Yeah. That was the demonstration portion of my lament: the beginning steps of my idiocy, before I decided to actually perform the task correctly.
I’d be willing to bet the Br-2/3 at the very least is no longer a reliable, quality battery after my “experiment.”
I’m using 18 AWG wires from my old days of tinkering around repairing record players and such in high school. An 8 watt soldering pencil, battery powered, adjustable temperature up to 840 °F. Solder is just some bog standard flux core lead solder, and the gauge appears to be about 16 AWG (my digital caliper is not cooperating with me right now). Mostly using a medium-sized chisel tip that I keep clean after every join. As well as tinning the tip and the wires.
That description doesn’t speak well for my technical acumen, but I’m inclined to think adequate for what are only four quick joins (two to the battery poles on the motherboard, and two to the CR2032 holder, which I’ll probably do first using a helping hands clip to keep it steady.
Keep the wires from the battery holder nice and long…can always shorten them…and then in theory should be just zip…zip…to the PCB-mounted posts, then quickly reassemble the connectors and try a power-on test…fully reassemble the chassis…then run through the diagnostic tests described in the Service Manual.
This is going to be a problem.
As popular as some of the smart battery soldering irons have become, there is an intrinsic limitation. If they don’t have enough power you will end up cooking the part. Counter-intuitive as this might be.
You need the part being soldered to get to temperature fast, get the joint done and then let things cool. If the soldering iron doesn’t have the power needed to get the part to temperature fast, you end up sitting there slowly heating it, all the while cooking the part. Temperature control is important - and the ability to maintain temperature whilst making a joint even more so.
Like any process, the right tool for the job make s huge difference.
The other extremely important bit of advice is cleanliness. Everything should be clean. Parts, wire, PCB traces, soldering iron tip and solder. Clean means free of oxidation. Everything should be gleaming. Don’t solder with solder wire that is oxide grey. Clean it all. Usual cleaner is isopropol alcohol. I often use it with simple tissue paper as its slightly abrasive properties easily removes oxide from things.
When you solder, there should be a mirror gleaming result. Even the flux should be near water clear. Globby, dirty joint, and discoloured flux, all indicate a bad process.
Soldering should not be difficult. While it can get tricky at times (unusual metals, very small devices, etc.), soldering some wires to pins is not one of those times. It should take only a few seconds to make a perfectly formed joint.
If that’s not happening, then there is something wrong–either your technique or your equipment (or both). A weak battery-powered iron like what you have will definitely be an obstacle.
It can use a USB-C adapter, though you need a high-wattage one. Otherwise, it can use a barrel plug adapter.
You’ll also want some flux (the flux-core solder isn’t typically enough) and a tip cleaner. If you don’t have these things already, I’m sure I or Francis_Vaughan or someone can dig up a starter kit that works with your budget.
More watts also means faster coming up to temperature. Soldering will feel like a chore if it takes 10 minutes for the thing to get hot. It should be closer to 10 seconds.
I have heard that. In fact during a futile trip to various places like Home Depot, Harbor Freight, &c. to find simple battery holders, I came upon some spot welders in a similar price range.
But I don’t think spot-welding terminals to the battery is necessarily easier for my use case. There’s still the matter of creating a connection that is mechanically sound between the battery posts/stubs attached to the PCB.
I think I’m better off using a standard welding technique with the CR2032 battery holder.
That is surprising to me, but makes sense. I do have an ancient plug-in soldering iron with a kind of conical tip. That’s what I used in high school ginning up various bits of audio equipment. I’m sure it has roughly about a million watts of power available.
This one I have heard recently from some mega-gadget-DIY nerds I’ve been querying lately.
I intend to commit to that bit of sound advice fully…actually cleaning the solder itself is a new one for me, so I’ll do that as well.
Although I’ve never just sat there with the soldering pencil touching a contact, waiting for it to heat up…always wait for it to heat up, then immediately attempt the join with at most several seconds to heat the component. But I see your point: the time spent waiting for the already-hot iron to heat the other elements is bound to be slow, and therefore damaging.
The good news is that the CR2032 holders came in a pack of six or so…so I can experiment with the clip held firmly in place and observe if the resulting joint looks like the classic result of good technique. Or just use whatever scraps of metal/wire I dig up around my place.
So, plenty of opportunities for practicing technique.
Thanks everyone for investing your time by providing valuable insights, as well as some perspectives that, may be a tough pill to swallow, but getting correct results is the name of the game, as far as I’m concerned.
I know my battery-powered soldering pencil is crap: if I find I cannot achieve extremely good results on spare parts, then I can make a trip to a hardware store and find a soldering tool that, while my budget is rock-bottom, will at least provide, say, 40W of power.
So, plan a: see if I can create acceptable joins using scrap pieces of metal using my existing equipment.
plan b: try to find my “vintage” soldering iron somewhere in a closet somewhere, try that. After meticulously cleaning the tip, and, of course, tinning it.
plan c: buy a new, cheap soldering iron that will be adequate for this one single purpose.
Advantages to my series of plans is that any deficiencies in my technique or in preparation of the material have a good chance of being…rectified (is that a pun? maybe, sort of).
