What soldering iron for iPod nano battery replacement

[Ali8bongo]

Hi
My iPod nano 3rd generations charge has been getting lower recently and now it only lasts about 10 minutes so I have decided to replace the battery. I was wondering what soldering iron I should get? As I am not sure at how many watts it needs to be. Also if it make any difference I am a beginner at soldering. Thanks in advance.

 

[davenn]

hi there

a 25W with a good fine tip ( ~ 1mm) would be ideal
if you can afford to and would make lots of use of it in time to come, get a temperature controlled one

Dave

 

[Ali8bongo]

Thanks, as I am just going to be using it for this one repair I think it will just get a cheap 25watt one. With a 25watt soldering iron could I easily damage the logic board?

 

[davenn]

if you are not careful and start trying to unsolder things not associated with the battery

Dave

 

[Ali8bongo]

Thanks

 

[(*steve*)]

The best advice is to find some old electronics and practice soldering similar sized wires similarly close to other components without damaging them.

 

[CocaCola]

This 15W one from Radio Shack is actually a pretty decent stick iron, I use one around the house for quick repairs every so often when I don't want to take (or it's not practical to take) something to the bench...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062728

 

[Ali8bongo]

Hi
Thanks for all the great replys that I have had so far, I found that I have a 25watt soldering iron in the garage: http://www.rapidonline.com/tools-equipment/thermally-balanced-25w-soldering-iron-178125/ it has a 1.6mm tip is this to big for ipod battery replacement?
Thanks

 

[CocaCola]

That iron should work, as advised if you can practice on some long broken items and get a feel on how to solder before you jump into the Nano...

 

[Ali8bongo]

Thanks for the quick reply, I think I'm going to get a couple of the electronics kits from maplin that you make yourself to practice on

 

[Raven Luni]

Its a surface mount kit you want then if you want to practice the fine details. Maplin dont do those. Try coolcomponents.com

 

[Ali8bongo]

Thanks, I have just orderd one of the kist from the cool components website. I have one more question though, I am also going to be repairing a freinds xbox in the near future, what solering iron would be best for a xbox repair? Should I use a 25 watt soldering iron for that aswell?

 

[CocaCola]

Define 'repair Xbox' most of the common repairs to the Xbox need to be done with a reflow oven or hot air rework station, not a solder iron as the common failure is BGA chips and you can't use a solder iron to place/fix those...

 

[(*steve*)]

You need the experience to choose the correct tool and to use it properly. Depending what you're doing to the xbox, where you're doing it (also how close you are to other components), you may need slightly different techniques or very different equipment.

There may be no one-size-fits-all solution.

Stuffing up your own xbox is one thing, stuffing up someone else's is another.

 

[Relayer]

Thanks, I have just orderd one of the kist from the cool components website. I have one more question though, I am also going to be repairing a freinds xbox in the near future, what solering iron would be best for a xbox repair? Should I use a 25 watt soldering iron for that aswell?

If its the first X-Box consoles (not the 360's), then yes, a 25 watt iron will work quite well.
Though as steve has mentioned also: Stuffing up your own xbox is one thing, stuffing up someone else's is another.
Unless you have excellent soldering skills, DON'T attempt the X-Box or the 360.
I did early X-Box repairs since their inception and are quite good to work on. Though I had been soldering for more than 20 years at that time.
As CocaCola mentioned, the main problem with the 360's was the graphics GPU, which is a BGA IC. The initial Micro$oft design of the heatsink arrangement was causing the motherboard to flex and breaking some of the BGA contacts. This fault was known as the red ring of death.
I would think twice before attempting any repairs on any gaming console. Your soldering skills need to be pretty spot on, otherwise you risk turning them into paper weights.
Regards,
Relayer