Same here (Ex Sony Engineer) ...i'm in a different field now(Aerospace)...but still gives me a buzz when you find the fault and the item springs into life..!
I can see where a microscope certainly comes in handy for the small stuff, the blown chip was a good catch without it. SMDs are my Achilles heel, I've lost more to the floor than actually installed I think. A hot air tool would be my undoing. Great fix bro and probably a really good deal. Thanks for the video and the work, see ya soon.
Cheers Terry 👍I used to have really good eyesight but the last few years I'm increasingly dependent on glasses now especially for close up stuff (old age I guess). But even then, stuff is that small now you definitely need a microscope!
5:24. Yes that is indeed a serial port and jtag for testing purpose. Although lots of smart hackery people use those to install alternative firmware on it and its also often the serial port giving access to the bootloader and linux terminal which some people love to mess with (incl me). Some install openwrt firmware on it via the serial port giving full control over the router (because its now your firmware and router) instead of the oem/isp having the control over their oem firmware. Btw nice fix Mick!
Cheers 👍Yes I've done stuff like that previously with a range of devices. I've even cross compiled and wrote my own drivers for things and ported doom to a few devices such as the LeapTV back in the day.
Another piece saved from the bin . I’m jealous of your scope skills . I need to spend some time learning how to use an oscilloscope properly. Well done sir !
Thanks 👍I thought that waveform was normal from the inductor / capacitor oscillating? I might try it sometime using the earth on the probe I'm using to see if the ringing goes away.
Great I love when there is routers or access points Asus or Tp-link as well as IPC Hikvision or Dahua ip cams fixed. More routers and ip cameras fixes please.
Very good. Two, four and a half of a one, finally, an electronics channel which makes sense. A trick which may help is to use paste for the pad underneath ICs.
A good job, after seeing a strong WiFi signal from it I'd probably have stopped there and handed it back to the owner for a test so as to avoid any grief on their part setting it all up again. I'll have to get myself a hot air tool and try some of those surface mount chips. As for your troubles tinning the pads, warming the whole board up a fair bit does help with those ground planes sucking all your iron's heat. Sometimes low-tech tools like a hair dryer can come in handy
Thanks Paul 👍I am the new owner 😂😂 I think it could have been the heatsink on the other side of the board soaking the heat away as it was rather hot afterwards.
Excellent work, as always. "We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We can make it better than it was. Better, stronger, faster." 🎶da da da da, da da da da, da da da da...🎶🎶 Boooooooing...🤣🤣
I'm always learning something new from your videos 😁 Btw why did you not use solder paste for that micro smd component, I've seen people use that for smd components in smartphones
Nice fix. From my time watching TheCod3r, he often pre-tins the pads of QFNs, as they don't consistently wet solder when placing them straight on the board. Might try pre-heating the region as well if it's giving your iron some trouble.
Thanks 👍Seems to work fine, the only thing I wish it had at times is protocol decoding for things like serial or i2c, so perhaps a Rigol scope may have been a better choice.
I have struggled to solder ICs with that kind of package. You'd think they would snap in place, but perhaps it's because of the big pad on the bottom. More flux would seem to be the ticket, but it did not help me. Also having too much solder on the pins and pad will cause bridges that are hard to clear. I've thought of completely cleaning the solder off and using paste instead next time.
I've done these types of IC before on a power bank and on a Milwaukee brushless multitool on here, not really had too many issues. I think it was the heatsink on the other side drawing heat away also this IC was smaller than the other ICs I replaced in the other items.
I feel your pain with that tiny chip. I'm looking at a soundbar just now with an MP1658 that's gone, it's about the size of an SMD capacitor but with six legs... I can see the air turning blue when they show up from China 😂 I've worked out that it's a 5v supply though, so if I can't get it soldered in I'm just going to bodge in a 7805 and be done with it!
Beware that an 7805 only has half the current capacity of the MP1658 if the soundbar actually needs the full 3A the MP1658 can deliver. Assuming a 12V input supply you'd also have to deal with up to 21W of heat dissipation with the 7805 and your input supply would also need to be beefed up to deliver the extra power wasted by the linear regulator.