But I am curious…there seems to be a general resistance (OK, pretty sure that counts as a pun) in this thread to using shrink tubes.
I may have given the wrong impression of my overall support of applying shrink tubes in general over solid solder joints…but I shouldn’t think insulating the joint securely is a bad thing…and I have to think there is a small amount additional mechanical security.
After all, it takes about two seconds or less to apply, and, out-of-sight, out-of-mind! And it’s just some rubber of some sort, so doesn’t hamper any future attempts should something need a quick repair.
I certainly intend to apply a longer heat shrink tube to from the battery case to the mobo/PCB as it snakes it’s away above the metal shielding, both as a visual indicator of which wires connect to the DC inputs on the board, and for extra security against abrasion.
And yes, for those concerned about the buyer…yes, she paid and the money is held in escrow at Reverb until the instrument is received by her. I’ve been in constant communication with her about the level of care and prediction of perhaps rough handling by the logistics/shipping company, but she insists everything be 100%, right down to me testing the 3.5" drive, which has never been used, ever, by me or the previous owner. I can put in some old floppy disk I probably have around and see if the drive spins up and doesn’t make more than the usual clunking noises.
But, as of right now, indeed the instrument is still mine, and she has had the ability to have her payment refunded at any time via Reverb. I’ve been upfront with her that a week’s delay in shipment has been necessary (I’m a musician, dammit, not a salesman!) but that it is in her stated demand that everything is 100% perfect.
Shrink tubing over a proper solder joint? Perfectly fine, and I do that all the time. And it can provide a degree of strain relief, depending on the geometry. But under no circumstances should it be used to hold a joint together, with or without tape.
No, I’ve been under no illusion that shrink tube gives anything more than modest mechanical support: more on the order of strain relief and added protection from abrasion, in addition to insulation.
Here’s the sad results of my “plan a”. No. Just no. Not even using a helping hands tool, holdering both a wire and a terminal post from a battery holder.
I blame the soldering iron, which was clearly not enough to heat both elements to achieve the join of the solder, after removing the iron and feeding the solder onto the joint, but most of all, I blame myself!
Crimping it is!
It seems that about forty dollars US or so should be plenty for a decent crimping tool, and perhaps at least a handful of quality crimps with conductive material inside.
Yes, it’s a moment of personal failure, since I used to do this all the time…what…over thirty years ago. Or more! Who’s counting, anyway!
But my legs are old and my teeth are grey and I just don’t feel like learning a new “trade,” simple as it may be.
I am on my twelfth beer but that’s only to give me courage to dream big!
No, I switch to crimping, and I’ll just remember fondly those times as a young teenager inhaling vaporized lead fumes and such when I had steadier hands.
So, for this application, I can buy for about the same price a decent but affordable hand-crimping tool (plus, I think some high-quality crimps), or for roughly about the same a proper soldering “station”…at least a decent soldering pencil with a few different tips (I hope), and the usual stand/brass sponge which I already have.
Since my college days and before of breadboarding circuits and all that are well over, and especially since I need this quick and easy repair to be done ASAP (it’s making my hair grey obsessing over it!), who votes for quality crimp (it will certainly work for the CR2032 battery posts, and very probably to attach bare wire to the post/stubs off the PCB).
I’m not likely to do much if any soldering after this project, but, you know, it is handy for unforeseen projects…as is crimping done correctly, is the word I hear.
I would do it like the guy in the video.…
1st, get the new soldering iron !!
Then, pre-tin the wire and the terminals on the battery holder, then
use the helping hand to hold the battery holder, touch the wire to the
terminal and melt them together.
(Then, if you’re like me, unsolder them and put the heat shrink tube onto the
wire which you forgot first time !!)
Yes, that was my idea…but apparently that guy is a super wizard known far and wide.
A simple set of joins like that for him is probably the equivalent of a 3rd grader tying his shoes (or whatever age kids do things! For all I remember, play the lead role in Hamlet or fluently translate from C to ASM, or from Greek to Latin…I’m old!)
But that is, I think the first demonstration I saw many months ago and he made it look so easy. However, it appears he’s been tinkering with such things, it appears, for many years and has quite a following on leTube…also, his workspace seems a little more conducive (pun?) to efficient work than me having things scattered on the floor willy-nilly.
Not great for my ego, but since I have no claims to anything, I’m going to go ahead and say he is better than me when it comes to anything relevant.
Boosters of the crimping idea: keep in mind the PCB-mounted battery post/stubs are somewhat rectangular.
I still think crimping is the way to go, and can acquire a decent tool and conductive crimpers first thing tomorrow…unless…I’m lacking knowledge.
I think it should work, though, unless I break off the battery posts, which then requires removing the entire keyboard assembly, and dismount the main circuit board.
Which is possible…but…not ideal!
Shouldn’t be a problem, though, I don’t think!
Terrible picture, but it gets the idea across. There’s a good quarter-inch of battery post extending from the PCB, at any rate. The actual post is to the right of the wire, but it is not cylindrical, but rather flat. I’m hesitant to try to “crimp” that square peg into a round hole.
I think - certainly in your case - soldering is much much simpler and easier than crimping.
