DV2000 reflow work

Has anyone tried or sent in for faulty GPU work? Just wonder what the secret those tech is hiding other than using Infared heat and copper shim. Do they use any thing like heat sealant? I just saw one picture that looks like some kind of paste/caucking/compount between the GPU and CPB.

debating:
GPU repair $60 or
Used working board $70

 

i would go with the used working board
reflow sometimes works but doesnt last long then you have the same issue

 

At the shop I work at we bought a $3,500 Jovi rework station and the $1,000 reball kit and I can honestly say that after we bought some new 6100 and 6150 chipsets and finally got the reballing to work that we haven't had any of those boards fail on us whereas a simple rework is indeed a temporary fix as the ROHS solder they use gets more brittle each time you rework it. A properly repaired motherboard will indeed last longer than a used motherboard if done properly and shim'd off the bat.

I would find out before you buy any motherboard though if they reworked or reballed it or better yet put a whole new chipset on the motherboard. Seeing as the chipsets alone are $20 - $30 you won't find a properly repaired motherboard for probably less than $100 unless it's with a trade-in.

 

I did a DIY reflow on my wife's DV2000 yesterday - laptop has been running great since. While I was at it, I beefed up the heatsink with some copper and artic silver 5.

 

Yea, that's what i did too. I just want to prevent the future from happening again because even with a large than gpu copper plate, it seems to still get hot when multitasking. Just wonder something else needed, like something to prevent the solder from deballing. Some kind of sealant maybe. The reballing is common with the DV's. I just tried it on an Acer w/ SIS970gpu and it works also. Only at 90% tho. Got the screen to work, but there's 1.5inches line running from right top to bottom.

 

Just to clear up your confusion, the solder doesn't " de-ball ". It literally cracks. This is why the parts fail. Reballing is the process of removing the solder from the part then putting fresh solder balls on the part. After the new solder is put on then you use a rework station to heat only the affected area causing the solder balls to melt and make contact between the chipset and the motherboard and voila, a proper job.

The baking method merely remelts the already brittle solder and in the process makes it more brittle and eventually it will break again.

If you want to see what happens to the solder, get a soldering iron and put some solder on the tip and leave it on for about oh, say. 5 minutes. Turn it off for about 30 minutes then do that 5 more times. After a while you'll notice the solder doesn't really reflow anymore and you'll actually have to scrape it off of your soldering iron.

The quick and improper way to fix these motherboard is with a reflow, the worst of the methods is indeed to put the whole thing in the oven and weaken not only the solder you need to reflow but every scomponent on the motherboard. A targeted reflow is your best friend. The poor mans way to do this is to get a heat gun and some tin foil. Put the tiun foil arround the target area so you're only heating the part you need to. Hit it with the heat gun on high for about 3 - 5 minutes and let it cool naturally . . . DO NOT BLOW ON IT OR USE A FAN!!! This will ensure you don't do more harm than good by weakening the solder of a region of the motherboard that would otherwise remain unaffected.

 

Lesson learned. I'll keep you in mind if I need your assistant. How much do you charge for your work? Ebay peeps charging from $50-$100, not knowing who really is using the station or the heat gun.

 

Wardozer: Do you also do Gateways?

 

Also, just to let you guys know, you can generally perform a reflow 2 - 4 times before you actually start killing parts on the motherboard due to excessive heat, this is why we use new chipsets when we can.

We can do any motherboard but at the moment we only have some 6100 and 6150 chipsets because of all the issues with the DV series. As far as doing work for people here on NBR I'd have to talk to my boss but I do know he has said before he doesn't even want to sell repaired motherboards on eBay so we don't go through all of our chipsets in case we need one for a customer's repair.

Also on the downside nyafACE. We charge $250 for the whole repair service in-shop which I know is high but oddly enough people pay for it more often than you'd think. I'm not the one that set that price so don't go scowling at me but that does include dismantling the laptop, doing the work, reassembly, a copper shim, AS5, and 24 hours of testing prior to returning the laptop to the customer.

 

Well, my soldering tip isn't fine enough. Where can I buy one that's designed for motherboard repair? Links?

 

Question for WarD,
I'm assuming those numbers around the gpu mean something. Are those pin numbers? If there's line on the screen, is there an idea of which pin is causing that line? Using the heat gun revived my pc, but still crippled. If there's a way of telling, I would like maybe to just focus on that side of the gpu.