The place to share knowledge about upgrades, mods, customisations and all other cool DIY projects for MPCs and other music equipment.
By alexxx Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:55 pm
Hi,

I am in the process of fixing some MPCs...

My first 2000xl Blue, had a bad slider, so my friend helped me desolder the expansion slider from the board. He is now MIA, so I was thinking of doing it myself. I have solder, a soldering iron, and time.

However, when I was looking at the board, I noticed that some of the solder contact points are very close to each other.

I am wondering how precise I must be in regards to the solder touching, as I look at the board it seems having solder points that are next to each other, would necessarily touch.

Can an expert please fill me in?

I have a 2500 that has certainly bad solder on the board, the volume pot can wobble, and the sound is really low... I was trying to resolder it, but once again the points are very close and I would not want to destroy it!

I have a book like thing on soldering, but many of my issues are not included.

Can someone help point me in the right direction?
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By tapedeck Wed Jun 13, 2012 7:52 pm
you definitely don't want two unconnected, but close, points connected by solder. that is the whole point of keeping them separate.

part of the magic of soldering is that, the solder flows to hot metal, so if you do it right, the solder should sort of 'set itself'.

and also, if you think that is close together, try taking a look at what manufacturers are doing nowadays. we are lucky that machines from that time period are easy to work on.

but bottom line - if the points are not supposed to be connected, don't have them get connected! that is called a 'short' when two points that should not be connected get connected. it wont kill your mpc in the slider area, but there is a potential that the right short could totally kill your mpc (or you! leave it unplugged while working on it!).

good luck!

nasa has some really good 'how to solder' videos that are short, clear, and no bs. :mrgreen:
http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov/telescope/soldering.htm
By terry towelling Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:52 pm
it's easier than you might think. just take your time.
maybe do a little practice. buy a circuit board and a few components. or just practice on any old bit of electronic gear you find on the street.

the quality of the soldering iron can make a difference.
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By JUKE 179r Wed Jun 13, 2012 11:57 pm
soldering is easy mate. just make sure you got the correct tools... 20 to 40 watt solder station, a soldering pen with a thin point for small tight spots, silver solder for a solid solder connection of parts and roll of solder wick to remove solder (solder suckers... well... suck. don't purchase).
By LZ Roberts Thu Jun 14, 2012 6:11 am
You see lots of old video's tv's etc in skips. Rip out a board from one of those & practice on that. After about 10 goes of soldering/desoldering on them, then you'll pretty much have it.

The worst things are trying to remove components that have more than two contacts soldered to a board. Those need prizing out from behind a little bit at a time, that'll need a bit of practice (a small screw driver might help). And not to leave the heat on a joint too long, that will result in tracks starting to lift. (Count to about 5 or 6 maximum when applying heat, then take the soldering iron off after that to let the joint cool before having another attempt). But if you practice on an old board then you'll discover all this.

One tool I find invaluable is pliers with an elastic band wrapped around the handle, that'll hold all those pain-in-the-arse fiddly bits.

Solder pumps or desoldering braid are also very handy.

Also, don't be tempted by cheap electrical soldering irons, they're meant for cars & washing machines. They run too hot & are too clumsy. I've ruined so many things by using one of those.

Lots of Luck :-D :-D
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By peterpiper Thu Jun 14, 2012 7:32 am
use as much as needed but as less as possible solder when sodering a part to a board. Too much solder can cause shortcircuits (as mentioned above).
Also dont put the solder to the iron (so you get a drop on the tip of the iron) but bring up the iron to the pin first and heat it up a second. Then get the solder to the pin. As soon as the solder is wraped around the pin, you should take the heat fron the pin to avoid damage of the part.

peace
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By JUKE 179r Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:30 am
By JVC Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:56 am
First, you need to get right tools. Soldering iron doesn't have to be Weller (I don't have it, but Weller iron is very good), but you should have a decent soldering iron (do not buy cheap iron) and other accessories.
I assume you've googled and researched on your own, and fortunately there are a lot of useful tutorials available on internet, so check those out.
You should definitely practice soldering and de-soldering with old junk electronics you might have in your household. I say old ones, because you don't want to practice on surface mount board.
Desoldering is harder than soldering.
Practice before go onto your MPC-2000. Good news is that soldering on MPC-2000 is not difficult, the components on the PCB is not crammed, and it is not surface mount.
I've replaced most of tact switches, rotary encoder, and note variation fader on my MPC-2000XL by myself.
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By JUKE 179r Fri Jun 17, 2016 10:17 pm
bringing up old shit again..
I eventually bought an Aoyue 2703A+ rework station and I'm glad i did.
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By conrad Wed Feb 15, 2017 3:23 pm
The point about soldering irons is to get a temperature controlled one. Much more important than the brand.

One that maintains a constant temperature preferably settable. Not a cheap iron that just dumps current into it where the temperature fluctuates wildly and you wonder why you soldering is good one minute and bad the next.

I will never work on a PCB with a cheap iron again.
By jamesbarnhart Fri Nov 03, 2017 11:05 am
I suggest you that you have to take proper guidance from anybody who had more experience or via tutorials of soldering first, then you have to take risk of doing this. Remember, Practice Makes a Man Perfect, which definitely works for you also buddy. So, keep practicing after taking proper guidance. :-D