well. I just went through this procedure for an HP elitebook 6930p (apparently known for this kind of failure). Seven year old laptop. Followed your steps carefully. Put everything back together. Did a little prayer. And BAM, the laptop works again! That's awesome. Thank you.
how much this will last? also i have a laptop with dedicated and integrated gpu but whenever i try installing amd driver i have black screen is this will work for me?
Fry's Electronics tech here😁 I have done this so many times ..but the chip part I would add a stack of 4 quarters then heat. We always called this chip-creep. Good stuff🙏
From my experimentation with various boards is to ramp up the temps slowly. 200F for 3 mins to start, 300F for 4 min and 400 for 2 mins then OFF. Let it cool in the oven for 10 mins then remove and let cool to room temp.
You mean put it in after it hits 200, then after 3 mins of that knob up to 300 and start the 4 mins from when you turn the knob, then the knob to 400 starting the clock for the 2 mins, then off and open the oven door?
Nice was getting ready to try this method but was unsure of the amount of time to apply the heat but watching you sums it up I would have burnt mine crisp the amount of time I had in mind. Still I know you said its not an exact science but thanks for the help very detailed.
I kinda doubt putting foil on the parts you don't want to heat up too much would prevent damage in the oven. I could see heating the whole board up a bit with the heat gun then putting a piece of foil over it with a hole in it just big enough to get the GPU nice and hot and having that shield the caps and the rest of the board from overheating.
I did this with my Sony Vaio which all of a sudden developed some serious graphic glitches on the screen and it fixed it. I warmed up the board like you said and then focused the heat gun on only the graphics chip for around 8 seconds. Then also replaced the thermal paste and cleaned the cooling fan of all the dust as it was clogged up so would have caused the overheating. Thank you very much for your help :)
Glad it helped! You might also consider lubing the fan, which will allow the fan to move more freely. I have a video on the topic, and here is an easy to use oil syringe- amzn.to/34A7MqR
I am not sure how long this repair will last, but my Dell is working. My 630 is used for programming radios and the software only runs on XP. I ran a 24 hr test this far good.
Good tut, worked for me. 30 second quite direct heat blow on southbridge and gpu chips. I used butane heat blower at around 250 celsius and concentrated direct on chips for short 30 seconds then let cool for 5-8 minutes. Assembled laptop and held fn, esc and powerfor 5 seconds then let go of fn and esc but held power button still for 10 seconds then let go.....then smilled :)
If I had a pocket thermometer and a heat gun then I would simply aim for 385 degrees Fahrenheit over the chip for a couple minutes is that right? Its hard to know how far away to hold the gun and for how long to heat it up without measuring the temp. Also what thermometer would you suggest using that can get a good reading from a chip surface? I can at least take note of how long you focused heat and at what distance. Thanks for the great vid!
Thanks for this video. I have a Gigabyte X58A UD3R ver 2.0 motherboard that just quit. Tried to start pc, --nothing--( and I mean no lights no power, notta ). Things I tried to rule out other problems-- tested start button--ok--,tried different psu-nothing,tried 1 stick of ram in number 1 slot--nothing, took mb out of case and tried to start--nothing, also tried clearing cmos by taking out the pc battery for 24 hours--nothing. Just by chance ran into this video and thought --hmm, makes sense,so I followed your directions and after the board cooled for a few hours, shot some power to it to see if it lights at all and it did. Put all the components in and it is running fine again. Again many, many thanks !!!!
Hello thanks for the info, I have a 2017 dell Alienware laptop and the discrete GPU is dead, I wanna attempt this method on it, what was the temperature setting on your heat gun, is there a specific degree value?
Questions I had answered TY :), I had picked me up the same heatgun you got, I used to reflow the chips with a 250watt heat bulb which reached a temp of 450degrees which was perfect, 3mins slowing moving the bulb closer then the last 2mins really close, silly NVidia with their low temp solder, not sure who was to blame on that but saw the 2mil lawsuit while back :P
If you stick a laptop m/b in an oven to try a reflow, won't some of the plastic clips & connecters melt? Also, did you protect any sensitive components on the bottom?
ive gota temp controlled hot pad for lcd /glass/digi separation... i cant quite get a full atx board on it but a lot of laptop main boards would fit just fine. Would it be a good idea to use that maybe 25c lower than the heat gun on the back side?
very interesting video (i have to perform one fix like that myself ASAP) but i have one question: if i am right, we are trying to raise the temperature at a covered spot (the GPU's underneath) so that the solder melts. By the time we get there don't the uncovered spots have their solder melted? I am asking this because i am too afraid to use a heatgun in case everything starts flying!!! Instead i am thinking of using a heatgun just for warmup and a blowtorch for the real job. (I know how that sounds....but it has the advantage of not blowing everything) Please tell me your thoughts
Eng. Fares 245 Celcius that's production temperature, and that's NOT a normal plastic like u use everyday then u can easy cook it in 200-240 and everything will be fine
Thanks for the video ... i don't have a heat gun but what if i put the mother board in the oven ? will that work without damaging the CPU slot or the RAM slot or other things on the mother board ?!
