SMD Soldering for Beginners: Commodore 64 Cartridge Build

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks for watching - these are just beginner techniques I wanted to try after watching some tutorials, but as ever, tastes & techniques differ and this won't be everyone's preferred method :) And thanks for watching on the channel's 6th birthday! 🎂 Want double the ЯR content and a backstage experience? 👾 Check out Retro Recipes PowerUp! 🚀 patreon.com/perifractic 📼 Dive into bonus videos, get an early start on main vids, jam out to ЯR music, see your name in lights & more! ✨ By supporting the heart and soul of ЯR you help us keep the channel & nostalgia alive 🙌

[@seedmoreuser]

That thumbnail. Lol.

[@RetroRecipes]

Good eye! @@seedmoreuser

[@danboid]

Great video! I have added a link to this video on the main page of the Uzebox wiki. These skills help when soldering the Uzebox SD card socket. Thanks RR!

[@RetroRecipes]

@@danboid Thanks so much for sharing the vid!

[@danboid]

@@RetroRecipes Thanks for making it! I need to get a hot air gun. Must be pretty good at partys too?

[@The-truth-is-valuable.]

Learning with Perry is like doing it yourself: This is (almost) the best way of being able to do it, without having any of the tools or wondering about the possible mistakes happening. By you leaving the mistakes in, it not only teaches us about the type of mistakes that (can) happen, but also that they are there. Thanks for shearing.

[@Holammer]

Video thumbnail? **Chef's kiss** Anyone not getting the joke, it's based on an old stock photo with a women holding a soldering iron in a hilarious way.

[@skyrocketautomotive]

I've always observed SMD from at least 15 feet away while clutching a crucifix, but this video was a huge eye opener! Watching that solder paste turn into solder and coat the pads was absolutely fascinating, I had no idea that's how it worked!

[@RetroRecipes]

So glad it helped!

[@benbaselet2026]

I don't know where that fear comes from... SMD is easier to solder than through hole. Don't have to worry about multilayer boards and everything you do is clearly visible instead of some hole you have no eyes on. No need to faff about with that paste and hot air, just soldering the pads with a regular iron and wire works way better most of the time.

[@skyrocketautomotive]

@@benbaselet2026 because it seemed fiddly and was something I didn't have experience with and so, in the interest of not making a bad situation worse I'd avoided it. Now I'm enlightened as to the beautiful simplicity of it I'll definitely be kitting up and having a practise should I ever need this in my wheelhouse!

[@benbaselet2026]

@@skyrocketautomotive Absolutely worth learning a few skills. Just solder the stuff together, it's not hard as long as you are not intimidated by a million videos online telling you how unbelievably hard it is when it is not :-)

[@skyrocketautomotive]

@@benbaselet2026 thanks for the encouragement! I've done a lot of through hole stuff but this seemed like black magic to me until this very video!!

[@cameralabs]

Thanks for the tutorial, I'm the World's worst solderer so need all the help I can get. PS - bonus points for sticking to your roots and pronouncing the L in solder!

[@Ron_Rhodes]

I can't remember how many times I crossed the beams and the ghost got away. But that digitized laugh will haunt me forever.

[@nsjohnston]

if you flux your wick it works much better. Also the flux cleaning the surface happens under heat, I believe it becomes corrosive at high temps during soldering and clean/etch the surface to help make a good junction.

[@larsegholmfischmann6594]

I haven't soldered anything for more than 30 years but I can still remember the cozy, satisfying smell of pine resin and coffee on my internship desk back in the 90s :)

[@RetroRecipes]

Not in the same cup I hope!

