I just soldered my very first wire!! :)

[infinite1977]

so I finally bit the bullet and bought a soldering iron. After a brief youtube video,  I gave it a crack. 
This is a big deal for me :)
Now to keep practicing ;)

[Crashramp]

Nice one, it's always good to get a new pinball repair skill under your belt. Particularly soldering, very handy indeed.
 

[Pop Bumper Pete]

Great,

[infinite1977]

haha. I have been avoiding it for years.  it was a hack job but the wire did stick.

[Homepin]

Well done, grab an old (anything) - stuffed VCR/Stereo etc and practice puling parts and soldering them back in.

You will very quickly learn about lifting tracks and making good solder joints without damaging anything worth money!

[Retropin]

Well done, grab an old (anything) - stuffed VCR/Stereo etc and practice puling parts and soldering them back in.

You will very quickly learn about lifting tracks and making good solder joints without damaging anything worth money!

Good tip!

BTW... lets see the solder joint you did

[infinite1977]

nothing major Gav but still a big moment for me :)
thanks for the tip homepin . still wont meet Hankin standards :)

[Caveoftreasures]

Buying a good solder with soldering flux manufactured already in the solder is half the battle sometimes.

Having a soldering iron with a temperature control is also worth the $ if you can justify it.

[Scotty]

prep is the key, I always tin the wires first, heat sinks help give a nice fillet. excellent first go  

[infinite1977]

cave now you are just talking a different language :)
Cheers Scotty. Heat gun is next on my list :)

[Caveoftreasures]

Solder is Ofcourse the soft metallic wire you melt with your soldering iron to join wires.

Tint is a chemical which one can use to prepare a surface chemically for soldering to get a better bonding.

Flux is also a chemical which helps the solder to stick another metal object.

Flux Capacitor is only used in Back to the Future and has nothing to do with soldering, but for fun you can tell your wife or the kids it has everything to do with time travel and your family will think working on pinballs is even more cool.

That's my technical speak converted to laymans terms if I got it right. Lol

[Retropin]

cave now you are just talking a different language :)
Cheers Scotty. Heat gun is next on my list :)

What do you need a heat gun for??...Plenty of heat on the soldering iron... just rub the bit that holds the tip up and down the heat shrink

[infinite1977]

haha too funny Cave but thanks for the education.
good point Retro. :)

[GORGAR 1]

Well done it scares me lol last time I soldered a wire on a coil I got my son to hold the coil which ended in it heating up and burning  his fingers haha so he won't ever help me again :)

EDIT: funny stuff Brett that's my favorite movie :)

[Scotty]

cave now you are just talking a different language :)
Cheers Scotty. Heat gun is next on my list :)
 Haha, heat gun ? heat sinks, just small alligator clamps you clamp to the exposed wire to stop the heat transferring up the wire, keep the heat at the point you want to solder.  ( Avionics )