Tools of the trade

shadows

Mature's Make-up Artist
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Seeing as people often ask as to which tools they should buy or look into. I thought it would be good to have a list of good tools to have in your arsenal for arcade repairs or just general electronics.
If you have any recommendations, post them up and I'll add them to list.


Hand Tools.

Crimpers :
- Hozan P-706

Wire strippers :
- Xcelite SAS3210 self-adjusting 32-10 AWG
A time saver for making harnesses.​



Soldering.

Desoldering :
- CirCuitSpecialists CSI474 Desoldering Station
- HAKKO 808 desoldering gun
- Edsyn DS017 Deluxe Soldapullt Desoldering Pump

Soldering :
- Edsyn 951SX LONER Temperature Controlled Soldering Station
- Weller WES51 soldering station
- Power Probe PPSK Butane Soldering Kit
- Pro Charge Cordless Rechargeable Soldering Iron
- Weller PSI100K Portasol Super-pro Self-igniting Cordless Butane Soldering Iron Kit

Multi/rework stations :
- GQ electronics 5200 hot air and soldering rework station
- CircuitSpecialists CSI825A Hot Air Station

Supplies :
- Solder Kester #50/245 SN63PB37 .020 2463378807
- Solder Kester 44 SN60PB40

Accessories :
- HAKKO 599B (Brass wire tip cleaner)
A much better option for cleaning the tip of your iron than the standard damp sponge.​



Test & Measurement.

Multimeters :
- Fluke 87V Digital Multimeter
- MS8261 DIGITAL MULTIMETER
- TekPower TP4000ZC
- Tektronix DMM914
- UNI-T UT-61E Digital Multimeter

Test Instruments :
- Logic Probe Elenco Electronics LP-560
- ESR Meter ESR-micro v4.0s
Russian made, should be available on eBay.​
- Oscilloscope OWON SDS7102V 100MHz 1GS/s 10Mpt 2-Ch DSO
- Oscilloscope Tektronix 2225 50MHz Analog 2-Ch (Discontinued)
- Oscilloscope SIGLENT SHS810 Handheld 100MHz 1GS/s 2Mpt


Programmers :
- EETools Chipmax
Only does 40 or fewer pin eproms​
- EETools Topmax2
Expensive but very good.​
- TOP2049 Universal USB Programmer
- Wellon VP-280 (Discontinued)
Great programmer if you can get your hands on one.​


Misc.

- EPROM Eraser BK Precision 851 Deluxe EPROM Eraser
- EPROM Eraser Vilber Lourmat VLE-12T (Discontinued)
- Vacuum pickup Aoyue 932 Vacuum Pickup Station


Power Supplies.

- Agilent / HP E3610A 0-8Volt 0-3Amp, 0-15Volt 0-2Amp Bench Power Supply (Discontinued)
- Agilent / HP E3614A 0-8Volt 0-6Amp Bench Power Supply (Discontinued)
- CSI3005SM 0-30 Volt 0-5 Amp Bench Power Supply


Chemicals.

Cleaners :
- Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA)
- DexoIT DN5
Great cleaner for those 20 years old oxidized contacts.​
 
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Dion

Known Scammer, NeoGeoFreak Co-Founder
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I made a video a little more than a year ago that dealt with the tools I tend to use often:



I also have these programmers:

Cheap WILLEM
Chipmax (only does 40 or fewer pin eproms)
Topmax2 (expensive but very good)
 
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Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
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Posts
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I really want to get an oscope but every time I ask people what specs I should be looking for to deal with pre-Y2K arcade games I get no answers.
 

shadows

Mature's Make-up Artist
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Posts
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Depends on how much you want to pay, but you get old analog oscilloscopes for cheap. 50mhz would be plenty good, like an old Tektronix 2225. Those analog scopes are massive though.
 

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
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Depends on how much you want to pay, but you get old analog oscilloscopes for cheap. 50mhz would be plenty good, like an old Tektronix 2225. Those analog scopes are massive though.

Are those small digital ones any good?
 

shadows

Mature's Make-up Artist
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If you mean those small ones that look like phone, then no. The sampling rate makes them pretty much useless.
 

Tyranix95

Chang's Grocer
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Jun 30, 2010
Posts
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Other thing's I've found useful:

de-soldering braid/wick, liquid flux, Q-Tips, and a good de-greaser. :D
 
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mainman

CPS2 Person.,
20 Year Member
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Mar 26, 2001
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I really want to get an oscope but every time I ask people what specs I should be looking for to deal with pre-Y2K arcade games I get no answers.

Funny you should ask this question Xian as I have just got a handle on your question recently.

