PC Techs

[yoshie]

My lap top is broken.

I have had it looked at by a mate. The pin in the back of the machine where the power lead attaches is loose. He is worried that if he uses his micro solder kit, that the electric current will fry the motherboard, due to the location of the power supply pins attachment.

He tells me there is kit out there that isolates areas of the board to allow this to be soldered. That means specialists and silly ££s compared to the price of laptops these days.

So does anyone know of an liquid metal, araldite type substance that I could use that would conduct electricity.

[MattF]

It needs soldering. Don't let your mate loose on it, however.

[Sancho]

http://www.intek-uk.com/condepox.htm

[MattF]

Seriously, it needs soldering.......... Bodge it methods will do exactly that. Conductive paint|epoxy have their place. Connection integrity isn't one of them.

[da SLUG man]

what's he gonna do?... tig weld it?....

surely soldering doesn't generate any current, just heat??

clamp a heat shunt near where you're working and there shouldn't be a problem??

[JUDWAK]

sit it on something that going to take the heat out off it
use a gas solder they are not has hot just be carefull with it

[TobyJug]

well I solder power sockets onto laptop boards a lot in the shop and to be honest I hav never killed one..So it can't be that hard...

Just turn the heat on ur iron down a little, heat the pin that needs soldering for a couple seconds bit of solder and superb job..

just make sure the board is sat on wood or something that does not conduct the heat well...
It will be fine.
Otherwise u will pay about £120 and they do it the same...lol like me...
altho our shop is cheaper.....lol

[MattF]

what's he gonna do?... tig weld it?....

surely soldering doesn't generate any current, just heat??

clamp a heat shunt near where you're working and there shouldn't be a problem??

sit it on something that going to take the heat out off it
use a gas solder they are not has hot just be carefull with it

Poppycock.


Yoshie, tell yer mate to naff off, 'cos he obviously knows sod all other than how to turn a soldering iron on, and take it to a proper electronics service engineer. Seriously..... It's not a casual remark or a suggestion. Anything else will lead to a buggered board. But really, keep it well away from your mate.

[JUDWAK]

Poppycock.


Yoshie, tell yer mate to naff off, 'cos he obviously knows sod all other than how to turn a soldering iron on, and take it to a proper electronics service engineer. Seriously..... It's not a casual remark or a suggestion. Anything else will lead to a buggered board. But really, keep it well away from your mate.

???
i could do that myself easy
no need to take it to a shop unless your no good at soldering

[yoshie]

well I solder power sockets onto laptop boards a lot in the shop and to be honest I hav never killed one..So it can't be that hard...

Just turn the heat on ur iron down a little, heat the pin that needs soldering for a couple seconds bit of solder and superb job..

just make sure the board is sat on wood or something that does not conduct the heat well...
It will be fine.
Otherwise u will pay about £120 and they do it the same...lol like me...
altho our shop is cheaper.....lol

Any chance of doing it for some beer tokens then??

[MattF]

???
i could do that myself easy
no need to take it to a shop unless your no good at soldering

No disrespect to anyones soldering skills, (or possible lack of), but there is a good reason for taking it to a true engineer. We've all seen the 'efforts' of the mates with soldering irons, the P.C shops who decide to add board repairs to their lists, etc.

Any computer board is a multilayer board. Complete bleeders to work on at the best of times. And, to be truthful, most people are fairly sh1t with a soldering iron. You can, (even if you cause no visible damage), cause damage to lower layers. You can lift tracks, break tracks, fail to get the solder through the board cleanly, and any other number of problems. All it takes is one second or so too many with the iron. It is all too easy to do.

Honestly. Any engineers on here will tell you the same. We've all seen and had to repair the damage caused by 'mates' and shops on kit. Try and save a few quid, and you will end up paying far more. Soldering ain't just a case of applying a soldering tip and solder to a board. Every bugger and their mother seems to think they're experts on soldering for some reason.

[MattF]

Any chance of doing it for some beer tokens then??

FFS, does no one listen any more? Yoshie. An engineer will not charge you £120, as has been suggested, for a resolder. Nowhere near that, in fact. If you have the unit already dismantled, all the better, as time involved for disassembly will probably cost the most, (if required).

[TobyJug]

Any chance of doing it for some beer tokens then??

sure..
where are u based?
we got the shop in widnes www.easypcstore.co.uk

u can send it over with a return box or I am up in schotland for the Magnum radio rally check the location on www.hamradiosupplies.eu under rallies if that is near I will bring the gear as we do radio repairs there too...
and meet up the day before or after or u can come to the rallie..

[yoshie]

FFS, does no one listen any more? Yoshie. An engineer will not charge you £120, as has been suggested, for a resolder. Nowhere near that, in fact. If you have the unit already dismantled, all the better, as time involved for disassembly will probably cost the most, (if required).

Matt I am listening, Toby seemed to suggest that he did this for a living.
PC world techs wanted £130 to look at it. They have to send laptops away apparently.

Where should I be looking for an engineer capable of doing this properly?

[MattF]

Matt I am listening, Toby seemed to suggest that he did this for a living.
PC world techs wanted £130 to look at it. They have to send laptops away apparently.

Where should I be looking for an engineer capable of doing this properly?

Thankyou. Look in the local paper. Either look for a local tv engineer, (they may not take the job on), or more likely would be a repair shop that repairs digi boxes. They are more used to dealing with multi layer board quirks. (i.e: they are complete buggers to work on).

One thing I can't stress enough though is to not let just anyone who says they are handy with an iron near it. Honestly, the phrases which start with either: 'my mate' or 'that shop' still give me sodding nightmares.