At the very least you’ll need a soldering iron and a multimeter. If you’re serious about repairs I would recommend a temperature controlled soldering iron, although it doesn’t have to be a very expensive one.

An electric desoldering pump would also be of value, especially if you intend to replace through-hole components with lots of pins.

As for brands, any name brand should be good, like Panasonic, Nichicon and Elna for caps. As for the ICs, usually you don’t need to worry about brands, because they are either generic enough that a lot of manufacturers make them and they’re all the same, or specific enough that only one manufacturer does, so you don’t have a choice.

devius wrote on 2022-12-19, 12:46:

At the very least you’ll need a soldering iron and a multimeter. If you’re serious about repairs I would recommend a temperature controlled soldering iron, although it doesn’t have to be a very expensive one.

An electric desoldering pump would also be of value, especially if you intend to replace through-hole components with lots of pins.

As for brands, any name brand should be good, like Panasonic, Nichicon and Elna for caps. As for the ICs, usually you don’t need to worry about brands, because they are either generic enough that a lot of manufacturers make them and they’re all the same, or specific enough that only one manufacturer does, so you don’t have a choice.

ok. I wasnt to far off then. I figure if I can repair these things, then i can get things like the Voodoo 5 5500 for example for like 100 usd when they go for north of 400 usd in working condition, ya know?

Right. That's how I get some good deals, by buying stuff that isn't working and then repairing it.

Sometimes the hardest part is finding where the problem is though, so you should also invest some time in gaining knowledge of how each component usually fails, how to measure them, as well as reading schematics, datasheets and component values.

devius wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:01:

Right. That's how I get some good deals, by buying stuff that isn't working and then repairing it.

Sometimes the hardest part is finding where the problem is though, so you should also invest some time in gaining knowledge of how each component usually fails, how to measure them, as well as reading schematics, datasheets and component values.

Right, I been watching a lot of Tech Tangents repair videos, and learning a little from those. The last one id watched, he'd repaired an IBM 5153 monitor, and said something about the new caps being some cheap off brand, so theres why i asked about brands for caps.

I've done electronics repair for a few years as a hobby. This is based on my own experience in that respect.

For basic thru-hole component repair I'd recommend:

• a decent temp controlled soldering iron (I use a Hakko FX-888D)
• soldering supplies (leaded solder, solder braid, flux, solder mask, solder mat)
• standard electronics multimeter
• desoldering pump or vacuum desoldering gun (the latter is especially useful if you're doing a lot of desoldering)
• air filtration / smoke remover
• sturdy board holder and/or desktop vise
• needle-nosed pliers
• tweezers
• flush cutters
• standard screwdrivers/bits set
• prying tools (handy for getting into plastic cases)
• cleaning and general repair supplies: anti-static brushes, isopropyl alcohol, deoxidation chemicals, lubricants, cotton swabs, etc.

For SMT or more advanced electronics diagnose / repair:

• hot air station
• microscope
• oscilloscope
• specialized component measurement tools (e.g. ESR meter, etc.)
• bench power supply
• microcontroller tester / programmer

Also, if you happen to get into plastics repair (which can be a thing when dealing with electronics), then there are various glues, solvents, and fillers useful for that.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

I've done electronics repair for a few years as a hobby. This is based on my own experience in that respect. […]
Show full quote

I've done electronics repair for a few years as a hobby. This is based on my own experience in that respect.

For basic thru-hole component repair I'd recommend:

• a decent temp controlled soldering iron (I use a Hakko FX-888D)
• soldering supplies (leaded solder, solder braid, flux, solder mask)
• standard electronics multimeter
• desoldering pump or vacuum desoldering gun (the latter is especially useful if you're doing a lot of desoldering)
• air filtration / smoke remover
• sturdy board holder and/or desktop vise
• needle-nosed pliers
• tweezers
• flush cutters
• standard screwdrivers/bits set
• prying tools (handy for getting into plastic cases)
• cleaning and general repair supplies: anti-static brushes, isopropyl alcohol, deoxidation chemicals, lubricants, cotton swabs, etc.

