motherboards power socket reapir on laptop

[[email protected]]

Hi, I had a loose power socket and superglued it and that lasted just
fine for a few months. Then it went out beyond
an ability to glue it again, but still have a occasional power
connection when moving it. I pulled out the motherboard and the solder
on the bottom side of the board where the socket connects, the solder
was burnt away and brittle.

I'm not much of a solderer, just have a cheap soldering iron with a
large tip. Is there a pretty much common method to repair this, I was
thinking of dropping a drop of solder where the solder failed instead
of finding somebody to repair it. Then putting the laptop back
together and see if it works and do a re-superglue of the offending
loose socket.

Thanks for any tips or suggestions. Tools needed, over my head in my
abilities?

It's a compaq presario 1692

Thanks

 

[bz]

[email protected] wrote in @i36g2000prf.googlegroups.com:

Hi, I had a loose power socket and superglued it and that lasted just
fine for a few months. Then it went out beyond
an ability to glue it again, but still have a occasional power
connection when moving it. I pulled out the motherboard and the solder
on the bottom side of the board where the socket connects, the solder
was burnt away and brittle.

I'm not much of a solderer, just have a cheap soldering iron with a
large tip. Is there a pretty much common method to repair this, I was
thinking of dropping a drop of solder where the solder failed instead
of finding somebody to repair it. Then putting the laptop back
together and see if it works and do a re-superglue of the offending
loose socket.

Thanks for any tips or suggestions. Tools needed, over my head in my
abilities?

Buy a soldering iron that is the right size at radio-shack.
Could be cheap, provided you practice, a lot, soldering on old PCB boards.


Fix your board yourself.

Use GOOD solder 63/37 NOT 60/40.

It's a compaq presario 1692

Thanks

--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected] remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

 

[Gareth Magennis]

Hi, I had a loose power socket and superglued it and that lasted just
fine for a few months. Then it went out beyond
an ability to glue it again, but still have a occasional power
connection when moving it. I pulled out the motherboard and the solder
on the bottom side of the board where the socket connects, the solder
was burnt away and brittle.

I'm not much of a solderer, just have a cheap soldering iron with a
large tip. Is there a pretty much common method to repair this, I was
thinking of dropping a drop of solder where the solder failed instead
of finding somebody to repair it. Then putting the laptop back
together and see if it works and do a re-superglue of the offending
loose socket.

Thanks for any tips or suggestions. Tools needed, over my head in my
abilities?

It's a compaq presario 1692

Thanks

Doesn't sound like you know how to solder at all.

Do a bit of Googling on soldering techniqes, you'll soon learn how to do it
properly, and practice on a bit of scrap PCB if you can find any - you need
to be quick and efficient to prevent damaging your motherboard further with
excessive and prolonged heating.

Your idea of dropping a drop of solder just will not work - the basis of
soldering is that you have to heat up both items to be soldered together to
a temperature sufficient to melt the solder. Solder will not bond to a
metal colder than its melting point, you will get what is called a dry
joint or cold solder joint. You will be able to just scrape the solder off
with your finger. You need to heat up both the component and the PCB solder
pad simultaneously with the iron, then apply solder and let it melt over the
entire joint area, then remove the iron and allow to cool.

If the solder pad is damaged, you may have to add some thin wire to effect a
good repair.

Good luck, and DO practice first, trust me on that one.




Gareth.

 

[[email protected]]

Buy a soldering iron that is the right size at radio-shack.
Could be cheap, provided you practice, a lot, soldering on old PCB boards.

Fix your board yourself.

Use GOOD solder 63/37 NOT 60/40.

60/40 is _bad_ solder ? 63/37 is _that_ much better? Or did you mean
40/60 which _is_ bad solder ?

If you're patient with eBay, you can get a Metcal in parts for <$100.
Bought 6 so far for at work. After using a Metcal you won't want to
use a Radio Shack soldering tusk.

GG

 

[bz]

[email protected] wrote in @v1g2000pra.googlegroups.com:

60/40 is _bad_ solder ?

Yes. It passes through the 'plastic' stage during cooling. Do NOT jiggle or
you get a cold solder joint.
It melts at a higher temperature. Harder to get melted and get good solder
flow.

63/37 is _that_ much better?

Yes. Get a eutectic solder. [melts at the minimum temp for an alloy of
those metals].

Or did you mean

40/60 which _is_ bad solder ?

50/50 is worse than 60/40 and 40/60 is even worse.
[bad and good in relation to electronics usage. If you are a plumber, 50/50
might be better for your work.]

If you're patient with eBay, you can get a Metcal in parts for <$100.
Bought 6 so far for at work. After using a Metcal you won't want to
use a Radio Shack soldering tusk.

A GOOD, temperature controlled, soldering iron is, OF COURSE, better than a
cheap iron.