What issue does this fix with the GPU exactly? I ask because mine recently started displaying heavily distorted, low resolution graphics. It's not a driver issue as it's visible from POST. I replaced the lcd & the lcd cable...not the issue either. I was told/have read that there's an issue with the NVIDIA chip...does your solution seem like a possible fix my issue, or does it just solve overheating?
Heat from the mobo and chips cause the solder joints to not work properly (cold solder joints). Reflowing allows the connections to improve possibly fixing the problems.
It's 2019 but I wanna say something about this. First of all this is not reflow because the solder didn't actually melt, if you want to reflow the solders you should apply flux otherwise it will oxidize the solder and will make it worse. It worked because of the heat applied to the chip which reacted and allowed it to work again.
I'd not attempt to use the oven, as the temperature of the oven doesn't get sufficiently hot to completely melt the solder. This is partly why the oven trick is at best a temporary repair. Wrap the portions of the motherboard you're not working on in foil. Take a heat gun, hold it so the nozzle is straight, and so the nozzle is approximately one inch above the surface of the chip to be reflowed. Set the heat gun to 300 degrees Celsius and let it run for approximately one minute. Shut the heat gun off and let the board cool for twenty minutes. Clean out the fan and reassemble the laptop. Run a 3DMark torture test for a while afterward. If it survives the torture test, enjoy. Holding the heat gun in this manner mimics the solder reflow workstations technicians use.
Thanks for the great video! Well thought out and explained. Just a question or two: The heat gun you're using looks like a Wagner HT1000. The Depot has it
mr82020674 Thanks again! I fixed my laptop as well as the other one I think I mentioned although I had to zap it twice because I used compressed air to blow some cat hair off the board (let it cool overnight & she decided it was a great place to take a nap). Held the trigger a microsecond too long and a little patch of ice formed. Next boot no video. But all ended well. Just a couple of variations I did for anyone else who is planning to try this: 1) I used a baking pan ~11x18" lined with foil & had the board resting on the edges leaving about 1/3" of clearance underneath for the heat to circulate. That eliminated the need to flip the board. Also used an oven thermometer with a remote probe to monitor the temp. 2) Heated board to ~300° using the heat gun, 2/3 of the time directing the hot air under the board to be reflected off the foil. Also, because of my work area, which isn't very well insulated (Buffalo, NY winter), I used the high setting on the gun. 3) Was careful to keep the gun moving to avoid any "collateral damage". Still, could not have done this without having watched this video several times, paying close attention to everything you did. Again, great job!
Hello, ive got Medion Akoya P8610 with some screen problem, evrything is running but with black screen, i guess it is gpu issue. My friend did something with heat gun to repair it but it worked only 2 months. Can i use this to fix it again?
Patrik Tucnak Yes you can. I would suggest looking at whatever heatsink method is used and potentially upgrading it. Many laptop models (along with the original Xbox 360, fat PS3, and others) suffer from engineering design flaws that make them prone to heat related failure. Sometimes adding additional cooling will prolong the life of the device. For your laptop, I recommend always using it on a cooling pad when available, and at the very least, a hard surface like a desk. Thanks
Hey Hi, I have to do the same on my Dell N 5010 Inspiron. can you please let me know the wattage of the heat gun or how long I should heat the GPU area?
I did this repair to my 2010 model Dell Inspiron N5010 over two years ago, and ran a 3DMark torture test afterward. It survived the torture test and I used the laptop daily for 18 months after the repair. The only reason I stopped using it on a daily basis was that at the 18-month mark my roommate bought a MSI Wind gaming computer and gave me her 2011 model Dell XPS L511Z; an upgrade for me as my laptop needs are modest. I'm not saying you're wrong here, because in most cases it IS the chip. But you can't say with absolute certainly that in every instance the chip is the problem, because there is that small percentage of faults that aren't due to the chip itself.
This is an old thread but I have a unique problem but similar. I will try for some of your expert advice since nobody seems to post on this exactly the same as my problem. I have an older 2005 NX9030 Compaq notebook. Recently the laptop's screen started a type of rolling pixelating and would go blank occasionally. Not black but it seems the inverter is working since I can change the brightness of the screen but only the whiteness since the actual picture stopped with the rolling pixelating and now is just blank. I should point out early on just tapping around the computer would bring back the picture for a while but now that doesn't help anymore. I can plug a VGA monitor in and works just fine. I can deduce I have either a problem with the laptop screen or the onboard graphics chip has partially disconnected from the board. I tried taking the battery out and hitting the power button for 60 sec. with no power since that is some people's suggestion but no success. My question is there a program that will test if the screen is damaged or the GPU chip? I have used several old computer programs that test the computer like Sandra and they say the graphics are fine. I know VGA is analog and the laptop screen is digital like DVI (I think it is anyways). Is that what it is the digital part of the chip is disconnected but a test program wouldn't know if the output is disconnected but is still functioning? I really don't want to reflow the GPU but I will if someone is sure that would help. Buying a new monitor and then finding it's not the monitor would suck. The internal connection to the board is good. Any suggestions to pinpoint the problem?
If the external video is working, your GPU is likely fine. I believe the internal laptop screen connector is also analog, fwiw. If you are 100% sure the connection to the board from the LCD is good, I would get a replacement internal LCD cable and try that, however it is very rare that they go bad, I've only seen 1 do that in my life.
