11 Oct
2006
11 Oct
'06
4:02 p.m.
I found that with my standard iron, the solder simply wouldn't grip the
That might be the first problem. Unleaded solder melts at a higher
temperature than the stuff we're used to. I think you _need_ a
temperature-controller iron to use it properly.
wires no matter what I did. Possibly, because the
solder I bought (distress
purchase from B&Q) wasn't flux cored, and I couldn't find my tin of flux.
And no solder will work without flux.
The good news is that AFAIK if you're doing
it for yourself,
or if you're repairing something made before the deadline
(and thus assembled with leaded solder) there's nothing to
stop you using leaded solder now. So classic computer repairs
can still be done with proper solder.
This is what I did in the end (I have recently re-discovered my reel of
thin, leaded, flux-cored solder. And it works a treat - although in this
particular case (& what prompted the rant) was I was trying to solder
decidedly sub-optimal wires; the negative wire has corroded down pretty much
the entire length of cable. Eventually, I managed to make them stick (just) by sanding them as best I could, then using lots of
flux & solder to get a
tiny little bit of tinning done, then sticking them in a massive big blob of
solder on the bottom of the battery. It's ugly, and weak, but it has worked.
I will re-visit the whole job, though, when I find a suitable plug
connector.
Be careful. If I rememebr the PX8 schematic correctly, the battery is
used as a shut regulator. If it goes open-circuit when the charger is
connected, there's a risk of damaging ICs.
One thing I made up was a cable with a PX8 battery connector on one end
and 2 4mm plugs on the other. I can run my PX8 from a bench supply set to
5V without needed a battery. Of course I looe all RAM contents when I
turn the supply off, but that's not a major problem (I have the disk
drive...)
-tony