Ive become rather addicted to these videos tbo. Steve, I attacked a dead board for the first time last night with the iron (Haikio FX-888D) and it was abysmal. Complete disaster, had an absolute fantastic time! Got out the magnifier, which ive never done - the size of the bits blows my mind. Yes, zero experience with small electronics. I spent hours *burning* stuff off the board, to examine, break apart to see why/how. (Note - board off dead flat screen that was off to the trash) The look on my daughters face when I showed her the smallest capacitor on my finger nail was hilarious. Cheers!
Me too. Before I went back to school for cybersecurity I used to do a ton of electronics repair at home, but in my current program I just don't have the time right now.
Creating solder bridges underneath SMD parts is absolutely possible if there's too much solder on one or more of the pads. The liquid solder will happily wick into the room left underneath the part and ensure you have a heck of a time finding the short. This is why you only ever use as much solder - the perfect amount - as is strictly necessary :) Also a good idea to clean the pads with desoldering wick or similar before putting a part back on it. This ensures it's as clean as possible and prevents other fun gotchas.
I’ve done this on my hand made stuff with hand places paste, but it shows the low quality of the production process. These aren’t even small parts; that looked like 1206.
@@lawrencemanning Yeah, it's an odd thing to see in what should be done by a P&P machine and automatic soldering paste dispenser. Definitely an interesting failure mode when I was expecting to see yet another cracked MLCC :)
@@lawrencemanning yea, I’ve gotten far better results with some solder paste and my trusty toaster oven. This is what happens when it’s a race to get it finished.
I always love the completely blatant piracy found in these devices - and practically impossible for any of the IP owners to realistically do anything about it... At least it keeps old classics from ever going extinct. They'll always live on. On Ebay.
@@shaneholmes6977 Nope, I mean sure maybe a few, but none of Nintendo's are, for example, and pretty much all arcade games by recognised publishers like Taito, Atari, Sega et al, they're all still 100% illegal to download (unless you happen to not only own the arcade board - but the exact same revision as the ROM you download). Happily, it's virtually impossible for these guys to do anything about. They tend to go after ROM hosting sites (Pleasuredome was a prominent example), but there is always somewhere you can find them (usually torrents).
Whenever 'Tim aus Magdeburg' appears, I'm always happy that there are also viewers from Germany. Greetings from Germany, Bavaria (Viele Grüße an die Deutschen Zuschauer👋).
Great simple fix Steve. Almost wondering how cheap you bought it considering these can be bought extremely cheap as it is anyway haha. Might actually get one, the HD quality looked good.
Excellent video , Now upgrade this thing with a USB arcade controller and you are set 😋, it did have a USB port so should be trivial , maybe a 8bitdo controller
Geez, Stezmack Chilflux, you dang made the ass drop on my 71 Impala with that ill jam. Nice diagnosis and fix man. My first thought was faulty socket, not the board shorting the socket. I would have needlessly gone down that path first wasting time.
Hi Steve, like the videos and enjoy watching you fault find. I’m an old school electronics engineer when ICs were exciting if they had 16 pins and .1” pitch. Although I have a hot air desoldering tool I generally manage to remove the chip/component only to lose it on the floor and spend the next hour looking for it! I liked the look of the 4K gaming device as I’ve always been a fan of retro gaming and consoles etc. made a few retropi arcade machines over the years. Anyway, do you have a link to the exact 4K stick you bought, there are a lot to chose from and at least the one you bought appears to actually have some working games as opposed to the “rip off” fakes etc. Keep up the videos they are fun to watch. Nick
Pretty much anything from KinHank is going to be a decent retro gaming box with a decent ARM SoC and running with a good emulator front-end. Amazon, Ali, take your pick though the sketchier the storefront the higher likliehood you will not get what you think you are buying.
That cap had a clear mechanical scratch on the "plus" side. That's possibly why it was shorted. And heating it up made the short "go away", but probably temporary.
Steve - your videos make me laugh out loud 😅 I’ve watched you grow. You’re like the funny My Mate Vince (solid) I also hear you’re from Manchester like moi. I feel your pain 😢
that is so weird! just a solder bridge, and a bad one at that. I had that happen today while working on an xbox one controller, though I was the cause of the solder bridge. Thing is, the solder bridge was absolutely tiny. Even under the microscope it was small
Hi it's just a quick non-related question, but I wondered if anyone could help. You use a minature grinder to remove rust on some videos and I just wondered where I could buy one, I don't even know what to search to look for one. Thanks! Again loving your content!
well now you know: you GET what you PAID FOR lol - GREAT WORK, STEVE!!!! Would you PLEASE include some GAMEPLAY of a DECENT GAME? I actually look forward to seeing a bit of the fruits of your labor, but then you go an pick Barbie... AGAIN. we ALL just KNEW it was a STOOPID GAME before you played even the first one. Why don't you play a game you NEVER HEARD OF and have NO IDEA what the game is or if it REALLY IS STOOPID. Give it a try, please.
