Putting together a solder kit...

V

ViriiGuy

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 18, 2004
Messages
460
Hello gang,

I have decided to throw together a kit for the car that will have the majority of what I would need for performing repairs on circut boards and the like...

Generally speaking, all I ever really solder are new capacitors on motherboards and power plugs. The occasional resistor or Diode but very rarely.

I was wondering if you guys could help me layout what all I should order. When I lived in NS, it was not a big deal. I could walk into one of 3 shops an dpick up exactly what I needed pretty much any time. However now I am back in TN and oddly enough no one around here stocks hardly ANY supplies!! I could not find a 6.3v 2200uf cap to save my life last week!!

So can you sugest some common caps and power jack sizes I should order for the kit?

Thanks,
Randy
 
Who fixes electronics these days, when do you think this is the 80's?

Good luck finding electronics in stock these days outside of large cities, most everyone went to online orders for that type of stuff, or just replacing the damaged part.
 
Well that was a very usefull post. Thank you very much for your wonderful insight. :p

Now seriously... Who fixes electronics? Well I do. A few good examples... Lets say you have a $4000 managed switch. Why make your client buy a NEW $4000 switch when you can solder in a 39 cent capacitor that was blown and have it work like new again? Or maybe you have a client with a very specific peice of hardware that their buisness RELIES upon, lets say it is a programable controller that has not been made in 8 years, the new model requires new software and hardware at a cost of nearing $45k. A simple .28 cent resistor brought it to it's knees. Well I can fix that .28 cent resistor and charge them $500and they will HAPPILY pay it. Well poof, I just made $500 for 15 minutes of work.

While YOU may not appreaciate that, I can ASSURE you that my clients do. And I am very very well paid for that. I know I cannot find them locally, I BELIEVE that was what I stated in my first post. Hence the reason for building a kit of parts to carry. All of which I will order for Digi-Key.

So does anyone have any suggestions?
 
Really depends on what type of equipment you fix most of the time. A service like Digikey is going to be your best bet and just order as you need. If you are set on building up a surplus of supplies, contact manufacturers and ask them for sample kits of various product lines.
 
I highly recommend http://www.futurlec.com/Bestsellers.shtml if your interested in keeping your prices down, BUT be prepared to wait a very long time to get your order, always takes a few weeks, but man they are cheap. I would get one of each of the different capacitor variety packs, a couple of each of the resistors, ect... Last you a VERY long time.
 
If you want a general assortment of capacitors, I bought a set from westfloridacomponents on ebay; its high-quality stuff, mostly name-brand (Panasonic, Rubycon, Nichicon, UCC, Illinois Capactior, Sprague). At least one of the smaller cap sets were Taicon, which I won't use, but otherwise a great selection/value.

To supplant to my general assortment, I like to add: (1) the largest capacitance in a particular can size @16V, (2) the highest (reasonable) voltage in a specific can size (100V for smaller caps, ~50V for larger sizes) @ the largest capacitance. I do that for 5mm, 6.3mm, 8mm & 10mm diameters - maybe 10-15 of each from mouser (or wherever). This will allow you to replace many types of caps with an equivalent cap of either higher voltage, or higher capacitance, without needing a lot of different types (though you may need to exercise caution with this practice in certain applications). In addition to that, I keep a fairly large amount of the caps I use exclusively for mobo repairs: 6.3V/3300uF (8mm), 6.3V/2200uF (8mm), 16V/1500uF (8mm), 6.3V/1000uF (6.3mm), 6.3V/1500uF (8mm), 16V/470uF (6.3mm) - alot of these you can find occasional deals on ebay for Rubycon MBZ & some UCC series.

As far as suggesting common values, only you will know the answer to that...maybe start writing down what you replace to give an idea. Power jacks: I have no idea what to recommend here...
 
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Nanan said:
Who fixes electronics these days, when do you think this is the 80's?

Good luck finding electronics in stock these days outside of large cities, most everyone went to online orders for that type of stuff, or just replacing the damaged part.
Click to expand...

My business fixes dc jacks on laptops all the time. It's cheaper to fix them then to buy a new motherboard. The price of jack costs $20-35 bucks in comparison to the $200-300 motherboards.

Just about everyone dc jack i've repaired has been from a Toshiba laptop oddly enough :D

I think the best way to approach an inventory is to order online when someone needs a repair and just keep track of what you ordered. Then after awhile buy the most popular.

GL!
 
Thank you all for the resonses, especially PM650. That was much of what I am looking for.
If I were still in NS, I would have a good idea of what I need on a regular basis. But I just moved back to TN and as such am seeing all different hardware. So I will look for one of the kits that PM650 mentioned and add on top of that the usual Mobo caps I would have ordered in NS.

As for the Jacks, there are a large assortment of jacks in use on laptops today. At my old shop I would jsut order them as needed for the 15-20 bucks a piece. But if you know the barrel sizes and what not, you can order them for MUCH MUCH cheaper. Say like 20-50 cents a piece. So I would rather buy 100 for $0.20 rather than 1 for $25.00. Unfortunately I am going to have to do some heavy research on which ones to order.
 
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