Something like this is what you should solder with. Use rosin core electronic solder, and try to put the solder into the joint as you are soldering. You should be able to do this quickly, and keep the board from heating up. It's pretty hard to destroy a board like that if you have a decent soldering station. At least you have something to practice on now.
I did this with my K550s a while back (big earpads) as the original ones were disintegrating. I don't know how it'd work on the DT 770s, but for me it completely ruined the mids and trebles on my headphones. I thought it was fine until I swapped the pads back to new OG ones and it felt like a breath of fresh air.
Detachable cable mod should be easy, I did it in about 30 minutes or even less but I do have a lot of through-hole soldering experience so take that with a grain of salt. I basically just chopped off the fixed cable after taking apart the driver assembly and soldered the 3 wires onto a 3.5mm jack and shoved that into the new hole. I would buy some of those practice kits to get better with as the only way to get better at soldering is to solder more.
If you don't already have a soldering iron, then it's extremely important you get a high quality one with temperature control. A shitty soldering iron can burn your house down, and if it doesn't, you'll break more things and not save any more money than if you just bought the proper equipment and spent a little more initially. This would be a good place to start.
I don't see a soldering iron pictured, but if it's a cheap one, an upgrade to a nice one makes a big difference and fits your budget. I'd recommend this
For any sort of board work you should have a decent digital iron and they should definitely be better than 15-25 watts. Weller WE1010NA Digital Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077JDGY1J/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_GSVADZBEYQ8ZZSRSZ9CB something like that. I run a $120 china rework station with a soldering iron with digital heat control. I use the angled tip that guy for bigger pads and a haako micropencil for the real small stuff.
You could buy a super super cheap soldering iron online or you could get a moderately cheap one and save yourself a LOT of frustration. Trust me. Get the moderately cheap one. Weller is a good brand.
I use a Weller station. Best to buy quality. I’ve had different irons but this has been the best I’ve used.
Weller WE1010NA Digital Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077JDGY1J/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_NAZ7PGWZF6VRSM5874XC
You won’t get good results if your temperature control is goofing off. You’re going it right but your equipment sounds like it might need a time out.
Weller is a great brand. There’s one that I bought of Amazon for 110$. It’s a little tank! I’ve used it a lot and we use them for work as well.
Weller WE1010NA Digital Soldering Station https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077JDGY1J/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_EXR2B27M7GQY7RGN4888?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Is this the one you're talking about? They have an 8 piece set as well that comes with solder. Should i go for that one? https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WE1010NA-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B077JDGY1J/ref=pd_aw_sbs_328_2/138-7164822-6813263?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B077JDGY1J&pd_rd_r=6a6b10bc-c798-4535-a49b-c0f32ad5f97f&pd_rd_w=zy9qy&pd_rd_wg=DEhGR&...
I've dabbled in soldering for the past year. I like The Current Source on Youtube for some basics to get started. Motherboards are mostly SMT (surface mount) rather than through hole components. SMT is more challenging to get started with than through hole. You can do some of it with a soldering iron but for most you'll want a hot air setup and/or a reflow table.
I'd recommend starting with some through hole hobby kits to start getting a feel for the basics and if you haven't done a lot of electronics work before it's a good way to learn the concepts and circuit designs with larger components before moving to SMT parts.
I bought this Weller iron, a former coworker who is did prototyping and rework professionally said it was his rec for DIY and hobbyist soldering. You can definitely start out spending less, though. Digital control is definitely optional, but trying to start with one of those $5-10 irons will just lead to bad results and frustration (I tried these the first couple times I tried soldering and just quit).
This analog setup should be perfectly adequate to get started with on a tighter budget.
Start with a few cheap kits to practice before you work on anything of value.
This calculator was a fun build and is actually useful for looking up resistor values.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076SBY7DG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This LED ferris wheel is pretty cool, but requires some patience in seating and soldering a couple hundred LEDs.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QFPW2PX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Single quantities are of course available!
I work at an engineering firm and we apply and rework SMD parts all the time including capacitors and they are products we ship to commercial and government customers. An adjustable soldering iron that can take small tips would be ideal, however even a cheap hobby one should work.
Key is to just make sure you don't get things too hot and pull up the traces. Worst case OP breaks it again and really has to toss it out.