Hi Steve - Can I ask a couple of questions? I used your link an£ purchased both the moo’ing delsolder unit and the microscope screen unit. 1) all of the tips on the desolder unit are sealed on the tip... shouldn’t they have a hole in then to suck the solder? Even looking at replacement units on eBay... they all look sealed? 2) I cannot seem to zoom out far enough with the scope .. it has the height for focus and a little zoom but nothing like I see in your videos.... what am I missing here mate?
i dont have the same gamestick but I have the same issue no display and no lights on the stick and its a new gamestick, but the board gets hot I guess its a poor soldering also 😅
In a way the surprising thing is that this fault is so rare. The ease with which a bit too much solder on tiny components could short them should make it more common.
I don't know if it's THAT rare. I see these and similar game stick packs being sold in bulks at random places and flee markets too, all factory new but faulty, each one of them have some sort of problems with it. Bad solder, bad component, dongle doesnt work, problems with gamepads, some are cracked cases, etc. I know because I also bought some of the stock and fixed few while returned the rest and exchanged for other products because I cannot be bothered anymore to waste days to fix things that I will make barely any profit on. I literary today returned the last ones and lost time on it, had to go through inventory and dig for some s--t I can actually use or re-sell ... Hours wasted that wont come back ... Lets say I pay 5 euros each then spend days trying to fix them all which chances are some of them I wont be able to fix and then sell the ones that work each for 10 euros it's just not worth it. Idk why I even tried ... If I would get 50 euros for each then yeah, it would cover me, but like this F all that ... Brand new ones that work are 13 euros in stores ... There is no profit it any of this for me due to wasted work hours and they are on every corner being sold online etc, even if I would get them for free not worth a f--k ...
@@minmogrovingstrongandhealthy what would you say is the most profitable thing to fix and flip? (I know it's impossible to predict how complex a fix will be, but let's suppose the fault is an average fault with an average fix time).
@@stuffandnonsense8528 Depends of the market you are able to access. Where I live in Europe I have hard time selling anything since you can source things for cheap, even if you buy from China we get free shipping. So if you buy things for yourself all great but to flip electronics that is impossible today. At this point probably nothing is worth to get to repair and flip, the profit either doesn't exist or it's tiny. Because everything is made cheaply in China and can be obtained cheaply. Sadly we live in a era where people litter and simply buy another item of the same or similar enough. Some things are glued together so you cant even repair rather do more damage. But now thinking about it, my only current suggestion is antique electronics or just things, first find groups and see how often someone buys something etc what is selling higher. They try to obtain junk and replace cables etc should be strait forward simple fixes. Sort of restorations or restomods if the og tech was never meant to be great in the first place then you can mod it and give it new life etc. Sorry for this long answer XD I write fast and just placed down everything that came to mind XD
Hi there, I'm about to recap a Marantz receiver. I usually use paste flux. What do you call the clear liquid flux you use? Your "list of magic things" doesn't specify. Peace.
I just got one for my birthday today and it's not turning on. I get the light and all but it won't show on the display and it's a 1080p display. I'm confused
I've got one of those but it's a 4k gamestick lite the controller is just flashing red and blue and the game just won't switch on I'm not good at doing what you did so where is the best place to take it
Ive become rather addicted to these videos tbo. Steve, I attacked a dead board for the first time last night with the iron (Haikio FX-888D) and it was abysmal. Complete disaster, had an absolute fantastic time! Got out the magnifier, which ive never done - the size of the bits blows my mind. Yes, zero experience with small electronics. I spent hours *burning* stuff off the board, to examine, break apart to see why/how. (Note - board off dead flat screen that was off to the trash) The look on my daughters face when I showed her the smallest capacitor on my finger nail was hilarious. Cheers!
Me too. Before I went back to school for cybersecurity I used to do a ton of electronics repair at home, but in my current program I just don't have the time right now.
RIGHT ON! makes me want to repair old electronics that I've been procrastinating working on lol
nice win! first resistor you looked at, that's tell you something. you sir are getting better at fixing stuff!
