The Basic Essentials of Soldering when it Comes to Gaming Systems and Video Game Save batteries.

The Basic Essentials of Soldering when it Comes to Gaming Systems and Video Game Save batteries.

Soldering can be scary for a lot of people at first. My first SNES save battery took me at least 50 minutes! Now, it usually takes me 5 minutes. I wasn’t using the right equipment and obviously people tend to get better with practice. These are some suggestions for setting yourself up to solder!

• Buy a nice solder station. (Usually, will come with a roll of solder roll)
• Use the appropriate solder. (some elements work better with electronics than others) We recommend a 60 percent amount of tin and 40 percent lead.
• Use copper desoldering wick/braid with flux. (We recommend 2.4mm in width)
• Have flux handy! (No-clean flux preferred)
• Isopropyl alcohol. (preferred percentage minimum of 90%)
• Q-tips.

Let’s start with something simple:

• Power on your soldering station to approximately 600 to 650 Farenheit (You can use lower temperatures).
• Place your no clean flux on the old solder you want to remove.
• Cut a piece of copper wick braid to use for desoldering
• Copper conducts electricity, so be prepared for the braid to become hot
• Once your soldering iron is at the correct temperature place it over the old solder and hold it into place until you see the old solder slowly slide up the copper braid.
• Depending on the amount of solder, you may need to move the copper braid to other locations
• Sometimes all the old solder is removed and the fuse/battery/capacitor/etc. will not come off, in this case you may need to reapply a little bit of new solder and desolder it while wiggling your iron over the tabs/etc. to help loosen it up
• Clean the area with a Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol to remove excess flux and dirt

Okay! We have desoldered what we need to and now we want to resolder in a new battery or fuse.

• Place the new item you are soldering in and get it nice and tight into place (with some small pieces, you may need to use tweezers to hold one side into place when soldering tabs, such as a save battery on a GB cart).
• Use a little flux before you place the solder (less is more) and use place the tip of your soldering iron to the tip of the solder wire and apply until the item is soldered nice in place.

Remember it is okay if you fail the first, second, third time! It takes time and a lot of blog posts and videos to find out how to properly solder. We recommend you start small with something such as a save battery for an older retro video game.

Check out our video on YouTube on soldering in a battery for Pokémon Crystal.

Happy gaming! Feel free to comment with your own thoughts or questions. 

- Lauren @ Video Game Gem Vault

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