For SMT or more advanced electronics diagnose / repair:

• hot air station
• microscope
• oscilloscope
• specialized component measurement tools (e.g. ESR meter, etc.)
• bench power supply
• microcontroller tester / programmer

thats a lot of stuff. For the air filtration, I imagine a fan in the window might work on a budget? Ive got an Ifixit kit, so that covers the screwdrivers, prying tools, and tweezers. For the bench power supply, is that like a pc power supply? All i know about for specialized component measurement tools is like something for testing caps accurately. What deoxidation chemicals, or lubricants would I need? I have some floppy drives that probably need greased back up.

Regarding ventilation/filtration - anything that gets whatever evaporates from what you are working on away from your face is good. Trouble with windows is that the wind can blow air in as well as out, even if you have a fan running there.

Also, regarding budget - don't cut corners. It's better to get a small set of good tools and limit yourself to jobs you can do with them, than to get a large set of crappy ones and mess everything up. Particularly if you're a beginner.

Don't start with a Voodoo5, start with something basically worthless and disposable. Make sure it's old - EU RoHS legislation was enacted in 2003 and came into force in 2006. Everything since the latter date and most since the former one have lead-free solder, which is better for the environment, but *much* harder to work with. Hardware from the late 1990s is easiest to work with. Newer tends to have RoHS-compliant solder, older can have degraded materials (although larger, less sensitive components compensate a lot of that). Ideal starter project would be a motherboard from the start of the Capacitor Plague, with a limited number of caps that need replacing.

Be sure to source good quality replacements. I live in Northwestern Europe, here Reichelt.de is my go-to source for good Nichicon, Panasonic and Sanyo caps. Big advantage over Mouser is cheaper shipping of small batches. If you live elsewhere, you'll have other options, but go for relatively local and assured good quality. I'd steer clear of eBay or AliExpress for these things.

dionb wrote on 2022-12-19, 23:37:

Regarding ventilation/filtration - anything that gets whatever evaporates from what you are working on away from your face is go […]
Show full quote

Regarding ventilation/filtration - anything that gets whatever evaporates from what you are working on away from your face is good. Trouble with windows is that the wind can blow air in as well as out, even if you have a fan running there.

Also, regarding budget - don't cut corners. It's better to get a small set of good tools and limit yourself to jobs you can do with them, than to get a large set of crappy ones and mess everything up. Particularly if you're a beginner.

Don't start with a Voodoo5, start with something basically worthless and disposable. Make sure it's old - EU RoHS legislation was enacted in 2003 and came into force in 2006. Everything since the latter date and most since the former one have lead-free solder, which is better for the environment, but *much* harder to work with. Hardware from the late 1990s is easiest to work with. Newer tends to have RoHS-compliant solder, older can have degraded materials (although larger, less sensitive components compensate a lot of that). Ideal starter project would be a motherboard from the start of the Capacitor Plague, with a limited number of caps that need replacing.

Be sure to source good quality replacements. I live in Northwestern Europe, here Reichelt.de is my go-to source for good Nichicon, Panasonic and Sanyo caps. Big advantage over Mouser is cheaper shipping of small batches. If you live elsewhere, you'll have other options, but go for relatively local and assured good quality. I'd steer clear of eBay or AliExpress for these things.

For a starter project, i have an old Socket 462 board and some old psu's that need recap. I mentioned the voodoo 5 as an example as to how much better deals i could get, once i get good at these repairs. I live in the states, and as far as i am aware, my best bet for new caps or chips is online. I greatly appreciate the advice, ill keep it in mind when setting up the repair station.

So462 could already be RoHS, even the earlier ones tended to have far less forgiving solder than boards a few years older. But they are certainly good candidates.

Getting caps and chips online is a given, but again, go for reputable sources in the States (Mouser, Digi-Key and Farnell immediately come to mind), not random eBay sellers if at all possbile. For caps it should always be possible. For chips, particularly the old ones, sadly less so. In those cases I just order in China, but assume 50% failure rate so get twice what I need. That's always worked for me so far.

dionb wrote on 2022-12-20, 00:44:

So462 could already be RoHS, even the earlier ones tended to have far less forgiving solder than boards a few years older. But they are certainly good candidates.

Getting caps and chips online is a given, but again, go for reputable sources in the States (Mouser, Digi-Key and Farnell immediately come to mind), not random eBay sellers if at all possbile. For caps it should always be possible. For chips, particularly the old ones, sadly less so. In those cases I just order in China, but assume 50% failure rate so get twice what I need. That's always worked for me so far.

is there a way to test chips before going thru the work of soldering them to the board?

