Question from Jim: Hi Tim and the rest of y’all. I came across your youtube site this weekend, thanks for posting the video series, I learned a few things I didn’t know yet about those ‘classic power supplies’. Good stuff. 🙂

I have some soldering questions for y’all and an attachment- a picture of my first attempt (a very novice attempt) at a jamma adapter. (Jungle King 56 pin to Jamma)
Its functional- but needs improvement. I figure if I get the right soldering technique down, all will be well.

#1 So my soldering iron tip is very black. Is this normal? I do use some radio shack tip cleaner which doesn’t seem to do much, and a damp sponge. The tip will hold solder but it seems to just bead up and get gunky when I try to apply fresh solder to joints, etc. I’m not able to produce good clean joints. Is it best to just replace the tip or get a new iron? The soldering station I have is one one of Bob Roberts $15 temperature controlled ones.

#2 When you get some time can you guys do a basic ‘how to make a jamma adapter video?’ I think it would help to ‘see’ how it is done correctly.

I am having difficulty getting the soldered joint to stay in place on the ‘fingers’, even when using a 3rd hand tool. I wind up applying too much solder and burnt a bit of the plastic, as you can see in the photo- plus my solder sucker doesn’t get all the solder off of the traces. Is this removed with a wire brush or something else?

Anyway, nice to see the videos and I’ll check out the podcasts later, more questions later on as well…

Thanks guys for this stuff and keep up the good work. 🙂
-Jim