@@oliverer3 Yeah all fair points, perhaps one of those LM2596 switching modules would be a better idea. I don't think it needs the full 3A though as it's only supplying the BT chip, the microcontroller and the DAC (the latter two via an AMS1117 3.3v). I'll most likely test the whole thing with a lab psu to begin with so I'll know what power it'll consume - I'd estimate a watt or two tops excluding the chip amp (which is fed directly from the 12v supply). But hopefully my soldering skills are better than I'm assuming! As an aside, it never ceases to amaze me how these tiny little devices can handle such high power... this thing isn't much bigger than a few grains of sand yet can apparently push through 48W (16V at 3A)! I suppose it's little more than an intelligent switch but still...
@jasejj smaller type dc-dc buck converter.. lm2596 tends to be on the noisier side for audo applications in my experience, not sure why because it's supposed to switch above the hearing range. You can get a smaller working regulator set if the frequency is higher, like 1mhz
Nice 👍.I bought this one to extend my network. I've already got one of them and a slightly different model connected to a GT-AC5300 which is my main router.
Thanks for that👍. I had thought about it, but I've fitted a few of similar IC's in power banks and in a Milwaukee multi tool and they were fine. I'm not sure if it was the heat sink on the other side of the board absorbing a lot of the heat.
@@BuyitFixit some ICs seems to be oxidized from the factory or during transit or something. I’ve just made a habit of tinning them all to avoid the hassle. 🤷🏻♀️
great job! fyi: open command window - type ‘ipconfig -a’ will then show you gateway (ip of router and other info)….have you tried solder paste for ic pads, rather than tinning them?
@@BuyitFixit admittedly I haven’t tried it on such small 3mm ICs but being fat fingered it worked better for me on micro processors and their regulators, be interested to know how you find it if you try….
This QFN IC has obvious oxidation in its pads (most of the ICs coming from China have this issue due to poor storage/handling/packaging). That's why it was so difficult to set in place. You should tin the pads before you solder.
Thanks for that. I wasn't sure about tinning it first. I did spray contact cleaner on it and rubbed it on some paper to clean the contacts and added flux to the bottom. I thought that should be enough. The heat sink which spanned the board on the other side was rather hot so not sure if it was that soaking up the heat.
Hello. All your videos are great, as the sign says you can fix anything. I have a Xbox controller that self combusted!!. It was lay on the couch and fortunately it was spotted but only after a plume of acrid smoke emitted from it. The 2 batteries were the standard Duracell AA and were not fresh so perhaps giving out less than 3 volts. It seems impossible this could happen, are you interested in seeing how 3 volts could set something smouldering.
Thanks 👍That seems very odd. I've never came across anything like that before. I was thinking it was the rechargeable battery pack perhaps before I read the AAs being installed. If you like drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com
I struggle with those VQFN packages. I have designed a few boards with chips in those packages, but I think in all cases I have gone back to TQFP to make my life easier.
Yes they are a bit of a pain. I've fitted a couple before I think one was a motor driver in a Milwaukee brushless multi-tool and the other was one of the power banks I repaired.
Thanks for that👍. I'm not sure how hot the IC gets under normal operation. I thought it had a pad on the aluminium heatsink but looking back on the video the pad is slightly higher and to the right of the IC.
You could use the serial port to flash DDWRT firmware onto that and then you will have a ton of features and a fast access point. I used to do this all the time until Unifi come along and made me lazy!
Yes, I flashed DDWRT on my old ADSL router which was a Plusnet (BT home hub 4). I've already got one of these routers already along with another model and a GT-AC5300 as my main router all meshed up with ethernet cables as we have quite a large house with outbuildings too.
There is no need to use the port to install third party firmware. You can just download it to the router via the management screen. This model readily accepts DDWRT or MerlinWRT and probably others. All via the IP interface. I suppose you could hack around and use JTAG but it would be purely an exercise for fun rather than required.
Lucky it was just a supply chip. Network gear I usually deal with almost always has a blown up main chip of some sort, usually a PHY, hub or controller. Getting replacements of those costs more than the device is worth in many cases.