[@larsegholmfischmann6594]

@@RetroRecipes Haha, no thankfully not 😂

[@lurkerrekrul]

I'm not even very good at soldering wires to large contacts. Then again, I don't have any fancy tools, just a couple cheap pencil soldering irons. I'm always afraid of applying heat for too long to the leg of any component. Many years ago, I read an article about how to build a cheap kickstart switcher for the Amiga. It involved placing one chip on top of the other and soldering all but one of the legs together. Those legs were bent out, soldered to the poles of a SPDT switch, and then the wire from the switch went into the free hole in the Kickstart socket. I decided to try it, but I used a socket and soldered it to my old 1.2 Kickstart chip that I wasn't using any more. When done, I plugged my 2.0 chip into the new socket, put the chip/socket into the motherboard socket, inserted the wire from the switch and powered it on. The 2.0 chip worked fine, but when I flipped the switch to select the 1.2 chip (power off of course), it didn't work. The only thing I did to the 1.2 chip was solder the socket legs to it and bend out one pin. If I had done it wrong the 2.0 chip wouldn't have worked. The only conclusion I can come to is that I somehow fried the 1.2 chip by leaving the iron on some of the legs too long. Since then I always worry that I'm going to damage something with too much heat.

[@Eon119]

I used to repair PCB's in the late 90s / early 00's for an access control company. The PCB's usually had a mix of through hole and surface mount components. If you don't have a rework station, I recommend surface mount solder. Its just like regular solder but much thinner. It is much easier to use when fitting surface mount components. It is very difficult to remove sm components without a rework station though. 20 years later, I still tinker with designing and building PCB's (mostly for home automation), but my eyes do need magnification now - especially with placing surface mount components. I thoroughly enjoyed this video, and as you can see - its taken me back to my younger self. Top job Peri 😃

[@benjaminrich9396]

There's so much to love here, but as a small thing: I love how for the cover pic of the video Perry has put his bearded face onto that famous pic of the woman holding the would-be hot part of the soldering iron (which laughably showcased it as a fake quota-chasing pic, and not real). Brilliant. That made me laugh out loud. 😂

[@RetroRecipes]

It really hurt!

[@gamingtherapy7587]

Nice to a video where you are learning some new tricks and we can learn along with you . 👏

[@einherrjar]

i love the stock foto in the thumbnail, i have an entire collection of those, with folks holding the iron at the hot end. 😂

[@RetroRecipes]

What were they thinking? It's called an iron. That's metal. 🤯

[@csmyder]

Thanks for mentioning both ingestion and inhalation hazards for lead exposure. Washing your hands and cleaning your nails to avoid ingesting (swallowing) lead is very important. But the inhalation (breathing in) hazard is just as important to avoid, maybe even more so and not as obvious to many beginners. Great job!

[@billfusionenterprise]

FYI; a cheap sub for the microscope for doing not so fine work is big lens magnify light lens. I used one for years even on some SMT work. It makes a easy to see image PLUS blocks smoke from flux going in your face

[@nsjohnston]

Solder paste is best used with screen print templates(and ovens). Surface mount is easier with an iron.

[@Jasonsadventures]

The bigger the blade tip the better too. Ironic but true

[@Capt.Marco-Hawk-L.L.A.P]

Happy 6th Birthday Channel Retro Recipes I'm still recovering from a bad cold I had over christmas.

[@RetroRecipes]

Get well spoon!

[@SoulPoetryandOtherWorks]

Mega electronic Retro Recipe Perifractic! Man flu didn't get you down, and this video reminded me of early RR videos. A Retro Retro Recipe in fact.

[@TzOk]

You really shouldn't use extra flux with a soldering paste. Applying the right amount would be easier because it would stick to the PCB. Oh, and most importantly, apply the paste, put an IC onto it, and only then start to heat it up. Do not melt the paste before placing an IC.

[@RetroRecipes]

12:46

[@danlake7970]

@@RetroRecipesNo need to tin the pads first though. From fresh bare PCB pads, add paste, add the chip, reflow with air or hot plate, done.

[@RetroRecipes]

@@danlake7970 Correct, at 12:46 that was left over from a previous try, but was not intended to be tinning of the pads before applying paste :)

[@stephanepiquemal8297]

Excellent! I'm kind of new to the electronic world but I made my first successful repair last month. Also, thanks for sharing your list of electronic gears, that will be very useful.

[@gabor222]

Soldering material containing lead not just looks better but it is less rigid so it is less likely to crack. This is the reason for it is not completely banned in the EU: in vehicle or health industry it results better reliability where a cracked solder can cause fatal problems. Flux not only cleans the surface and creates better bond but increases the ability of the solder to flow better into small spaces.

