[NTLK] eMate Hinge Repair Questions

[Forrest Buffenmyer]

Brian:

The first rule of soldering, as any high school shop teacher will tell you, is: "Heat the work, NOT the solder!" (do they still even HAVE shop teachers any more?).

While heating the solder will cause it to melt, it needs to flow into the electrical juncture or splice to be effective (a "cold soldered" union is both weak and brittle...and doesn't conduct electricity very well). To accomplish this, you need to heat the intended target with the soldering iron momentarily (longer for a larger area or diameter of wire, very quickly for a circuit board component or small wire splice). Most of the time you'll want to use silver solder that is very small in diameter.

DO NOT use acid core solder, such as that used to join copper pipes or in plumbing work! This will gradually eat away at the soldered joint. Rosin core is preferred for larger wire and when joining larger components, typically known as 60/40 (tin/lead alloy). Silver (silver-bearing, as it is known) is probably best for the smaller wire connections found on most small electronic devices, no flux is required.

Wattage determines the power most soldering irons have...for small work a 25 watt one should be good enough. If you find you are doing many different types of electrical soldering work you might want to invest in an iron with more wattage, such as a 100 watt...I have several different sizes that I might use, depending on the job.

To disconnect a wire from a part or soldered joint first be sure the iron is hot enough (solder should melt freely when a small bit is applied)...then, briefly touch the iron to what you wish to desolder or remove until it comes free. Reconnecting is typically the reverse of this procedure, the difference being that you might need to apply more solder to make the connection a good one (likely, there could be enough left from the original union to remake the connection without any extra).

BE CAREFUL not to allow the iron to remain too long on any part of a circuit board! Not only might you accidentally "pull up" some of the delicate copper traces on the board, but you could damage surrounding components, both externally and internally. Keep it on the targeted area just long enough to remove or join whatever it is you're working with.

This is much of what I know about soldering...I share this hoping it will be of use to you, both now and in the future.

Thanks,

--Forrest

Sent from my First Generation iPad

On Aug 22, 2011, at 9:33 AM, Brian Skow <brianskow at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I recently brought my eMate out of storage, with the intention of using it as a handy portable word processor. I was excited to become reacquainted with my old friend and his accessories! All was fine until, one afternoon, the screen lifting action became very stiff and I heard the "pop" (but it seemed to come from the left side, not the right). The action is still stiff, and the screen seems fine. But, I've closed the screen now, not to be re-opened until I check on the hinges.
> 
> I was happy to find numerous eMate support resources, including this one, and the two very detailed pages on the hinge fix. I'm fairly handy, having done RAM and hard drive upgrades on a PowerBook G4 and iBook G4, most of the mechanical work on my vehicles (including valve adjustments), etc., so I should be able to handle this repair. But, I don't have much experience, or expertise, in soldering! So: 1) Is it really necessary to de-solder and re-solder the speaker and backlight wires during the repair? In Frank Grundel's PPT/PDF slides, he says that it is recommended, but not absolutely necessary. In reading his instructions, the repair seems very do-able without the de-/re-solder. 2) If I should need to solder, should I pick up a soldering set at, say, Radio Shack? Where else? What type? Any web pages offering instructions and practice? I've done a little bit of copper plumbing soldering (much cruder, of course) with a little bit of success.
> 
> Thanks in advance!
> 
> ==================================================================== 
> The NewtonTalk Mailing List - http://newtontalk.net/
> The Official Newton FAQ     - http://splorp.com/newton/faq/
> The Newton Glossary         - http://splorp.com/newton/glossary/
> WikiWikiNewt                - http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/
> ====================================================================