For starters and hobbyists, always use goggles when dealing with a component that requires a lot of heat and is surrounded by electrolytic capacitors. You may not think much of it when the cap explodes, but SHRAPNEL that comes off of it will fly violently towards your face and if one piece pierces your eyeball, you're in big trouble. That is avoidable, so no reason not to wear eye protection or if you have none, just cover the caps with something non-flammable.
Same concept but I use an old school 9 inch magnifying glass. Gives me a better look at what I'm soldering, but also acts as a shield between the work and my face.
Thanks Alex, that was fast! I just shipped the card to you a few days ago just before Thanksgiving. I don't normally look forward to receiving invoices, but I'll make an exception in this case 😉 For people wondering why I didn't use EVGA support, I bought it while living in Peru 🇵🇪 (moved back to USA 2 years ago) at a store that I don't remember the name of, and I lost the receipt a long while back. So I can't register with EVGA for support 😢 And Alex turned out to be faster anyway 👍
Glad to see you're getting your card fixed! A 3090 is still a great card, and the fact that it's an EVGA board is the proverbial icing. I've kept all of my EVGA boards going all the way back to the 8800 GTS days. Now with EVGA no longer making GPU's, I think I'm gonna clean them all up and put them in a shadow box.
Somehow, this video got suggested to me by TH-cam's algorithm. This is the first I have seen from this channel. This guy is very good at what he does, no nonsense, fun and interesting to watch, and I subscribed right away. I'm looking forward to watching more from NorthridgeFix.
Awesome troubleshooting Alex. Thanks for explaining the steps you take in finding the issues. Your humor and wit is equally awesome. Cuff him and off to jail. Always happy when the repair is successful and the little smile you get on your face says it all. You truly enjoy fixing things and it's rewarding when that happens.
Your skill and knowledge always amazes me. While I hope I never have a GPU go out on me, I certainly know who I'll be paying to fix it. Thanks for sharing your skills with us.
'Capacitor exploded during Repair.' That is always great fun. In the late 1980's, I worked at a burglar alarm manufacturer as a test and repair technician. One of the other techs was leaning over a board looking for the fault when the reversed main cap exploded. He had a round bruise in the center of his forehead for 2 or 3 weeks. I'll never forget that because it was funny as hell, but he was really lucky he didn't get blinded or worse. Needless to say everyone upped their respect for large capacitors after that one.
17:01 it’s so satisfying watching the solder solidify one by one. Just started watching your videos Alex, they’re really enjoyable. Thanks for sharing your work
Just wanted to say that I appreciate your way of handling jobs and business. No bullshit and straight to the point. Not to mention I've learned how to properly solder from watching you. Thank you.
For caps you need a heat shield that goes in a rectangle shape with a open bottom , so the hot air deflects or kapton tape 😅 but good repair and always enjoy the fixes been a fun 3yrs watching.
I was a pc/server builder for many years (now doing more network stuff) but it always gave me soo much satifaction when i solved a pc problem (no boot, unstable, beeping but no image etc) Sometime it was the usual suspects, bad PSU, broken RAM. But sometimes you have to dig deeper and see that for example a cap' on the motherboard was broken. Early 2000 there were a LOT of bad capacitors made in Taiwan, which were used in many different electronic devices. All these taiwain capacitors were going faulty after a few years (the top of the cap was expanding and sometimes they started leaking. Anyway. its always nice to fix a issue after sometimes days of troubleshooting. Seeying your big smile when the screen turns on, i know it's the same feeling for you! Thats probably why you do love your work soo much. Its these little things that makes you happy.
We would love that you post some series of video where you teach simple basic technique on how to troubleshoot boards, as example to find a bad capacitor with the tester. you do a great job to show it on the videos, however we will like to understand better.
This is reality TV ;) .. I like how how you also show repair mistakes (not just a polished YT video) .. great job and nice tools to help you do the "surgical" work :)
i recognize how good it feels to fix something like this having fixed myself tons of laptops, videocards, server boards and gaming consoles. Everytime you fix one of those, the satisfaction is just, unexplicable and you can see it on his face.
