sudomod

Hey guys,

It seems like my soldering gun doesn't seem to get hot enough to melt the solder on those original boards. Mind you, this gun is a cheap, ghetto, hand-me-down, but I just wanted to confirm if we need a really hot soldering gun for it to work on the original boards? The soldering gun is ok normally though, which is odd.

Is there anything I should be aware of?

Looks like I just broke the original switch while trying to remove it off the original DMG board too. Sucks.

@Popcorn
My take is that if your soldering gun is able to melt fresh new soldering lead, it should be able to melt the solder on the DMG pcb. I suggest melt some new solder on top of the existing solder on the board. Per my experience with a 60w soldering iron, it should melt the old solder.

chiz wrote:@Popcorn
My take is that if your soldering gun is able to melt fresh new soldering lead, it should be able to melt the solder on the DMG pcb. I suggest melt some new solder on top of the existing solder on the board. Per my experience with a 60w soldering iron, it should melt the old solder.

Yeah, I tried putting a layer of fresh solder on top. Also tried holding the soldering gun directly on the board for what felt like minutes. The whole thing got hot and started to smell pretty toxicy. But nothing melted. Nothing moved. I just wasn't sure if perhaps the original solder was a different blend of solder or something. The new solder that I put on top says it's melting temperature is 183C btw.

Do you have a picture? It could be that some kind of coating is on the solder and that's why it's not melting. Try scratching the joint with something sharp.

You may just need more heat

Strange. I've got a cheap one, too. It goes up to 450°, but i've never used more than 350° and it comes off pretty fast.
Maybe you can ask a friend with another soldering iron to try it?
I can offer you to desolder it for you, if you want, too

I agree, it's quite strange. The Game Boy was made in the days before RoHS, so it's not like it's using lead-free solder or something...

Wait I think you mean 185° F because 185° C in fahrenheit would be 365° F

My previous post got lost?

He does mean 185C. He's from the UK where they actually use a measurement system that makes sense. Alloys used in soldering melt at +350F, and he's having problems using those common temperatures.

Here is a PDF to common soldering alloys and temps.

PDF

Mine melt pretty well on 275 degrees. 180 degrees will be a bit low