Thank you responding. I'm afraid I have no way of testing this connection other than just a digital meter. I couldn't say where the problem is unless replacing the ribbon cable or the screen is going to give me a definitive answer. I went out on Black Friday and got a new Win10 computer for only $110 American. The replacement used screen was $50 or more and the computer couldn't manage any Utube unless it was in the smallest format possible. Maybe a external video card would be possible but getting one that works on WinXP would be stupid and upgrading to Win10... on and on and on... long story short... I love my new computer
If your laptop also has integrated graphics, it is possible, but unlikely. In a laptop, the LCD screen is connected to the primary GPU bus, which is probably to the MXM slot in your unit (but I would need to know what unit it is specifically)
mr82020674 I want to remove the dedicated graphic chip "amd chip" . Becoz it is faulty and online update tries to update graphic driver and screen goes black.I m sure amd chip is faulty. Laptop is now running with Intel HD graphics with Intel i7 processor
Problem Fixed, I removed amd graphic chip and its power supply unit. Now my laptop is running with intel HD grapics with no problem.(HP Pavilion DV6 6165 TX)
I have a 2009 iMac. Now, I'm not sure if its a video issue, or just the motherboard, but it has something to do with the motherboard. Just wondering if I could do the same thing? Thanks... Got it for free so its not much of a risk..
Erik Johnstone Yes, I've used this technique on many different things that I suspected heat caused graphical issues (plasma display logic boards, PS3s, Xboxes, etc)
I've tried this numerous times, and while it works each time, the issue with the gpu and no display always reoccurs.. Despite properly cleaning the fan, heatsink and reapplyig thermal paste(arctic silver 5), this fix doesn't seem to last..
+Chris Wistey - Just 2 days ago I was doing some searching and found a shop that would attempt the work but with no guarantee or idea of time required at $35 per hour plus shipping. I personally would attempt a repair as outlined in this video on my own if it doesn't work nothing lost. Another option would be to get a reballing kit on Ebay about $35. Besure to use a reballing kit that uses LEAD-FREE solder, the reason being the lead free melts at slightly higher temp. Further when you finish and reassemble use a good heat sink compound past like "Antec Formula7" it has a heat range from -50C to +250C most newer computers get alot hotter than the older ones. View YT vids on removing and cleaning the motherboard and video chip board. The reballing kit from Ebay will have several thin sheet iron masks, when the solder is heated it won't readily stick to the mask, for the various chip board types. Just like in this video once the balls are in place heat with heat gun just until the balls become shiny they are now soldered to the chip board. Having previously cleaned and prepared the motherboard, the next step is to place the video card on the motherboard careful alignment is key here, observe the index indicators, use a magnifier if need be. Either heat with the heat gun or heat in a toaster oven. I am partial to the oven method as you can heat in stages, gradual heating, getting to the heat desired. As an indicator placing a couple of balls on top of the chip, don't worry it won't solder to it as the chip is ceramic. Though the average time is 8 minutes at 380F once you see the solder melt you can be fairly sure everything has flowed. Most of the time folks will be successful with this repair. The benefit of doing it yourself is you get your circuit board immediately and you just saved yourself $100 or more. All you need to do is take your time do a practice dry run. In the event of an unsuccessful repair you have only spent money on the reballing kit Now all you need to do is find an exact match replacement via the mfr's stickers on the board... and hope it is a good board as advertised. Hope this helps remember, "You never know what you can until you try".
It does work, but only temporarily - it will break again. The only real solution is reballing, but obviously usually it's not worth the cost with the old laptop.
There is a debate about reballing being effective since the fault lies in the substrata of the chip itself. The heat process of reflowing, even a reballed chip, gives it temporary life. The best solution is a NEW chip but finding one that isn't an old chip that has been reballed is not that easy.
yep its ruined if its turned into a boiling pos the way i do it i do this but i use a pocket thermometer and make sure the chip doesnt get over 210c and ive never had that fail me
my micro usb port on my phone is a little loose when charging do you think i can use the oven to reflow it? and when you say wrap it up with what? foil? or that special heat resistant tape? also with the oven what about the plastic bits on it like the ram clips on the side?
Hi. Hey! Men! I have a Dell studio 1558 with the same problem that you had. I'm going to try resurrect my 8 years (unused) laptop with the oven method, because I'm not have heat gun or hair drier. But I know this is a temporal solution, due to the tin factory quality. I read, that a better solution is a reballing, because in the process, they remove the factor tin, and use a better one with more lead for improved efficiency with temperature handling.
@@miguelrocha624 tried with heat gun multiple times but worked for some time then black again finally i replaced the board with another used one from ebay.
Don't laugh but I f***ed up my acer aspire 5552 board. It was my first gpu reflow attempt and I forgot to take off the little film on top of the chip so it melted all over it! I tried to scrape it off but ended up disturbing the tiny pieces on top of the chip (not sure what they are called). To top it off, a capacitor came loose and because detached. Strangely enough, the board still powers up, I thought it would be totally dead. However it does turn itself off after about 3 seconds.
I have one more board which is the same to try this out on so any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm using a 2000w heat gun btw. The lowest setting gets to 400*C
cmon you didnt really assemble the laptop all the way without testing the motherboard. so stop with "ohh lets see" and btw I have the same issue on my 8 years old laptop. its a sad day when this happens. I was oc'ing the gpu, not sure if that is the reason.