Man, thank you for all your videos. I've now taken up a new hobby and im addicted to learning the best ways to work solder. One issue I have is trying to find low melt solder locally in Australia I got 2 types off ebay but they are literally normal melting temps 😅
I don't see too many EVGA cards being worked on. Sad they are gone Edit: Good Job I've learned a lot from you, louis, TheCod3r, and NWF. Hell I'm almost confident enough to say that I could have fixed that card myself. Only with the magic of low melt of course
Got an EVGA 3080 FTW3 in my system - hope I don't suffer the same problem. Mind you I got a 3 year warranty (2 years left). Hoping this isn't a common issue, but I'll send it to Alex if I have to! 😉
As a fellow computer repair shop, even when clients have warranty through the manufacturer, even when made aware of it, they usually go with the local shop for one of two reasons: 1) Time is money and they need it ASAP 2) They value time over money and are willing to pay to get it fixed sooner to get back to gaming. RMA is usually a 2-3 week process. (A week to get there, a week to receive it in, a week to verify the issue, a week to get back)
I've discovered your videos and I like what you do, as well as the quality of the work you do. Thank you very much. I wanted to know if the high-temperature tape would have made any difference compared to the heat sink?
i think to prevent this in the future i advise you use one of those silicon pads to protect caps from even getting hot ad all i use it always when working on boards and it works realy awsome
Great repair. 11:18 After you located the mosfet that was hot thoughts on why the board in that area looks so filthy? Was something spilled on it or had a cap already decided to lose its lunch over there ? As a general observation that card looks pretty filthy in the power delivery area.
My card, so I can tell you nothing was spilled on it. It did live by the beach in Peru for a year before I moved back to the US, so I'm actually surprised at how minimal the salt corrosion was. I'm also surprised that the white powder from cutting drywall for a new wall in my office didn't get all over (it was all over the fans, though). But to answer your question, I'd probably blame the salt corrosion.
I don't want to be smart or anything I just want to try to help,so I wondering if you use a ceramic wool would prevent damage like this. Is an incredible material and very cheap.
I found using different size cut outs from a soda can works best as heat shields. Cause I can slip them in between components much easier to deflic heat away. held in with heat resistant tape.👉👉 Even using a curved piece to deflic heat up like a ramp.🤔💡🤔💡
Perhaps the dust was a tell. Capacitors have oil inside. If if leaks, the oil spreads across the surfaces and collects dust. A common clue used by mechanics for locating leaks. An excessively dusty cap area indicates a leakage failure. Leakage would also indicate the capacitor is more susceptible to damage during nearby repairs.
Visual inspection is always a good starting point. These capacitors are solid polymer, so it's not "oil" inside but more like a gel between wound bobbin with aluminum foil. Larger capacitors (for example like ones in power supplies) are often using liquid electrolyte (not technhically oil) which is also mildly corrosive. You can spot such capacitors by having vent indents on the top or bottom in case of overheating or outgassing event. You could spot them on very old motherboards around CPU VRM, cheapo power supplies in monitors, printers, etc, too, typical failure mode of those power regulators.
This might sound stupid but why we don't desolder the capacitors near the area we are working in then resolder them back when we are finished to avoid explosions?
For starters and hobbyists, always use goggles when dealing with a component that requires a lot of heat and is surrounded by electrolytic capacitors.
You may not think much of it when the cap explodes, but SHRAPNEL that comes off of it will fly violently towards your face and if one piece pierces your eyeball, you're in big trouble. That is avoidable, so no reason not to wear eye protection or if you have none, just cover the caps with something non-flammable.
Thanks Mom.
Good idea. We use some huge caps in the FPV drone hobby 😅 Usually around 35-50v 1000uf low esr on the bigger 6s quads.
I use squint safety goggles
Same concept but I use an old school 9 inch magnifying glass.
Gives me a better look at what I'm soldering, but also acts as a shield between the work and my face.
