician or anything, I'm not even a devoted hobbyist. I'm just testing the waters, seeing what I can do with this stuff without having to drop $50+ on it. So far I've only spent $17. :)


I'm going to experiment by essentially destroying an old Antec TruePower PSU that had bad caps. I got to a certain point and found that everything on the PCB is held on by solder too strong to break with the hands (I did get one ferrite coil off, but that was it and it took some effort).



So, any tips for desoldering or soldering or anything of the sort?

Title: Tools!
Post by: megarat on Thu, 18 March 2010, 12:57:15

For desoldering, the two typical methods seem to be:  (a) a desoldering pump; (b) desoldering braid.  I've used both but prefer the latter; your taste may vary.  Both of the above can be found at Rat Shack for about US$10/$4 respectively.

The best way to get into soldering and desoldering is to jump in with both feet.  Experimenting with something non-functional is a good way to develop technique, but there's no substitute for soldering up something that needs to function properly at the end of the day.  Ideally you'll start with simple projects and ratchet up the difficulty as you go.

UPDATE:  Definitely check out the tutorial linked to by ripster ... certainly worth reading.  The link is buried beneath his photo.  (I missed it the first time through.)

BTW, I'm also a fan of Harbor Freight.  They have some fun stuff there.  I just ordered a few nibblers (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=97636) from them earlier this week, for my Mystery Keyboard Project X.

Title: Tools!
Post by: didjamatic on Thu, 18 March 2010, 13:55:41

I've bought some things from Harbor Freight with great success.  I have a sand blasting cabinet in my garage from there (ok, it leaked bad so I had to caulk the everliving out of it but now works grand), I got a 3ft. breaker bar for $15, plenty of odds and ends.  If you buy cautiously and knowing that it might break on you, there are many great deals there.

I've been digging for a soldering iron at home for over a week and can't find either of the 2 I own.  I might have to break down and get a new one, so I can complete this prank project.  A guy at work uses capslock too frequently and I tease him about it.  I already remapped a guy's capslock to launch "You Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer using Autohotkey.  Now it's time for phase 2... I found a greeting card that plays that same song and I'm going to pull this prank on him since i have an identical Dell keyboard at home to swap his with.  I found a NPN switching transistor in my 500 in 1 electronics lab kit so I have everything but my soldering iron.

Title: Tools!
Post by: kriminal on Thu, 18 March 2010, 14:01:49

oohh bought that exact same nibbler from radioshack for my case modding project.
it cuts thin aluminum and steel with ease.
however i think i will acquire this (http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8792/too-17/Super_Nibbler_Metal_Cutter_-_Rubber_Gripped.html)

interesting stuff on soldering will check that out for sure.

edit: LOL thats alot of work for a prank hahahah

Title: Tools!
Post by: itlnstln on Thu, 18 March 2010, 14:02:56

I thought ripster was going to start talking about some of our members in this thread.

Title: Tools!
Post by: Phaedrus2129 on Thu, 18 March 2010, 14:03:44

Hm, I heard that tools from Harbor Freight were second or third tier, and I assumed that was correct because of the low prices. In any case I'm looking forward to experimenting with this. :)

Title: Tools!
Post by: Phaedrus2129 on Thu, 18 March 2010, 14:14:48

Hm, should a brand new 9V battery be reading 9.60V on the multimeter?

Title: Tools!
Post by: InSanCen on Thu, 18 March 2010, 14:30:27

yup, pretty much. If it reads 9v, it's probably on the way out.

Title: Tools!
Post by: Phaedrus2129 on Thu, 18 March 2010, 22:16:05

Soldering things is fun. :D


I'm taking apart an old Antec TruePower 480W that had the usual bad capacitors problem. Wasn't worth it to fix it, so I'm practicing soldering and desoldering on it.