Afternoon all, so I went and fired up my original xbox for the first time in years and when upon switching on at the mains I heard two pops. I switched it off immediately and lo and behold inside were two bulging caps. I've never changed caps before however I'm looking to learn and replace them myself. I'm just wondering what do I need? Would this soldering station provide me with all the required tools in order so I can replace them myself? https://www.amazon.co.uk/YIHUA-Digital-Soldering-Lead-Free-Calibration/dp/B0CMQHYTK5/ref=pd_ci_mcx_mh_mcx_views_2_title?pd_rd_w=NN1qk&content-id=amzn1.sym.d63274d0-bf52-45e7-ae69-2bcf85c5865c:amzn1.symc.ca948091-a64d-450e-86d7-c161ca33337b&pf_rd_p=d63274d0-bf52-45e7-ae69-2bcf85c5865c&pf_rd_r=AWKRRD6FPVX2QJ1MN559&pd_rd_wg=JkBaT&pd_rd_r=68de022a-b4e4-498f-96bd-7e13c4e9814f&pd_rd_i=B0CMQHYTK5
Any soldering iron will do the trick. A de-soldering pump or wick might make things a little easier, mind. An iron and pump is all I had when I was repairing the PCBs or replacing blown caps on monitors. I'm all for having a decent solder station available - better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Thanks I'll go ahead and order a soldering iron kit instead as it has the iron and some other gizmos. Separately I'll purchase some desoldering wire, the caps and a multimeter and hopefully jobs a good'n.
If you’re not touching the power supply, you almost certainly won’t have to worry about discharging capacitors. Everything on the main board is all going to be low-voltage stuff, and any caps present won’t hold charge for very long. The bigger problem with the OG Xbox is the clock capacitor, you need to get that out ASAP. If it hasn’t already spilled its corrosive guts then it’s only a matter of time before it does. It’s infamous for ruining OG Xboxen. If that cap has shuffled off this mortal coil then don’t panic immediately; clip its legs off, grab some isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush, and get to work cleaning up the spillage gently and thoroughly. Make sure you clean up any nearby components whose legs/pads/traces may have been sullied with supercapacitor innards.
