I'm going to be modding my xbox soon, need tips

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON: I CANNOT SOLDER WORTH CRAP!

Okay, now on to the actual thread:

I have a v1.6 Xbox (stock, no visual or cooling mods) that's currently softmodded right now. I'm going to be buying a Xecuter3 w/ Xapt3r (solderless mod) so that while I'm learning to solder incredibly small points (Jesus, some of the points are less than 2mm!), I can have a modded Xbox. So, I need soldering tips, and would like to know whether or not any of you modded your Xbox. Pics too, if you can.

Same ole same ole tips as always:

Practice makes perfect, find an old mobo or PCB to practice on.
Keep your tips clean.
Get a third arm (forget what it's called, but it has arms with alligator clips on the ends to hold parts, and a magnifying glass attached to it.)
Use a solder extractor to remove solder, it's often easier than desoldering braid.
Tin your parts before you solder them.
Once the wires are soldered on, use hot glue to hold the wire in place.

For small wires use the ones off of IDE cables, ribbon or round(I prefer round, since they're already in strands.)
Heat up the part you want the solder to stick to, not the solder itself.

I put HDD and LAN activity LEDs in my old XBox, as well as replacing all the thermal goop with AS5, making the front light glow red, reversing the power and open buttons, painting it silver, and putting an 80mm vantec uv led fan in the rear. I actually learned to solder by doing the LED mods It wasn't hard, but just take your time.

Just make sure you buy an iron with a fine point, it makes all the difference when doing small jobs.

be careful de-soldering as well. I accidently de-soldered the d0 solder point and bam! xbox does not have display.

I am currently using the xecuter3 and the xadapter or whatever on xbox #2. works great. the hdd and lan are easy, just heat up and stick on. and the hot glue sounds like a good idea, wish I would have thought of that back then.

What is "tinning"?

When I needed a very fine tip for soldering small parts, I took a dremel and cut the tip in half up about halfway. I cut off half of a safety pin, put it in in the notch I cut from the soldering iron, and sqeuzed it tight together. Like this



The needle tip doesn't as hot as the irons tip, so that makes it easier for me.

NsOmNiA91130 said:

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON: I CANNOT SOLDER WORTH CRAP!

Okay, now on to the actual thread:

I have a v1.6 Xbox (stock, no visual or cooling mods) that's currently softmodded right now. I'm going to be buying a Xecuter3 w/ Xapt3r (solderless mod) so that while I'm learning to solder incredibly small points (Jesus, some of the points are less than 2mm!), I can have a modded Xbox. So, I need soldering tips, and would like to know whether or not any of you modded your Xbox. Pics too, if you can.

Click to expand...

1) Solderless mod isn't completely "solderless" and often shifts in place and needs to be readjusted after being moved
2) Use alternative D0 point (it's a pad and not a point, so it becomes the easiest spot you need to solder
3) 1.6 xboxes are harder to mod as you'll have to do an LPC rebuild
4) Burn the modchip, burn the board and you're done with!
5) Tin both ends of your wire before using!
6) If the solder holes arent filled install a pinheader! it's much easier.
7) Use decent solder, not cheap junk.

-maddog- said:

What is "tinning"?

Click to expand...

Tinning is the process of applying solder to a part before you actually solder it. It helps to ensure a good solder joint. It's also used to refer to the coating of the tip with solder. Why tinning? Because solder is a combination of tin and lead or silver plus some other metals.

My tip... make sure to have a wet sponge. It works great for cleaning the flux off of the tip inbetween solder joints. Also have a fine flat file for resharpening the tip if it gets pitted or corroded. After you sharpen it make sure to retin it to help prolong it's life.