Hello all,

some months ago I bought a VB including the Virtual Tap (which was the reason why I bought this VB) and now I tried to install it. Unfortunately I realized that the Virtual Tap itself was already soldered once and my know how and equipment is not sufficient to take the risk to remove the solder and move on with the installation. Due to the fact that I am from Germany, I like to ask if there is someone who is from here and well experienced in that case and could help me here. If you see a chance here, feel free to send me a pm.

For orientation, please see attached a picture how the Virtual Tap looks.

Thanks in advance.

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BigDen wrote:
Hello all,

some months ago I bought a VB including the Virtual Tap (which was the reason why I bought this VB) and now I tried to install it. Unfortunately I realized that the Virtual Tap itself was already soldered once and my know how and equipment is not sufficient to take the risk to remove the solder and move on with the installation. Due to the fact that I am from Germany, I like to ask if there is someone who is from here and well experienced in that case and could help me here. If you see a chance here, feel free to send me a pm.

For orientation, please see attached a picture how the Virtual Tap looks.

Thanks in advance.

if know one replies i’ll be glad to do it for you. im in the usa though.

Thank you my friend! But I guess it will be difficult to send it in the US. But thanks again and I might come back to you.

BigDen wrote:
Thank you my friend! But I guess it will be difficult to send it in the US. But thanks again and I might come back to you.

no problem 😛

Hi,

I’m from the USA, but I guess I’m a little confused on your issue. The only thing that needs soldered is the VGA, SCART port to the card and the SPST button.

Is this what you’re not comfortable with?

http://furrtek.free.fr/virtualtap/manual_v1_en.pdf

Hi and thanks for your response. Well, yes, but as you could see on the picture, there are still leftovers of previous soldering works. I already tried to “clean” it up but it was not working. Maybe somebody with a better equipment is able to do so… When I am soldering on the leftovers, I am afraid that the electricity moves over to another connection and that it destroys the Virtual Tap.

But maybe I am a bit too careful/ afraid?

Hi,

I believe you are being a little too careful, but I also don’t know your soldering tools or your soldering experience.

Logically if you use a little bit of solder on each pin, you should be able to clean up the inconsistencies and then leave your soldering iron on the pad log enough to insert the cable, since the Virtual Tap is a “through-hole” PCB. Then you can solder the other side.

You can also, find a way to hold the PCB (clamp, etc.), so you have both hands free and on the front of the PCB heat up the pad and insert a way from the otherside to open the closed holes up if you don’t have any desoldering tools.

You can also try a de-soldering braid or de-soldering iron, if you can pick one up locally.

Again, my two cents, I wish you the best.

Thank you very much for your response! I tried already a de-soldering braid but however it dit not wirk to remove the solder. But I have to admit that the solder iron is pretty old and maybe this is the reason. Also thanks for your other remarks! Today I will visit a shop for electronics and see what they can do/ what kind of equipment I need.
Now I know definitely a bit more and I hope it will work out one day!

Thanks again and all the best!!

I just want to say that perhaps you are not being too careful, just realistic. There is definitely a learning curve to soldering, and I truly believe this is one of the situations where having the right equipment makes all the difference.

I ruined more consoles than I would like to admit trying to learn to solder, and even though I am good at it now, there are still some mods I still send out to have done by others who are more capable.

You’re right, if you had problems getting solder braid to work, you may not have the equipment or the skill. There’s no shame in that, just wisdom.

Hopefully you’ll find someone who is able to help. I bet there are German gaming message boards or facebook groups or some way to find a group of vintage gamers in Germany online, if you can’t find any help here, that may be a good place to start looking.

For what it’s worth, from what I can see of your virtualtap, it doesn’t look like it has been damaged to me. I think you likely won’t have any problems with it if you find a modder who has the skill

Good luck!

Thank you for your feedback! Actually I bought a better solder iron and my father, who is a bit mor experienced with soldering, and I will see what we can do… If we di not feel good about it, we stop and will take a look for an electrician or so.

Thanks again everybody for your input!!

Thank you for your feedback! Actually I bought a better solder iron and my father, who is a bit mor experienced with soldering, and I will see what we can do… If we di not feel good about it, we stop and will take a look for an electrician or so.

Thanks again everybody for your input!!