Unconventional repair methods

[Herb]

I gave this old iBook to a friend's youngest brother a few months ago, and recently he's mentioned some video problems. I've heard that the G3 iBooks had problems with the GPU solder connections breaking away over time and this was a method I saw on YouTube to try to fix the problem.I decided to give it a shot, but I doubt the tin would heat enough to melt solder due to the alcohol inside. Regardless it was a bit of a spectacle so I thought I'd share.

Attached files

[Raven]

It's an iBook, just torch the whole thing and save everyone from more grief!

[Wolfman213]

Quote, originally posted by Raven »It's an iBook, just torch the whole thing and save everyone from more grief!+1

[Herb]

Quote, originally posted by Raven »It's an iBook, just torch the whole thing and save everyone from more grief!LOLThe kid is pretty attached to the thing and I'm not about to buy a new one to keep him happy.Anyways it turns out it wasn't the GPU that was giving me grief. It seems like it's probably the LCD inverter board. I grabbed one off eBay for about $12 so we'll see if that solves the problem.If nothing else it's an interesting project to fiddle around with.

[northvibe]

whats the problem with it? I used to fix apples for work.The issue that the candle was trying to accomplish is when the gpu solder balls lift from the logic board. I dont think the candle would fix it, but I know a place that can reflow the gpu/cpu for around $40 in Michigan. My 1ghz power book actually has that gpu issue.The issue will make the screen look really messed up, like I have graphics (bad kind, like no pixels or stuck pixels) in a square surrounding my mouse where ever it moves and also along the dock and bar on top. An inverter board will fix the lcd backlight from being out as it powers the bulbs.

[Herb]

The problem is the dead backlighting. I didn't ask for specifics when my friend's brother said he had video problems. I just assumed it was the GPU as it's a pretty common video problem from what I've read.Quote, originally posted by northvibe »whats the problem with it? I used to fix apples for work.The issue that the candle was trying to accomplish is when the gpu solder balls lift from the logic board. I dont think the candle would fix it, but I know a place that can reflow the gpu/cpu for around $40 in Michigan. My 1ghz power book actually has that gpu issue.The issue will make the screen look really messed up, like I have graphics (bad kind, like no pixels or stuck pixels) in a square surrounding my mouse where ever it moves and also along the dock and bar on top. An inverter board will fix the lcd backlight from being out as it powers the bulbs.

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by Herb »The problem is the dead backlighting. I didn't ask for specifics when my friend's brother said he had video problems. I just assumed it was the GPU as it's a pretty common video problem from what I've read.aahhh, I bet 80% inverter issue, 20% bulbs are out. You still see the screen right its just no backlight? Sounds like your gpu is still working good. I can show you pics of mine lol, I had pink plaid like effect when i got it. Ill be getting it reflowed here this summer.arg reminds me I need to order a "bios" battery for my 400mhz g4 powerbook as it wont stay on.

[Herb]

The backlight flickers on and off depending when adjusting the angle of the screenQuote, originally posted by northvibe »aahhh, I bet 80% inverter issue, 20% bulbs are out. You still see the screen right its just no backlight? Sounds like your gpu is still working good. I can show you pics of mine lol, I had pink plaid like effect when i got it. Ill be getting it reflowed here this summer.arg reminds me I need to order a "bios" battery for my 400mhz g4 powerbook as it wont stay on.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by Herb »The backlight flickers on and off depending when adjusting the angle of the screenThat sounds like a ribbon cable.. in the pivot.. Quote, originally posted by northvibe »aahhh, I bet 80% inverter issue, 20% bulbs are out. You still see the screen right its just no backlight? Sounds like your gpu is still working good. I can show you pics of mine lol, I had pink plaid like effect when i got it. Ill be getting it reflowed here this summer.arg reminds me I need to order a "bios" battery for my 400mhz g4 powerbook as it wont stay on.Can you show me a better pic of the chip that needs "re-flowing" I've replaced a number of the large 52 pin flat pack IC's in my day.. (1" square, pins around the entire perimeter) and soldered them back in by hand.. It's really not hard with a fine tip iron and liquid flux.. you just have to work the solder in from the base of the pin out toward the tip to avoid bridging connections.. if you do bridge one, a lot of times you can work it out with the tip of the iron...or you can use some wick to pull a tiny bit off.. I can't say what i'm dealing with here though.. without seeing it.. I hear (and have seen on youtube) that something similar to this GPU issue happens to the xBox 360 causing the RROD.. and all of the aspects of fixing it (which includes critically overheating it??)I have a friends laptop here, that's been here for months... I tried getting ir open to fix a cracked power input trace (cord yanked) but I can't split the darn case.. the fixt is rather easy if I can GET to it.. lol... Anyone? is there any sort of resource for service manuals for laptops?