Ok let me start by mentioning my mistake. First and foremost I needed a handheld DSO. I researched a little and stumbled across a DSO 1060 made by a company called hantek. It advertises a 60 mega hertz bandwidth despite it only having 150ms/s sample. It was delivered and I gave it a try, the damn thing was only good up to 5 mega hertzs after which the aliasing made it unusable. The only good thing I could say about it was being able to use the mulimeter in scope mode although the multimeter itself wasn't all that great with it slow continuity and capacitance check.

Ok lesson learned, I returned and bought a SHS810
http://www.siglent.eu/shs810-100mhz.html

It is a 100 megahertz scope with a very vital 1GS/S sample rate. It also has 2mpt of memory depth. It also of course has a built in multimeter feature and even data logging. Battery life has been 4 hour continuous.

When you are shopping for a scope what you need to be concerned about other than obviously its bandwidth is sample rate and memory depth, I can not stress this enough.

With modern DSO when you input a analog signal that signal must be converted by the DSO and the real time sample rate determines how accurate that conversion is. Lets say your analyzing a 20 meg analog signal. Now the rule of thumb is that the sample rate must be at least 10 times the analog signal under test. So basically in order for that 20 meg analog signal to be displayed correctly you would need a real time sample rate of 200 megahertz to avoid aliasing. Danger never never never take the Equivalent sampling rate manufacturer advertise as gospel because ETS is always shit. Keep in mind that if your scope is a dual or more channel the sample rate will be divided among all the channels in use

Memory depth is so so important also. The size of the buffer memory determines how long it can capture a signal IN DETAIL before the memory is full. Lets say your doing digital trouble shooting on a 20 meg signal and there is a glitch somewhere you need to capture. What memory depth does is allow you to capture as many 20 meg cycles as possible in a period of time lets say 1ms for a example. The higher the memory depth the higher the details.

The vast majority of arcade gear is going to be in the 15-30Mhz range. Personally if your going to drop the money you might want to future proof for other electronics and go bare minimum 50Mhz range. Stick to a 1Gs/s sample rate if your scope is in the 100Mhz range and 500Ms/s if its a 50Mhz scope.

Now if you want a bench DSO the RIGOLS have a very very good reputation, good spec, performance and reliability so say damn near the whole eevblog and the amazon reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1688200422&pf_rd_i=507846


Both of the scopes I mentioned will handle everything you can throw at them but keep in mind the channels are not isolated so if your playing around with high voltages/currents be mindful that your two test point MUST share a common ground.






If you have a grand to spend the SHS1102 or SHS1062 would be the best choice as both channel are isolated.
41xisKsMisL.jpg



If you do a lot of surface mount work and have the cash to spare this tool will also come in handy

Hakko 394
products_hakko_394_img.jpg




This right here is on my wish list and the only reason I have not bought one yet is because I put priority on my scope. I do a TON of surface mount work and my eyes just can't take it anymore which is why a PCB inspection system is a must buy for me and anyone else who does surface mount work on 100 pin plus IC'S. Hopefully I will get a refund this year.

Aoyue 638 PCB Inspection system
26195810.jpg



A multimeter is a must have tool but even the name brand units from the major manufacturers are no substitution for a good LCR meter. The DE-5000 is also on my wish list as my cheapo unit does not have the accuracy.

DE-5000 Handheld LCR Meter
de-5000_2.jpg


A function generator is useful for experiments
This one is PC based
Hantek® 1025G
61YwGlfK7JL._SL1500_.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKV802I/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is a pocket generator
Velleman HPG1
31LFkVQV37L.jpg
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006YTWMZW...TF8&colid=28PU14GQTJ9IX&coliid=I2K72BEZS9I96U



A caliper is also a handy tool
61Bl7Xk5oKL._SL1500_.jpg


You should stock a bare minimum of caps, resistors, wire, copper tape.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007SVHFXO...TF8&colid=28PU14GQTJ9IX&coliid=I328OP7YNORJ0H

http://www.amazon.com/Joe-Knows-Electronics-Value-Resistor/dp/B003UC4FSS/ref=pd_sim_indust_1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B4ZQ3L0/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013JLALK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008AGUAII/ref=oh_details_o07_s02_i07?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009CPBX6O/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



My setup


Tektronix DMM914
TekPower TP4000ZC
MS8261 DIGITAL MULTIMETER
SHS810 DSO
Hantek1025G function generator
Logic Probe
CSI3005SM power supply
CSI474 Desoldering Station
CSI825A Hot Air Station
Aoyue 932 Vacuum Pickup Station
Pro Charge Cordless Rechargeable Soldering Iron
Power Probe PPSK Butane Soldering Kit
Weller WES51
TOP2049 Universal USB Programmer
BK Precision 851 Deluxe EPROM Eraser

Various rotary tools, flux pens, solder paste, glue gun, etc


Good places to shop at online
http://sra-solder.com/
http://www.circuitspecialists.com/
http://www.aidetek.com/
 
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Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Posts
27,748

Test & Measurement.

