Baking GPU's In The Oven

Has anyone else recently read about people resurrecting faulty nVidia GPU's by putting them in the oven at around 385F because solder melts at 364F



Basically it fixes the soldering that cracks or fails that nVidia had problems with...



This is EPIC!





Large solder points after baking:















Putting aluminum balls to hold the GPU from the baking sheet:
















You have to put the card in the other way around because gravity pulls on the chips



http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?p=6102931





PS: I am NOT BS'ing you this is true

 

lol... sounds weird ..... but who knows whats going to happen

 

It has happened! Approx. 10 times now I think...

Watch those $5 8800 GTX cards go up to $50 on eBay now

 

Doesn't those capacitor explode when you overheat them? Also, majority of the plastic melts at a lower temperature than solder.

 

Plastic?

Where do you see plastic?
I see a PCB board coated in (epoxy?) and metal... and solder...

I am sure 385F for 5 minutes can't do that much damage...
IT FIXED DOZENS OF CARDS FOR CHRIST SAKE ! ! !
hahaha

 

Is this like putting batteries in the freezer? .... j/k

Awesome

 

Isn't the DRAM's outer shell made out of plastic? Also, the vga/dvi/hdmi or whatever is made out of plastic.

 

This stuff makes my day, +rep

 

Uhm...

Your supposed to leave cables connected so the ports don't deform and DRAM heatsinks that preserve the shape of the outer shells...
DUH?!

 

I wish we had more discoveries like this that just... blow your mind!

I pull up Engadget and Gizmodo every 15 minutes to see what's up and this was on there!
They do have good stuff, you gotta keep up with it though, 25-100 posts on weekdays and 0-25 on the weekends (they have some lazy posters lol)

 

Baking a machine!
D@mn interesting!
Anyone here would like to try on it?

Anyway, I guess only those experts could do it.
A newbie may end up burning the graphic card to dust.

 

I'm actually considering doing this now. I have an 8800GT in my desktop that's on its way to the grave. It barely runs the Vista Aero interface without artifacting, and gaming is just out of the question. If I can avoid scrapping it, I'll try this. Nothing to lose at this point.

 

I just saw the link on Endgadget too, to the OC Forums. I'm still shaking my head!

And yet I may try this with my 7950M GTX. AFAIK there are no plastic parts to worry about.

I've got nothing to loose, so I might as well give it a try.

 

To those who wants to use this method.
Please do record it using videos or photos.
I want to see how does it work. XD!

 

Lol This trick is essentially the same same as the xbox 360 towel trick. WHere the xbox is wrapped in a toweland turned on for 15 mins, the solder resets.. but, the xbox would soon die again with regular use. Mind you it is a very risky procedure, but if the card is no longer under warrenty (and determined unfixable, and you don't wanna gain only $5 for it. Why not?

 

Well, I guess what do you have to lose? If it doesn't work, then might as well give it a shot! Next thing you'll know is there will be an Easy Bake Oven for video cards.

 

The important thing is you have nothing to lose. Come on guys, its for the progression of technology. But your old cards to the test.

 

Nice, there's this one too but perhaps not as simple and convenient as the oven method.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=57021

 

Awesome

 

I looked on ebay for dead 8800 9800 260 and 280s but couldn't find any.
Would love to pick up a dead card for $5 just to try this.

 

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=606658

Guy fixes stress fractures in 8800GTX with five minutes in the oven. Are the long-term problems in the 8600GT's that went out with laptops like the vostro 1500 and inspiron 1500 similar? Could it be a godsend to a seemingly duffed up GPU or are they from a different problem?

 

It works! I just did it and made a how-to:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=385973

 

They all got picked up earlier this week when it was discovered...

 

I did this tonight to a dead 6600, IT WORKED!!! First i washed the card in the dishwasher (no soap) in extra hot water. took the board out and immediatly cleaned it with rubbing alcohol.

I threw it in the oven first at 385 but the plastic around 2 of the capaciters began to bubble so u pulled it out. i waited till the oven was 300 and put the card back in for 8 min.

after it cooled off i put it in and it booted perfectly

 

The GPU's are sometimes soldered to the card using a reflow oven while not as controlled this is the same effect overall.