Just how is that supposed to "re-flow" the solder? As everyone knows, lead free solder melting point is about 460F / 240C. so setting the oven to 385F is nowhere near hot enough. Don't believe me? google it.
Because you don't want it to reach the melting point, you simply want to soften the solder. This will allow it to bind better to the sufaces it's already bound to and helps ''seal'' any thermal cracks in the solder itself. If you allow it to fully melt, it could potentially flow down damaging other components.
I came here just out of A M A Z E M E N T to write this; I have here (writing on it) a 2007 or 2008? DEll D830 2.2 or 1.8 ghz,depending on the cpu and 4 G of memory; old,but plenty enough for my needs;i have 3 of these,the other 2,work; this one was dead 4 or 5 hours ago; i opened it to redo the heat transfer paste and change the cpu,.and after that it would NOT boot,turn on etc; D E A D; ONLY 2 lights blinked briefly and then the one in middle would stay on; tried EVERYTHING: memory sticks,hdd,cpu(T7100 and T7500),etc etc T H E N ,since it was dead ,i grabbed the heat gun from the shop (i had tried with a blow drier,no good) I cut a square off a piece of aluminum foil(doubled in2) and put it over the nVidia chip,like you see on many videos I grabbed my cheap IR thermometer (with the laser pointer BS) and i heated the chip up,slowly at first,for,say 10 minutes,removing the foil and heating around from a distance at times T H E N i hit it with the heat,foil in place; after maybe 1 minute,the IR gun got up to 170ºC, but i suspect the real temp was MUCH higher,that thing is not reliable; i was scared the chip was gonna explode,i put on some glasses The whole chip started to turn slightly brown,and i smelled burning!!!! Stopped right away,switched to the blow drier on low,to allow the chip to cool S L O W E R ; And then i assembled the whole thing, except all the bottom screws,intending to put it away,to throw away,or for parts,i had C O O K E D it!!!!! Well, to my delight,it works fine, hope it lasts,i am amazed at the power of youtube advices sometimes. PS: after some 20 minutes,it runs way cooler than before on the bottom,maybe some to do with the new paste.
well. I just went through this procedure for an HP elitebook 6930p (apparently known for this kind of failure). Seven year old laptop. Followed your steps carefully. Put everything back together. Did a little prayer. And BAM, the laptop works again! That's awesome. Thank you.
surfsup bro Nice! Glad everything worked out!
Great advice! I tried the oven technique on two Dell D830's tonight (both had corrupted graphics) and they now perform beautifully. Thanks very much.
You got it!
how much this will last? also i have a laptop with dedicated and integrated gpu but whenever i try installing amd driver i have black screen is this will work for me?
Fry's Electronics tech here😁 I have done this so many times ..but the chip part I would add a stack of 4 quarters then heat. We always called this chip-creep. Good stuff🙏
From my experimentation with various boards is to ramp up the temps slowly. 200F for 3 mins to start, 300F for 4 min and 400 for 2 mins then OFF. Let it cool in the oven for 10 mins then remove and let cool to room temp.
You mean put it in after it hits 200, then after 3 mins of that knob up to 300 and start the 4 mins from when you turn the knob, then the knob to 400 starting the clock for the 2 mins, then off and open the oven door?
Nice was getting ready to try this method but was unsure of the amount of time to apply the heat but watching you sums it up I would have burnt mine crisp the amount of time I had in mind. Still I know you said its not an exact science but thanks for the help very detailed.
I kinda doubt putting foil on the parts you don't want to heat up too much would prevent damage in the oven. I could see heating the whole board up a bit with the heat gun then putting a piece of foil over it with a hole in it just big enough to get the GPU nice and hot and having that shield the caps and the rest of the board from overheating.
I did this with my Sony Vaio which all of a sudden developed some serious graphic glitches on the screen and it fixed it. I warmed up the board like you said and then focused the heat gun on only the graphics chip for around 8 seconds. Then also replaced the thermal paste and cleaned the cooling fan of all the dust as it was clogged up so would have caused the overheating. Thank you very much for your help :)
Glad it helped! You might also consider lubing the fan, which will allow the fan to move more freely. I have a video on the topic, and here is an easy to use oil syringe- amzn.to/34A7MqR
While you have it open remove the ball of lint from the fan and heat exchanger fins. This will give the re-flow fix a much better chance of lasting.
put the pan handle off the bench edge? = stable platform :-)
thanks for guide
👍😂
Haha yup, very good call out
Do i need a soldering flux under the VGA chip ? or not ?
No
I am not sure how long this repair will last, but my Dell is working. My 630 is used for programming radios and the software only runs on XP. I ran a 24 hr test this far good.
Glad it worked for you!
Good tut, worked for me. 30 second quite direct heat blow on southbridge and gpu chips. I used butane heat blower at around 250 celsius and concentrated direct on chips for short 30 seconds then let cool for 5-8 minutes. Assembled laptop and held fn, esc and powerfor 5 seconds then let go of fn and esc but held power button still for 10 seconds then let go.....then smilled :)
what are the symptoms of a bad Nvidia GPU issue?