He's looking for something along https://a.co/d/gdUnOra lines
Fyi, the upgraded replacement is the WE1010NA and seems reasonably priced. I don't have one (yet) but am also looking.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B077JDGY1J
https://www.weller-tools.com/new-weller-1010-soldering-station/
/u/v1smund is on point. a good gun is key. below are some links for you. if you need a tutor i would be glad to show you how
this one is great: https://smile.amazon.com/Weller-WE1010NA-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B077JDGY1J/ref=dp_prsubs_1?pd_rd_i=B077JDGY1J&th=1
here are the kits https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=solder+practice+kit&crid=4K51CL9KZPP0&sprefix=solder+prac%2Caps%2C120&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_11
I use a Weller WS81 station, but it's been replaced by this digitally controlled model, close to $100. I love the analog version I've been using for almost 10 years: https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WE1010NA-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B077JDGY1J
I went with a Weller WE1010NA. I am familiar with the brand and it is just over $100. I also use 63/37 solder.
NP! I have the older analog temp dial version of this guy. A little spendy but not over the top. Uses common tips and from a good name in the business. There are a bunch of good options out there of course. Much better then a loose iron that just plugs into the wall.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077JDGY1J?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_FXTBTVE1BR4EN33ZX5V9
There are much cheaper Weller products whose names start with "1010", than whichever variant you found that costs US$238. e.g. the 1010NA for $140.
Hakko is good, but if you are not into the Fisher-Price look of it check out their main competitor, Weller. The replacement tips are super easy to find and are available pretty much anywhere. I have had great experience with Weller customer service too.
Some more info that could be useful for you:
You also want to get a good tip cleaner/tinner. This will help to keep your tips from burning up and needing replacement. Each time you power up the station, just dab the tip into the tinner to clean/tin the tip, and when you are done. It has a sticky pad on it so you can stick it right to your iron station base.
The sponge tip cleaner is also super useful. You can use the sponge that comes with the station, but I prefer the metal sponge pinked below.
Lastly, don't buy the cheap, China solder. It is terrible. Stick to known brand, highly recommend is Kester, and even Radio Shack is better than most you'll find online. 60/40 solder melts around 370degF, so you don't need to have the heat on full.
Weller WE1010NA Digital Soldering Station
Item | Current | Lowest | Reviews |
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Buying a soldering iron and heat gun is something people put off not knowing how valuable they can be.
Here are the essentials;
1) A good soldering iron; you don't usually need a full fledged Weller soldering station, but you will be glad you have one.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WE1010NA-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B077JDGY1J/
2) Rosin core solder; a spool will last you a very long time.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071G1J3W6/
3) Heat gun. Everyone tries using a match or lighter, but a heat gun is a perfect match for heat shrink tubing.
https://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DCE530B-Cordless-Heat-Tool/dp/B07RJDRS6Y/
4) An assortment of heat shrink tubing. Once you use this approach, you will rarely resort to electrical tape.
https://www.amazon.com/Ginsco-580-pcs-Assorted-Sleeving/dp/B01MFA3OFA/
Buy a better, temperature controlled soldering iron. You will be glad you did. This one is really popular: https://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WE1010NA-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B077JDGY1J/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=soldering+iron+weller&qid=1614135644&sr=8-1 The price is worth it
Next, buy leaded solder (63/37 lead/tin). Solderig with lead-free required a higher temperature and is much more difficult.
Check out EEVBlog/Dave Jones. One of the most knowledgeable electronics guys on youtube.
As for IPS GBA kits, I got this one and it is great. It is a clone of the FunnyPlaying one (or maybe just rebadged) and is very high quality and works great. The pre-cut shell was key. I am pretty well versed in all this, lmk if you have any questions.
I have this iron and it works great.
https://www.amazon.com/Weller-WE1010NA-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B077JDGY1J/
If you want something more portable, then a TS100.
Reddit flags comments with URL shorteners as possible spam. Please use clean amazon links.
I wanted to buy in bulk because I plan on making much more. A majority of the things can be purchased off AliExpress, however, some of the things, I ended up sourcing from other websites. One, because of quality, and two, because they still haven't arrived.
​
-Ali Express...
--USB A
--USB C
-- I also bought heat shrink and paracord but they are taking much longer to ship
-Non-AliExpress
-Wire (This company is great, heavily recommend them)
-Paracord was from wally world
-heat shrink was from Advanced Auto Parts. I went to like 5 different stores. Do not buy marine heat shrink. It has a massive amount of glue which is very annoying. I also recommend buying 3:1 heat shrink at 12mm or 1/2". That way you don't have seems like mine. On future cables, I am buying my heat shrink and tech flex (not on this cable) from Wirecare.com
-I initially had purchased a $20 soldering iron from home depot (Weller) but it was like pulling teeth so I invested in a digital soldering iron station off Amazon (Weller WE1010NA). This is my number 1 recommendation if you plan on making cables so far.
​
I recommend buying from a small business if you want to make just one or two. It is significantly cheaper!