Whats considered bad soldering in an ECU? I just did most of my new p06 and dont know if I f'ed it up. First time converting and chipping an ecu.

 

Bad soldering would be when the part you soldered doesn't work or the solder cracks or corrosion occurs in a short period of time.

There are a few technical terms for solder faults;

• Cold solder - when the parts being soldered are not brought up to the liquid temp of the solder. The parts that are being joined should be hot enough to melt the solder, the solder should not have to touch the iron to melt it.
• Too much heat - It may burn/melt the components or lift the trace off the board. Board will turn a yellowish brown colour and you may see the copper/gold line on the board actually lift.
• Using the wrong flux - This can cause joint failure
• Not using flux - Can cause premature oxidation or other inclusions in the joint that may corrode after a period of time.

9 times out of 10, if the solder pool looks smooth and shiny, it should hold up.

 

Generally classified as one that does not work.

Professionally classified as one that does not appear clean and professional... which sometimes leads to the former.

And Ghost Accord definitely has the key terms.

 

So once the copper lifts on the board is the ecu pretty much garbage? Or can you push it back down and reconnect it to the solder point?

 

First mistakes I made. everything else turned out good. Hopefully my hope is going down the drain.

 

Did you strip the clear coat off the board before you started soldering? I use carb cleaner and a tooth brush to get rid of all the clear coat they put over the board from the factory. It makes it much cleaner and easier to heat the components and make a clean contaminant free solder joint.

It looks as though you may have a couple rough solders and possibly some bridging. Bridging is when two points that should be separate are accidentally connected with stray/spatter or too much solder/overflow.

If a trace lifts it will still work as long as it is still connected to it's components. Depending on the extent of the damage some lifts can be easily fixed. They can be fixed simply by holding them down and putting some nail polish over it as a coating. If they have been burnt to the point that they are no longer connected they would have to be soldered together again, sometimes not that easy.

I have fixed a few boards that were completely burnt on both sides. I had to add wires from one component to the next, basically replacing the burnt trace with a wire. Doesn't look very good but it works.

 

Damn you give good info. The picture is bad some look like they are overflow/bridging but they actually arent. And no I did not know that I had to take the clear coat off. So no I did not do that. The trace lifts are not completely burned off. I actually tried my best to push them back to its connecting point. And how would you apply nail polish to it? Clear nail polish?

 

Clear would be my choice. Before you apply the nail polish, use a multi meter and Make sure there is continuity through the trace. Then apply the nail polish with the supplied applicator brush. It's only there to make sure the trace doesn't lift any further or short/bridge anything.

 

How would I check it with a multi meter? Ground it and just apply the positive to the trace? Do I set it to voltage?

 

This is also BAD ECU soldering! Might even be the worst ever.

 

Set the multimeter to 2000Ω (ohms) and check the resistance. You apply the ground probe to one end of the trace and the positive probe to the other end. It should come up 000.

That is a pretty sad hack job.

 

Thanks, ill do that tonight since my dumb chip kit isnt here yet.


Its pretty sad but if it works Im not complaining. LOL

 

Wow, definitely the worst.

 

Only way to get better is practice. However, I would suggest not to practice on a working ECU... Try to find an old computer motherboard or some other junk circuit board to practice your soldering and de-soldering techniques. That is, if you plan on chipping any more ECU's.

I got a burnt out ECU from the junk yard to practice on a few years back.



I've posted this pic once or twice before.....

 

Good idea, i've actually seen your picture on some other old thread as well. Thanks for the tips.

I tried to check the trace with my multimeter and it didnt do anything. Its either I suck at using it or mine is just a piece of crap.

 

So i must of f'd up somewhere. Constant CEL and it wont read my Neptune RTP. Aka Bad Soldering

 

If you remove the jumper on J1 and the CEL goes away that will confirm that it is a solder/chipping or basemap chip error.....

 

J1 should be removed anyways correct? I was looking at my old p06 and it has alot of stuff desoldered off. On Xenocron it doesnt show all thats been soldered off from my old p06 which has been good for a few years now.

 

No, J1 should be jumped in order for the ECU to read from your RTP board.

J1 is the red jumper in this image.

If you wanted to put this ECU back to stock you would pull the red jumper.

This is an ECU that has been chipped to used the SST chip. However, AFAIK the RTP & demon chipped ECU's still require J1 to be jumped.

 

Is there any specific jumper i need for it? Also after doing some research about j12. One of my buddies that sold me my old p06 said that j12 should have a jumper on it? But its not even jumped in the one he sold me. J12 is removed so should I remove it from my new one as well. my old p06 is the 1720 version and my new one is the 11F0

 

???

 

J12 is removed on ECU's that are used for datalogging as it allows the data to transfer easier/faster. J1 is jumped to make the ECU read from the installed chip rather than the stock rom in the ECU

 

Yes I understand that but my question is does it matter what I use to jump J1.

 

As long as what you use doesn't have any resistance it will work. A thick piece of wire will do. Most ECU's that I see, that don't use a computer jumper, use the trimmed off length of leg from a component. (resistor or capacitor)

 

Yea I did that but still Solid CEL and its not reading my RTP. My soldering for my 28 pin zif socket is horrendous.