Shoutout to the old soldering iron I couldn't bring myself to throw away

I had to pick between dropping $40 on a brand new soldering station or spending a Saturday fixing my dad's old Weller from the 80s. I went with the repair because I'm stubborn and I hate seeing good stuff go to waste. Turns out the tip was just corroded and the heating element needed a quick cleaning. After scraping off the gunk with some fine sandpaper and a bit of alcohol, it fired right back up. That little iron has now fixed three game consoles for me including a vintage NES that wouldn't boot. The only downside is the cord is stiff as a board but it still beats buying something new. Has anyone else given new life to a really old tool like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jason_robinson1mo ago

Used to be all about upgrading to the newest thing, but seeing stuff like this work again actually changed my mind. Now I'm way more willing to try and fix something old before tossing it.

jamies451mo ago

Double down on what @jason_robinson said. Got a buddy who was gonna toss his Game Gear with a dead screen and I convinced him to let me take a crack at it. Replaced the capacitors and recapped the whole thing with some cheap parts off ebay, now that thing plays like it's brand new. It's wild how much stuff from that era just needs a bit of cleaning or a cheap cap kit to get going again. Makes you wonder how much perfectly good gear gets tossed every day just because nobody bothered to look up a fix guide.