@@Macs Safety Squints
Keeping EVGA's alive💪🏼
Fuck Nvidia lol I switched to AMD Radeon
Thanks Alex, that was fast! I just shipped the card to you a few days ago just before Thanksgiving. I don't normally look forward to receiving invoices, but I'll make an exception in this case 😉
For people wondering why I didn't use EVGA support, I bought it while living in Peru 🇵🇪 (moved back to USA 2 years ago) at a store that I don't remember the name of, and I lost the receipt a long while back. So I can't register with EVGA for support 😢 And Alex turned out to be faster anyway 👍
Glad to see you're getting your card fixed! A 3090 is still a great card, and the fact that it's an EVGA board is the proverbial icing. I've kept all of my EVGA boards going all the way back to the 8800 GTS days. Now with EVGA no longer making GPU's, I think I'm gonna clean them all up and put them in a shadow box.
Keep that card alive as long as you can ❤👍 thats card is gonna be a collectors item of sorts one day 😅 🤟
what that repair costed you?
Does EVGA even support these cards anymore?
@AC3handle They should as long as nvidia is releasing updates. Also its only a generation old so of course.
When I see that Alex smile it makes me happy for the the customer and Alex. Great job!
Expected a little electroboom action, yet it was a tight place issue
Amazing detective work & surgical work as always
The good old "damn, I'm good" smirk after the challenging fixes ahah. True pride in your work, I love it!
Somehow, this video got suggested to me by TH-cam's algorithm. This is the first I have seen from this channel. This guy is very good at what he does, no nonsense, fun and interesting to watch, and I subscribed right away. I'm looking forward to watching more from NorthridgeFix.
same here
Awesome troubleshooting Alex. Thanks for explaining the steps you take in finding the issues. Your humor and wit is equally awesome. Cuff him and off to jail. Always happy when the repair is successful and the little smile you get on your face says it all. You truly enjoy fixing things and it's rewarding when that happens.
Your skill and knowledge always amazes me. While I hope I never have a GPU go out on me, I certainly know who I'll be paying to fix it. Thanks for sharing your skills with us.
'Capacitor exploded during Repair.' That is always great fun. In the late 1980's, I worked at a burglar alarm manufacturer as a test and repair technician. One of the other techs was leaning over a board looking for the fault when the reversed main cap exploded. He had a round bruise in the center of his forehead for 2 or 3 weeks. I'll never forget that because it was funny as hell, but he was really lucky he didn't get blinded or worse.
Needless to say everyone upped their respect for large capacitors after that one.
17:01 it’s so satisfying watching the solder solidify one by one. Just started watching your videos Alex, they’re really enjoyable. Thanks for sharing your work
You’re the man Alex. Thanks for showing the mistakes too so we can all learn!
Hey I love your analysis, and your witty repartes. You rock the world of fixing "dead" electronics others would throw out. Best wishes, Cousin.
16:32 "Better than factory holes" 😆Amazing job Ali, as always! 😘
Just wanted to say that I appreciate your way of handling jobs and business. No bullshit and straight to the point. Not to mention I've learned how to properly solder from watching you. Thank you.
"The board wants to play games-we can play games" I love it! Great post Alex!
For caps you need a heat shield that goes in a rectangle shape with a open bottom , so the hot air deflects or kapton tape 😅 but good repair and always enjoy the fixes been a fun 3yrs watching.
Exactly, we make them from scrapped boards that have shield cans, best for the job.
I was a pc/server builder for many years (now doing more network stuff) but it always gave me soo much satifaction when i solved a pc problem (no boot, unstable, beeping but no image etc)
Sometime it was the usual suspects, bad PSU, broken RAM. But sometimes you have to dig deeper and see that for example a cap' on the motherboard was broken. Early 2000 there were a LOT of bad capacitors made in Taiwan, which were used in many different electronic devices. All these taiwain capacitors were going faulty after a few years (the top of the cap was expanding and sometimes they started leaking. Anyway. its always nice to fix a issue after sometimes days of troubleshooting. Seeying your big smile when the screen turns on, i know it's the same feeling for you! Thats probably why you do love your work soo much. Its these little things that makes you happy.