Where do I buy the special elbow grease to clean the thermo paste off?
i think any oven cleaning spray is good for the job but why are you asking? is it really that dry?
haha. use rubbing alcohol pads, like when the nurse gives you a shot. no lint and no residue, which is what you need
If I had a pocket thermometer and a heat gun then I would simply aim for 385 degrees Fahrenheit over the chip for a couple minutes is that right? Its hard to know how far away to hold the gun and for how long to heat it up without measuring the temp. Also what thermometer would you suggest using that can get a good reading from a chip surface? I can at least take note of how long you focused heat and at what distance. Thanks for the great vid!
Thanks for this video. I have a Gigabyte X58A UD3R ver 2.0 motherboard that just quit. Tried to start pc, --nothing--( and I mean no lights no power, notta ). Things I tried to rule out other problems-- tested start button--ok--,tried different psu-nothing,tried 1 stick of ram in number 1 slot--nothing, took mb out of case and tried to start--nothing, also tried clearing cmos by taking out the pc battery for 24 hours--nothing. Just by chance ran into this video and thought --hmm, makes sense,so I followed your directions and after the board cooled for a few hours, shot some power to it to see if it lights at all and it did. Put all the components in and it is running fine again.
Again many, many thanks !!!!
Hello thanks for the info, I have a 2017 dell Alienware laptop and the discrete GPU is dead, I wanna attempt this method on it, what was the temperature setting on your heat gun, is there a specific degree value?
Did u test it? and Is it working?
Questions I had answered TY :), I had picked me up the same heatgun you got, I used to reflow the chips with a 250watt heat bulb which reached a temp of 450degrees which was perfect, 3mins slowing moving the bulb closer then the last 2mins really close, silly NVidia with their low temp solder, not sure who was to blame on that but saw the 2mil lawsuit while back :P
If you stick a laptop m/b in an oven to try a reflow, won't some of the plastic clips & connecters melt? Also, did you protect any sensitive components on the bottom?
I've don't this procedure a bunch of times, on GPUs, a few iMac logic boards, an xbox, and many laptops.
@@GarageMaxedOut I am still planning on, if needed, a hot air reflow, taking precautions, monitoring temps, etc. Thanks again
ive gota temp controlled hot pad for lcd /glass/digi separation... i cant quite get a full atx board on it but a lot of laptop main boards would fit just fine. Would it be a good idea to use that maybe 25c lower than the heat gun on the back side?
very interesting video (i have to perform one fix like that myself ASAP) but i have one question:
if i am right, we are trying to raise the temperature at a covered spot (the GPU's underneath) so that the solder melts. By the time we get there don't the uncovered spots have their solder melted? I am asking this because i am too afraid to use a heatgun in case everything starts flying!!! Instead i am thinking of using a heatgun just for warmup and a blowtorch for the real job. (I know how that sounds....but it has the advantage of not blowing everything) Please tell me your thoughts
Heat gun is not like a hair dryer. The force of the air coming out isn't very strong, so if stuff starts flyin you've overcooked it.
how to put a mother board in the oven it full of plastic parts(like ram holders)?
Eng. Fares 245 Celcius that's production temperature, and that's NOT a normal plastic like u use everyday then u can easy cook it in 200-240 and everything will be fine
great thank you
Thanks for the video ...
i don't have a heat gun but what if i put the mother board in the oven ? will that work without damaging the CPU slot or the RAM slot or other things on the mother board ?!
What issue does this fix with the GPU exactly? I ask because mine recently started displaying heavily distorted, low resolution graphics. It's not a driver issue as it's visible from POST. I replaced the lcd & the lcd cable...not the issue either. I was told/have read that there's an issue with the NVIDIA chip...does your solution seem like a possible fix my issue, or does it just solve overheating?
Heat from the mobo and chips cause the solder joints to not work properly (cold solder joints). Reflowing allows the connections to improve possibly fixing the problems.
Do you think I should try this on my dell inspiron 15z? I have a 3 beep error code which means motherboard failure
Brandon Jerz Yes, I would try it
I have an Emachines er1401 that has the same problem (no video output), so I'm gonna try this.
It's 2019 but I wanna say something about this. First of all this is not reflow because the solder didn't actually melt, if you want to reflow the solders you should apply flux otherwise it will oxidize the solder and will make it worse. It worked because of the heat applied to the chip which reacted and allowed it to work again.
Thanks for watching
Hello, how many degrees did you heat up the board? And how hot do you apply air? You did not heat directly on the chip? Thank you
Fatih Bey. hey sorry, I didn't use a thermometer, just the method demonstrated here
I'd follow it just like it says and check your results
I'd not attempt to use the oven, as the temperature of the oven doesn't get sufficiently hot to completely melt the solder. This is partly why the oven trick is at best a temporary repair.
Wrap the portions of the motherboard you're not working on in foil. Take a heat gun, hold it so the nozzle is straight, and so the nozzle is approximately one inch above the surface of the chip to be reflowed. Set the heat gun to 300 degrees Celsius and let it run for approximately one minute. Shut the heat gun off and let the board cool for twenty minutes. Clean out the fan and reassemble the laptop. Run a 3DMark torture test for a while afterward. If it survives the torture test, enjoy.
Holding the heat gun in this manner mimics the solder reflow workstations technicians use.
