Can someone with zero soldering skills install a cap kit?

[Will]

So my title pretty much says it all.I have a working wg 25k7191 25 inch monitor that Im pretty sure needs a cap kit.The top of monitor seems a little blurry and or wavy.I would like to save the money and not buy a brand new arcade monitor.Problem is ive never soldered anything in my life let alone desoldered.I have the skills to wire a cp and also build a pc from scratch but not sure that I can solder in compacitors.Maybe im just being a wuss but the idea of going from a semi working monitor to one that i personally ruin from a bad cap kit install scares the %$#t out of me.I thought maybe I would just sell it and use that money to buy a new monitor.All help is appreciated ..Thanks
p.s. trying to figure what cap kit i need.Is a k7000 wg monitor the same as a  25K7191 because I looked on bob roberts website and he doesnt list my monitor but the k7000 looks the same?

[enchntr]

Scared the crap out of me too when I did mine.  Get a desoldering braid and take your time desoldering and resoldering.  I have no soldering skills whatsoever and I had no problem doing it.

Get the K7000 kit, as it's the series number you need.

Thanks,
Ed

[Will]

Thanks for the encouragement going to take another long look at the board tonight and see if it still looks intimidating.I guess its time to start googling for soldering tips.

[whammoed]

don't know what ken or monitorguru use but i use a desoldering sucker that bob roberts sells...in fact get the soldering kit he has which includes the sucker, good stuff for the price.
http://www.dameon.net/BBBB/sskit.html

[Grauwulf]

I would *NOT* reccomend using desoldering braid on your monitor chassis. Spend the money and buy a soldersucker and a decent soldering iron. K7000 chassis are fairly delicate and if you're not careful you'll lift traces and then you'll have all sorts of problems. One thing you may want to check is to make sure you have your sync hooked up properly. If you're using composit sync, you only need to have 1 wire hooked up, not two like most monitors. It goes to the end pin farthest away from the colour connectors.

I'm sure Ken or Monitor Guru will hop in with suggestions, this is just my two cents worth. I'm working on a 25k7191 right now that someone has damaged from using the wrong components and from using too much heat on the chassis.

[SirPeale]

That kit that Bob sells looks good.

As for your soldering skill, get a junk board from somewhere (doesn't matter  really what kind, radio, anything) as long as it doesn't have a lot of surface mount stuff on it.   Start unsoldering stuff off the board.  get some paper clips (the small kind) and try soldering those on the board.  It'll be an approximation, but should lend you some skill.

Until recently I had no skill either, and I'm certainly not in Ken's class (he could do a 4600 chassis blindfolded, with one arm, hanging upside down,and DEAD, I'm pretty sure) but with some practice I don't screw up nearly as often.

Remember, you want to heat the part you're soldering, not the solder itself!  

[Will]

Thanks for all the tips guys.Going to try some practice as Peale suggested.Stupid questions of the minute I was looking on Bob Roberts website for tips and it looked as if he was soldering from the backside of the board ,is the norm?Any desoldering tips?Seems pretty straight forward heat it up and suck up the solder.In the event I screw up the board can I buy a new board?Just curious is there anyone on the BYOC board that does cap kit installs for a fee?

[shadowdrak]

Solderinging is always done from the backside(solder side of the board).  Peale is right, and I can't stress this enough... Practise!!!  You really need to practise soldering on an empty board to get a feel for it.  Make sure you know what solder smells like(don't inhale too much of course) so you know if something is burning.  Luckily caps are pretty insensitive to heat, but you still have to worry about lifting the traces.  Contact for longer than a few seconds causes things to get pretty hot so be careful.  I recommend buying something to hold the board for you while you solder/desolder, although it is not entirely necessary.  When desoldering, use the largest tip possible that you can still touch only one contact with.  Go with one of those spring loaded solder sucker tools like the others suggested, because soldering braid is a pain in the butt to use properly.  It doesn't take very long to get pretty good at soldering if you take your time.  I suggest not wearing polyester clothing when you solder and wear safety glasses;  solder splatter is relatively common and eyes/clothing do melt .

[daeven]

I can't understand all the bad opinions of solder braid.  I think it is easier than solder suckers (at least the cheap variety), and I can't imagine how you could lift a trace with it.  I couldn't imagine trying to get out a 10-pin flyback using a solder sucker.

Where are you located?  You might just be able to have someone who's been through a few cap kits supervise your first attempt.  I'm in the west suburbs of Chicago and would be happy to help anyone local through one.

[Grauwulf]

I can't understand all the bad opinions of solder braid.  I think it is easier than solder suckers (at least the cheap variety), and I can't imagine how you could lift a trace with it.  I couldn't imagine trying to get out a 10-pin flyback using a solder sucker.

Using braid allows you to overheat the board too much and delaminate the traces from the board too easily. About the only time I use braid is to clean up solder pads on a board after a component has already been removed. If you're using a solder sucker correctly, you should be able to pull the solder out of most joints in one shot unless it's a huge puddle of solder. I have no problem removing flybacks using a solder sucker.

[Ken Layton]

I use an Edsyn "Soldapullt" model DS017 solder sucker. It workers great and it's a professional tool. I've worn out 3 of 'em over the past 25 years since I use it so much. I have no problem removing flybacks with this tool. In fact, it takes about 30 seconds to remove a flyback with this.

There are now appearing some similar looking (and much cheaper) solder suckers that look like a Soldapullt. These knock offs are cheap junk and you're throwing your money away on those knockoffs.

[daeven]

Using braid allows you to overheat the board too much and delaminate the traces from the board too easily.

That's good to know.  I always did caps with the cheapo solder sucker I have.  I didn't even know about solder braid until I couldn't get all the pins loose on a flyback.  I guess I have to put "good solder sucker" on the must-have tools list!

Speaking of must-have tools, and horribly unrelated I'm afraid, I just picked up a 20 gal. 5HP oil-free compressor with stapler/brad-nailer, paint sprayer, impact wrench, etc. for $137 from Lowes.  It's great for blowing the dust out of the garage after cutting MDF!