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by Herb »The backlight flickers on and off depending when adjusting the angle of the screenThe inverter wires (pink and white, sometimes blue and white) are separate from the video wires (thankfully). sublime may be right, the hinges and wires can rub, I've also seen the wires get pinched in the hole leading up to the screen. The inverter board wires are pretty big in diameter. Taking apart the screen is 4-6 screws then unclipping the front and back apart. The section you are probably looking for is the bottom where the wires go from the keyboard section to the screen from the hinge to the left side where it says iBook. (inverter is on the left side of the laptop).Sublime - This is a GPU so it has the tiny balls underneath, IC's are usually much easier. So you cant even see the solder and its well over a 100 balls. Yes the x360 has similar issues, gpu lifts off of board because solder is lead free, lack of proper cooling and bending in main board because of heat. But the x360 also has gpu memory solder issues too. Which laptop are you speaking of? I can probably get the service manual for any mac, not pc though. If I cant I can still help if its a mac. Ive taken apart every mac but a air.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »The inverter wires (pink and white, sometimes blue and white) are separate from the video wires (thankfully). sublime may be right, the hinges and wires can rub, I've also seen the wires get pinched in the hole leading up to the screen. The inverter board wires are pretty big in diameter. Taking apart the screen is 4-6 screws then unclipping the front and back apart. The section you are probably looking for is the bottom where the wires go from the keyboard section to the screen from the hinge to the left side where it says iBook. (inverter is on the left side of the laptop).Sublime - This is a GPU so it has the tiny balls underneath, IC's are usually much easier. So you cant even see the solder and its well over a 100 balls. Yes the x360 has similar issues, gpu lifts off of board because solder is lead free, lack of proper cooling and bending in main board because of heat. But the x360 also has gpu memory solder issues too. Which laptop are you speaking of? I can probably get the service manual for any mac, not pc though. If I cant I can still help if its a mac. Ive taken apart every mac but a air. I don't understand this "balls" of solder?? It's been 10+yrs since I worked at a bench to I know i'm a bit dated.. lol... but balls of solder? the only time I know of solder balling is when it's a cold solder joint and it couldn't flow out... Educate me please.. I was thinking about the candle idea in the OP... I would think if you got some aluminum stock (maybe even cut up that little "tin" the candle was in) and make a bit of a "heat shield" for the chip, you could use a hot air gun to re-flow the solder..I would bet that, that is all that gets done when it's re-flowed... the board and components all achieve solder flow temps when passing through a wave soldering machine, so they CAN take some heat... a digital, adjustable, heat gun could get you in a heat range that wouldn't be melting the epoxy off the board... Oh, and that laptop is a HP, so thank you anyway man.... Unless you know of a direction to point me...

[northvibe]

Here. This shows the gpu and cpu, also memory is being soldered like this as well. So theres the piece and a grid with solder balls that hold the piece on in an array of balls. So theres no legs to solder :/The candle thing would be a well...lets just say if you really wanted to bandaid it use a heat gun to do a proper "ghetto" reflow. We use a heatgun at braggamerights to "reflow" x360's with probably a 80% success rate, but sometimes the video encoder (E74 error) needs to be reflowed along with gpu memory. So we found a reflower (nice big machine) for pretty cheap. Ill be sending my powerbook there this summer to get the gpu reflowed.Ah an HP, I have taken many apart but they were the purple/gray/silver/blue kind. the new all silver ones should be the same. You take all the screws from underneath out. Then pop the keyboard up and take more screws out. Then the top unsnaps from the bottom section.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »Here. This shows the gpu and cpu, also memory is being soldered like this as well. So theres the piece and a grid with solder balls that hold the piece on in an array of balls. So theres no legs to solder :/The candle thing would be a well...lets just say if you really wanted to bandaid it use a heat gun to do a proper "ghetto" reflow. We use a heatgun at braggamerights to "reflow" x360's with probably a 80% success rate, but sometimes the video encoder (E74 error) needs to be reflowed along with gpu memory. So we found a reflower (nice big machine) for pretty cheap. Ill be sending my powerbook there this summer to get the gpu reflowed.Ah an HP, I have taken many apart but they were the purple/gray/silver/blue kind. the new all silver ones should be the same. You take all the screws from underneath out. Then pop the keyboard up and take more screws out. Then the top unsnaps from the bottom section. (removed) is that crap, no legs to solder, no wonder everything is disposable these days... This does not compute.. lol.. I just looked again the laptop, it's a Toshiba... lol.. sorry..

[northvibe]

yeah pain in the (removed) to fix. Toshiba's...oh yeah they are a pain to get apart. Google the model and tear apart guide and you should easily find something.