shanenin Posted April 21, 2007 Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Today I did my first dc-jack replacement on a Gateway laptop without any help . I plugged in the ac adapter without a battery and it fired right up. A big smile on my face, I was feeling confident. I called my client to tell her it was finished. I talked her into upgrading the ram. I powered it down, unplugged the cord, then added ram. I put the power cord back in, but it would not boot anymore. I removed the ram, but still nothing. I am not sure what went wrong. Their is a chance unplugging and plugging it back in caused it to break my solder joint. I disassembled it again, touched up my solder. I am going to reassemble it now. Hopefully it will work. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted April 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2007 Yah :-)Its running as of the minute. Maybe retouching my solder helped. This is monumental for me. I have been afraid to take a laptop apart, yet I run a pc repair business. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubba Bob Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Good Job A nice self confidence boost, huh? How hard was it to get the laptop back together? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted April 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 (edited) Thanks :-) I needed the confidence boost. I always got scared when I would get a call about a broken laptop. Now I will not feel so inexperienced. It was not to bad. I think as far as laptops go, this one was pretty easy. Their were not all that many parts. Edited April 22, 2007 by shanenin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
iccaros Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 (edited) Thanks :-) I needed the confidence boost. I always got scared when I would get a call about a broken laptop. Now I will not feel so inexperienced. It was not to bad. I think as far as laptops go, this one was pretty easy. Their were not all that many parts.Flux is your friend,If I was you and unpluging made it brake the joint, I would remove the jack, clean all old solder off the spot, add flux and new solder so that you have a clean joint. This may prevent returnseven if your solder has flux in it, always put it on the contacts to create a better spread Edited April 22, 2007 by iccaros Quote Link to post Share on other sites
garmanma Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Many years ago, I worked at a circuit board mfg. We never used rosin-core solder, only 63/37 and flux. Another must have tool is a good rheostat controlled soldering iron, with a lot of tips. Besides that, my best friend is a magnified visorMark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted April 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 (edited) I understand the importance of flux, I started soldering copper pipes. Without a clean joint and flux, it would not work. I thought that I read flux is bad for circuit boards, the acid would wreck them. Is flux(not pluming flux) ok to use on all circuit boards? Edited April 22, 2007 by shanenin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bozodog Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 When I worked at Stryker instruments we used flux VERY sparingly. Then cleaned the joints carefully. Flux is an acid and will corrode. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted April 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 i should have at least cleaned the joints with alcohol. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
garmanma Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 At the old plant when they had to touch up plated holes in a board, they used a real small artist paint brush and a liquid flux. When I had to repair a board to a machine, they gave me a tin of paste and said it was the same thing. I still use it today. The brand is Burnley's non-corrosive paste. The ingriedients says it contains zinc chloride. I noticed when the inspectors finished a repaiir they would clean it up with some alcohol, so I do the same thing. The main thing is not to use too much flux, which I always do. using the liquid makes that easier to do.They also used Kester solder and fluxMark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
garmanma Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 I remember when they used a infared reflow machine, the boards would travel through sponge rollers coated with flux then through the lights and into a tub of soapy water where they scrubbed them clean. I also remember replacing the stainless wire conveyor belt that would be eaten away by the flux more tan onceMark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
garmanma Posted April 22, 2007 Report Share Posted April 22, 2007 Well I just found out they lied to me when they said it was the same thing wikopediaI also found out most flux is liquid, they mix it with petroleum jelly for a paste form. Here's some good stuffminute man supplyMark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chappy Posted May 10, 2007 Report Share Posted May 10, 2007 Yes, regular Flux will cause damage to the board, don't use it!Being an x-plumbing & heating contractor I know flux paste well, and there are many different types and mixes.I also agree that you should stay away from flux core solders, they're less than worthless IMO.I'd go to one of your local Electronics Repair shops and talk with a tech there to see what they use, I don't know off hand what brand name to use for sensitive electronics circuits, but they're made and available. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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