All pretty much home grown knowledge or things I've picked up over the years. I've always been interested in computers and electronics since I was a kid, some stuff still baffles me.. which is why I put in the video description I'm no expert but I do enjoy fixing things 🙂
@@BuyitFixitSame for me. As a 12-year-old, I took things apart and sometimes couldn't put them back together. But I always wanted to know how things work
It's the same here. My boyfriend, Wayne, started out by taking his Christmas presents apart on Boxing Day, much to the horror of his mum and dad. But he did not mean to be destructive, but wasn't happy to know that it worked, but wanted to know WHY it worked. Then, he learned how to put it all back together. That became taking it apart, repairing it, then putting it back together while reading about electronic and mechanical theory. Passed exams, but sadly, doesn't have much in the way of test equipment. Stuff we just cannot afford.BUT HE WORKS SAFELY, AND WILL NEVER COMPROMISE ON COMPONENT REPLACEMENT, OR REPAIR.
I have a quick question for you. What do you use for unsolderable surfaces when you can get the solder to stick to things like batteries. I don't see that in your list of things you use my friend.
The only time I've came across that was on some Aluminium fuses, but I managed to get some Aluminium flux from Aliexpress which seems to work. If it's not Aluminium I just usually scrape or grind it back until it's shiny and add plenty of flux. Not sure if that is helpful or not?
Asus routers have a reputation of having cold solder joints sometimes, on the ground circuit so u need a decent soldering iron to fix due to high thermal mass.
Thanks for that. I think I should have perhaps removed the heatsink on the other side of the board as it seemed to be quite hot after I replaced the IC. It must have been soaking up a fair bit of heat.
these are great routers look in to flashing merlin firmware on it i have that exact model and using merlin you can run a system wide adblocker and do lots of other usefull things that the deafult firmware cant
Thanks 👍I did flash DDWRT onto another router I used to use a few years back. I've already got another one of these routers and a GT-AC5300 which is the main one and I was after another as another mesh node for one of the outbuildings. I've already got a Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole for adblocking 😉
Yes, this one was a bit of a pain, I did one on a Milwaukee brushless Multi-tool and that one went on straight away, also I think a couple of the power banks I repaired had them too. I think it was the heatsink on the back of the board soaking up the heat. Perhaps I should have removed that and it might have been easier.
While there's a lot of truth in that, the ethos of the channel is to help people who wish to repair their items. We live in such a throw away society now 😢
I've now got two now. I use them as "extenders" as part of the mesh network as we've got outbuildings. They are connected to a GT-AC5300 which is my main router.
This is a good example of why you need a microscope to zoom in real close and an oscilloscope when doing fault finding. Multimeters are to slow for some circuits and Fluke is probably the best brand there is when it comes to multimeters.
Thanks 👍Yes I've always liked Fluke meters. I need to wear glasses now for anything closer than arms length, and with things being so small a microscope is definitely needed!
One fear I have is plugging my oscilloscope in to more than 5vdc for fear of killing a $700.00 machine. Have you any news on the intercom? Also, do you ever use Digiikey for components?
They are designed for that mate :) Well hopefully they are anyway. I had done my back in hence the late reply. I'm planning on having a look at it tomorrow. Those trace repairs I ordered came but they are bloody tiny! and far too small for that. I've used Digikey a few times. I prefer them to Mouser.
here's a tip for you, - When you need to see the lettering on a chip that is hard to see Just take a sharpy ink pen black in color and the ink will highlight the lettering.
I am experiencing issues with my ASUS RT-AX86U Pro. The 5GHz radio does not work at all. The 5GHz LED remains off, even though the 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi LEDs should illuminate when the router is powered on. It appears that the WiFi 5GHz chip (Broadcom BCM43684) is not working. Can it be fixed by replacing the chip?
How do you know the chip is not working? Does it get hot or something? I'd probably pull up a datasheet for it, and check you are getting the correct voltages to it first, and any clocks / Xtal pins. If all those are correct and present then I'd probably suspect the chip.
Depends on what you mean by squeaky noise. A high pitched whine could be coil whine or a capacitor resonating. This is usually not a sign of something being damaged but just that silence wasn't a concern during the design stage or cheaper parts where chosen that couldn't run with switching frequencies outside the human hearing range. It can be caused by the power supply being overloaded or running at close to its max capacity which in theory could be because of leaky capacitors but I'd consider that unlikely if the device isn't old or it's been dropped from a height significant enough to crack a ceramic cap.
