Where to start with console (and general) electronics?

Wasn't too sure which sub-forum to post this in as it kind of falls between modding/repairing...

But anyway, I've always had an interest in taking things apart and putting them back together, and I want to extend this to being able to repair/mod consoles. So for the experienced amongst us I ask... where to start?

Are there any recommended books or online material that I should start with in understanding how things work, how to identify problems, and eventually how to fix? Understanding circuit boards, chips, traces, capacitors etc.

I can follow simple instructions well enough, and have a little soldering experience (which needs to be improved).

All advice appreciated.

 

Important skills are getting good at soldering and desoldering and also fine soldering work to chip pins.

 

To practice soldering, find something that doesn't work, you don't use, or isn't expensive. Practice soldering and de-soldering the board. For manuals and instructions, I usually just search online for details on a specific repair or modification. If that doesn't work, I come to this form and ask people more experienced then myself for help.

 

Cool, soldering can be worked on. How about understanding electronics? You put together Project Unity which required a hell of a lot of knowledge about knowing how things go together, what works, what doesn't, how to fix broken things etc? Where does one get that kind of knowledge from?

 

General knowledge about voltage, current, resistance, capacitance, etc can be found on the web through various websites- it's pretty basic stuff and assuming you aren't going to get into creating entire circuits, it can be learned fairly quickly.

Of course, it would be best to take a course in it, which can be found if you're still in some level of education.

 

Buy a couple of cheap broken consoles and start from there. I didn't know anything about ipods, mine broke, I opened it up, looked online and found the repair. Did the same thing with my 360, PS3, PS2. Most console failures stem from a known issue so usually it's not hard if you look online to find a repair you can do yourself.

 

I recommend "Electronics Fundamentals: Circuits, Devices and Applications" book by Thomas L. Floyd. It's really a great start in electronics. You can then move on to harder sutff. "Hacking the Xbox" by Bunny(free PDF is available) is also a great resource and really geared toward modding less than designing electronics. There are probably tons of free info scattered around the internet but a physical book is always better to have close at hand. Floyd's book are numerous and always well explained.

Of course for your soldering skills there are no easy way, practice, practice, practice. Also check youtube videos on special soldering techniques. Don't cheap out on a soldering iron if you plan on really using it. Be sure to get lots of accessories: solder pumps, wick, flux, extra tips, tweezers, alcohol wipes, anti-static brushes... When you start to make a mess, it's better to have all those close at hand then trying to "fix" the problem with only a soldering iron...

Get a decent multimeter. I'm not saying to buy a Fluke but something better than the cheap ones you'd find in Radio-Shack.
Don't measure resistance when the circuit is powered on.
For voltage measurement, place probes in parallel of the section you wish to check.
For current measurement, place probes in line with the circuit you wish to check.

For general electronic repair, I recommend always starting from the section that is essential to every electronic device, power supply. If you don't have power (or improper supply), your electronic will not behave correctly. Check for burned traces and leaking capacitors. These are common to a device that "just stopped working all of a sudden". If your 100% sure it's not power supply issues, move on to a physical inspection of the whole system. Again check for burned traces, leaked capacitors and misaligned components. If it's still not conclusive, then seek help on your specific issue.

 

Thanks for the advice guys, especially bennydiamond - appreciate the time you took to reply

Had a look for that book, currently £61 on Amazon so not cheap lol. Will try and get to a bookstore so I can at least have a flick through and make sure it would be worth the investment for myself.

 

Check for an older edition on eBay. You'll be amazed how cheap it is. The one you saw on Amazon is probably the hard back cover edition. Pretty expensive but it'll last longer. I still have mine (4th edition) and I will never sell it.

Here is an auction for the fifth edition: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electroni...AU_Books_Textbooks&hash=item19dc6290b6&_uhb=1

 

Thanks again mate, there's a couple on there I'm keeping my eye on

 

If you want to learn your basics with a hands on approach, this book is simply fantastic, imho.
Its also written in a slightly humorous way and has some nice tricks and anecdotes in it.
Really fun to read and I learned a lot with it.
http://www.amazon.com/Make-Electron...&qid=1372311678&sr=8-3&keywords=charles+platt

Also, as someone with not so good vision, one of my most valuable tool is this.


Also, I recommend starting with doing some easy mods that you actually want to do and feel confident you can do.

My very first one was installing a modchip in a Playstation. It was a bit hard for a first experience because I sucked at soldering, but i managed it.
Things like Genesis 1 rca stereo output is pretty easy and cool to have. I dont like having to connect on the 1/8 phone jack.

 

Banjo, radio shack used to have some entry level electronics books and they were reasonably priced and are a good starter point. it's been a few years since I've seen them, but they should still be available in store or online.

 

I've learned from various users on the forum but I owe most of the credit to Bad_Ad84 and basic experimenting on my own. I've just started soldering and I have done what most who are beginners would think twice about, but these are basics and when you get into it more you'll know it's no big deal. I have broken things in the duration of my learning but, when I got more knowledge I was able to fix them! So it can be a bit of trial and error as well.
So far I have been told I'm learning rather quickly, if you have a lot of time to spare, then use the time wisely and keep reading, watching videos and practicing your work. Practice makes perfect

 

Learning to solder Eevblog Soldering tutorial:




The sooner you learn how to do it properly the better it will be for you in the long run, its very difficult to fix bad habits when it comes to soldering.

 

I started because I wanted to mod an arcade stick, then it blossomed to consoles. One day, I'll learn all this proper.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate the advice

I do have some soldering experience, but will try and find more things to practice on to get better and do a better job!

That books looks fantastic, gonna try and find a local copy. Thanks for the heads up!