Thanks for the great video! Well thought out and explained. Just a question or two:
The heat gun you're using looks like a Wagner HT1000. The Depot has it
Yup, I think thats the one I have!
mr82020674 Thanks again! I fixed my laptop as well as the other one I think I mentioned although I had to zap it twice because I used compressed air to blow some cat hair off the board (let it cool overnight & she decided it was a great place to take a nap). Held the trigger a microsecond too long and a little patch of ice formed. Next boot no video. But all ended well.
Just a couple of variations I did for anyone else who is planning to try this:
1) I used a baking pan ~11x18" lined with foil & had the board resting on the edges leaving about 1/3" of clearance underneath for the heat to circulate. That eliminated the need to flip the board. Also used an oven thermometer with a remote probe to monitor the temp.
2) Heated board to ~300° using the heat gun, 2/3 of the time directing the hot air under the board to be reflected off the foil. Also, because of my work area, which isn't very well insulated (Buffalo, NY winter), I used the high setting on the gun.
3) Was careful to keep the gun moving to avoid any "collateral damage".
Still, could not have done this without having watched this video several times, paying close attention to everything you did. Again, great job!
why are you heating up the whole board though? I don't understand? Can't you just heat up the area you want to repair?
+PanteraJoey He is probably preventing thermal shock. If a part of it is hot, and part cold, then it can warp the board and/or cause chips to pop off.
+kodie wininger ahh, ok, thanks
The motherboard is heated to 90 degrees to the rear so that it is not damaged by heat, then the front surface chip is heat treated as far as I know
Hello, ive got Medion Akoya P8610 with some screen problem, evrything is running but with black screen, i guess it is gpu issue. My friend did something with heat gun to repair it but it worked only 2 months. Can i use this to fix it again?
Patrik Tucnak Yes you can. I would suggest looking at whatever heatsink method is used and potentially upgrading it. Many laptop models (along with the original Xbox 360, fat PS3, and others) suffer from engineering design flaws that make them prone to heat related failure. Sometimes adding additional cooling will prolong the life of the device. For your laptop, I recommend always using it on a cooling pad when available, and at the very least, a hard surface like a desk. Thanks
Thank you so much!! My super old laptop just started working because of this! Still cant believe it works!!!! :)
Lego_Minecraft HQ glad it could help!
Hi, Is the laptop still working?
Whats the point in heating the whole board when problem is stated the graphics card.
If the heat is high in that area and room temp in another it may warp or damage it from the large differences in temps on the board.
Hey Hi, I have to do the same on my Dell N 5010 Inspiron. can you please let me know the wattage of the heat gun or how long I should heat the GPU area?
I use a cheap one from harbor freight
Its not the joints its the chip its self trust me. By heating it its temp fix it will not last.
I did this repair to my 2010 model Dell Inspiron N5010 over two years ago, and ran a 3DMark torture test afterward. It survived the torture test and I used the laptop daily for 18 months after the repair. The only reason I stopped using it on a daily basis was that at the 18-month mark my roommate bought a MSI Wind gaming computer and gave me her 2011 model Dell XPS L511Z; an upgrade for me as my laptop needs are modest.
I'm not saying you're wrong here, because in most cases it IS the chip. But you can't say with absolute certainly that in every instance the chip is the problem, because there is that small percentage of faults that aren't due to the chip itself.
This is an old thread but I have a unique problem but similar. I will try for some of your expert advice since nobody seems to post on this exactly the same as my problem. I have an older 2005 NX9030 Compaq notebook. Recently the laptop's screen started a type of rolling pixelating and would go blank occasionally. Not black but it seems the inverter is working since I can change the brightness of the screen but only the whiteness since the actual picture stopped with the rolling pixelating and now is just blank. I should point out early on just tapping around the computer would bring back the picture for a while but now that doesn't help anymore.
I can plug a VGA monitor in and works just fine. I can deduce I have either a problem with the laptop screen or the onboard graphics chip has partially disconnected from the board. I tried taking the battery out and hitting the power button for 60 sec. with no power since that is some people's suggestion but no success. My question is there a program that will test if the screen is damaged or the GPU chip? I have used several old computer programs that test the computer like Sandra and they say the graphics are fine. I know VGA is analog and the laptop screen is digital like DVI (I think it is anyways). Is that what it is the digital part of the chip is disconnected but a test program wouldn't know if the output is disconnected but is still functioning? I really don't want to reflow the GPU but I will if someone is sure that would help. Buying a new monitor and then finding it's not the monitor would suck. The internal connection to the board is good. Any suggestions to pinpoint the problem?
If the external video is working, your GPU is likely fine. I believe the internal laptop screen connector is also analog, fwiw. If you are 100% sure the connection to the board from the LCD is good, I would get a replacement internal LCD cable and try that, however it is very rare that they go bad, I've only seen 1 do that in my life.
Thank you responding. I'm afraid I have no way of testing this connection other than just a digital meter. I couldn't say where the problem is unless replacing the ribbon cable or the screen is going to give me a definitive answer. I went out on Black Friday and got a new Win10 computer for only $110 American. The replacement used screen was $50 or more and the computer couldn't manage any Utube unless it was in the smallest format possible. Maybe a external video card would be possible but getting one that works on WinXP would be stupid and upgrading to Win10... on and on and on... long story short... I love my new computer
My laptop motherboard has a amd dedicated graphic chip. If i completly remove the chip, motherboar will work or not?