--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected] remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

 

[[email protected]]

Your idea of dropping a drop of solder just will not work - the basis of
soldering is that you have to heat up both items to be soldered together to
a temperature sufficient to melt the solder. Solder will not bond to a
metal colder than its melting point, you will get what is called a dry
joint or cold solder joint. You will be able to just scrape the solder off
with your finger. You need to heat up both the component and the PCB solder
pad simultaneously with the iron, then apply solder and let it melt over the
entire joint area, then remove the iron and allow to cool.

Yep, that's the way it's done and why.

 

[hr(bob) [email protected]]

[email protected] wrote in @v1g2000pra.googlegroups.com:

<snip>

60/40 is _bad_ solder ?

Yes. It passes through the 'plastic' stage during cooling. Do NOT jiggle or
you get a cold solder joint.
It melts at a higher temperature. Harder to get melted and get good solder
flow.

63/37 is _that_ much better?

Yes. Get a eutectic solder. [melts at the minimum temp for an alloy of
those metals].

Or did you mean

40/60 which _is_ bad solder ?

50/50 is worse than 60/40 and 40/60 is even worse.
[bad and good in relation to electronics usage. If you are a plumber, 50/50
might be better for your work.]

If you're patient with eBay, you can get a Metcal in parts for <$100.
Bought 6 so far for at work. After using a Metcal you won't want to
use a Radio Shack soldering tusk.

A GOOD, temperature controlled, soldering iron is, OF COURSE, better than a
cheap iron.

--
bz      73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected]   remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

Once you do solder it successfully, I would use a glob of epoxy to
help hold things together, not just depend on the glue to hold on by
itself. Good solder bonds can eventually break if they are under a
constant strain, the epoxy just might help lengthen your repair.

Bob Hofmann

 

[Gareth Magennis]

[email protected] wrote in @v1g2000pra.googlegroups.com:

<snip>

60/40 is _bad_ solder ?

Yes. It passes through the 'plastic' stage during cooling. Do NOT jiggle
or
you get a cold solder joint.
It melts at a higher temperature. Harder to get melted and get good solder
flow.

63/37 is _that_ much better?

Yes. Get a eutectic solder. [melts at the minimum temp for an alloy of
those metals].

Or did you mean

40/60 which _is_ bad solder ?

50/50 is worse than 60/40 and 40/60 is even worse.
[bad and good in relation to electronics usage. If you are a plumber,
50/50
might be better for your work.]

If you're patient with eBay, you can get a Metcal in parts for <$100.
Bought 6 so far for at work. After using a Metcal you won't want to
use a Radio Shack soldering tusk.

A GOOD, temperature controlled, soldering iron is, OF COURSE, better than
a
cheap iron.

--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected] remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

Once you do solder it successfully, I would use a glob of epoxy to
help hold things together, not just depend on the glue to hold on by
itself. Good solder bonds can eventually break if they are under a
constant strain, the epoxy just might help lengthen your repair.

Bob Hofmann



I use my hot melt glue gun a lot. They are cheap and the main advantages
are that you can always peel away the glue if you need to, and it remains
flexible to absorb shocks and allows things to bend rather than snap. Epoxy
is pretty much permanent.



Gareth.

 

[[email protected]]

Superglue doesn't work with the plastic sockets. Use 24 hr epoxy (not
the 15 minute crap), and let it harden for a while. Obviously, keep
it away from the metal contacts.


Ok, it's arcing. What happened is that the wiggling of the socket
created an annular ring around the solder pad. In some positions,
there was enough of a gap, and enough current, to create a miniature
arc welder. That sometimes destroys the board. See my photos at:
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/pics/HP-laptop/slides/Fried_power_plug.html>
Sorry about the lousy focus job.

Yea I took motherboard pictures and needed a small magnifying glass to
get a remotely good picture.

Mine looks OK.

The problem is that the carbonized PCB material mixes with the solder
when you try to resolder the connection. All you get is a mess. Take
a sharp pin, awl, wire brush, screwdriver, scraper, whatever, and get
as much of the carbon off as possible. Then solder.

It still has solid solder, do I need to remove that, if yes any way of
faking it.

You need an expensive iron with a small tip.

Yea I found one. Well, not sure what it costs though. I've read about
how they heat up.

Large tips are fine, but

you have to work fast or you'll torch the connection. There are
plenty of cheap, thermostatically controlled irons, with transmormers
in the stand, thermistors in the iron, replaceable tips, and
temperature controls. Consider it a good (lifetime) investment.

Yea if I might just do that.

Glue it while it's open. Better yet, get a replacement connector.
They're all over eBay:
<http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110224164976>

I might consider that in the future, the current one looks like its
still viable.