[@Robbnlinzi]

Wowie! I’ve seen this stuff on KZbin and wondered what voodoo it was. You’ve uncovered a whole new world for me! 🎉

[@RealActorRob]

I've also seen people wipe a chisel tip wipe solder across the leads/pads since the solder flows to the work. Kind of an art, tho.

[@Zarf42]

Wow! Look at those microscope shots! The one with the flux dissolving through is really cool!

[@jeffflowers5489]

I designed a PCB with a company before I heard about PCBWaaaaay. It came with a soldering template that helps with applying paste. I made a board with 10x10 SMT blinking LEDs and a resistor for each. (200 parts, 400 solder points) Came out great. I can share an image if you're interested.

[@jmtx.]

For larger pads, a fine tipped soldering iron with fine solder and flux is much simpler than using air.

[@michaelcarey]

Excellent video! I remember my first dive into SMD, seemed a lifetime ago. Australian electronics magazine "Talking Electronics" designed a series of FM bugs, wireless microphones. In the late 80s they designed one using surface mount components. All I had was a 20W soldering iron and a steady hand... and it worked! These days I have hot air rework station and a head worn magnifier. A binocular microscope was on my wish list, but these digital microscopes seem to work very well!

[@Evilslayer73]

i just begun smd soldering since 3 months and its easier than everybody thinks! with a cheap hot air station from amazon and good flux im able to achieve very good soldering i love this :)

[@benbaselet2026]

Hot air is a must for BGA stuff but I just almost always do the regular visible pin ones with a normal iron. Much easier than this hot air and paste stuff.

[@Evilslayer73]

@@benbaselet2026 Yes you can achieve it with a good soldering iron like a T-12 and a digital microscope if you have bad eyes like me :)

[@billfusionenterprise]

FYI: the lead free solder movement was to solve the problem of lead in trash, like all circuit boards get proper recycling. The issue with lead free is higher temps to get it too melt. Thus why hobbiest will use lead solder because of cheap solder irons and little mass produced boards

[@jenselstner5527]

The flux is not only to remove oxidation while soldering, it is also to improve the flow of the heated solder. ... you welcome. ;o)

[@blackIce504]

with solder paste especially to save on paste i would get some stencils they are normally thin sheets of steel with holes in them and since there are standards i would just get like an assortment pack to start.

[@merman1974]

Very interesting video. And lovely to learn that bit of trivia about the Ghostbusters voice.

[@Typical.Anomaly]

I, too, have always been "scared" of SMT to the point that this is the first glimpse of it I've seen! I'm not a professional; not even that much of a tinker. I have built a few guitar pedal circuits. I did grow up in a TV repair shop my Dad owned in the 1980s though. He did lots of great stuff. One thing was a scratch built (and designed) computer he used to interface the security cameras at Sears when he worked there later. I was about 12 when he built it, but iirc he used either an 8048 cpu or an 80748 cpu/rom combo. I remember some stuff lol I stopped paying attention once I found girls and guitars tho. I'm not afraid of SMT now either! Maybe someday... and that heat gun could have many applications! One of which I won't directly mention, but I do live in a legal state 😉😉

[@rhythmandblues9302]

Thank you for sharing this. I’ve only had the nerve to practice on broken hardware, until now.

[@HisVirusness]

A few years ago, despite always avoiding it when possible, I tried SMD soldering. It worked great... the first time. Every single time after that, rework was needed. But, those were great learning experiences. I am currently almost okay at SMT soldering. I'm glad you took the leap, Mr. Fractic. At some point, we all kinda have to, right?

[@magicknight8412]

Thanks for showing how relatively simple it is to do surface mount stuff! Praise be for surface tension :)

[@elmariachi5133]

Not only is leaded solder uch better to work with and looking better- it also makes for a much better lifespan of your solder points, because it's way more flexible than the unleaded solder. This is also the most frequent reason why modern graphics card die so fast. Unleaded solder should ever have become a thing ..