Creating solder bridges underneath SMD parts is absolutely possible if there's too much solder on one or more of the pads. The liquid solder will happily wick into the room left underneath the part and ensure you have a heck of a time finding the short. This is why you only ever use as much solder - the perfect amount - as is strictly necessary :)
Also a good idea to clean the pads with desoldering wick or similar before putting a part back on it. This ensures it's as clean as possible and prevents other fun gotchas.
I’ve done this on my hand made stuff with hand places paste, but it shows the low quality of the production process. These aren’t even small parts; that looked like 1206.
@@lawrencemanning Yeah, it's an odd thing to see in what should be done by a P&P machine and automatic soldering paste dispenser. Definitely an interesting failure mode when I was expecting to see yet another cracked MLCC :)
These things are so cheaply made that whoever is manufacturing them doesn't care... It's not like there will ever be a return policy on these things.
I found this channel, idk, 6ish months ago and I've fallen for the Nice microscopic world of the passion I love that is pc/pc gaming/console tech.
@@lawrencemanning yea, I’ve gotten far better results with some solder paste and my trusty toaster oven. This is what happens when it’s a race to get it finished.
How pleased I am that UA-cam decided to algorithm you into my feed. You should have way more than 119K subscribers.
You have the best luck in finding the simplest fixes sometimes :)) when i buy consoles to fix them, i almost never get a simple fix
Dang Steve, that was a very quick fix!! Good job!
Good grief; how shoddy can they get? Great catch, Steve!
I always love the completely blatant piracy found in these devices - and practically impossible for any of the IP owners to realistically do anything about it... At least it keeps old classics from ever going extinct. They'll always live on. On Ebay.
I know, it's mad isn't it? There's thousands of games on this thing too! 😳
Aren't they out of copyright now?
They'll never get out of copyright, it's not a music license "/@@shaneholmes6977
@@shaneholmes6977 Nope, I mean sure maybe a few, but none of Nintendo's are, for example, and pretty much all arcade games by recognised publishers like Taito, Atari, Sega et al, they're all still 100% illegal to download (unless you happen to not only own the arcade board - but the exact same revision as the ROM you download).
Happily, it's virtually impossible for these guys to do anything about. They tend to go after ROM hosting sites (Pleasuredome was a prominent example), but there is always somewhere you can find them (usually torrents).
@@shaneholmes6977nope. Copyright lasts like 50 years at least.
No way! Nice simple repair job for a change. Too much solder/"sodder". Nice work on fixing that stupid thing!
Deeply satisfying! Cheers Steve👍
Cheers Chris! 👍
No SIGNAL - I love that game. Hours of fun for the family.
Whenever 'Tim aus Magdeburg' appears, I'm always happy that there are also viewers from Germany. Greetings from Germany, Bavaria (Viele Grüße an die Deutschen Zuschauer👋).
You have inspired me to fix electronics thank you love your videos from the uk 🇬🇧
Love 🇬🇧 uk from 🇩🇿 Algérie انا جزائري
5:55 Yes - LOVE that you're using 'Dreaming Out Loud' :) Great chooooon! Please do a cover of this as an end song sometime!
😁 definite choon! Will do! 👍
Great simple fix Steve. Almost wondering how cheap you bought it considering these can be bought extremely cheap as it is anyway haha.
Might actually get one, the HD quality looked good.
great to see John Virgo back on TV 😉
Nice fix, Steve. I also love the outro of this. 😂 I'd really like to know that music tho, if possible, thank you!
Learning a lot from you. Thanks Steve!
Thanks for pronouncing soldered both ways, for us Canadian blokes.
Steve...Love your vids.
Disappointed you didnt mention Munkey Joe Tokyo in your rap though :). I always wait for that one.
Easy fix and top rap: best in a while mate. Loving your work
oh man I love your videos and your hip-hop freestyles | great fix!
Great video! My favourite part was that the rap was at the end. You should do that for every video!
Nice easy fix well done Steve, seen shorts under caps before 😊
Scammer alert Steve
Haha that was the worst factory solder job ever! Awesome fix! It can be that easy sometimes!
Excellent video , Now upgrade this thing with a USB arcade controller and you are set 😋, it did have a USB port so should be trivial , maybe a 8bitdo controller
I don't know if it affects anything or not, but at minute 2:47 the component 5R2P looks a little inflated and has cold welds.
