hi...i have ati radeon x1650 extreme graphic card and it is broken...on the place where you put the cable is disconnected (the metal part) and it is a good graphic card and i don't want it to go to waste, so can it be soldered back together? if you need more info i will post a pic of how it looks but it's just a graphic card with external charging and that's where it is cut of...
i already asked my uncle who is an expert at soldering so we will try to fix it and is it works maybe i will post a tutorial...=)
Well, no it's not a good graphics card, but I can understand you wanting to repair it. If the problem is with the power connector be very careful with soldering as that's a high current connector and if it starts arc'ing, it may not be detected by the power supply, and could melt the card or worse, catch fire - so make sure you solder it well!
arcing would not be an issue, as its only 12 volts, and even with the amount of current video cards draw its nowhere near enough for arcing. (5 years of school for electrical engineering taught me that...) i would be more concerned about making a good connection if the pathways on the circuit board have been damaged or broken.
Actually yes they can, badly wired molex connectors will melt, I've seen it happen - any level of voltage will arc, the voltage defines how far the arc can travel and potentially how much damage it can cause. 12V may not get far or kill anyone but it can still make things get very hot.
no, current defines how much it will arc, not voltage (unless you are in the thousands of volts, then yes...but not low voltage DC.) you are correct that molex connectors can melt, but that is usually due to them being overloaded from too much current running through them and shorting out by melting. trust me, 12 volts at the low level of amps a single video card can draw (in comparison to say an arc welder which is 20 volts but required hundreds of amps to work) isn't enough current or volts for two solder connections next to each other on a molex connector to arc. you are the computer expert by far, you far exceed my knowledge of level of performance for every type of component, but when it comes to electricity, thats one thing i know in and out. i've spent most of my childhood and adult life working/playing/studying with it. if you could reproduce those results i would love to see it, but i'm telling ya, you'd have a darn hard time for a 12 volt source to arc.
The vast majority of cases where PC connectors that melt do so from overloading, as people bear witness to when they try and overclock quad cores off 4-pin +12V sockets. However, to say that low voltage does not arc simply isn't true. For all your electrical knowledge you must surely realise that the distance an arc through the air can travel is based on the constant for the medium and the distance apart the conductive surfaces are. get even a pack of 4 AAs together, that's only 6V - and attach a wire to positive - hold it a short distance from negative, and tell me you don't get a spark. That's negligible volts, but quite a lot of amps trying to get past. Same thing with a high current molex or PCIe connector. When you get arcs like that carry on continuously for hours, things get hot. Obviously the battery analogy does not apply here as shorting out a battery will make it get hot due to the excessive current draw from it, but it's truth. From wikipedia (yes, not the world's best source of science) Sounds about right to me.
it definately negates everything that i've learned in school the past five years. i must say i have never seen 4 AA batts have enough volts or current to make a spark. when you touch the two connections sure you get a spark, but no spark gap by holding them close to each other. inside a 9 volt battery is 6 AAAA batts. so if that little amount of current and volts could arc so easily, then technically a 9v battery would arc itself out from the proximity of batts and wires inside the case. i highly encourage you to test your theory of 4 AA batts and see you can make a spark from having a gap. it just isn't possible at that low voltage and amperage. have you looked a circuit board lately? have you seen how small and close together some connection pathways are...especially surface mount stuff...which in some applications carry a lot more voltage/current then 6 volts.
Like I said, the gap has to be pretty damn close, which is why it's not an issue in PCBs, and more importantly, the closest tracks are insulated between each other, you can't get an arc inside a PCB. If I remember rightly it works out something like 1mm per kilovolt, so it's a ridiculously tiny distance for low volts. Either way, it's still a possibility, just not a very likely one.
the only arcing i can see happening is not between to wires but rather at the solder connection itself.if it is not a good connection you can and will get arcing,and thus,heat.get a good solder joint and voila,bobs your uncle.cheers.
Not to get off topic here, but my understanding is that it is voltage that causes arching, because voltage is the "pressure" and current is the "flow". You still need a pretty healthy amount of both though to get a good arc, because you're not going very far with 100,000 amps of current and .01 volts (unlikely but use it as a point). When I think of arching, I look at a tesla coil. Very high voltage but respectfully low current. Same goes for lightning. Anyway, back on topic. Yes, I believe with the right solder iron and tip, along with some very steady hands you should have no problem. I would be more worried about bridging two or more contact points and frying the card when you use it.
if done right then there should be no bridging as i do that all the time. lightning has high amperage besides high voltage which is why it kills people, split trees & cause fires.
This is a very easy task with nice big solder pins seperated by plenty of blank PCB...just about anyone with a soldering iron can do it. Just get a new connector (or clean up the old one if it is not broken), then suck the solder out using a solder sucker or some desoldering wick (or you could use the heated stainless needle method). Solder the connections back on using 63/37 solder (or at least 60/40...don't use silver-bearing or lead-free solder).
tnx 4 the help done it days ago but forgot to answer...and IT WORKED just soldered the metal extender of the wires to the graphic and it worked...tnx everyone...going to play Runes of Magic now...=)
