Who knows a lot about board level repairs?

cokewithvanilla
cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
edited February 2011 in The Clubhouse
My dealings with board level repairs are pretty light. The most I generally do is replace capacitors or dc jacks or the like. I know very little about them in general.

So, here's the question: If you remove a solder point from a pcb, can it be repaired? If you can explain why, that'd be great

Here's a picture:

connector.jpg

As you can see, the solder point has been removed from the pcb. Nothing else appears to be damaged, all other connections seem intact. My best guess is this is a ground.
Post edited by cokewithvanilla on
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,004
    edited February 2011
    It looks like the screw has fallen out.
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    treitz3 wrote: »
    It looks like the screw has fallen out.

    only no screw :frown:
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  • silvertuner
    silvertuner Posts: 496
    edited February 2011
    did it pull off from the board, or did it pull the circuitry off the board itself? as in, is the piece still on the board the conductive part? ive had them pull the entire conductor from the board and had to replace the board, but if the solder joint failed ive had good luck resoldering. ive also seen jumpers ran to the other end where it would go next on the circuit board for a quick fix as well.

    some cheap free sony speakers
    psw125
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    3.1 channel because i hate cables ran across the living room like that
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited February 2011
    What does the other end look like? That solder pad looks very much like it is just a ground. The other end should still be connected to ground?
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 19,004
    edited February 2011
    cokewithvanilla wrote: »
    only no screw :frown:
    You might want to find it, otherwise it may short out another circuit.
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    silvertuner wrote: »
    did it pull off from the board, or did it pull the circuitry off the board itself? as in, is the piece still on the board the conductive part? ive had them pull the entire conductor from the board and had to replace the board, but if the solder joint failed ive had good luck resoldering. ive also seen jumpers ran to the other end where it would go next on the circuit board for a quick fix as well.

    It seems like the gold part is the connector, the silver part is the solder pad, and under it is.... no idea. I don't even know if there was anything under there.
    ben62670 wrote: »
    What does the other end look like? That solder pad looks very much like it is just a ground. The other end should still be connected to ground?

    the other side is identical. If the other side is also a ground, shouldn't that be all it takes... and shouldn't it work regardless? Oh, I found myself questioning if they serve any purpose at all but to hold the connector in place, here's the pinout:

    1 ground
    2 +3.3v
    3 +3.3v
    4 +3.3v
    5 nc/key
    6 DDC Clock
    7 DDC Data
    8 A D0-
    9 A D0+
    10 ground
    11 A D1-
    12 A D1+
    13 ground
    14 A D2-
    15 A D2+
    16 ground
    17 A Clock-
    18 A Clock+
    19 ground
    20 B D0-
    21 B D0+
    22 ground
    23 B D1-
    24 B D1+
    25 ground
    26 B D2-
    27 B D2+
    28 ground
    29 B Clock-
    30 B Clock+

    isn't everything grounded?
    treitz3 wrote: »
    You might want to find it, otherwise it may short out another circuit.

    I meant that no screw has ever existed :smile:
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited February 2011
    Epoxy it down. You can see if you can run a jumper wire from the piece to the board, but it wouldn't be totally necessary.
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    ben62670 wrote: »
    Epoxy it down. You can see if you can run a jumper wire from the piece to the board, but it wouldn't be totally necessary.

    Would using a conductive epoxy be any different than a bit of copper wire for testing?

    I tried grounding it separately, and the wire that I used must have connected both sides, yet it still didn't work.
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited February 2011
    Use regular epoxy. Is the connection at the other end good? The bar might be used as a jumper from one end to the other. I don't remember the name of the stuff, but you can clean the "plastic coating" off of the board and solder a jumper wire on the connector to the board itself. You have to be careful not to get the board too hot. You don't want anymore cooper traces lifted off the board. What does it go to?
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    ben62670 wrote: »
    Use regular epoxy. Is the connection at the other end good? The bar might be used as a jumper from one end to the other. I don't remember the name of the stuff, but you can clean the "plastic coating" off of the board and solder a jumper wire on the connector to the board itself. You have to be careful not to get the board too hot. You don't want anymore cooper traces lifted off the board. What does it go to?

    The connection at the other end is good... but the thing does not work. How can I test this out before I glue this thing down? I don't wanna find out the hard way :)


    This is a 30 pin connector to a laptop lcd... that I just bought.... and accidentally destroyed. ha.

    connector1.jpg

    connector2.jpg

    connector3.jpg
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited February 2011
    It has to be glued down. You can fix the ground without any major difficulties if you are careful. My concern is the other connections. Get it cleaned first. Epoxy it in place. The try it out. If it doesn't work make a jumper to the board from the solder pad.
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    ben62670 wrote: »
    It has to be glued down. You can fix the ground without any major difficulties if you are careful. My concern is the other connections. Get it cleaned first. Epoxy it in place. The try it out. If it doesn't work make a jumper to the board from the solder pad.

    Alright. Just out of curiosity, why does it have to be glued down? And if I get conductive epoxy would that make it so I wouldn't have to bother with a jumper?