Thank u for posting this. It shows ur human and not a robot that fixes it right first time every time
We would love that you post some series of video where you teach simple basic technique on how to troubleshoot boards, as example to find a bad capacitor with the tester. you do a great job to show it on the videos, however we will like to understand better.
This is reality TV ;) .. I like how how you also show repair mistakes (not just a polished YT video) .. great job and nice tools to help you do the "surgical" work :)
i recognize how good it feels to fix something like this having fixed myself tons of laptops, videocards, server boards and gaming consoles.
Everytime you fix one of those, the satisfaction is just, unexplicable and you can see it on his face.
It's good to see you Alex 🇿🇲
The music in the end makes this channel special ❤
Man, thank you for all your videos. I've now taken up a new hobby and im addicted to learning the best ways to work solder.
One issue I have is trying to find low melt solder locally in Australia I got 2 types off ebay but they are literally normal melting temps 😅
Nobbie, I think your probably all set now but you can get low melt from Northridge.
I don't see too many EVGA cards being worked on. Sad they are gone
Edit: Good Job I've learned a lot from you, louis, TheCod3r, and NWF. Hell I'm almost confident enough to say that I could have fixed that card myself. Only with the magic of low melt of course
Got an EVGA 3080 FTW3 in my system - hope I don't suffer the same problem. Mind you I got a 3 year warranty (2 years left). Hoping this isn't a common issue, but I'll send it to Alex if I have to! 😉
Love this video! Gives you an idea that not all repairs will play nicely and gives a little insight on what can happen 😅
I bet you feel proud and relief when they work. great job.
That happy face when its working!!! I love it i know that feeling and its great!
U are great man!
"2 strokes and done, one of the best suckers in the market" 😂😂
"for the suckers out there"
Great Work with patience
Alex’s face lights up with a smile when he finds the fault. First the fuse then the component.
You are better than factory my friend....Cheers
Your skills are amazing. It's such a pleasure to watch your work. If I were in the US I'd send all my stuff to you.
WOW you have amazing skills and knowledge! Love your channel….thanks for the fun!
Wow. How your popularity has grown❣
Keep up the excellent tutorial work. 👍
A happy customer and a happy alex. Congrats.
I am happy with my Sapphire cards. Over 10 years now not 1 problem.
Thank you for showing us your work and some tips and tricks
Yeah sapphire is a good brand I have the 6900xt sapphire toxic
The board was playing games for sure!!! Great video!
Well done, extremely fast find.
Great video, nice to see you smile after a fix
Great video, better than factory!!!!! Keep up the amazing work.
Yeah those evga cards are extremely rare now, great fix great video as always
So insightful into the simplicity of its operation!
I love how you are still proud and laughing when you fixed it even after prob thousands of times fixing things
Just before the cap blew I was saying the shield should be a bent shield that covers all the way down to the board.
Great work, Alex! Always safety glasses when working with caps.
I am so relieved every time you manage to fix a GPU.
Customers went through a lot the past years to acquire one.
Especially this fine specimen provided by the now extinct EVGA, RIP
I mostly use this GPU for gaming, but it actually paid for itself with some ETH mining on the side (always kept it at safe temperatures).
As a fellow computer repair shop, even when clients have warranty through the manufacturer, even when made aware of it, they usually go with the local shop for one of two reasons:
1) Time is money and they need it ASAP
2) They value time over money and are willing to pay to get it fixed sooner to get back to gaming. RMA is usually a 2-3 week process. (A week to get there, a week to receive it in, a week to verify the issue, a week to get back)
I've discovered your videos and I like what you do, as well as the quality of the work you do. Thank you very much. I wanted to know if the high-temperature tape would have made any difference compared to the heat sink?
I love the quality of the microscope display, very nice.
Hi sir how are you..i am from India.. your work great sir.. thanks for your videos
Great Job! Greetings from Bavaria, Germany.
I built boards for Honeywell in Phoenix in 1990; it hit 123° f one afternoon as I got off work. I joined the NAVY later that Summer.
I think Alex's patience means he takes his time for each customer and succeeds. I think I would get annoyed too quickly.
