Need to vent and question about charge port replacement

Nintendo Questions Nintendo Switch
#1

Well, just discovered the used switch I bought from eBay had a bad charge port. I got the old one off but for the life of me could not get the second one on. I heated the solder from the top and when it liquified i the pressed the connector in place. So frustrating to not know if the second row is in. Also, if there are duplicate pins like Vbus and I lift a trace on one of them will the other still make it work?

Also after all that the motherboard got crunched in half by my microscope coming down on it. So this one is toast. Hard to have a hobby that’s so expensive to learn.

Any tips on the charge port installation? I’ve seen people heat from the bottom. What temp and how long do you put the heat for. I tinned both the pads and the pins of the port.

Thanks.
Broken switched
Jeff

#2

You could still use the soc and emmc on a board with a dead soc/cpu ^^

Use some solder that melts at a relatively low temperature and properly tin the connector and pcb pads
I solder them in @ 380°c - 400°c with preheated board and “so long that both rows sink in”

One missing vbus line is not that bad but i would still restore the pad because it can cause some issues with high power charging

Do not heat the board up from the bottom in order to solder the connector into place, the glue between the pcb layers can make bubbles and separate them if you aren’t experienced

#3

I think removing and readding an SOC onto another switch would be waaaay too much for me. If you shouldn’t heat from the bottom why do most people, including Tronixfix show the heating being done from the bottom?

I’m going to try another connector on the busted board, couldn’t hurt anyways.

Thanks.
Jeff

#4

Well they know how to properly use the hot air gun but still risk breaking the board and causing some issues

NorthrigeFix has some videos in which he solders on the connector properly from the top side and without issues

#5

Makes sense. I am not used to using hot air on no lead solder. I’ve done hand soldering at .5mm pitch. But with an iron. From what I’ve observed, preheat the board at 200 for two minutes then raise heat to 350-400 and keep moving the air around.

#6

-Just going to add to this as i see so many consoles with damaged USB ports, one way charge/no dock and pulled pads and even bad RAM because they do the above and attempt to heat from the top or heat the pads and try to drop the USB connector on…:roll_eyes:

The correct way is to heat from the bottom, the board will not bubble or warp provided the board has not been over ultrasonically cleansed/wet if in doubt put the board in an oven for an hour at 70c

remove the old connector and clean out the slots with low melt solder and wick

apply genuine regular 180c leaded solder to the pads (not the ground slots either side) and get the solder to create nice pillows. For an even better joint you can also tin the pins on the usb connector which doubly ensures a good joint, if you want to be careful put a piece of kapton tape over the bottom of the USB connector in the middle where crack is, flux liberally, fit it and heat the PCB directly below where the pads end up at a low air speed, it will sink and will be a perfect install, no need to squeeze it down! finally fill in the ground slots with an iron… don’t plug it in until you’ve done this.

Done!

Now if were being pedantic the actual correct way of doing this would be to use a stencil and paste on the USB pads… but again you’d heat from the bottom. next best thing is the above, stop heating from the top people it’s dumb, particulary if you charging for these repairs, the joints won’t hold up over time.

USB C Charging Port Replacement
USB C Charging Port Replacement
#7

I do it from top heat if I clean up all through hole(4 or 6) and use 420c 40airflow. minor pressure apply on top of the port melt shield when solder melt(rough in 30s)

And from bottom heat if I leave through hole covered with new low melt solder and let the new port drop into position by it self.

The thing is bottom heat is safe/secure but higher chance melting the inner port plastic imo, but top heat need less heat/time

#8

-problem is you are melting the plastic from the top whether you can see it or not, it melts at 150C and turns to carbon which gives a high resitance reading accross some pins… this could get progressively worse over time.

If the plastic was truly not melting then your solder joints (at 180c/220c melt point) would be bad/cold.

Your should flood the ground slots either side with low melt then wick it up so the slots are clear for the new connector, low melt is typically a pretty nasty alloy that will eat away at traces over time especially with heat, remove as much as possible, it should never be used as an alternative to regular solder and should never be used on power planes (doesn’t have the current carrying capacity)

if your heating from the bottom properly it shouldn’t melt at all, no ambient heat should touch the USB in any way, it should only be heat on the board from the bottom, angle the nozle towards the board away from the USB and use kapton if your worried.

Again, heating from the top is dumb, has to get atleast 300c through the connectors metal then past the plastic that melts at 150C then to the board and usb pins where the board will sap all heat resulting in a bad joint. I mention all of the above because i work on these all the time and more often than not they come from “repair shops” that use this dumb method and joints have failed or they no longer dock or pads a ripped up, and as i said allot of times RAM is also cold…

#9

I use top heat as well but I have done bottom. I dunno why or how people are melting their ports I use a heat station with second nozzle. I don’t put the port on the board while heating. I wait till solder melts and then plop it on after preheating it so the joints don’t immediately go cold. Ive never damaged the ram doing this either, People must be using a heat gun to do that nozzle is just to big. but I get a lot of boards where the person heated the port with a big giant heat gun and burned the cpu housing.

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