How would you get the crimping tool down against the pcb or the battery holder tabs ?
(Unless i’m misundestanding something.)
Basically any way I can. I’m completely done repeatedly screwing up the most rudimentary soldering jobs.
I honestly hope this woman just eventually says, “No, we’re all good, keep your damned Ensoniq!”
Although she paid in escrow on a Sunday last week and I informed her of the difficulty of having a cylindrical battery rolling around at the hands of UPS, so she is more concerned about having a top quality instrument than speed.
Hell, I’ve waited far longer for a pair of jockey shorts from Amazon to be delivered. She can just simmer down already.
I’m not sending out the instrument until it is roadworthy to my satisfaction.
And besides, she I accepted her offer of $100 below asking, and am already taking a YUGE bath on my shipping fee of $80 (likely be double that).
And apparently she has a supply of high quality double-sided double-density disks so she wants me to check the disk drive which has never been used by anyone, including the original owner.
I’m halfway inclined to just cancel her order myself. No, lady! For the last time, I do not have any expansion cartridges, and never said I did! No, lady! I do not have any 2-s2-d 3.5 disks, and the instrument never came with any from the factory. But, sure, I’ll go dig up some crusty old 3.5 disks and see if the drive makes funny noises (it will! only a crazy person would use that drive! but i’ll verify that it takes a disk and makes weird noises while trying to format a disk it’s not designed to format…the Service Manual is very clear it will only accept double-sided, double-density disks, and its formatting procedure does not skip any bad sectors).
I’m completely done repeatedly screwing up the most rudimentary soldering jobs. Not good for my fragile ego. This is kindergarten stuff, and I’ve done it a hundred times before, but I’m working a lot at odd hours and rarely have time to just browse hardware stores during “normal” business hours in a sundown town.
I use heat shrink tubing (HST) all the time. A few tips:
Make sure there are no sharp points or sharp edges on the solder joint, else they could tear the HST. Sharp points/edges should be smoothed with a file before shrinking the HST.
If the HST is a tight fit, go the next size up. Because you want the HST to shrink a little bit when you apply heat.
Don’t use a powerful heat gun, e.g. like this one. It’s too hot, plus the fan is so powerful that it will move the HST around. Use something like this or this.
Oh…well, live and learn! My heat gun is 1800W with dual temperature settings at 400 °C and 600 °C. (Edit, yeah, that’s about the heat range of the Black and Decker you linked to…it’s fine!)
It makes a really good hair dryer, though! Provided you don’t mind much whose hair you’re drying!
Well, I can shrink my large assortment of HSTs probably with just a much more modest, handheld torch of some kind. Or, whatever. Not a huge deal.
Anyway, tiny little battery, low current…if needed, just electrical tape or whatever. Or nothing at all.
You see, once I get this elementary-school “project” of replacing the CMOS-type battery done, I still have to clean this motherfucker to top quality, like Q-tips and isopropyl alcohol in every single crevice and find the two missing hex screws dropped on my desk or my carpet somewhere, and then screw around with this disk drive that has never been used, ever, since bought new, and probably empty a few cans of Caig DeOxit into the output jacks and test every single parameter.
Then drag it over to a UPS store, and watch over them like a hawk while I insist it be packaged in a box within a box, and no peanuts! And get a written insurance guarantee.
After Reverb’s unknown fees and shipping/packing…I might make two hundred bucks off this synth, all told, and likely this…buyer…will probably send it back and I’ll spend the next year getting reimbursed by UPS, if that.
No.
No good.
But I learned a lot! Never solder, and always use crimp connectors with the proper tools.
Just learn to solder. You need a better iron, more wattage, just get the type that plugs in. It’s not about exact temperature at the tip, it’s all about heat transfer. You can get too hot but that’s usually not the problem, heating too slowly is. A conical tip works well. You can use the point for precise placement if it’s really needed but usually you can move a little up the side of the cone for more surface area contact. Getting it hot fast is what your after. Use finer solder too, just feed it faster. I don’t believe in tinning leads, I think it leads to cold joints. Just keep the contact area clean. A 50:50 mix of isopropyl alcohol and acetone makes an excellent cleaner and flux remover. It’s the same ingredients as the expensive stuff.
I think you greatly underestimate how lazy I am, though!
What’s wrong with using high quality conductive crimps and a quality crimping tool?
I have to literally make four joints that are as square as can be, but I have to make them fast, and good.
I hope I have many (or, at least some) years to add to my pile of abilities, but while I find the helping-hands unit good for holding various scraps of paper in my eyeline, I really only fix things for a specific purpose.
Car repair’s a bit different, because roadside-type repairs are sometimes needed, or household electrical repair.
This is doing four square joins, once. It’s likely I’ll use any soldering techniques in the future on guitars or other instruments, but the only important thing now is fast and adequate.
For which quality crimping tools seems to fit the bill. Yeah, I’ll pay for it up front, but I’m only in my forties: I can think of dozens of uses for impeccable soldering technique just looking around my home office, but all I care about it fast and easy. For this one project.
There are a lot of things I can and should learn to do, including pertinent to this project, but ars longa, uita breuis.