[@ToumalRakesh]

Heya! I would REALLY recommend you go for a different hot air station. For only a little bit more you can get an Atten for example which has just WAY more power and better heat control. Quick is another alternative, but they have gotten too pricy because they got popular on youtube.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks for the feedback. This one had thousands of great reviews. Could all be fake of course! Can you clarify by what you mean when you say "more power"? This one had that ability, but when I turned up the "power" (meaning heat and/or fan speed I imagine), it became too hot. Isn't too much power a bad thing? I'd appreciate clarification as I'm always open to trying a better way, but just don't quite understand the benefit you're outlining. Cheers.

[@sergiuszszczepankiewicz2017]

Dude! I have EXACTLY the same setup of tools for soldering. FX-951 + 959D + brilliant Hakko solder sucker!

[@grantrennie]

Haha I like the thumbnail, having a laugh at the famous woman holding a soldering iron the wrong way picture that has been around the internet for years

[@carychiasson9834]

Best joke ever from Perifractic. More stable now. I know if I get a horse I am going to name it mayo-neighs

[@precisionxt]

I love the thumbnail, on-point reproduction 🤣

[@plan7a]

Precision Check Bursts? Phantom Collection Backups? Popular Computing Bookers? Just a few PCB meanings for this one? LOL.

[@raymitchell9736]

The solder mask is what makes it easy to solder SMDs, but I've had some PCBs cut on a machine without solder mask, or one that I've etched and it's a huge ugly solder blob mess! One other thing I should mention is that the continuity testing is no guarantee that there's a good solder joint... I like to reflow them and inspect them if there's only solder on the bottom and nothing flowing around and on top... over time the connection corrodes and then you have odd behavior or failure.

[@vhfgamer]

Tech tip. Put flux on your desoldering braid to make it work better.

[@paszTube]

This video dropped at the right time for me as I just started to get comfortable and OK at through hole soldering and thinking about getting into SMD! I found that getting good at soldering components in isn’t that difficult to get the hang of… It’s desoldering, removing solder and components I found much harder to get better at! Soldering in components: I get nice volcanos. Desoldering: l get something that looks like the surface of the moon :(. Maybe it’s just me.

[@benbaselet2026]

I'm glad you got it working! Soldering can cause pretty horrific looking situations at first but removing the stuff is usually not too hard, quite forgiving stuff really :-) Using paste and hot air has its uses but for a simple board like this you are way better off just soldering the whole thing with your regular iron and the thinnest solder wire you can find. Just tin one of the pads per chip, position the chip on the footprint, melt that one pad and adjust the chip to position so that it tacks into place. After that it's just a simple job of soldering the rest of the pads with your iron, no problems whatsoever and muuuch faster than trying to learn how to apply the paste. Especially without a stencil.

[@sutorippuwebmaster8783]

I sadly do not have a working Commodore to test the Ghostbusters cart. :( As I want to get back into soldering, are there other projects like this you can recommend?

[@steve.b.23]

Excellent work, sir! As someone who's stared at thousands of PCBs through numerous magnification devices over the years, first as an assembler, latterly as an IPC-A-610 level inspector, I didn't see a single problem with any of the joints you soldered in this video. Do you want a job? 😆

[@RetroRecipes]

High praise indeed. Thank you!

[@Lion_McLionhead]

Had a few projects succeed with through hole parts for retro appeal, but most ended up rebuilt with SMD parts. Sometimes you just need surface mount.

[@garyl5128]

Another great video! One other thing I use my hot air station for is for hot glue - can make hot glue more versatile when not relying on just the gun application.

[@RetroRecipes]

Great tip!

[@insoft_uk]

🤣 that stock photo of that guy soldering on the thumbnail, holding the soldering ion hot end is hilarious 🤣

[@istvanbally2817]

Impressive! I remember trying my hands at soldering when I was 16 or 17. Never used flux. No wonder the result was a horrible mess.

[@CasuallyRelaxingWith]

You did fantastic for your first time, really, take it from me, I used to work on components on an iPhone, this went so much easier for you on your first time than it did for me, the Hakko should have an iron tip that you should be able to buy that is for "Micro-soldering" so you don't really need the solder paste all too much - certainly not for BGA in this method, and you can use your Radio Shack solder for it 10:03 Very interesting indeed, didn't think that flux would bubble up that much "FLUX, the bigger the glob the better the job" - Louis Rossmann

[@RetroRecipes]

Thank you for your kind words! Means a lot 👍🕹️

[@ErrorMessageNotFound]

People love to complain about soldering whenever they see it. You'll get lots of "never do this" or "always do this". When soldering the only thing that matters is does it work in the end ? Also, as with anything, more practice = more better.