If your laptop also has integrated graphics, it is possible, but unlikely. In a laptop, the LCD screen is connected to the primary GPU bus, which is probably to the MXM slot in your unit (but I would need to know what unit it is specifically)
mr82020674 I want to remove the dedicated graphic chip "amd chip" . Becoz it is faulty and online update tries to update graphic driver and screen goes black.I m sure amd chip is faulty. Laptop is now running with Intel HD graphics with Intel i7 processor
What is the operating system? Did this start happening after an update? Did you see glitches prior to this starting?
Problem Fixed, I removed amd graphic chip and its power supply unit. Now my laptop is running with intel HD grapics with no problem.(HP Pavilion DV6 6165 TX)
Nabodaydharani Medhi nice! Good info to have for sure, thanks for the follow up!
I have a 2009 iMac. Now, I'm not sure if its a video issue, or just the motherboard, but it has something to do with the motherboard. Just wondering if I could do the same thing? Thanks... Got it for free so its not much of a risk..
Erik Johnstone Yes, I've used this technique on many different things that I suspected heat caused graphical issues (plasma display logic boards, PS3s, Xboxes, etc)
how do you know when it is hot enough to melt thr solder
Follow the steps and don't over think it
Why did you do it on a pan? Also what setting/temp did you use on the heat gun?
I'd say the lowest and if it doesn't get hot enough either move the gun closer or set it higher while having it further away to start with.
Because it gets very hot and it is a wooden surface underneath
My laptop has a black screen but if connect it to a external monitor it works, can it be my GPU or is my screen?
lapincheriatota it's not your GPU, if that was bad you would not have an external image (2cd monitor).
I've tried this numerous times, and while it works each time, the issue with the gpu and no display always reoccurs.. Despite properly cleaning the fan, heatsink and reapplyig thermal paste(arctic silver 5), this fix doesn't seem to last..
Make sure you use a quality thermal paste- amzn.to/39chrWo
I had the same problem and I used a simple iron solder to heat the gpu for about 10 minutes and it worked.
What does this do is it the connection or the chip that its fixing thanks ...
It is fixing the connection- likely the chip itself is fine
@@GarageMaxedOut thanks
how much would a tech charge to do this kind of job?
+Chris Wistey - Just 2 days ago I was doing some searching and found a shop that would attempt the work but with no guarantee or idea of time required at $35 per hour plus shipping.
I personally would attempt a repair as outlined in this video on my own if it doesn't work nothing lost. Another option would be to get a reballing kit on Ebay about $35. Besure to use a reballing kit that uses LEAD-FREE solder, the reason being the lead free melts at slightly higher temp. Further when you finish and reassemble use a good heat sink compound past like "Antec Formula7" it has a heat range from -50C to +250C most newer computers get alot hotter than the older ones. View YT vids on removing and cleaning the motherboard and video chip board. The reballing kit from Ebay will have several thin sheet iron masks, when the solder is heated it won't readily stick to the mask, for the various chip board types. Just like in this video once the balls are in place heat with heat gun just until the balls become shiny they are now soldered to the chip board. Having previously cleaned and prepared the motherboard, the next step is to place the video card on the motherboard careful alignment is key here, observe the index indicators, use a magnifier if need be. Either heat with the heat gun or heat in a toaster oven. I am partial to the oven method as you can heat in stages, gradual heating, getting to the heat desired. As an indicator placing a couple of balls on top of the chip, don't worry it won't solder to it as the chip is ceramic. Though the average time is 8 minutes at 380F once you see the solder melt you can be fairly sure everything has flowed.
Most of the time folks will be successful with this repair. The benefit of doing it yourself is you get your circuit board immediately and you just saved yourself $100 or more. All you need to do is take your time do a practice dry run. In the event of an unsuccessful repair you have only spent money on the reballing kit Now all you need to do is find an exact match replacement via the mfr's stickers on the board... and hope it is a good board as advertised. Hope this helps remember, "You never know what you can until you try".
it's still working ?
Worked for me on my Dell Studio 1555 by heat gun method. thanks a lot...
Hi, did you disassembled the laptop or just removed the heat sink? Is it still working?
It does work, but only temporarily - it will break again. The only real solution is reballing, but obviously usually it's not worth the cost with the old laptop.
There is a debate about reballing being effective since the fault lies in the substrata of the chip itself. The heat process of reflowing, even a reballed chip, gives it temporary life. The best solution is a NEW chip but finding one that isn't an old chip that has been reballed is not that easy.
How does it last?
Temporary or permanent?
It depends. Models that this work on generally suffer from poor design, but by keeping the unit cool after the repair, it can last a long time
guys, do you remove the sticker of mobo?
You dont need to
I think i burnt it hahah is some bubbling over the chip a good thing?
yep its ruined if its turned into a boiling pos the way i do it i do this but i use a pocket thermometer and make sure the chip doesnt get over 210c and ive never had that fail me
385 degree Celsius or Fahrenheit?
my micro usb port on my phone is a little loose when charging do you think i can use the oven to reflow it?
and when you say wrap it up with what? foil? or that special heat resistant tape? also with the oven what about the plastic bits on it like the ram clips on the side?