If you ever wanna find the ip to the router and it’s not on the router. Just open cmd and type ipconfig. The gateway of that on a home router is always the router ip
I have tried repairing one of these, but unfortunately one of the radio ICs had a similar faith like your IC, and I couldn't find that IC available anywhere.
Hello, is there chance that you could measure and tell me value of resistor which is in middle of screen at 22:35 (horizontal one), I blew it away with hot air sadly.
Is that the one just above the IC? if so, it goes to between pin 10 and 11. I'd have to take it apart to check it, but the datasheet (search MT3125 datasheet) says its a 10 ohm resistor . Hope that helps.
Thank you for answer. Not this one, right horizontal one. I guess it is feedback resistor. Sadly full datasheet is not available for public, so can't calculate value of resistor for 1v0 output
I have the same problem! Just disassembled it and the exact same component has a similar white pimple ont it... would you be able to charge me a repair if I ship it to you?
Might be an idea to pick a spare one up from a car boot sale or such. I always like to have things as a backup, especially where we live. Probably the reason why I've got backup generators etc as we've been without electricity for over a week before.
I don't understand how people can destroy devices as they do (in this case the cable on the power supply)? I have receivers, speakers, routers, tools, keyboards, etc, etc that are 15+ years old that look as they were new ...
While i appreciate oscilloscopes have their advantages, ive found 95% of the time i just use my multimeter. My oscilloscope gets pulled out only few times a year 😮 And its a siglent damn expensive bugger
I have a cheap little pocket oscilloscope. Works surprisingly well, just one channel, but lots of functions and touch control. That's more than enough for occasional signal debugging where a multimeter doesn't cut it. Sometimes I wish I had a big fancy one, but for hobby use I don't want to spend a few hundreds.
Same, little DSO made from chinesium. Don't need it usually, but an old school VCR at the repair cafe a few months ago? Invaluable. Here's the front and back porch, the analogue output looks fine. Either your new TV doesn't recognise analogue composite signals, or your scart cable at home is dodgy. Bless her, she came in the next month to say it was the cable all along. Not exactly a fix, but a satisfying win all the same.
Yes I use the meter a fair bit, thought it might make a change using the scope. I know people like seeing the scope being used, but as you say 95% of the time I use my meter👍
😂😂😂Yes, it can be tricky. I've actually got one of these already.. my network is like this.. Starlink which feeds into an ASUS GT AC5300 with a raspberry pi running pi-hole as an adblocker, then another cable goes to an RT-AC86U in the kitchen, then another cable goes over to the barn where I've got another Asus router, and two outdoor access points, a POE switch running some IP cameras. You should have seem tech support trying to work all of this out when I had 4G and had issues with their signal and they tell me to reboot my router. I'm like "which one? I've got about 4 connected.." 😂😂😂
@@BuyitFixit Actually I’ll briefly explain just to highlight my issue. I had fibre optic with sky. Switched from sky to Talk Talk on their fibre optic plan at the time. However Talk Talks fibre optic plan didn’t use fibre optic at all! When the phone disputes finally ended up in an engineer coming round to fix the connection issue..he hooked it up to the old phone line..pointed at the newer (fibre optic) installation and literally said “I don’t know what your going to do with that” 🤣. I had to blag it on the phone for hours to finally get a new router that was actually fibre optic compatible. The amount of people paying for something they aren’t getting is probably scary numbers from that experience I had!. I spent hours on the phone that week! 🤣🤣
Board level fault finding at its finest. That model of modem/router will allow you to tether your 4G/5G iPhone or android if your landline goes down. More jokes & scopes please.
Thanks 👍5G? that would be a thing where we live... There is only one 4G provider in our area and one mast, which is over-subscribed now (as I've just left them), all the other providers here are 2G. I've just had to install a Starlink system as the 4G was unusable from 5PM - 11PM. I've already got another one of these and a GT-AC5300 so I was going to use this one as another mesh node in one of our outbuildings.
i enjoy your videos .. im a engineer 30+ years but love to watch others fix items, still gives me a buzz getting things working,
Thanks so much 👍🙂
Same here (Ex Sony Engineer) ...i'm in a different field now(Aerospace)...but still gives me a buzz when you find the fault and the item springs into life..!