As far as gluing, I got my question answered of doing it before
soldering, as the connection might break and it's pretty loose to
begin with.

Find someone who can solder to do this.

I watched an amateur do this a few or more times.

The practice with a decent

soldering iron and some junk electronics. When you figure out which
end of the iron to grab, you're ready to attack the laptop.

I think I got past the wrong end part, more than a few times,

I might have some boards of this and that under the house crawlspace.

Incidentally, I'm impressed that you're able to take it apart. That's
generally not an easy thing to do.

Thanks, I kinda looked at how it was put together, then thought how to
do it in reverse. I just took my time, do a post or two on the usenet,
get back to it. I took pictures through the process though.

Thanks. You should have mentioned that first.

I have looked for a motherboard for it, but no luck. I still might try
this.

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote in @v1g2000pra.googlegroups.com:

60/40 is _bad_ solder ?

Yes. It passes through the 'plastic' stage during cooling. Do NOT jiggle or
you get a cold solder joint.
It melts at a higher temperature. Harder to get melted and get good solder
flow.

63/37 is _that_ much better?

Yes. Get a eutectic solder. [melts at the minimum temp for an alloy of
those metals].

Or did you mean

40/60 which _is_ bad solder ?

50/50 is worse than 60/40 and 40/60 is even worse.
[bad and good in relation to electronics usage. If you are a plumber, 50/50
might be better for your work.]

I have 60/40, will that work OK though? This computer is a 733Mhz
processor so it's not modern.

A GOOD, temperature controlled, soldering iron is, OF COURSE, better than a
cheap iron.

Thanks for the replies to this post.

It still has solder there, do I need to remove it?

I'll post a few semi-viewable pictures.

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote in @v1g2000pra.googlegroups.com:

<snip>

Buy a soldering iron that is the right size at radio-shack.
Could be cheap, provided you practice, a lot, soldering on old PCB
boards.

Fix your board yourself.

Use GOOD solder 63/37 NOT 60/40.

60/40 is _bad_ solder ?

Yes. It passes through the 'plastic' stage during cooling. Do NOT jiggleor
you get a cold solder joint.
It melts at a higher temperature. Harder to get melted and get good solder
flow.

63/37 is _that_ much better?

Yes. Get a eutectic solder. [melts at the minimum temp for an alloy of
those metals].

Or did you mean

40/60 which _is_ bad solder ?

50/50 is worse than 60/40 and 40/60 is even worse.
[bad and good in relation to electronics usage. If you are a plumber, 50/50
might be better for your work.]

I have 60/40, will that work OK though? This computer is a 733Mhz
processor so it's not modern.

A GOOD, temperature controlled, soldering iron is, OF COURSE, better than a
cheap iron.

Thanks for the replies to this post.

It still has solder there, do I need to remove it?

I'll post a few semi-viewable pictures.

Hi, here they are

It's right under L50, note the existing solder, I will try to clean it
off. What is it called, from the solder in the first picture left of
the L59, trace? Anyway under magnification that looks good. So would
this be the only place that needs the solder?

http://315chan.org/n3rd/src/121358542179.jpg
http://315chan.org/n3rd/src/121358475480.jpg
http://315chan.org/n3rd/src/121358489650.jpg

Thanks for comments, suggestions.

 

[bz]

[email protected] wrote in

[email protected] wrote in @v1g2000pra.googlegroups.com:



Yes. It passes through the 'plastic' stage during cooling. Do NOT
jiggle o r
you get a cold solder joint.
It melts at a higher temperature. Harder to get melted and get good
solder

flow.

63/37 is _that_ much better?

Yes. Get a eutectic solder. [melts at the minimum temp for an alloy of
those metals].

Or did you mean

40/60 which _is_ bad solder ?

50/50 is worse than 60/40 and 40/60 is even worse.
[bad and good in relation to electronics usage. If you are a plumber,
50/5 0
might be better for your work.]

I have 60/40, will that work OK though? This computer is a 733Mhz
processor so it's not modern.

The age of the processor doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact that
it is much easier to make a good solder joint if you use good solder and
much easier to make a bad one if you use bad solder.

Thanks for the replies to this post.

It still has solder there, do I need to remove it?

No, probably not. But if there is too much solder after you get done, you
might want to remove some.

You can use solder braid or a solder sucker to remove excess solder.
Radioshack has an inexpensive de-soldering iron that works very well for
me for removing most parts undamaged.

I'll post a few semi-viewable pictures.

--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected] remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

 

[bz]

[email protected] wrote in 56g2000hsm.googlegroups.com:

Hi, here they are

It's right under L50, note the existing solder, I will try to clean it
off. What is it called, from the solder in the first picture left of
the L59, trace? Anyway under magnification that looks good. So would
this be the only place that needs the solder?