Test Instruments :
- ESR Meter ESR-micro v4.0s
Russian made, should be available on eBay.​

I remember when I bought mine, I played with my caps seeing which manufacturer was best across the board. Surprising results, some generics were better than the "name brand" ones.
 

shadows

Mature's Make-up Artist
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Posts
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The generic ones maybe had tighter tolerances, but I wouldn't trust them in the long run.
 

GadgetUK

Ace Ghost Pilot
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Posts
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I really want to get an oscope but every time I ask people what specs I should be looking for to deal with pre-Y2K arcade games I get no answers.

Something like 40 / 60Mhz dual channel would be fine imo as most of the boards I've seen around that era tend to be < 20Mhz clock speeds. Although there might be 100 / 200Mhz boards out there around Y2K. I guess the answer is to check out the fastest clock speed of the types of boards you deal with. If I remember correctly there were ~266Mhz PC CPU's around that time (approx Y2K) so you might need a pretty good scope if you want to handle that sort of frequency.

All of the retro systems and arcade PCB's I've dealt with (80's and 90's) don't tend to go over 16Mhz. Digital storage scopes are better if you can find one, else analogue is fine.
 

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Posts
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The generic ones maybe had tighter tolerances, but I wouldn't trust them in the long run.

The generic ones I kept for around the house projects and only used name brand ones in my builds just for peace of mind.
 

ebinsugewa

Rosa's Tag-Team Partner
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I can vouch for the Hakko 808 being the fucking bees knees. That thing is a big timesaver.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
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Indeed. The 808 along with the Hakko 888 soldering station are the best tools I have.
 

Xian Xi

JammaNationX,
15 Year Member
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Indeed. The 808 along with the Hakko 888 soldering station are the best tools I have.

I might be getting an 808 and an 888D very soon. My desoldering iron died today and I feel it's time to try a new design since the one I had got way too many clogs. How is the 808 with clogs? And how easy is it to clean/swap parts, blah blah?
 

GohanX

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I've only had the 808 for a few months and I've only done one big project with it. I had to clean out the solder a couple of times when removing about 16 chips, but I did that within an hour while I was chatting. I have accidentally burned myself a few times with the tip cleaner, it's just a straight wire, if you touch anything but the little handle prepare for a scar.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
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Oh, and as far as swapping parts, it looks easy. Hakko gives you a nice sheet with all the replacement part numbers and diagrams of how to assemble everything. That being said, bust3d has been using an 808 forever and hasn't even had to change the tip, and he's probably done literally thousands of chips.
 

bustedstr8

Trollbox Trade Federation,
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Oct 15, 2007
Posts
943
The 808 has never clogged on me. If you do the basic maintenance it should run flawless for years. I use the tip tool every 100 joints or so and clean the heating element tube when ever I dump the solder chamber. The filter disks last about 1-2 months depending on how clean the work is.

My everyday soldering iron. http://www.testequipmentdepot.com/weller/portable/psi100k.htm

I use the butane iron with the 2.4mm chisel for 99% of work. The Hakko888 is backup if I need to
use a fine conical tip or if the exhaust may damage things in tight spaces



:tickled: Drakon and his infamous glue gun mods seem to be well known in this hobby.

"Click the link to my new awesomesauce Fami mod."

ratnestofwiresandbucketsofhotgluejizz.jpg
 
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Skips

Belnar Institute Student
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Aug 8, 2012
Posts
1,248
If your drakon you have to have these two
View attachment 9767
View attachment 9768

Actually that hot glue gun is a fairly nice high heat hot glue gun. it does not leave the glue stringy and nasty (I know because I have that one). It is way to expensive for his blood. Drakon uses one of those shitty little ones you would use for arts and crafts (except what he does with it is neither artsy or crafty).
 

mainman

CPS2 Person.,
20 Year Member
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Mar 26, 2001
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3,721
The problem with butane irons is total lack of thermal control and the whole extreme fire hazard thing. For example I was working on a cps2 board with a butane iron and it managed to melt the plastic connectors just by being in proximity of them. A butane iron is a powder keg that has to be constantly monitored because really are you going to turn it off every time you have to sit it down for just a second.

Your better off using a rechargeable battery powered soldering iron for quick jobs if you need portability.

The down side is the iron is only good for 40 minutes of continuous use before you have to recharge. But it only needs a hour for a full charge.

7800-IsoTip60ProChargeWeb-2.jpg
 
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