DIY Repair Tools

[Fuel Injected]

Other then a soldering iron and small screwdrivers, what kind of tools do you find yourself using/wanting?

[FABombjoy]

My jar-o-tools:
Surgical scissors - Good for cutting pins/leads close to boards
Hemostat - Absolutely, positively invaluable for soldering & many other uses
x-acto knife
Tweezers
Needle nose pliers
Magnetic pick-up tool - Retrieve dropped screws, parts, etc.
Side cutting pliers
White out - Marking position of wires, pots
Electrician's knife - Slices up perfboard pretty well

General workbench:
Laptop - For schematics, music & reading posts
Oscillioscope - Lots of reasons
Function generator - Not many uses in system repair, really
15 watt grounded soldering iron - For most soldering work
30 watt iron - For soldering shields, big grounds, or large caps
30 watt desoldering iron
Tin canister - For removed parts & a desoldering 'spitoon'
VOM - obvious
Dremel - When you really need to do some damage
Sandpaper
Asst. system cleaning kits
C-clamps - Hold stuff together when gluing, etc.

Fluids:
Tuner cleaner
Iso alcohol
Goo Gone
Goof Off - For when Goo Gone just doesn't cut the mustard
Berryman's B12 Chemtool - For when Goof Off isn't destructive enough
P'blaser - Sometimes screws/bolts need a little help
Naval Jelly - remove rust/corrosion
WD40
Light machine oil
Teflon spray lube
Silicone spray
White lithium grease
Silicone adhesive
JB Weld
Super glue
Model cement
Rubber cement
Elmers glue

Things that come on a roll: (for $200 please, Alex)
Paper towel
Electrical tape
Friction tape
Masking tape
Duct tape
2 sided tape
Foam tape
2 sided foam tape

Ok, there's more, but that's a pretty good start.

[sisko]

Multimeter.

Great for various reasons, and they start out at about $5.

[§ Gideon §]

Thank goodness nobody said canned air. I'm very anti-canned air.

[omnedon]

What do you use to blow the dust out of CPU fans, and off of PCB's and so on (when units are disassembled) Gideon?

[§ Gideon §]

My farts.

[omnedon]

I see.

That was a real question. I'm gonna assume that was a real answer, and will treat all of your future posts with the respect deserved. There are many ways to clean PCB's, and fans.

Thanks for the input.

[§ Gideon §]

Heh. Relax. I'm sorry for the joke!

I use a mini vac (Dirt Devil) in reverse with a special attachment. It was lying around in the basement.

Sheesh! I thought it was funny!

[§ Gideon §]

Later on:

Well, I thought it would be appropriate to further explain myself. Due to the apparent shortcomings of communication in text, I interpreted your response, omnedon, as being a facetious retort to my comments on canned air. I visualized, "What do you use, since you're so smart, newbie???". Thus, I responded as whimsically as possible.

Well, I can clearly see now that is not the case; folks are much nicer around here than what I've become accustomed to on most internet forums. So, you have my earnest apologies for the childish remark.

Back on topic, I've always viewed canned air as a bit of a waste (of money and resources) and somewhat inefficient in nature. And, while I have never used it myself, I'm averse to the concept. However, I know a good deal of respectable people who stand by it like a religion. So, it's safe to say that it cleans well.

Obviously, a vacuum alternative seems crude when one considers the purpose of vacuums to begin with. However, the one that I used has been carefully washed and is only used in reverse. I think it works pretty well.

[omnedon]

Apology accepted, AND my apologies for not making my initial questions tone more clear.

I wholeheartedly agree that canned air is VERY expensive for what you get. Also, I think it can be dangerous in careless hands, as the pressure is quite heavy.

I've used a vacuum many times on my computers, but never really thought about using it on Xboxes and such. It's good idea.

I will use compressed air, VERY sparingly, only where it will do some good. CPU fans and power supply interiors are a good example. Many people spray it around willy nilly, Which is expensive, possibly pointless, and at worst, can damage certain things.

[Bratwurst]

Ditto on the condensed air being too dangerous to fling around like a can of deoderant. I believe there's the possibility of getting frostbite if you get any drops of the super cooled liquid on your skin, too.

That said, I am aware of squeeze bulbs that you could use in place of that (No, not the kind you use for a baby, but close. )

This here doohickey

[FABombjoy]

You can get 3 big 'ole cans of canned air at Sams Club for less than $10. I laugh every time I see Best Buy selling 1 can for $7.99 with large signs that say "Super Deal" or some other crap like that.

Sams used to sell 4 cans for $10, but that stuff was a little too exciting & they changed brands. You had to use about 1/3 the can before it would stop consistantly exiting in liquid form. Still good for cooling your beverages down, killing flies, relieving the pain of soldering iron burns, etc.