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-20, 00:51:

[...]

is there a way to test chips before going thru the work of soldering them to the board?

Depends on the chip - you can generally test for complete short-circuits and with an oscilloscope you can check output signals for some pins. In general though, best way to test is not to solder the chip but to solder a socket instead and stick the chips in there.

For any kind of repairs, you need diagnostic tools to see what's wrong. A good multimeter, ESR meter, motherboard diagnostic cards (ISA/PCI/etc). A PS tester which shows actual voltage. Grounded and temp controlled soldering iron, desoldering iron, and if you do newer stuff hot air work station.

I keep leaded solder around for old stuff since it melts good. Soldering flux and paste are needed for SMD work.

dionb wrote on 2022-12-20, 00:54:

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-20, 00:51:

[...]

is there a way to test chips before going thru the work of soldering them to the board?

Depends on the chip - you can generally test for complete short-circuits and with an oscilloscope you can check output signals for some pins. In general though, best way to test is not to solder the chip but to solder a socket instead and stick the chips in there.

provided the chip being replaced has a socket available. I think my Radeon 8500 128mb had a memory module go bad. Of course, not a beginners project, but theres an example.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

• a decent temp controlled soldering iron (I use a Hakko FX-888D)

Nowadays I wouldnt recommend anything below Hakko T12/T15 cartridge stuff. Doesnt need to be brand name, any Chinese cheap T12/T15 station will be great, they start around $30. Dont touch Irons using ancient T18/900M tips no matter how cheap or great the descriptions/recommendations are.
I would skip TS100 as a cordless toy for keeping in the car as a backup. $30 PINECIL gets a pass because its half price (if you can buy one in the first place).

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]soldering supplies (leaded solder, solder braid, flux, solder mask)

I dont know about the mask thing, rest yes
cork board or kitchen silicone mat ($10 gets you large one) are useful if you dont want to burn furniture 😀
Amazon has some tiny 15x12 inch $20 ESD Safe soldering mats, and $50 gets you 30x18 from Bertech (actual real US company and not dropshipped random Chinese toxic waste)

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]standard electronics multimeter

Preferably something above that black DT-830. Rule of thumb - If multimeter has "transistor tester" socket its garbage. I would also avoid Fluke if you arent spending multiple $hundreds$. Their low end stuff is very basic feature wise, you mostly pay for calibration and precision not needed for repair work. Uni-T is an established cheap brand with meters starting at $10.
~$100 you cant go wrong with https://brymen.eu/shop/bm235/
~$70 UT61E is still a win https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxzQZFRznp0
~$40 ANENG AN870 seems quite ok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-DDvLbUukw

ebay ~$15 "LCR-T4 LCD Transistor Tester M328 Triode Capacitance ESR Meter" is highly recommended.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]desoldering pump or vacuum desoldering gun (the latter is especially useful if you're doing a lot of desoldering)

Personally I find manual desoldering pumps more annoying than useful. Desoldering braid does similar job less fiddly. Desoldering guns are great, but >$100. I would go with "858" $35 hotair first.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]air filtration / smoke remover

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:36:

For the air filtration, I imagine a fan in the window might work on a budget?

no, but cheap computer fan with a filter behind it on a DIY stand in front of you yes. Bonus points if you attach a piece of Air Conditioning 'Flexible Ducting' from Home Depo to redirect fumes into the window.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]sturdy board holder and/or desktop vise [*]needle-nosed pliers [*]tweezers [*]flush cutters [*]standard screwdrivers/bits set […]
Show full quote

[*]sturdy board holder and/or desktop vise
[*]needle-nosed pliers
[*]tweezers
[*]flush cutters
[*]standard screwdrivers/bits set
[*]prying tools (handy for getting into plastic cases)
[*]cleaning and general repair supplies: anti-static brushes, isopropyl alcohol, deoxidation chemicals, lubricants, cotton swabs, etc.[/list]

yes

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]microscope

even a good loupe

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]oscilloscope

Rarely used in the shop, mostly to check ripple 😀 Decent ones start around $300 so it isnt exactly great bang for buck. Can start small with something like:
Adrian Black from Adrian’s Digital Basement just did a repair/review video of ~$60 “ZEEWEII DSO1511G” handheld scopes. Frontend real BW of ~90MHz (3db drop), but digital part drops the ball by using maybe overclocked dual 100MHz AD9288 ADC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqrel5fQpK4

