The Official PC building thread - 4th Edition

BTW! It's back in stock at Newegg!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

Russ

 

Holy rupturing capacitors, Russ your right on/ I just fixed a Samsung 46 LCD HDTV and then a Viewsonic 22" monitor. I'm darn glad of the DOA PC p/s which I salvaged components from because the nearest parts house is 70 miles away. I found some component specs overkill is the way to go i.e. replaced a 2200mfd/10v with 3300mfd/16v worked great. I always recommend using a higher voltage than OEM.

I gave up using a solder sucker and found a heat gun and vise grips are the only way to depopulate/recycle PCB's, use a metal bucket outside to catch falling parts, a sharp rap on the bucket will loosen stubborn components & solder. Ed

 

Never found myself resurrecting full PCBs but I've done more than my fair share of recaps. Agreed that you should always use higher spec components than OEM. Though my solder bulb does work perfectly for capacitors, it doesn't work so well for chips and the like. I do have a spring loaded puller for chips that works well though I've only used it like twice.

Currently working on repairing a Socket 754 MSI board. I have a 3000+ to drop in it already, it just has a cap broken loose. I'll get around to it eventually.

Mind you most of my experience tearing down soldered components was for e-waste reclamation....

 

Wander over to Newegg and look for Sandy Bridge processors and motherboards, surprise where did they go? We it seems Chipzilla (aka Intel)got in too much of a hurry with their H/P67 chipsets. Since they took legal action against Nvidia there are NO other chipsets for Sandy Bridge. So while Nvidia has a good laugh and "we told so" all motherboards and processors have been pulled by virtually all retailers. Chipzilla expect new chipsets will be available by the end of February. Of course I'm not going to be one of the first to field test them! What's this hiccup going to cost just $700 million pocket change to Chipzilla who's 1st quarter profit is $3 Billion. I would imagine early adopters are jumping with joy with the prospect of replacing motherboards after doing RMA.

Too bad AMD can't take advantage of a broken Tick Tock.

For techies the SATA2 portion of PCU does a slow dying act leaving HDD's Optical drives "not found". Ed

 

eskoog,
In my case, Poverty does that to you. It makes you fix or modify things you would normally throw away! My electronics supply is only a mile away, so Caps are pretty easy. Chipsets are tricky but doable with a heat gun and the right tip/nozzle. My toughest job to date was converting a Lite-on Lite-Scribe DVD drive from a belt driven tray mechanism, to a gear driven one. Lite-On wouldn't sell me a new belt, and they wanted $85 to fix it. Pissed me off enough that I was going to make it work, or else! LOL!! I had to do a little "On the Spot Engineering", but it's now a 20x DVD Burner with Lite-Scribe, with a gear driven Tray Mechanism that says on the label and Tray cap that it's a CD-Rom drive. It's been in my friend Dave's computer for over a year now, and he watches DVDs on it all the time, and burns a lot of them as well! Works perfectly! I hate to lose! Especially when I get mad enough at a company that wants to charge me $85 for a $1.50 belt that takes all of 30 seconds to replace, that you can't find anywhere! It gives one inspiration so you consider the possibilities! I just don't like losing to mechanical things! LOL!!

Russ

 

For the record Russ me and mine have had good luck with small rubber bands.

 

I've seen assorted packages of rubber-bands somewhere before. Perhaps a dollar store.

I would love to play with circuitry more. But my eyes aren't what they used to be. I sure hope the nvidia chip isn't the problem on the PS3 board. Otherwise I'm gonna have to replace the motherboard. Which is cheaper than sending it off to $ony Which would be fine, given I accidentally broke the Ribbon interface clip on the mobo :S

 

To bad we are being squeezed out of the repair business. It seems manufactures are determined to make all consumer electronics disposal. I recently added a set of security driver bits for those "don't even think of opening this". Although they tout service secretly they do everything in their book of tricks to make sure you'll never try it again. Service literature is TOP SECRET along with some components, sorry I meant PROPRIETARY. How many times have I heard service centers say "we don't fix anything here". It seems value engineering (aka cheap)has reached a point where they know the precise day a device will fail, which always just outside the OEM warranty too, thereby insuring a steady stream of buyers and service contracts.

I still have my dual trace oscilloscope, a DIY tracker which nails bad caps/simiconductors pronto, several DVM's, capacitor checker, amprobes, and many tools including a desoldering station. As mentioned I live 70 miles west of Fort Worth on acreage and keep cannibalizing bad PCB's for my parts survival kit. My wife promised to dig a grave large enough to fit me and my "junk" for my voyage to the after life LOL. For awhile it seems like I was the last dinosaur standing in the tar pit. Hearing from another component level troubleshooter sure helps. ED

 

Hope you don't mean me. I know damn little about PCB's and components therein. I'm simply intrigued enough to check it out. Unlike the general population

 