[@RetroRecipes]

Oh you've read the other comments then 😅

[@more.power.]

You are a champion Perifractic thank you for the lesson. And a big hello hug to Ladyfractic and babyfractic. Babyfractic is surrounded in love an retro central.

[@RetroRecipes]

Aw thanks mate

[@BigFootpl]

You can try tining pads with soldering iron and regular solder, it goes waaay easier and faster. Then use hot air when the chip goes on the pcb.

[@OlivierSimpleLife]

really nice video as it's very difficult to find videos where someone is just beginning to experiment with SMD soldering :)

[@joshuamacdonald4913]

In school we were taught to solder smt with fine solder and an iron. I really want to try hot air.

[@RetroRecipes]

You can definitely do either way - it's down to individual preferences ultimately. I enjoyed this way!

[@wjadams2]

This is so great. Learning along videos are always fantastic. Thank you for doing this!

[@TheSulross]

Give me that old time through-hole-parts PCBs - as God intended PCBs to be

[@flashchrome]

Ok. I confess. A smirk was apparent on my face 0:48

[@Celcius1]

I've got a series on SMT on my channel called Funway into SME where I go through with simple projects and soldering all different sort of devices

[@MaloneLionheart]

Making the SMT soldering and AI assisted video editing/manipulation accessible to everyone! Not being Cheeky. Glad to see you implementing the tools everyone is a little afraid of. Keep Pioneering.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks for the feedback. Which bit did you think was AI? 🤖

[@matthewwright2598]

@@RetroRecipes Your mouth in the shots where you are speaking to camera sometimes looks deepfaked to me??

[@MaloneLionheart]

I only really noticed it in the beginning of the video when you were on camera and only when your mouth movements were being corrected for the reworked voiceover. I imagine over time this will be far less noticeable as the tools get better@@RetroRecipes Thanks again!

[@matthewwright2598]

​@RetroRecipes Plus the cheeky nod to Max Headroom 😂

[@RetroRecipes]

@@matthewwright2598 Someone's paying attention! 🙌

[@pvc988]

Solder paste doesn't really make much sense unless you use reflow oven or hot plate. It's also supposed to be applied using stencil and it just makes a mess if not used correctly. One easy method to solder these relatively big SMD chips with simple iron is to tin just one pad, place the chip roughly in its position and solder that one tinned pad. You can then do some fine adjustment to the chip position while reflowing that single anhor pin. Whey you are happy with positioning, just flood all pins with healthy amount of flux and do the drag soldering with your iron.

[@steve.b.23]

I came to the comments to say something similar. Tack pin 1 to the board, make sure the IC is properly aligned, then tack the pin diagonally opposite to pin 1. Then, as you say, plenty of flux, a bit of solder on the tip, and drag it from one end to the other. The person who taught me to solder SMDs drummed the mantra "Clean tip, plenty of flux" into my head. I held the IPC J-STD-001 trainer qualififcation for a couple of years. I told the same thing to everyone I trained.

[@RetroRecipes]

That's certainly another way to do it. However I have watched so many tutorials and a healthy proportion use paste for this kind of thing. I guess it's down to individual preferences, which as we have all learned online, do vary 😅 Using your method, how much solder would you tin onto the one pad in order to later drag it to the others? A large bubble as I ended up with initially? Or a small amount?

[@pvc988]

@@RetroRecipes That one pad needs just enough solder for itself. It's not a problem if you add a little bit too much. You're just going to have a bridge. Bridges are not a problem at this point. They are going to be corrected by drag soldering. Other pads get solder from your iron. You're going to figure out how much to use quickly yourself ;) It really just takes a few tries. If you still have stubborn bridges after drag soldering, you may need to add some fresh flux and/or remove excess solder.

[@RetroRecipes]

@@pvc988 Copy that. So for pin 2 onwards just tin the tip of the iron and drag it all out, correct?

