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Ash Small

Fri Apr 29 2011, 07:04PM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

red ring of death, 3 red lights.

Stripped it down, cleaned heatsinks, replaced heatsink compound, re-assembled it, it ran for 15 minutes then three red lights again.

Any ideas?

(Not mine, I'm visiting extended family)

James

Fri Apr 29 2011, 08:52PM

Registered Member #3610 Joined: Thu Jan 13 2011, 03:29AM
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 506

The usual fault here is bad solder joints under the large BGA ICs. I've seen various approaches to fixing this, some have even had success by placing a bit of flammable liquid in a small tin sitting on the IC and igniting it. Arguably the best approach is to use a hot air rework station, although a carefully applied heat gun can do it. Just make sure you shield the surrounding PCB and make sure it's sitting level so the IC doesn't float around when the solder melts.

magnet18

Fri Apr 29 2011, 11:55PM

Registered Member #3766 Joined: Sun Mar 20 2011, 05:39AM
Location:

Posts: 624

Or disconnect the fan and run it for two minuets all closed up, horizontal of course, i've heard that works, gets hot enough to reflow it's own solder, just be careful not to fry it, I've never tried it.

JKowalski

Sat Apr 30 2011, 08:06AM

Registered Member #3595 Joined: Mon Jan 10 2011, 04:46AM
Location:
Posts: 26

magnet18 wrote ...

Or disconnect the fan and run it for two minuets all closed up, horizontal of course, i've heard that works, gets hot enough to reflow it's own solder, just be careful not to fry it, I've never tried it.

That sounds like a really bad idea. You would be heating up components that don't need to be risked, the heating in the IC's would be uneven (depending on the power draw of individual sections in the chip), and the heating would be completely centralized in the die itself which is probably the worst thing you can have. Hot air guns or the candle method would be better because it heats the package and pins evenly.

magnet18

Sat Apr 30 2011, 11:06AM

Registered Member #3766 Joined: Sun Mar 20 2011, 05:39AM
Location:

Posts: 624

Thats why I said I'd never tried it, it's an inherently bad idea, I was just throwing the info out there for the OP.

Ash Small

Sat Apr 30 2011, 11:11AM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4245

Thanks. I found this online:

which includes this:

Found this instructable too:

And this link to board/component identification:

haxor5354

Sun May 01 2011, 10:02PM

Registered Member #2063 Joined: Sat Apr 04 2009, 03:16PM
Location: Toronto
Posts: 352

i fixed mine by using a jet lighter to heat up the IC.
and i also fixed a laptop with a jet lighter again

Arcstarter

Sun May 01 2011, 11:58PM

Registered Member #1225 Joined: Sat Jan 12 2008, 01:24AM
Location: Beaumont, Texas, USA
Posts: 2253

I have done this, i took the heatsink off of the CPU and let it overheat until it turned itself off, then put the heatsink back on and did the GPU the same way. This worked for be a few times. The times that it didn't work i used a heat gun, which seems like it would have a 100% failure rate but it actually worked. But before you try that you may want to consider the X-clamp fix

I did this once, though not with those instructions (it was far more ghetto) and it worked, but failed later which is when i did the reflowing.

However, im sure it pushes the semiconductors near their failure temperature, so don't get mad at me if you try and it does more damage.

What i would do first is press the sync and eject button once the red lights come on to get the so called "secondary error code". It may be a processor, or just the HDD. Once i had the 3 red lights and i thought the GPU or CPU was dying, but it was the hard drive. I unplugged it then put it back in and it worked. The error code was: 1003 Hard Drive Error... It could be a problem with the Hard Drive itself or a problem with the internal connection to the hard drive, Try removing the hard drive and playing without it.

Instructions to check the secondary code is about 5/8 down that page. That should pretty much pinpoint what is happening.

James

Mon May 02 2011, 02:15AM

Registered Member #3610 Joined: Thu Jan 13 2011, 03:29AM
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 506

Datasheets for SMT ICs include information on the temperature and time they are rated to tolerate for reflow soldering. A temperature controlled hot air station is a much better tool for the job, but a heat gun is probably the next best. Just shield adjacent parts, and ideally you really should stick a thermocouple to the part, or at least use one of those IR thermometers so that you know when to stop heating.

Doubl3 Helix

Mon May 02 2011, 04:08AM

Registered Member #1548 Joined: Mon Jun 16 2008, 09:22PM
Location: Ohio
Posts: 61

Your best and cheapest bet, in my opinion, is to break it down entirely (meaning heatsinks, out of the shielding, etc. ) and re-flow the chip(s) using a hot air gun (can typically be found in painting area of big box hardware store). After this is completed I would highly recommend doing a simple x-clamp replacement. You don't need to buy an kit for this, all you really need are some washers, nuts, and bolts from the hardware store.

<- video for reflowing. I usually put a layer of plastic "drop cloth" under the aluminum foil to insulate the electrolytics from the heat. Just secure the foil with scotch tape.

<- One of the best x-clamp replacement tuts in my opinion. I used this one, I didn't use the credit card shims or the foam under the motherboard. Both because I didn't feel like preparing them, and I've read that it's not entirely necessary.

Of course this is entirely irrelevant if it's nothing to do with any of the BGA ICs. Definitely check the secondary error codes like Arcstarter said. That should give you a solid starting point.

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