I can see where a microscope certainly comes in handy for the small stuff, the blown chip was a good catch without it. SMDs are my Achilles heel, I've lost more to the floor than actually installed I think. A hot air tool would be my undoing. Great fix bro and probably a really good deal. Thanks for the video and the work, see ya soon.
Cheers Terry 👍I used to have really good eyesight but the last few years I'm increasingly dependent on glasses now especially for close up stuff (old age I guess). But even then, stuff is that small now you definitely need a microscope!
5:24. Yes that is indeed a serial port and jtag for testing purpose. Although lots of smart hackery people use those to install alternative firmware on it and its also often the serial port giving access to the bootloader and linux terminal which some people love to mess with (incl me). Some install openwrt firmware on it via the serial port giving full control over the router (because its now your firmware and router) instead of the oem/isp having the control over their oem firmware.
Btw nice fix Mick!
Remember this is the guy who took a ultrasound baby scanner, fixed it then played Doom on it. LOL ! :)
Cheers 👍Yes I've done stuff like that previously with a range of devices. I've even cross compiled and wrote my own drivers for things and ported doom to a few devices such as the LeapTV back in the day.
@@BuyitFixit that could be a series ! " can I make it play Doom" LOL :)
I own this model of router. It readily accepts third party firmware without resorting to using the JTAG pins. Mine runs the MerlinWRT firmware.
Great video Mick, love the scope work 👌
Cheers Vince👍Yeah my views seem to be a bit down over the last 3 or 4 videos for some reason.. bloody TH-cam 😂
Another piece saved from the bin . I’m jealous of your scope skills . I need to spend some time learning how to use an oscilloscope properly. Well done sir !
Thanks 👍."I need to spend some time learning how to use an oscilloscope properly" - me too 😂😂😂😂
Always amazed by your trouble shooting abilities.
Cheers 👍🙂
Damn! Those micro smd parts are difficult to r&r! Nice work, Mick. Thanks for bringing us along.
Cheers Mikey👍
Well done, Mick. Another string to your bow. Fixer of Modems/Routers. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers Brian 👍🙂
Well, that’s unfortunate. I was waiting for a cooking tutorial. Great fix sir 👏🏻
That IC sure was cooked
Yum, air fried chips... 🍟🍟🤣🤣
😂😂😂Well you got cooked chips to go with your pizza 🍕🙂👍
@@BuyitFixit go with the pizza? Go with the pizza? Na, just put the chips in the pizza, roll it up and have a pizza/chip buddy hybrid... Yum 😋😋🤣🤣🤣🤣
3mm: so tiny. Well done again.
Cheers 👍
I love it when you use the scope! As i am trying so hard to understand how to use one of those. Superb.
Thanks 👍🙂
Watching with interest. I own one of this model router. Quite a nice one and not at all a cheap model. Well worth fixing.
Thanks 👍🙂
I do like watching you work it's brilliant
Thanks George 👍🙂
Nice job again.
The ringing on the inductor you saw is mainly down to the fact you did not have a short scope probe earth.
Thanks 👍I thought that waveform was normal from the inductor / capacitor oscillating? I might try it sometime using the earth on the probe I'm using to see if the ringing goes away.
27:55 "Bellowing pic"! With a router it's usually the user who's bellowing. Great fix!
Thanks 👍
Great I love when there is routers or access points Asus or Tp-link as well as IPC Hikvision or Dahua ip cams fixed. More routers and ip cameras fixes please.
I've bought a Hikvision 16CH DVR which was for spares or repair so I'll be having a look at that when I get time.
Very good. Two, four and a half of a one, finally, an electronics channel which makes sense. A trick which may help is to use paste for the pad underneath ICs.
Thanks Ralph 👍🙂
A good job, after seeing a strong WiFi signal from it I'd probably have stopped there and handed it back to the owner for a test so as to avoid any grief on their part setting it all up again.
I'll have to get myself a hot air tool and try some of those surface mount chips.