Hi Omegaman7,
My apologies I neglected replying to Russ, since you do show initiative to attempt repairs w/o an electronics background, here’s a website you should visit. Since you can accomplish a lot in electronics with just a bit of guidance, here you will be given basic theory which will make your efforts considerably more productive. Since I taught electronic theory for 20 years to many FAA administrative folks who were looking to get out of dead end low pay jobs, I'm always willing to assist a new comer to the exciting field of electronics. So get started with this two links which will put you ahead of most PC users. Warning: be careful not to tell many folks you dabble in electronics, least you’ll become their technical service representive! BTW you’ll never have time to get bored, because in electronics the only constant is change, so you’ll have to read a lot to keep up. Like an old sergeant told a new Radar Repairman in 1965, “airmen just remember no matter how complicated a human designed it and all we have to do is fix it”. Who thought, I just wanted a glass of water not the whole darn fire hydrant. Ed
http://www.repairfaq.org/
http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_Repair.html

 

Thanks man. I'll definitely hold on to that site!

 

The best thing I've found to date or the elastics for Dental Braces. it's just getting the right length. Then again, the drive I fixed will never need another belt again! LOL!!

Russ

 

I swear this year is not going well for me. I won't go too in depth, but I'm gonna have to buy the board from somewhere else now. The person I bought from on ebay, backordered

Perhaps it isn't meant to be.

They're still out of stock on newegg russ I may have missed my shot!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394

 

ddp,

Your precisely exact, recall all electrolytic (especially cannibalized ones) lose capacitance as they age, that's why motherboard OEM's make such a big deal about their capacitors. Also consider you neglected the component tolerance which was 10%. Very few SMPS'a (power supplies) are precise in component selection as long the values EXCEED the MSR (minimum size required) and don't exceed 150 to 200% of design parameters and fit. Since 3300 vs 2200 is within this tolerance, my confidence level in component selection was 100%. Recall I'm 70 miles away from a parts house. Obviously if I had and exact "new" replacement cap of the same mfd and higher voltage I would have used it. If you have field experience you should be well aware ET's have make educated choices. Sure some ET's use the excuse of not having an exact replacement, fearful and uncertain of their skills see next paragraph. The TV is working just fine and will likely end up being recycled years from now.

Here a real example: your the only ET on duty at the DFW Colleyville Airport Surveillance Radar(ASR) B-channel just failed at 1800 UTC 9am local. A-channel has been down awaiting a modulator high voltage transformer which is not on the site spares list. DFW TRACON has called and needs your radar operational ASAP due to weather and the lunch hour push when all 4 runways will be queued with heavy Friday in-bound and out-bound traffic. You find the 35Kv tri-axial cable connecting the modulator to the transmitter cabinet has developed a short where in enters the transmitter cabinet unfortunately no one has a replacement which must be fabricated by Texas Instruments. You know this cable must be precise due the radars pulse repetition interval (PRF). You know swapping the A channel cable will will take 4 hours for removal and install. The cable is 50' to accommodate various installations. You decide to remove the 6" of shorted cable and field repair the cable. Which takes a hour then 30 minute verifying key parameters which are well within specs. You notified the TRACON radar is operation and certifiable but has a field repaired component which could be considered an illegal modification. The TRACON manager controllers are shorthanded this Friday since Monday is a legal holiday. You call the maintenance supervisor and his reply; if the radar is certifiable it's your decision. The TRACON calls again pleading for radar coverage. You know if there is an accident you will be testifying on the witness stand, and could lose your job and career. What would you do? To be continued.

During my 50 years of component level repair for the USAF, Motorola, Burroughs, FAA and discussions with EE's and college professors confirmed these design margins. Consider desktop PC aren't required to meet the strict specification of airborne/space electronics where mil-spec are required. I'm not inferring PC chipset/processors and most consumer electronics are at the bottom of the food chain, yet they aren't commercial level either, check prices. With Newegg offering a 600w p/s for $15 on daily special just how much quality could the components be? The old saying applies: design to 0.0001, measure to 0.001 with a micrometer, mark with a tape measure, and cut it with an axe. ED

 

I just bought yet another one off ebay(GA-MA785GM-US2H). We'll see if this one pans out LOL! Yes, I'm stubborn. And besides, this really is the best option at the moment for upgradeability, longevity(touch wood), and compatibility. By upgrade I mean AM3 processors. I'm aware that the badboy Bulldozer will not be compatible. I already have all other hardware for this build I'm making nearly 50$ on the deal

 

Oman7,
I don't see Socket AM3 vanishing very quickly, as there's an impressive lineup of CPUs for them. I think the whole AM3 lineup will be around for at least another 3 years.

Russ

 

Agreed. There's quite the assortment of processors for am3

Creaky, guess what came yesterday! I'm happier than a fly in doo doo LOL! Thanks once again.

 

Those look pretty good, how much'd they set you back? I want some

 

I paid 14.47USD for the 3 of them. Meritline.com. It was a deal at the time.

Looks like they're still going for that price
http://www.meritline.com/hdd-pp-storage-case-smoke-820---p-36156.aspx

They ship from singapore. You'll probably get them sooner than I did, but who knows. It took over 10 days. So be sure and factor that. But for that price, I really can't complain