I loved your comment "going to the ninth dimension". Useless to search for it - I know from experience
i think to prevent this in the future i advise you use one of those silicon pads to protect caps from even getting hot ad all i use it always when working on boards and it works realy awsome
You use the low melt solder to help remove the components but do you use low next when doing the final soldering of components in place?
its amazing how you fix These...
You're so Freaking tallented Alex !! Great job !!!
I was listening through the repair. I've been getting deeper into board repairs, I've done tv's for years. What is the use case for a 0 ohm resistor?
Dude always has a smile like he just fleeced someone out of a few hundred bucks every time he gets done with a repair lol
I love that face of satisfaction...
WIZARD! You rock brother!
Great repair.
11:18 After you located the mosfet that was hot thoughts on why the board in that area looks so filthy? Was something spilled on it or had a cap already decided to lose its lunch over there ?
As a general observation that card looks pretty filthy in the power delivery area.
My card, so I can tell you nothing was spilled on it. It did live by the beach in Peru for a year before I moved back to the US, so I'm actually surprised at how minimal the salt corrosion was. I'm also surprised that the white powder from cutting drywall for a new wall in my office didn't get all over (it was all over the fans, though). But to answer your question, I'd probably blame the salt corrosion.
Nice video, noticed your camera is black, is that the newer camera ?
I felt that smile bro, good work!
Hey, do you have an video showing your workplace and equipment in general? Also great videos, I really found inspiring them.
This guy loves his work!
Amazing work. Better than factory
Yes 😀 we really enjoy the video... Awesome 👍
I don't want to be smart or anything I just want to try to help,so I wondering if you use a ceramic wool would prevent damage like this. Is an incredible material and very cheap.
I'm an electrician and I find this fucking fascinating. It's like a whole other world!
I found using different size cut outs from a soda can works best as heat shields. Cause I can slip them in between components much easier to deflic heat away. held in with heat resistant tape.👉👉 Even using a curved piece to deflic heat up like a ramp.🤔💡🤔💡
"One of the best suckers in the market, for all the suckers" 🤣
Perhaps the dust was a tell. Capacitors have oil inside. If if leaks, the oil spreads across the surfaces and collects dust. A common clue used by mechanics for locating leaks. An excessively dusty cap area indicates a leakage failure. Leakage would also indicate the capacitor is more susceptible to damage during nearby repairs.
Visual inspection is always a good starting point. These capacitors are solid polymer, so it's not "oil" inside but more like a gel between wound bobbin with aluminum foil. Larger capacitors (for example like ones in power supplies) are often using liquid electrolyte (not technhically oil) which is also mildly corrosive. You can spot such capacitors by having vent indents on the top or bottom in case of overheating or outgassing event. You could spot them on very old motherboards around CPU VRM, cheapo power supplies in monitors, printers, etc, too, typical failure mode of those power regulators.
Better than factory Alex 😎👍🏼
You are like Columbo! Brilliant
Nice. Learned a lot about troubleshooting. Thanks!
So many videos Alex talking baout these caps could pop with heat and now we see it ourselfs, even with some shielding on top it still went flying
Dam you're good! I am enjoying all your videos. Thanks!
another awesome job Alex
You do some of the best work in the industry
Rest In Peace EVGA. You made many great graphics cards in the past.
Great job 👍🏼
WOW YOU did it AGAIN!
Always use your thick aluminum foil in layers for a heat shield! It's the only way to keep electrolytic caps safe during close solder work.
Your videos always make me think those "No user serviceable parts inside!" warnings and laugh.... "oh yeah? watch this!" :D
Better than factory indeed! 🎉🎉🎉
Wow
Nice work
I had a new evga 800 watt psu pop recently. It was in a pre build though so who knows, but everything looks good visually.
such good video and great result!!!!
Well done 👍
Wonder how much a service like this costs? I need my 4090 repaired, but thinking about buying a new one.
Awesome work 👏
This might sound stupid but why we don't desolder the capacitors near the area we are working in then resolder them back when we are finished to avoid explosions?
Awesome work
Yes yes that Dell logo is such beautiful sight...
The greatest technican that ever lived