As for your troubles tinning the pads, warming the whole board up a fair bit does help with those ground planes sucking all your iron's heat. Sometimes low-tech tools like a hair dryer can come in handy
Thanks Paul 👍I am the new owner 😂😂 I think it could have been the heatsink on the other side of the board soaking the heat away as it was rather hot afterwards.
Mercy .. I cant get my hands to do that small work anymore .. nice fix ..
Thanks 👍Yes I had a little bit of a struggle with this one, got there in the end though 🙂
Excellent work, as always.
"We can rebuild it. We have the technology. We can make it better than it was. Better, stronger, faster." 🎶da da da da, da da da da, da da da da...🎶🎶 Boooooooing...🤣🤣
😂😂😂Cheers mate 👍
Today, he would be the 6 billion dollar non binary.
@@bills6946 🤣🤣🤣🤣 so true.
I'm always learning something new from your videos 😁
Btw why did you not use solder paste for that micro smd component, I've seen people use that for smd components in smartphones
Thanks 👍I've not really used solder paste before, I might get some and give it a try sometime.
Nice fix. From my time watching TheCod3r, he often pre-tins the pads of QFNs, as they don't consistently wet solder when placing them straight on the board. Might try pre-heating the region as well if it's giving your iron some trouble.
Thanks 👍I think it was the large heatsink on the other side soaking all the heat up. After I fitted the chip it was quite hot!
Another excellent repair, well done! BTW, how do you like that Hantek scope? I have been meaning to get an oscilloscope for home use.
Thanks 👍Seems to work fine, the only thing I wish it had at times is protocol decoding for things like serial or i2c, so perhaps a Rigol scope may have been a better choice.
And another very good job done. All for under a fiver.
Cheers 👍🙂
Great job on replacing that IC. What a pain! 👍
Cheers 👍Yes this one did cause me a bit of grief! 😂😂😂😂
Simply amazing. Great fix, Mick :)
Cheers 🙂👍
I have struggled to solder ICs with that kind of package. You'd think they would snap in place, but perhaps it's because of the big pad on the bottom. More flux would seem to be the ticket, but it did not help me. Also having too much solder on the pins and pad will cause bridges that are hard to clear. I've thought of completely cleaning the solder off and using paste instead next time.
I've done these types of IC before on a power bank and on a Milwaukee brushless multitool on here, not really had too many issues. I think it was the heatsink on the other side drawing heat away also this IC was smaller than the other ICs I replaced in the other items.
That chip was a stubborn little so and so... well done mate
Cheers 👍Yes it was 😂
What a guy!! many thanks.
Thanks too 👍🙂
I feel your pain with that tiny chip. I'm looking at a soundbar just now with an MP1658 that's gone, it's about the size of an SMD capacitor but with six legs... I can see the air turning blue when they show up from China 😂
I've worked out that it's a 5v supply though, so if I can't get it soldered in I'm just going to bodge in a 7805 and be done with it!
Beware that an 7805 only has half the current capacity of the MP1658 if the soundbar actually needs the full 3A the MP1658 can deliver.
Assuming a 12V input supply you'd also have to deal with up to 21W of heat dissipation with the 7805 and your input supply would also need to be beefed up to deliver the extra power wasted by the linear regulator.
@@oliverer3 Yeah all fair points, perhaps one of those LM2596 switching modules would be a better idea. I don't think it needs the full 3A though as it's only supplying the BT chip, the microcontroller and the DAC (the latter two via an AMS1117 3.3v).
I'll most likely test the whole thing with a lab psu to begin with so I'll know what power it'll consume - I'd estimate a watt or two tops excluding the chip amp (which is fed directly from the 12v supply).
But hopefully my soldering skills are better than I'm assuming!
As an aside, it never ceases to amaze me how these tiny little devices can handle such high power... this thing isn't much bigger than a few grains of sand yet can apparently push through 48W (16V at 3A)! I suppose it's little more than an intelligent switch but still...
@jasejj smaller type dc-dc buck converter.. lm2596 tends to be on the noisier side for audo applications in my experience, not sure why because it's supposed to switch above the hearing range. You can get a smaller working regulator set if the frequency is higher, like 1mhz
I've done similar IC's before, but SOT-23-5. Not sure if this one is smaller. Good luck and hopefully you can repair it!
