Hey all, got my X-ecuter in the post this mornin, got all the tools I need except desolderin braid (its on backorder so should have some soon), and a flux pen which 'should' arrive tomoro.
Anyway, shall I wait for the flux before I install my chip or kill the eagerness and do it now . I done my psx and then my PS2 with a USB mod, and have also done a few little projects so Im not a newbie to the iron. But I've never used flux :S.

Last thing, whats the best way to use the stuff if its in pen form?

Thanks

You will have a greated success rate and a cleaner connection if you use flux. I STRONGLY recommend it.

I know how hard it is to wait.. but I would. I tried to do my OpenXBox mod without flux and I ended up burning off a pad. I ended up having to go get the flux anyway, and then I spent 8 grueling hours trying to build a bridge around the missing pad. I eventually fixed it, but I wouldn't have been able to do that without the flux.

It could definitely be done, but flux will make your job much easier/safer.

I suppose it all depends on how comfortable you are with soldering. I had no problem soldering my PC-Bioxx with normal 60/40 solder from rat shack. I didn't use any additional flux. Main thing is just pre-tin everything and use 30 AWG wire for pad 9.

just buy flux just incease you need it.

Thanks for the replies.
Well Ive been out trying to find some and couldnt get none. The guy workin in one electrical shop told me its not needed any more cause they mix it in with hte solder, only £2 for the solder so I got it.
I think I might give it a try later without the flux, Im quite confident about doin it, although I found the one wire on the ps2 usb mod a fucker to do. Still confident though

I bought a big bottle of the stuff. Each time I mod, I brush it on with a toothbrush, then clean up with a flux remover. Then I tin each wire and contact pad.

Each connection I've made is shiny, and I've never had a failure.

Flux it!

Cool.
Well Ive took the xbox apart and had a look and decided to wait to see if i get the flux tomorrow, hopefully i will .
Anyone know what ohm to set my multimeter to if i need to check points?

I wish that i had used a bit of flux....it would have made the job..a lot less stressful........it must have been luck on my part to solder the dreaded point 9 without it.

#9 is probably the only wire that's going to give you any trouble (it kicked my ass). Flux IS included in rosin-core solder, but these pads are so small that you really can't add solder directly to the area (I couldn't anyway).

As I'm sure you've heard, use smaller wire than what Lik-Sang gives you. I would just cut a piece of the smaller wire about 6-8 inches long and then later, after the motherboard is back in the case, you can solder the #9 wire lik-sang gives you to the smaller guage wire you soldered to the #9 pad. That way, you don't have to worry as much about accidentally ripping the pad off while you're trying to get everything crammed back in the case.

In retrospect, I think the best way to do #9 is to flux the pad with a paperclip or something. Cut back the insulation about 1mm from the end of the wire and tin it. Then tape it securely to the motherboard about an inch from the pad. Touch the wire to the pad, and heat(for a second--maybe two). The solder should flow to the fluxed pad. This is where the flux helps. Without it, the solder will not flow to the pad as easily.

The important part is NOT to move the wire at all-- especially after the solder takes hold. That pad is just barely connected to the board. Any movement can break it lose--especially after you've been heating it. If I was doing it again, I would hotmelt glue or superglue the wire to the board to keep it from moving.

This isn't the same spot on the motherboard, but it's a good example of what you want your finished connection to look like:

Thanks for the good reply bpopp, glad to hear you got your problem fixed, good luck with the bios if you aint fixed it already.
Well the flux didnt arrive today, so Im gonna try it install it anyway, have taken note of whats been said.
Is normal electrical tape alright to tape the wire to the board with? Would it be a good idea to also stick a piece over the #9 once its soldered to help keep it in place? What about a bit on the mod too to help it stay stuck to the board? Or is it not a wise idea? Could the points get hot enough to melt the tape?

Thanks

Also, for the switch can I use any wire? The smallest I got is single gauge, but the actual wire inside (once you strip back a bit of the insulation) is about as thick as kynar with its insulation. Took thick or will I get away with it? I have kynar (well what I think is kynar, it came with the mod, which I got from psxservices) for #9 though.

Well done it without the flux, booted, got beep and flashin lights. So I opened it up and checked the points, the horse shoe one wasnt making contact, so I fixed that, booted and all is working fine so far .
Thanks for all the help people

having some trouble with the dash though, got evo-x 1.8.2594 workin but when I edit the evox.ini it doesnt seem to do nothin, I deleted evox.ini and rebooted everything seems to work without it? Or aint I used it right?

If you've got EvoX on DVD/CDRW and it's in the drive, then editing the harddrive's .ini file won't change anything (since it reads the one from the drive). Sounds simple, but sometimes the simple things elude us. Copy it to your HDD and then eject the disk and see (if you already haven't).

As for flux, for anyone here who is wondering if they need to use it:

If you feel the need to ask, then you definately need it.

I'm not trying to be smart there, but trust me guys, if you're new to this stuff at all (and even if you're not) it can make or break an installation.


Tribal Prophet

Got it workin now