EEVblog with some internal hardware info (FPGA LATTICE LCMXO2, Allwinner F1C100s) https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/dso1511e-review/
There exist a ~$80 2 channel SigPeak DSO2512G version of above https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/new-2c … gpeak-dso2512g/ using both channels cuts sampling rate to 100Msps (or overclocked 120Msps). Jittery and aliased results above ~30MHz input signal, but at those prices its great for quick diagnostics. A party trick of analog composite Video output is also great.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]bench power supply

can be a good diy project https://www.instructables.com/ATX-Bench-Power-Supply/
alternatively laptop power supply + ebay $10 ZK-4KX "DC Adjustable Step Up Down Buck Boost Power Supply Voltage Regulator Module" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdq6dzH26QY
or $40 DPS3003/$50 DPS5005 modules

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

[*]microcontroller tester / programmer

You can live without one if all you do is PC motherboards (hot swap flashing). Anything over $50 TL866/T48 is overkill.

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

Also, if you happen to get into plastics repair (which can be a thing when dealing with electronics), then there are various glues, solvents, and fillers useful for that.

Im a fan of cheap sacrificial soldering iron/extra tip and hot welding plastic

dionb wrote on 2022-12-19, 23:37:

Also, regarding budget - don't cut corners. It's better to get a small set of good tools and limit yourself to jobs you can do with them, than to get a large set of crappy ones and mess everything up. Particularly if you're a beginner.

I would avoid those attractive looking Chinese 100-in-1 sets, crappy helping hands, magnifying loupe glasses and other 5 minute hack type of wonder tools.

dionb wrote on 2022-12-19, 23:37:

Be sure to source good quality replacements. I live in Northwestern Europe, here Reichelt.de is my go-to source for good Nichicon, Panasonic and Sanyo caps. Big advantage over Mouser is cheaper shipping of small batches.

https://www.tme.eu/en/ is another good Euro supplier

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:36:

Ive got an Ifixit kit, so that covers the screwdrivers, prying tools, and tweezers. For the bench power supply, is that like a pc power supply? All i know about for specialized component measurement tools is like something for testing caps accurately. What deoxidation chemicals, or lubricants would I need? I have some floppy drives that probably need greased back up.

Unknown_K wrote on 2022-12-20, 01:02:

motherboard diagnostic cards (ISA/PCI/etc)

yes, and at ~$10 a no brainer

Unknown_K wrote on 2022-12-20, 01:02:

I keep leaded solder around for old stuff since it melts good. Soldering flux and paste are needed for SMD work.

flux is useful for all kinds of soldering, not only smd. I would forget paste altogether unless mass producing something.

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-20, 04:00:

cork board or kitchen silicone mat ($10 gets you large one) are useful if you dont want to burn furniture 😀
Amazon has some tiny 15x12 inch $20 ESD Safe soldering mats, and $50 gets you 30x18 from Bertech (actual real US company and not dropshipped random Chinese toxic waste)

Good point about the soldering mat, forgot to include that in my list.

Also worth considering would be a magnetic tray for holding screws and other bits.

Alistar1776 wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:36:

Shponglefan wrote on 2022-12-19, 22:19:

I've done electronics repair for a few years as a hobby. This is based on my own experience in that respect. […]
Show full quote

I've done electronics repair for a few years as a hobby. This is based on my own experience in that respect.

For basic thru-hole component repair I'd recommend:

• a decent temp controlled soldering iron (I use a Hakko FX-888D)
• soldering supplies (leaded solder, solder braid, flux, solder mask)
• standard electronics multimeter
• desoldering pump or vacuum desoldering gun (the latter is especially useful if you're doing a lot of desoldering)
• air filtration / smoke remover
• sturdy board holder and/or desktop vise
• needle-nosed pliers
• tweezers
• flush cutters
• standard screwdrivers/bits set
• prying tools (handy for getting into plastic cases)
• cleaning and general repair supplies: anti-static brushes, isopropyl alcohol, deoxidation chemicals, lubricants, cotton swabs, etc.