Kongphon Nitikijphaiboon No, you just just replace the connector.
Fahrenheit. 180-190 Celsius
probably should have concentrated on the failed flipchip rather than the whole board, good for a temporary fix anyway.
Yeah good point. I have a newer video with a cleaned up procedure here- th-cam.com/video/utt-SSQAYSA/w-d-xo.html
I've used a regular hair dryer and 9 out of 10 works. same as oven
Amazing it worked for me thanks a ton ressurected my 9yr old dell studio1555 unused since last 1year due to dead ati radeon graphics card !!!
worked temporarily for some time then shuts down anything else i can try please suggest?
Hi. Hey! Men! I have a Dell studio 1558 with the same problem that you had. I'm going to try resurrect my 8 years (unused) laptop with the oven method, because I'm not have heat gun or hair drier. But I know this is a temporal solution, due to the tin factory quality. I read, that a better solution is a reballing, because in the process, they remove the factor tin, and use a better one with more lead for improved efficiency with temperature handling.
¿How you did it? ¿Oven or heat gun?.
@@miguelrocha624 tried with heat gun multiple times but worked for some time then black again finally i replaced the board with another used one from ebay.
a more permanent solution will be reballing I have kept the old board will bga reball it
Don't laugh but I f***ed up my acer aspire 5552 board. It was my first gpu reflow attempt and I forgot to take off the little film on top of the chip so it melted all over it! I tried to scrape it off but ended up disturbing the tiny pieces on top of the chip (not sure what they are called). To top it off, a capacitor came loose and because detached. Strangely enough, the board still powers up, I thought it would be totally dead. However it does turn itself off after about 3 seconds.
I have one more board which is the same to try this out on so any tips would be greatly appreciated. I'm using a 2000w heat gun btw. The lowest setting gets to 400*C
Are you sure it was a capacitor?
Check out my new video on this- th-cam.com/video/utt-SSQAYSA/w-d-xo.html
I used a hair dryer on high for about 15 min and it does work.
Amazing Things From Around The World glad it worked for you!
cmon you didnt really assemble the laptop all the way without testing the motherboard. so stop with "ohh lets see"
and btw I have the same issue on my 8 years old laptop. its a sad day when this happens. I was oc'ing the gpu, not sure if that is the reason.
nvidia chp doing that problem again they have no solution
Ooooh shit thats work im livinda jpn danbouki for each side 1 min thats work for me and dell fucku ac adapter is not work for me
In to moms oven is bad enough but I hope she doesn't see her pan in your video
Haha no problems here
That looks like sum DDR2 RAM
Yup, the M1530 can take up to 8GB DDR2- amzn.to/2POfFDt
Just how is that supposed to "re-flow" the solder? As everyone knows, lead free solder melting point is about 460F / 240C. so setting the oven to 385F is nowhere near hot enough. Don't believe me? google it.
Because you don't want it to reach the melting point, you simply want to soften the solder. This will allow it to bind better to the sufaces it's already bound to and helps ''seal'' any thermal cracks in the solder itself. If you allow it to fully melt, it could potentially flow down damaging other components.
works perfekt! thx
Peter Kovac awesome! glad it helped!
can you pls tell me, is this method working temporary or permanent? Or how long did it worked fine for you?
You can thank the ignorance that forced lead free solder on the world. More crap has gone into the landfill because of that stupid law.
I came here just out of A M A Z E M E N T to write this;
I have here (writing on it) a 2007 or 2008? DEll D830 2.2 or 1.8 ghz,depending on the cpu and 4 G of memory; old,but plenty enough for my needs;i have 3 of these,the other 2,work; this one was dead 4 or 5 hours ago; i opened it to redo the heat transfer paste and change the cpu,.and after that it would NOT boot,turn on etc; D E A D; ONLY 2 lights blinked briefly and then the one in middle would stay on; tried EVERYTHING: memory sticks,hdd,cpu(T7100 and T7500),etc etc
T H E N ,since it was dead ,i grabbed the heat gun from the shop (i had tried with a blow drier,no good)
I cut a square off a piece of aluminum foil(doubled in2) and put it over the nVidia chip,like you see on many videos
I grabbed my cheap IR thermometer (with the laser pointer BS) and i heated the chip up,slowly at first,for,say 10 minutes,removing the foil and heating around from a distance at times
T H E N i hit it with the heat,foil in place; after maybe 1 minute,the IR gun got up to 170ºC, but i suspect the real temp was MUCH higher,that thing is not reliable; i was scared the chip was gonna explode,i put on some glasses
The whole chip started to turn slightly brown,and i smelled burning!!!!
Stopped right away,switched to the blow drier on low,to allow the chip to cool S L O W E R ;
And then i assembled the whole thing, except all the bottom screws,intending to put it away,to throw away,or for parts,i had C O O K E D it!!!!!
Well, to my delight,it works fine, hope it lasts,i am amazed at the power of youtube advices sometimes.
PS: after some 20 minutes,it runs way cooler than before on the bottom,maybe some to do with the new paste.
NIce!
I want to more videos for you+
Ha thanks! I have been lazy, I will need to start uploading again. Lots of old servers in the garage right now for me to fix.
omg it worked for me lol hahahaha i cant believe it lol
NOT FAIR FOR WORKING PROPERLY