[@pvc988]

@@RetroRecipes Yep

[@tirsek]

13:52 did you fix what looks like a tiny bridge between pins 5 and 6, or did it just happen to work with it in place?

[@RetroRecipes]

That's part of the PCB design and intended

[@crazyedo9979]

My recommendation is to use leaded rosin core solder wire instead of solder paste because of higher mechanical strenght. Also a variety of tools e.g. antistatic metal tweezers, some dentist instruments (used ones are cheaper 😁) soldering iron with at least 40 W and exchangeable tips for faster heat application. Some small metal pieces and metal foil for heat protection of other components. Above my workspace I mounted a kitchen extractor hood to get rid of the toxic fumes. For further information I recommend the YT channel "Northridge Fix". Better use some donor boards for removing and soldering as a training ground before going live.😁

[@pierremitham2964]

Very cool, didn't know you could get "Ghost busters" in cartridge format! I had it on disk

[@robbruce2128]

You looked steady enough to do those SMDs with just the soldering iron. It's not really any harder than with the SMD rework station when you tack a couple corner pins down first on one side, then you just wipe the spooled solder and iron across the pins on the opposite. Plenty of flux and a nice clean fine tip and you're good to go. I liked seeing the microscope view on the video, but when I'm actually driving, my vintage OptiVISOR is perfect for my increasingly lousy eyes + plus you get stereo vision for depth

[@homagegames7181]

Thank you for wearing that shirt in this video. Love it. Just found your channel. Great stuff!

[@RetroRecipes]

Welcome to the fun!

[@anakondase]

On the surface I'd say the influx might create a steady flow.

[@itsmephil2255]

That was sooo satisfying to watch Good soldering Peri (not Sodder)😂😂😂😂

[@roberthayes6329]

Northridge Fix is where to get all your supplies.

[@Colin_Ames]

Good video, helping to demystify SMD soldering.

[@jxherr]

Make your life easier, save the solder paste for reballing, just stick with the solder iron to tin your pads, way faster and easier

[@darthnagus5457]

Very satisfying to watch

[@OTGav]

Great timing, picked up a soldering iron for 1st time in.....a while.....(there may have been C64's on sale back the ) this weekend. Time for new toys!

[@sasha-fe2bl]

i have a yihua soldering station they make some decent stuff at a budget imo

[@acousvnt]

Am I seeing correctly that in some of your "finished" close-up shots there are small bridges that you haven't quite gotten rid of yet?

[@RetroRecipes]

There's a pop up correction but that's part of the PCB stencil and intended

[@kingkoolkata]

The Thumbnail killed it 🤣

[@arcadealchemist]

i do love that Stock photo Reminds me of why we need male safe spaces.

[@simoapell2537]

Before forgetting to seat the ROM-chip in the socket, did you also forget to mount a 100 nF bypass capacitor? Or was that omitted intentionally? As seen on the video, not critical for the operation, but lacking one may cause glitches or weird behavior, should the ROM-chip input voltage have a bit of noise or instability.

[@RetroRecipes]

Actually unfortunately the 100nF was missing from the kit so I simply omitted it, as the kit didn't have any instructions with it. However, cart seems to work fine 👍🕹

[@onesandzeros2u]

5:48 what is your wedding ring made of, I like the colour.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks. Actually these would you believe. We've replaced them 1-2 times each: www.saferingz.com

[@CallousCoder]

You finally decided to also join the SMD clip, no chips with dips anymore? 😂 The first time in college back in 1991 we had to SMD solder I was very weary. But when I started I was like: “this goes faster and is easier than dips.” Also solder paste is only great for oven work (preferably with a stencil). For hand soldering some fine 0.2mm solder is the way to go. At least for me.

[@RetroRecipes]

"Hello chip pasters" doesn't have the same ring to it though ;)

[@CallousCoder]

@@RetroRecipesNo it doesn't :D

[@brianpaul5667]

I need help with learning desoldering with a hot air gun. Can anyone recommend some learning material that teaches you how to get used to how much airflow you should have vs how much heat for various soldering tasks? I'm afraid to damage my hot air gun experimenting without guidance.