For SMT or more advanced electronics diagnose / repair:

• hot air station
• microscope
• oscilloscope
• specialized component measurement tools (e.g. ESR meter, etc.)
• bench power supply
• microcontroller tester / programmer

thats a lot of stuff. For the air filtration, I imagine a fan in the window might work on a budget?

I wouldn't chance it personally. You don't really want to be inhaling toxic fumes, so a localized filtration is important.

Depending on your setup, you could rig up some sort of fume hood with exhaust out the window. Alternatively, there are desktop fume extractors.

For the bench power supply, is that like a pc power supply?

A bench power supply is a power supply with adjustable settings and usually various clips or leads to connect to electronic components. It's useful if you want to test feeding specific voltage into an electronic circuit without powering it the unusual way (e.g. via a standard PSU).

What deoxidation chemicals, or lubricants would I need? I have some floppy drives that probably need greased back up.

For deoxidation , I use DeoxIT.

For lubricants, I mainly use silicone and lithium grease.

There are a lot of good comments in this thread already, but I would like to add that having a good bench psu is very important. It has to have current limiting, if it doesn't you might as well use an atx PSU on the bench. It is also good to have more than one output(double, triple) . This way you can power stuff like an old cdrom drive with a current limit on both 12v and 5v.

Rgarding fume extraction. If you can get fume extraction that is great, but if you can't... Let's say it never stopped me from soldering ocassionally, but I have a window right next to my workbench so a lack of ventilation is not a problem.

People mention a microscope in a context of smd soldering. I woukd like to add I use my microscope for a lot more stuff. I use it (on 10x) when soldering tiny connector elements, even a lot of through hole stuff like Ic sockets etc. Is it necessary? No, but it is really nice to really see the soldering process.

Regarding microscope type I would skip all the stuff that uses any kind of screen. I use a stereo microscope like this
https://deltaoptical.pl/mikroskop-stereoskopo … cal-discovery-l

At the time it was the most expensive thing in my workshop, but it is well worth it. I can't imagine using anything else and it made soldering and analysing Circuits much more enjoyable.

Also, I would like to comment on the initial idea of saving money by buying broken stuff and repairing it. In my opinion this makes sense only if you can get the damaged hardware for dirt cheap and you have a couple of the same type. Even better if you have a source you can trust. For example, many years ago I used to work in a PC repair shop. We would just replace customers broken hardware, but we had "a guy" that did board level repair too. Every now and then he would come over and buy a whole box of broken GPUs, motherboards etc for the price of scrap.

Buying anything sold as broken online is much more of a gamble than buying "untested". I found stuff sold as untested (typically - "pulled from a working computer 20 years ago, sat in a garden shed since") is a much better bet.

Sure you may come across stuff with broken voltage regulators, lifted traces, puffed caps, and other fairly simple repairs sold as broken, but there may also be stuff with broken vram, main chips dead etc. These days "normal people" are aware of retro enthusiasts and that some stuff is valuable. If someone has something expensive, whether a geforce 3060, or some of the vodoo cards that's dead or damaged do you think that person would just list it for $20 online as broken without attempting a repair? IMO a lot of expensive stuff sold for cheap as "broken" has already went through at least one round of attempted repairs. Then when fixing you have to worry not just about the stuff that usually breaks, but anything else the previous "repair person" messed up.

Then there is also the cost of your time and general availability of exact same type of cards.

That's why I tend to stay away from such stuff.

Thank you all for all the info. I have a lamp that has a magnifying glass built in to start instead of a microscope. Further question, rather specific, how would I fix a stuck CD drive? I have several IDE and even a few newer SATA CD drives that seem to be seized, wont open tho i hear the tray trying to come out. Just ordered a couple tubes of lithium grease for lubing floppy drives, i think one of my 3.5" 1.44 drives needs a new motor tho, It was seizing up when I was trying to use it last.

Most important cliché tools: time, patience, practice.
People usually just jump into the whole thing then give up when it doesn't go as planned. You will fail a number of times and it's not a problem, old hardware is very often a bitch and even the simplest tasks end up being a nightmare. Learn from it and move on, failure is part of this hobby.
It's probably going to be less profitable than you think even if you have all the tools in the world. Valuable hardware gets picked up quickly and if they can't be repaired they just go back on the market as "faulty-for parts". Then another guy buys it and sends it back on the market as "faulty-parts". Some of these Voodoos travel more than a SAH housewife.