I want to replace the 10K potentiometer joysticks in my dualshock 3. I have the right components. Now I need the tools. I’d rather fix my controllers than buy a new one. I also haven’t soldered in 20 years and this is probably the only soldering I’ll be doing for the next 20 years.
My questions are proper wattage and model of iron recommendations. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
A light-duty, fine tip stick iron and a solder sucker from Radio Shack will do the job. There are more exotic tools but for this one-time job, they’ll do fine. Oh, and a small coil of light-gauge solder to redo the joints.
I’d avoid solder-wick; I was never able to get it to do an adequate job. The sucker will do better.
Check out this and this. It would appear each analog stick is soldered directly to the PCB.
NitroPress has provided good advice. I’d like to add the following:
Use a wet sponge to periodically clean the tip of the soldering iron. And then tin the tip.
Don’t over-do it with the solder sucker, else it may pull the pad away from the PCB. After using a solder sucker to remove most of the solder from each solder joint, I would use Solder Wick to remove the remaining remnants of solder.
Use rosin core 63/37 solder.
All of the above, plus with a new iron solder several scraps together and clean the tip with sponge until it’s well conditioned. It should have a bright shiny, smooth finish of solder on it. Have some alligator clips or heat sink clips handy (although pots shouldn’t be all that heat sensitive).
also hold the flat side of the chisel tip (common tip type in irons) tight against the lugs/pins of the device you are attaching and not so tight against the circuit board. when the solder melts around the whole joint then pull the solder and iron away. too much heat can damage a circuit board.
15W is a good size.
But enough about soldering, let’s talk about the DualShock 3. One of ours has been acting wonky when pulling back on one of the joysticks, to the point now where it’s unusable. How accessible are those joysticks to do what you need? Where did you get the replacements?
What’s wrong with yours, or is this an upgrade of some sort?
15 watts seems underpowered to me; I use a 30 watt iron* and I still sometimes encounter situations (thick wires, multiple connections, heatsinks) where it takes a bit of heating to cleanly melt solder; this in itself is more likely to cause damage than being a bit too hot (the longer you heat a joint, the more the heat spreads). Although in my case I don’t actually use PCBs to solder stuff on, just plain perfboard with actual wires, usually the component leads, connecting parts (I also don’t have a desoldering tool for this reason; when I remove parts from PCBs, I just want the parts, not caring if the board gets damaged).
*Just your regular cheap $5 iron of the sort found at Wal-Mart, using copper wire as the tip (12 gauge works well, slightly thinner than the original tip, which means less heat conduction, but better for soldering dense circuitry); I also use a transformer to boost the voltage (via a switch) by 10% for more heat when needed, as mentioned above; I actually normally run it underpowered (10% less voltage, equivalent to about 20% less power or about 24 watts), which greatly increases the life of the heating element.
I guess I’m spoiled, as I use a Weller soldering iron w/ PID temperature controller. 
heat the iron in free air and melt a small drop (small so that it can’t fall off) of solder on the tip. apply this to the joint, the iron is hot enough to melt solder and the liquid solder will quickly transfer heat to the joint.
with many modern materials too much heat is damaging; insulation melts, circuit boards get damaged.
it does take experience to evaluate the quality and quantity of the material to be soldered and pick the right iron, tip and solder along with the right technique for that situation.
Inspired by this thread, I opened up my bad controller, and reflowed the solder to the joysticks. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get it back together, and actually broke a small piece of plastic off one of the interior parts. After finally getting it reassembled, all the controls are working, and so far, the problem seems to be gone.
I used a cheap 30 watt soldering iron form Radio Shack, that I’ve had for probably 25 years.
Glad you got it fixed ZenBeam. I actually tried to respond to your first post but lost it when I had to re-login. In case anyone else needs to know about the potentiometers, this is where I started: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=648322. Then I google-imaged around to find the part I needed.
Also Zen Beam, try ConsoleCustoms.com for that broken part. They sell complete controller shells and were willing to sell me the part that I broke.
You should check that the original pots are linear taper or audio taper. You’ll get wonky behavior if you have the wrong type.
Old PCB solder can be a bitch to melt, especially the lead free stuff. You might need a solder iron capable of over 400 C.
Solder wick works wonders, I prefer it to the sucker pump. Solder wick is just fine stranded copper wire coated with flux. If you were disappointed using one, it was probably some cheaper brand that didn’t have enough flux on it. Just add some more flux and it will suck your PCB dry.