Oxidised components

Hi, David. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the solder has actually leached away the termination on the one side where you can't see any metal. There's no way to make a connection, even if you haven't killed the part with the iron by overheating. It will never make contact.

You'll have to buy a new part, I'm afraid.

While you're at the store, try to pick up some eutectic silver-bearing solder (Sn/Pb/Ag 62/36/2%, .020" dia.) with a good flux. This mixture assures minimum melting temperature, and the silver will help to reduce the leaching effect. The self-cleaning fluxes are too mild, and don't do a good job of wetting.

Also, get a temperature-controlled soldering iron, with a suitable tip. Keep the tip at 750 or so, to avoid overheating of the part.

Solder-Wick or other copper despldering braid is also a good thing to have while reworking. Try to get the narrowest possible braid (.062" is good).

Do these things, and with good soldering technique, you won't have to worry about this again.

Good luck Chris

Dammit dammit dammit. That's my PS2 up in smoke :(

Actually the mod is working to some extent. When it decides to boot it works for up to 30 seconds before freezing. It works sometimes when I disconnect the power and then reconnect. It also works sometimes if I tap the unit. This suggests that all the connections work, but that one or more are a bit flaky. I suspect this part I've been having problems with.

I've been using a temperature controlled iron. Always a bit wary of overheating components so kept it at no more than 300 C (572 F). The solder I have melts immediately at this temp but I have had it as low as 280, which means the solder doesn't melt properly unless the iron's been touching it for a couple of seconds.

Thanks for the tips. :)