Also what about getting soldering tweezers for smd
Geez, Stezmack Chilflux, you dang made the ass drop on my 71 Impala with that ill jam. Nice diagnosis and fix man. My first thought was faulty socket, not the board shorting the socket. I would have needlessly gone down that path first wasting time.
Nice hair cut Steve. Looking sharp, Sir.
Good easy fix. Great video, love watching them.
Steve, i'm a fan of your work but not a fan of your rap....but such is life. thanks for the videos
Mine worked flawlessly some games are glitchy too be expected but overall I love it
That's the new PS5 Super Slim model.
Addicted to this channel!! Love you!!
Nicely done Steve!
Hi Steve, like the videos and enjoy watching you fault find. I’m an old school electronics engineer when ICs were exciting if they had 16 pins and .1” pitch. Although I have a hot air desoldering tool I generally manage to remove the chip/component only to lose it on the floor and spend the next hour looking for it! I liked the look of the 4K gaming device as I’ve always been a fan of retro gaming and consoles etc. made a few retropi arcade machines over the years. Anyway, do you have a link to the exact 4K stick you bought, there are a lot to chose from and at least the one you bought appears to actually have some working games as opposed to the “rip off” fakes etc. Keep up the videos they are fun to watch. Nick
Pretty much anything from KinHank is going to be a decent retro gaming box with a decent ARM SoC and running with a good emulator front-end. Amazon, Ali, take your pick though the sketchier the storefront the higher likliehood you will not get what you think you are buying.
That cap had a clear mechanical scratch on the "plus" side. That's possibly why it was shorted. And heating it up made the short "go away", but probably temporary.
I gotta say, impressive music at the end there! That was "solid".
Did you charge it before you connected it to the display?
Another nice one, Steve! 👍
Lucky bugger 🎉 that's what I call a fonzy fix. 😊
On the title music of the Barbie game. I'm sure it was playing the theme tune to Rupert the Bear. Oh I forgot to say. Great fix Steve.
First line sounds exactly like Rupert the Bear.
Nice one Steve 👍
Well that’s a quick fix 😂 Steve well done mate see you soon 👍😊
The raps are just getting better and better or is it just me ?
Nice fix! Probably worked at first, but the heat from the power rail melted the solder enough to touch underneath that component.
Game is so stupid it can't even put parts on straight. Nice to see another thing get fixed!
🤣 thanks sorakat!
Steve - your videos make me laugh out loud 😅 I’ve watched you grow. You’re like the funny My Mate Vince (solid) I also hear you’re from Manchester like moi. I feel your pain 😢
Simple fix when you know what you’re doing. Awful factory quality! Well done mate. Stupid bad soldering.
Nice work. Stayed for the rap. :)
Are the pads chargable
Nice repair clean and quick bravo 😁✌️
I love how you just fix absolute turd 😂 always quality content man!
A good ESR meter would have told you about the cap without removing it. Also a good pair of heated tweezers is so much better!
I liked your video just because you made a custom song
God, I love this channel!
From the size of the box I wasn't expecting it to be THAT small!
Great repaire 😅😅😅
You have to connect the hdmi extension cable for it to fit into the back of your TV
What is the monitor you use when testing small devices like that.
I really enjoyed your video about that stupid game ;) cheers
I have a stack of these game sticks I’ve accumulated, I use one to level off my refrigerator that’s all they are good for .
Whats the model of the small foldable tv you used to test the gamestick ?
That is fast.. good job steeve
that is so weird! just a solder bridge, and a bad one at that. I had that happen today while working on an xbox one controller, though I was the cause of the solder bridge. Thing is, the solder bridge was absolutely tiny. Even under the microscope it was small
I'm guessing you were sold by the self portrait on the box😂
Another awesome repair! Can you do a video on a coleco tabletop repair?
Just curious Steve, what brand gel flux do you use?
I enjoyed that far too much...in a great way. Subbed! Happy Spooktember! And then...Shocktober next month ^
Well that was the quickest fix
Can you link your grinding pen?
Who would have thought that the esteemed makers of Game would have an issue with build quality?!
How did you get it to open
Hi it's just a quick non-related question, but I wondered if anyone could help. You use a minature grinder to remove rust on some videos and I just wondered where I could buy one, I don't even know what to search to look for one. Thanks! Again loving your content!
Sir, you are a genius :)
Been fascinated by your channel
And i have a ps4 id like to donate to the cause
How do you take out the sim card
Have you changed the camera? or is it the lighting?
hi, nice video, a link to that screen? pls 1:32min.
well now you know: you GET what you PAID FOR lol - GREAT WORK, STEVE!!!!