 

I wish I knew about this before I junked my 7900GS. There wasn't anything wrong with the GPU, but I might've been able to fix a surface-mount choke that came loose.

Any long-term bad effects on the oven using this method? I know that when you use an oven for things other than food (Ex: Powdercoating) sometimes, you can't use the oven to cook food anymore.

 

Do you really care about what you use to cook your food sometimes?
All the chemicals, hormones and pesticides etc... that come standard in all your foods are already insanely unhealthy...

My oven, dual oven to be exact, has a power cycle that will go up to 500F+ to just burn everything to ashes. All I need to do is whipe and scrub the edges with cleaner or baking soda and vinegar...
I'm not saying it'll clean it from powdercoating etc... but still, you can probably get it clean enough if you put it on the highest and let it buuurn


Home cleaning techniques! WOOH!
I might have to make a garage sized oven to fix my car from time to time...

Anybody feeling an SUV @ 350 for 15 minutes?

 

EEEEWWWW....does someone EAT in that kitchen????

 

Isn't this better


Unless you can't find the fault and just bake the full pcb.

 

Are you the chipset professional?
Moreover, you need to buy a good magnifying glass to see the details.

 

Yeah, good luck resoldering a surface mounted BGA, regardless of your skill level....
*Cough* not possible *cough*

 

Really cool but the dishwasher part sounds scary!

 

Only possible way is with a heat gun, the electric type you use to remove paint with. Set it to low and gently heat the IC. Works, but only rarely.

 

Ummm yummy, bon apetit.

 

I meant with a soldering iron as the other poster suggested...

I'll bet it works much better if you don't use any soap.
Generally though, I just use pure acetone (not nail polish remover... it has fragrances & color usually added) and give the board a good scrub with a toothbrush. I've revived a few water damaged laptops this way before.

 

But it's wet? I heard electronic application may spoil if washed with water.
Really awesome...
I doubt kitchen is the place to repair computer XD!

 

Interesting, I wonder if this would revive a digital camera my daughter dropped in the lake?

 

It's certainly possible. The reason most electronics don't work after being wet is 1 of 2 reasons. 1, the electronics have shorted and have been permanently damaged. You usually know when this is the case though, because you get that distinct, terrible burned electronics smell. The other reason is you've got conductive bridges of whatever was solid and suspended in the water shorting your device from functioning. Sometimes this causes reason 1, other times (in my experience, it's been about 50-50), you take the WHOLE system apart, peel off all of those black protective stickers, take some pure acetone and a toothbrush, and carefully scrub any corrosion you see off. Give the whole board a good scrub, this is what I use: http://www.chemtronics.com/products/product.asp?r=1&m=2&id=4
It's for soldering... obviously. I started using it because it's what I had around, but now just keep using it because it works. I could probably get acetone cheaper elsewhere.

 

wouldnt you get smoke or something from doing this? i dont think i would want to use my oven again after doing this...
its a cool fix but how long does it work?

 

When I repaired my mobile graphics card, there was no smoke or smell whatsoever, even when I opened the oven door. And I accidentally left one of the plastic washers/insulators on the card.

Hep, thanks for the link and the info!

 

don't want to die of some poisonous smoke lol

 

Right the oven is the first stop for my 8600M GT when it fails

 

You're not melting or burning the GPU dammit!

Just warming up the solder to the point where it fixes cracks...

 

I guess majority think that this thread is about how to make dishes using GRAPHIC CARDS.
As well as PC kitchen, where you can fix your PC using those cooking instruments.
Thanks for clearing the mystery that it only fixes cracks(spoiled metals/torned I presume?).

 

ha someone gonna mess up and set their house on fire

 

Someone did mention to remove the card from the laptop first, right? lol

 

One could only hope that you would not put your whole laptop in an oven that is almost 400F

But again...one can only hope

 

Incredible discovery.

Ah, the daily, random things that just happen.

 

Uhm...
I meant SOLDER cracks...
As in when you have artifacting, lines, broken GPU etc...


Not cosmetic cracks and tears hahaha

 

I fully expect to see this story in an upcoming episode "Bizarre Foods With Andrew Zimmerman."