I don't know what you have there to the left of L50. It could be corrosion
or glue or something spilled on the board.
There are at least two tabs on that power jack that need to be resoldered.
One near the L50 and the other at the right end of the large silver area.

The third tab, near the edge of the board, may also need to be resoldered.

I would remove the solder on that tab and remove the connector from the
board, clean around each of the holes in the board and clean each solder
tab, replace the connector and solder.

But it would be a very good idea for you to practice on some old circuit
boards first.
You should be able to find an old computer or tv or ... electronic device
sitting by the trash cans.
Or go by a repair shop and ask if they have some trash boards that they
will give you so you can practice soldering.

You might even get them to give you some lessons or at least let you watch.

http://315chan.org/n3rd/src/121358542179.jpg
http://315chan.org/n3rd/src/121358475480.jpg
http://315chan.org/n3rd/src/121358489650.jpg

Thanks for comments, suggestions.

-- lsu
bz

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected]

 

[[email protected]]

The age of the processor doesn't matter. What does matter is the fact that
it is much easier to make a good solder joint if you use good solder and
much easier to make a bad one if you use bad solder.

Apparently all we can purchase now is bad solder (the EU banned lead
in solder in 2006).

Talk about timing, this /. article came out yesterday

http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/15/1732216
"Lead is added to solder as it melts at low temperature, but also, it
prevents the solder from growing 'whiskers' — crystalline limbs of
metal. The effect of whiskers on soldered equipment would include
random short-circuits and strange RF-effects. Whiskers can grow fairly
quickly and become quite long."

I've got a bunch of old solder, I'm going to take much better care of
it now. no more using it to balance my 2 meter gliders

 

[bz]

[email protected] wrote in

Apparently all we can purchase now is bad solder (the EU banned lead
in solder in 2006).

Talk about timing, this /. article came out yesterday

http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/15/1732216
"Lead is added to solder as it melts at low temperature, but also, it
prevents the solder from growing 'whiskers' — crystalline limbs of
metal. The effect of whiskers on soldered equipment would include
random short-circuits and strange RF-effects. Whiskers can grow fairly
quickly and become quite long."

I've got a bunch of old solder, I'm going to take much better care of
it now. no more using it to balance my 2 meter gliders

I understand that for certain critical applications, lead bearing solder
is still available and legal to use. [caveat: I am not in the EU, not a
lawyer, not an expert on EU law, etc., etc., etc.]






--
bz 73 de N5BZ k

please pardon my infinite ignorance, the set-of-things-I-do-not-know is an
infinite set.

[email protected] remove ch100-5 to avoid spam trap

 

[Gareth Magennis]

[email protected] wrote in

Apparently all we can purchase now is bad solder (the EU banned lead
in solder in 2006).

Talk about timing, this /. article came out yesterday

http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/15/1732216
"Lead is added to solder as it melts at low temperature, but also, it
prevents the solder from growing 'whiskers' - crystalline limbs of
metal. The effect of whiskers on soldered equipment would include
random short-circuits and strange RF-effects. Whiskers can grow fairly
quickly and become quite long."

I've got a bunch of old solder, I'm going to take much better care of
it now. no more using it to balance my 2 meter gliders

I understand that for certain critical applications, lead bearing solder
is still available and legal to use. [caveat: I am not in the EU, not a
lawyer, not an expert on EU law, etc., etc., etc.]

One obvious exception being the military who really can't afford to have
crap solder in their systems.


Gareth.

 

[PlainBill]

Hi, I had a loose power socket and superglued it and that lasted just
fine for a few months. Then it went out beyond
an ability to glue it again, but still have a occasional power
connection when moving it. I pulled out the motherboard and the solder
on the bottom side of the board where the socket connects, the solder
was burnt away and brittle.

I'm not much of a solderer, just have a cheap soldering iron with a
large tip. Is there a pretty much common method to repair this, I was
thinking of dropping a drop of solder where the solder failed instead
of finding somebody to repair it. Then putting the laptop back
together and see if it works and do a re-superglue of the offending
loose socket.

Thanks for any tips or suggestions. Tools needed, over my head in my
abilities?

It's a compaq presario 1692

Thanks

The advice you have received on practicing soldering is important.
However, if the socket has been damaged you are fighting a loosing
battle. Do a search on eBay. I had a similar problem with a Dell
notebook, and was able to find a replacement socket for under $10.00
delivered. It was well worth the investment.

PlainBill

 

[[email protected]]

The advice you have received on practicing soldering is important.
However, if the socket has been damaged you are fighting a loosing
battle. Do a search on eBay. I had a similar problem with a Dell
notebook, and was able to find a replacement socket for under $10.00
delivered. It was well worth the investment.

just unsolder one from an old mother board, it's what I had to do
once.