[Coco] Run of RGB2VGA boards

[Zippster]

Definitely.  Flux is absolutely critical.  

It’s the difference between success and a horrible mess.

- Ed


> On Sep 15, 2015, at 2:15 AM, Cocodemus <retrocanada76 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> And good flux :)
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Sep 14, 2015, at 7:36 PM, Mark Marlette <mmarlette at frontiernet.net> wrote:
>> 
>> Steven
>> 
>> 
>> To add to what Ed has said below.
>> 
>> The term is called capillary action.
>> 
>> 
>> Regards
>> 
>> Mark
>> 
>> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
>> 
>> From:"Zippster" <zippster278 at gmail.com>
>> Date:Mon, Sep 14, 2015 at 7:53 PM
>> Subject:Re: [Coco] Run of RGB2VGA boards
>> 
>> Hi Steven,
>> 
>> You just have to touch the tip of the soldering iron to your solder to get a small amount on
>> the tip.  It doesn’t take much.  The flux applied to the pins before hand keeps the solder from
>> getting “sticky”, and the surface tension of the molten metal pulls the excess off of the pins.
>> 
>> It’s actually surprisingly easy once you get used to it.  The hardest part ends up being aligning the
>> chip before tacking the corners.  I found it nerve-wracking and frustrating at first, going with my
>> first instinct, which was to try and precision solder individual pins.  But after learning drag-soldering 
>> it’s just as easy (or even easier) than through-hole pin-for-pin.
>> 
>> - Ed
>> 
>> 
>>> On Sep 14, 2015, at 7:37 PM, Steven Hirsch <snhirsch at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> On Mon, 14 Sep 2015, Zippster wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I’ve added a page to my website on the RGB2VGA SE boards, including some information on setup and use, and the differences between the SE and original (which are very minor).  There’s not too much there yet, but it shows how to connect the ribbon cable and explains the dip switches for CoCo3 use.
>>> 
>>> Looks nice, Ed.
>>> 
>>> On a slightly related subject, I just watched your video demonstration of flat-pack SMD soldering.  Question:  Where is the solder coming from? And, how is the soldering iron pulling excess solder off of the pins? Never seen anything like it.  My adventures with this sort of thing involve burned fingers, shameful language and a lot of solder wick to get rid of bridges.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --