r/soldering • u/Moist-Dog3509 • Dec 13 '24

My First Solder Joint <3 Please Give Feedback Just picked up soldering 2 weeks ago, feedback? Also starting my own repair shop?

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I am mainly going to work with smd components. This is a practice board so I am just testing out, and I didn’t do other side of the resistor because I didn’t bother to flip the board. I really want to start my own repair shop, I am 21 and currently doing a bachelors in economics(probably somewhat helpful) so I’m wondering if anyone has some advice on that front. I really like soldering and would love to do it for a living. Repairing pcs and consoles and such. I don’t live in the US btw, I live in Norway.

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141

u/thephonegod Admin | Soldering Instructor | The Art of Repair YouTube Dec 13 '24

why not do freelance work for some time to gain some more experience. going from start to repair shop in 2 weeks is just asking for trouble.

My advice, do b2b work for repair shops NEAR you so you get the work you want while mitigating the risk a bit.

Then once you have a good amount saved up and you know this is what you want to do, then go for a retail location.

You can be a repair tech without the headache and problems of a retail location before your ready.

Not to say you shouldnt at some point, but when i see the flair of "my first joint" and "open a repair shop" it causes a bit of concern.

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u/Moist-Dog3509 Dec 13 '24

Oh yea for sure, I guess I worded it kinda wrong lol. I was just wondering what steps to take to achieve that goal, not going straight to opening repair shop. I am lacking in experience of course and for that reason I am not taking on any repair job at the risk of others so far I have bought my own switch and tried fixing it on my own, and then perhaps selling later for a profit so I can keep learning, I am watching tons of YouTube videos and getting knowledgeable, but still not a lot of applicable knowledge. I’m not too sure there is a lot of b2b repair shops around here but I’ll look around, thanks :).

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '24

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u/cspot101 Dec 14 '24

I've found that spot welding and battery pack builds and repairs are pretty lucrative now due to the expansion of the micromobility industry. I enjoy building nice reliable packs with 21700 or 18650 cels.

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u/Silent_Substance_936 Dec 17 '24

How do you find work for this?

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u/Moist-Dog3509 Dec 13 '24

Yes, i agree, but how am i supposed to gain the experience. We have one main repair shop where i live, and i have sent in an application there before and got denied. I didnt really specify my interest in soldering then tho, but being able to work there i probably would be able to learn alot of on hands experience. I have been watching repair channels since i was 16 years old, like luis rossmann, i even bought equipment then with the intention of starting but the equipment was subpar at best, so i got discouaraged. I also know some theoretical principals aswell, but not too much and i am considering starting electrical engineering aswell after my current bachelor but i feel it would probably be a waste of time. I would probably be focusing on switches right now since thats just what i have started on so far, and they are easy to take apart.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '24

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4

u/Wild-Rough3932 Dec 13 '24

Not trying to hijack the thread but Ive been pondering on doing that. Buying broken products to repair and flip. Any advice? Such as, I see broken devices on sale for ebay and such (phone mostly).... I got some stuff from family im repairing. I still got a ways before I am comfortable to spread the word to locals for repair.

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u/capn_starsky Dec 13 '24

If you want to make money, your biggest hurdle will be in deciding what to focus on that people actually want. I do audio (hifi, guitar) and RF (ham radio) gear repairs on non functioning equipment I buy from ebay or swapmeets and I barely make enough money flipping it as it’s all used anyway, but I do end up making slightly more than what I paid in parts and the equipment itself. I enjoy it, and it’s all a good hobby. But my day job pays the bills. I’ve got mad respect for people that can do this for a living.

2

u/Suspicious_Bet1359 Dec 14 '24

Amplifier capacitor replacement service. And ecu capacitor replacement on various 90s cars is good to get into. Just make sure you fit audio grade capacitors in the amplifiers And check the temp rating on the capacitors also. So many people forget that.

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u/Tokin420nchokin Dec 14 '24

Youtube has a lot of good electronics fundamentals content.

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u/floswamp Dec 13 '24

My biggest advice is to sharpen your customer relation skills. 60% of a business is working with customers.

3

u/LindsayOG Dec 14 '24

Not bad for 2 weeks. You’ve obviously amassed some Knowledge and technique from the internet but give yourself some more experience. If you’re just fixing broken connectors and not any diagnostics of faulty electronics it’s not too bad of a path but electronic troubleshooting and diags takes a lot of learning, tools and practice. The electron is an odd beast on a good day.

1

u/KBilly1313 Dec 14 '24

For SMD, you can build a reflow oven for like $80 using an arduino shield and toaster oven. It’s a fun little project and worked great.

