Yes the solder joints are terrible, but it works and I’m proud of myself.
Your solder joints don’t actually look that bad. Ive seen much worse; and “works” is the gold standard anyway. You’re probably the only one that will see the board in person.
If you want advice, it looks like your iron was either too cold, or you didn’t work fast enough and your flux burned up before the joint set.
It’s lead free solder. I think that affects how the joints look.
There are lots of LF alloys, some shiny some not. Your joints are fine, regardless of the alloy :)
FYI on the next one - they make CR1616 battery holders (like this) which allow future you to swap in new batteries whenever you want without additional soldering
I figure if I’m gonna do it, may as well just do it once
Enjoy having your old games back!!
I have no soldering skills or interest in Pokemon. The only reason I’m giving you that background to emphasize that I’m proud of you, too!
I’ve been so on the fence about attempting to solder, but it frightens me the idea of causing a little sparky fire.
So, good on you!
I’m blind (the device in back with the Freedom Scientific logo is an assistive magnifier). Both cooking and sewing are common skills taught in rehab centers for the newly blind, and soldering has aspects of both, being mindful of something very very hot near your hands, and having a certain amount of dexterity.
Here’s what I did to build up confidence. I bought a bunch of perf board and resistors and I just started soldering the resistors to the perf board, that’s it. No goal other than to practice soldering. I had tried one of those beginner’s first electronics kits off Amazon, the ones with just an LED and a switch or whatever. I got discouraged because I messed up. So I figured if I didn’t actually try to make something, I could relax and focus on soldering technique. I was eventually able to solder header pins onto a Raspberry pi zero and even terminate a coax cable, and now I can say I replaced a GB cart battery.
That’s impressive as hell, tbh. I’m glad rehab centers focus on such useful, otherwise seemingly inaccessible skills
Fire isn’t a concern, really, the temperatures are low enough that it starts slow. Rest it on wood and you’ll have time to wonder why you smell wood smoke, then wonder why it’s inside, etc. before it burns down.
The real hazard is inhaling rosin fumes (says the guy who doesn’t properly ventilate his workstation). If you’re anxious about lead (I was) there is lead-free solder, though it requires higher temperatures to work with. As far as lead goes, the risk is from getting flecks of it on your fingertips and then touching your eyes or mouth. I imagine it’s less of a problem than it feels like in my head, but something something environmentally friendly.
It’s a useful skill to know, and it’s not super hard to learn. It just takes some practice.
As long as you have some common sense(eg: dont set the iron down on something flammable) you shouldn’t need to worry about fires.
You should be proud of yourself indeed
I’m an IT guy and I get mad anxiety with anything soldering, welding, …
I am incompatible with anything less digital than a PC so I got mad respect for this sorta stuff.
Awesome job
hey at least it’s not the electrical tape method a lot of us did when we were kids.
I held it in place with captan tape and that seemed to work well.
If you ever saw any of my solder points you’d be round house high fiving yourself. Nice.
You double checked the battery polarity right? From memory the aftermarket replacement battery is flipped.
Either way, Congratulations mate.
Yes, once when loose to confirm that the bent leg was the positive one, then again after taping it down to the board (measure twice, cut once). Then again after soldering it to confirm. I also verified that I can save now.
I mean, they already said it works lol