Would you PLEASE include some GAMEPLAY of a DECENT GAME? I actually look forward to seeing a bit of the fruits of your labor, but then you go an pick Barbie... AGAIN. we ALL just KNEW it was a STOOPID GAME before you played even the first one. Why don't you play a game you NEVER HEARD OF and have NO IDEA what the game is or if it REALLY IS STOOPID. Give it a try, please.
Can I add games on this emulator from my PC?
Spittin" that fire!!
Hi Steve - Can I ask a couple of questions? I used your link an£ purchased both the moo’ing delsolder unit and the microscope screen unit. 1) all of the tips on the desolder unit are sealed on the tip... shouldn’t they have a hole in then to suck the solder? Even looking at replacement units on eBay... they all look sealed? 2) I cannot seem to zoom out far enough with the scope .. it has the height for focus and a little zoom but nothing like I see in your videos.... what am I missing here mate?
3:26 don’t apologise. There definitely IS an L in solder, soldered AND soldering.
😂
finally, thank you :-)
how can i buy the wireless receptor? that little pendrive?
i dont think u get it separatly
7:26 That is the incorrect amount of solder - hmmm sounds familiar.
You made "short" work of that one pal! 😆
i dont have the same gamestick but I have the same issue no display and no lights on the stick and its a new gamestick, but the board gets hot I guess its a poor soldering also 😅
In a way the surprising thing is that this fault is so rare. The ease with which a bit too much solder on tiny components could short them should make it more common.
I don't know if it's THAT rare. I see these and similar game stick packs being sold in bulks at random places and flee markets too, all factory new but faulty, each one of them have some sort of problems with it. Bad solder, bad component, dongle doesnt work, problems with gamepads, some are cracked cases, etc.
I know because I also bought some of the stock and fixed few while returned the rest and exchanged for other products because I cannot be bothered anymore to waste days to fix things that I will make barely any profit on. I literary today returned the last ones and lost time on it, had to go through inventory and dig for some s--t I can actually use or re-sell ... Hours wasted that wont come back ...
Lets say I pay 5 euros each then spend days trying to fix them all which chances are some of them I wont be able to fix and then sell the ones that work each for 10 euros it's just not worth it. Idk why I even tried ...
If I would get 50 euros for each then yeah, it would cover me, but like this F all that ...
Brand new ones that work are 13 euros in stores ... There is no profit it any of this for me due to wasted work hours and they are on every corner being sold online etc, even if I would get them for free not worth a f--k ...
@@minmogrovingstrongandhealthy what would you say is the most profitable thing to fix and flip? (I know it's impossible to predict how complex a fix will be, but let's suppose the fault is an average fault with an average fix time).
@@stuffandnonsense8528
Depends of the market you are able to access. Where I live in Europe I have hard time selling anything since you can source things for cheap, even if you buy from China we get free shipping.
So if you buy things for yourself all great but to flip electronics that is impossible today.
At this point probably nothing is worth to get to repair and flip, the profit either doesn't exist or it's tiny.
Because everything is made cheaply in China and can be obtained cheaply. Sadly we live in a era where people litter and simply buy another item of the same or similar enough.
Some things are glued together so you cant even repair rather do more damage.
But now thinking about it, my only current suggestion is antique electronics or just things, first find groups and see how often someone buys something etc what is selling higher. They try to obtain junk and replace cables etc should be strait forward simple fixes.
Sort of restorations or restomods if the og tech was never meant to be great in the first place then you can mod it and give it new life etc.
Sorry for this long answer XD I write fast and just placed down everything that came to mind XD
I pity the fools that skip the Patreon Rap
Does it play ps1 and ps2 smoothly? Can update and upload games to it?
Hi there, I'm about to recap a Marantz receiver. I usually use paste flux. What do you call the clear liquid flux you use? Your "list of magic things" doesn't specify. Peace.
nice find, a "sodder" short, stupid game.
How shit these things are made I’m not surprised it’s a silly issue like this from the factory 😂 glad you fount it quickly
I just got one for my birthday today and it's not turning on. I get the light and all but it won't show on the display and it's a 1080p display. I'm confused
What display are you using for testing? I would love to find something similar with HDMI and AV etc
Right iv got this and cant get the controlers to work.hell??
I've got one of those but it's a 4k gamestick lite the controller is just flashing red and blue and the game just won't switch on
I'm not good at doing what you did so where is the best place to take it