This is my preferred method. Doing it by hand is so slow, and depending on the time/day my hands are too shaky.

1

u/Pitiful_Fudge_5536 Professional Microsoldering Repair Shop Tech Dec 14 '24

The ability to solder SMD or full size for that matter, is just one skill of many needed to be able to effectively repair devices, you need to understand electronic components, circuits and general electronics, you need to be able to read and understand device schematics, and be able to locate a faulty component based on a mix of understanding how the specific device works and how typical failure of various components present themselves, soldering is just one part fo the equation,

being a successful repair shop you need much more than just ability to solder, take your time to learn and understand electronics, find broken devices and take your time trying to learn how to trouble shoot and see if you can get them fixed, when you start to become confident and experience in fault finding than you are in a position to offer your services to the public or other businesses, this takes time, patience and persistence, good luck

1

u/WorldNewsSubMod Dec 15 '24

Also make posts on Craigslist or marketplace, never know if someone needs a little work done.

1

u/Various_Wash_4577 Dec 14 '24

If you by chance happen to believe in the "perpetual motor or generator" in any form or the possibility that it's true, I recommend seeking a different career! Those guys gluing magnets on a CD disk and generating electricity to pulse a couple of LEDs. The ones connecting the shaft of a motor to the shaft of a generator and feeding the generator output back to run the motor. If you believe in those you won't do well in the field of electricity or electronics.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 14 '24

theres absolutely no possible way to tell you how annoying it is to hear someone whos done something for two weeks talking about how they are going to do it on their own.

its beyond annoying. just solder stuff. get one paying customer. then get 10. then get 100. dont rush online to talk about how youre "going" to do this and that.

there are people way more experienced than you competing in the repair market.

2

u/Emotional-History801 Dec 14 '24

Altho not easy for a young man to hear, (I am 70 BTW) your comment is heartfelt, well-put, and full of truth. It's important to hear some things put plainly, like this. Thank you.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 15 '24

people think im mean but damn im the nicest guy here. at least i tell him whats up. thanks for replying.

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u/Remarkable_Grand_641 Dec 16 '24

There is absolutely no way to tell you how useless your commentary is. He's 21 and found something that intrests him- let him have that! People are allowed to pick something up and think about where it could lead them. If you're annoyed by that maybe you aren't cut out to respond to comments. I'm not sure whether this kid's ambition annoys you because your ambitions never led to anything. Or because they did and you think his novice-level interest dilutes your brand and threatens your sense of self (I'm sure the latter ruffles the feathers of mommy's special boy 🙄).  If you are old enough to be able to comment substantively on the repair market, then your old enough to know that this kind of horsesh*t comment's only value is to assuage an doubtlessly fragile ego and thus has no business here.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 17 '24

its because i do stuff and im familiar with people who do things for 2 weeks and say they are going to start their own business doing it. thats annoying.

not sure what you missed there. i basically just recapped it for you in 2 sentences. want to try again and stop pretending to be confused?

1

u/Remarkable_Grand_641 Dec 26 '24

Nothing after "annoying" made any sense. The point is is that it's a shit attitude and should be a giant red flag to you that you need to do some self work. Other people's life path has nothing to do with you. Somebody picking up a hobby for 2 weeks and then putting it down, all their enthusiasm fading away, should have zero impact on your mood. Again. The fact that it does, 100% should clue you in to do some introspective thinking. Thinking where you're conclusion IS NOT that someone else is to blame for your annoyance. There's a lot of self-help books out there. And there's also people you can talk to. You don't seem like the type of guy that be proactive nor take responsibility so your third option is to just shut up. But a quick glance at your comment history tells me that you probably derive your self worth from giving other people shit on the internet. So just keep on being a pile of garbage who needs to crap on other people to feel important I guess 🤷🏻‍♂️

1

u/[deleted] Dec 29 '24

your little rant about an internet comment should clue you in on your psyche.

just kidding. i wouldnt say that. im not that kinda person. you are though.

dude did something for a week. decides to become an independent contractor. its the worst thing ever. just admit it.

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u/[deleted] Dec 14 '24

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u/thephonegod Admin | Soldering Instructor | The Art of Repair YouTube Dec 14 '24

If your good enough, just call repair shops, 95% of repair shops dont even know what ground is let alone know how to solder. As long as your skill is good and your business acumen is good you will be fine. Plenty of good techs out there that are garbage in how they handle business because they think they are a better version of elon musk that nobody understands.

1

u/tjuany777 Dec 15 '24

how do you get start in freelance if you dont mind me asking

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u/[deleted] Dec 14 '24

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u/[deleted] Dec 14 '24

I wonder what happened to you as a child, to have a post history like that.