    I currently don't have any epoxy, if I go shopping, is there something that would be best and be available at either: walmart, homedepot, radio shack?
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited February 2011
    Just 5 minute epoxy. You will need a clamp of sorts. A clothes pin might work. Conductive epoxy is probably hard to find. I have never seen it. Also it could get on another connector and make a short.
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    ben62670 wrote: »
    Just 5 minute epoxy. You will need a clamp of sorts. A clothes pin might work. Conductive epoxy is probably hard to find. I have never seen it. Also it could get on another connector and make a short.

    Home Depot has GORILLA Epoxy, I guess i'll get that. So, I will use epoxy to connect the solder pad to the pcb, then check to see if it works. If it doesn't, I then need to connect a wire to the solder point and ground it to something, correct?

    should I use a liberal amount of epoxy, or just a small amount? What does the epoxy actually do between the pcb and solder point aside from holding it down (like, as far as making the connection)?
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  • ben62670
    ben62670 Posts: 15,969
    edited February 2011
    You got it. Just enough epoxy to hold down the pad. You don't want it oozing all over the place. The epoxy is not going to make a connection. Hopefully someone here can give you the name of the stuff to clean the insulation off the board.
    I gotta go. I am running late.
    Ben
    Please. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
    Thanks
    Ben
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    ben62670 wrote: »
    You got it. Just enough epoxy to hold down the pad. You don't want it oozing all over the place. The epoxy is not going to make a connection. Hopefully someone here can give you the name of the stuff to clean the insulation off the board.
    I gotta go. I am running late.
    Ben

    Thanks!
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  • Poee7R
    Poee7R Posts: 904
    edited February 2011
    Ive yet to see someone repair a flex/ribbon connector that has pulled off the board like that. It happens more often than you would think in a repair shop.

    My only helpful comment would be to not use the Gorrilla glue, it expands as it sets. Not good for what you're trying to do. I would just try good old super glue, not alot of course. But its not gonna hurt the pcb, and the pad is already ripped up, so no harm there either.

    As far as cleaning residual off the board, grab some 91% alcohol, an unused toothbrush and a bit of elbow grease.

    Good luck.


    Dave
    Once again we meet at last.
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  • Poee7R
    Poee7R Posts: 904
    edited February 2011
    Also you may want to call around to cell phone repair shops, or console repair shops and see if they will attempt to reflow the area around the connector to make sure none of the pin's on the connector have been pulled either.

    Doesnt matter if you use gold and diamonds to re-secure it to the board, if the connections arent good, nothing else will be.


    Dave
    Once again we meet at last.
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    bad news

    DSC_0022.jpg
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  • Systems
    Systems Posts: 14,873
    edited February 2011
    I once had a problem with a computer pin connector (I did not know that was the problem at the time) and took it to a local Community College to ask if it could be repaired.
    The electronics professor took it, had one of his classes make it a "project" and they fixed it for a small donation to the school (I gave $20).
    Gave his class something to troubleshoot, and I never had a problem with it again.
    Might be something to look into.
    Good luck.
    Testing
    Testing
    Testing
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,146
    edited February 2011
    maybe good news if you can resolder those together.:wink:
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    tony millard wrote: »
    maybe good news if you can resolder those together.:wink:

    haha, that shot is magnified like.... a lot. 30 pins are spread out over about an inch,,, if I could solder that I'd be amazing
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  • Poee7R
    Poee7R Posts: 904
    edited February 2011
    cokewithvanilla wrote: »
    haha, that shot is magnified like.... a lot. 30 pins are spread out over about an inch,,, if I could solder that I'd be amazing

    You could, need the proper heat guy.

    As I said before, call around local cell phone or console repair places, they should have the right equipment to do the job.


    Dave
    Once again we meet at last.
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  • Poee7R
    Poee7R Posts: 904
    edited February 2011
    You could, need the proper heat gun.*

    Fixed.


    Dave
    Once again we meet at last.
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  • maximillian
    maximillian Posts: 2,144
    edited February 2011
    Those look like they can be resoldered. Hard to tell from the photo. It's fixable as long as the PCB pads haven't lifted off and broken away from their traces. Even then a good tech can still fix it.

    Soldering is best, but if you want to go the conductive epoxy approach then I would get this stuff:

    http://www.ellsworth.com/display/productdetail.html?productid=576&Tab=Products

    Not all conductive epoxies are made the same. I have used some from Mouser (MG Chemicals) that wasn't that good. The stuff above does well when cured.
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  • WilliamM2
    WilliamM2 Posts: 4,773
    edited February 2011
    You could try regulat epoxy, and then use a conductive pen to repair the trace:

    http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/20-4930&CAWELAID=615147920
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  • cokewithvanilla
    cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
    edited February 2011
    Thanks for all your responses. Almost immediately after I did the damage, I let the seller know what happened, in hopes to line up a replacement in case I could not fix it... at 2 am I headed to kroger and got some epoxy and affixed the connector back to the pcb (go loctite!). I then received an email from the seller with RMA information.

    So, I decided to send it to him so he can take a look at it... we'll see what happens. Worst case, I'll end up purchasing another for immediate use, and attempt to fix this one in my spare time :)
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