[@green64]

Everyone is welcome to do it as they like, but I would still solder all these large SMD parts with a soldering iron, hot air, especially at the beginning, can cause a lot of damage because you blow too hot and don't move enough. Also, hot air and solder paste is a purchase that can be saved if you only want to solder a single module.

[@djm9937]

Well, you made that look easy :) great job!

[@RetroRecipes]

6 days of shooting and another 2 weeks of editing!! (Kidding.)

[@No1BRC]

instead of an expensive electrical solder pump I have a mechanical soldersucker that heats up like an soldering iron. Very cheap and works just fine unless you need to desolder hundreds of legs daily.

[@RetroRecipes]

Yup, mentioned on screen and linked in description 👍🕹

[@pvc988]

I stumbled upon one of these couple of weeks ago. I have to say that they are awesome little tools. They are dirt cheap and get the job done.

[@carloscatano1750]

Fantastic! Thank you!

[@retroandgaming]

Thanks, I have been scared of soldering smt but since I have all the equipment I should probably just test it out. Great small beginner project! Thanks for the tip. Just wonder what equip. I need to program these roms from my win11 pc

[@stephengeist3203]

Great video! Do you have an Amazon link for the flux pen you used?Link in description seems to be for flux paste in a syringe?

[@RetroRecipes]

Having edited the video and researched more I now recommend the paste over the pen :)

[@stephengeist3203]

Make sense! Thanks again!

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

(I probably wrote this question once before.) The fact that you chose to do this tutorial with a Ghostbusters cartridge reminded me of something I specifically had in mind to ask you, RR. It pertains to the SID. Is it possible for anyone to poly-chain two SID chips in the same C64 system (assuming one could find a spare) to create 6 available polyphonic voices for a game such as Ghostbusters, Paperboy, Pogo Joe or any other game with more than 3 notes or multitimbral parts of sound generation?

[@RetroRecipes]

There are Dual SID solutions already (have a Google) but I'm not sure they will do anything with old games unless that code were changed. I believe the EVO64 motherboard may however offer an option like that 👍🕹

[@Shred_The_Weapon]

Thanks, RR.

[@Lost_n_Found_1]

I'm a simple man. I see a Ghostbusters logo, I click. Immediately. 🚫👻

[@bid9993]

Just stumbled across your channel, you have a new sub, Great work.

[@RetroRecipes]

Thanks and welcome!

[@eskey691]

As always cracking video i it got a big like after the first joke. man that was a nice bit of kit you had i may have to get some of that myself as my solder skill are not what they use to be. You guys have an amazing weekend and take care, keep up the amazing work and roll on the next one 🙂🙂

[@RetroRecipes]

Glad you liked the vid and the kit! Have a good one!

[@hessex1899]

Regarding lead. Go and get yourself some "D Wipes". They are great for removing lead residue from skin.

[@davidburton3447]

I swear i saw a bridged pin on that smaller chip on the lower right hand side. Surprised that didn't short it out. (could be that the 2 pins were both grounds, then no harm no foul) In any case, I miss that old game (my mom threw out all my perfectly functioning commodore 64C, games, and disk drive decades ago before I could move out of her house and take them with me. Never saw that splash screen before nor had a cartridge version of that game. so i was stuck with the loooong load times lol. Enjoy the classic.

[@RetroRecipes]

That is part of the PCB stencil design and intentional

[@brianb.2398]

@@RetroRecipes I saw that too and looked for this comment... if you go to 12:56 right before the solder paste was added, you see the trace on the board.

[@dku3360]

Please check the position of the resistor and the LED 🙂

[@RetroRecipes]

Yeah I didn't have any instructions with mine so I was guessing (badly lol) but if you look they're not there for the final test :)

[@scramble45]

Pro-tip if you want to save a lot of time on soldering single sided PCB's get a PCB hot plate.

[@RetroRecipes]

Interesting the microscope metal base acted as a VERY hot plate once things got going.

[@arch1107]

sap tree when melted makes easier to melt and pushes away most oxygen so it is easier to solder the smt, it does the same as normal stuff but is easier to handle than othe solder paste, it is harder to clean, it is like a glue so clean it is annoying