It's always such a great afternoon, when @BuyitFixit upload a video :D Nice fix as always Sir! Have a tremendous weekend
Thank you 👍Hope you have a great weekend too!
Great video again. Thanks! May I ask what temperature you used to desolder/solder the small chip?
Thanks 👍I think it was being cooked at 450C for 18 minutes until golden brown 😂😂
They’re good routers - it has a 2.5Gbe WAN port.
I use one and think it’s pretty good.
Nice 👍.I bought this one to extend my network. I've already got one of them and a slightly different model connected to a GT-AC5300 which is my main router.
Tin the ic before install if you can. One less issue to fight getting it replaced
Thanks for that👍. I had thought about it, but I've fitted a few of similar IC's in power banks and in a Milwaukee multi tool and they were fine. I'm not sure if it was the heat sink on the other side of the board absorbing a lot of the heat.
@@BuyitFixit some ICs seems to be oxidized from the factory or during transit or something. I’ve just made a habit of tinning them all to avoid the hassle. 🤷🏻♀️
Great repair btw. Fun watch!
@@CB_agotchi Thanks 👍
Great fixed as always 👍.
Thanks 🙂👍
Man that was fiddly 😂 And still the undefeated world champion of fix it 💪🎉🤘👍
😂😂Yes it was a bit fiddly that one. Cheers 🙂👍
Love watching your videos as always, they're brilliant! Although.. 'Ayye-C' 😆 Shouldn't that be why-aye-C for a Geordie lad? 😂😉
Thanks 👍😂😂😂😂😂
I never knew one side of an inductor can't be read with a multimeter. Good to know. Thanks.
Well, you can't read the value of it directly, but you can see if it has continuity although it could be shorted internally.
great job! fyi: open command window - type ‘ipconfig -a’ will then show you gateway (ip of router and other info)….have you tried solder paste for ic pads, rather than tinning them?
Thanks! Yes forgot about ipconfig, I've used it loads in the past too! I've not tried solder paste before I might give it a try sometime 🙂
@@BuyitFixit admittedly I haven’t tried it on such small 3mm ICs but being fat fingered it worked better for me on micro processors and their regulators, be interested to know how you find it if you try….
This QFN IC has obvious oxidation in its pads (most of the ICs coming from China have this issue due to poor storage/handling/packaging). That's why it was so difficult to set in place. You should tin the pads before you solder.
Thanks for that. I wasn't sure about tinning it first. I did spray contact cleaner on it and rubbed it on some paper to clean the contacts and added flux to the bottom. I thought that should be enough. The heat sink which spanned the board on the other side was rather hot so not sure if it was that soaking up the heat.
Great fix, thanks Mick 😀
Cheers Mike 👍
Hello. All your videos are great, as the sign says you can fix anything. I have a Xbox controller that self combusted!!. It was lay on the couch and fortunately it was spotted but only after a plume of acrid smoke emitted from it. The 2 batteries were the standard Duracell AA and were not fresh so perhaps giving out less than 3 volts. It seems impossible this could happen, are you interested in seeing how 3 volts could set something smouldering.
Thanks 👍That seems very odd. I've never came across anything like that before. I was thinking it was the rechargeable battery pack perhaps before I read the AAs being installed. If you like drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com
I struggle with those VQFN packages. I have designed a few boards with chips in those packages, but I think in all cases I have gone back to TQFP to make my life easier.
Yes they are a bit of a pain. I've fitted a couple before I think one was a motor driver in a Milwaukee brushless multi-tool and the other was one of the power banks I repaired.
Adding some thermal pad over that IC would probably be a good idea.
Thanks for that👍. I'm not sure how hot the IC gets under normal operation. I thought it had a pad on the aluminium heatsink but looking back on the video the pad is slightly higher and to the right of the IC.
You could use the serial port to flash DDWRT firmware onto that and then you will have a ton of features and a fast access point. I used to do this all the time until Unifi come along and made me lazy!
Yes, I flashed DDWRT on my old ADSL router which was a Plusnet (BT home hub 4). I've already got one of these routers already along with another model and a GT-AC5300 as my main router all meshed up with ethernet cables as we have quite a large house with outbuildings too.
There is no need to use the port to install third party firmware. You can just download it to the router via the management screen. This model readily accepts DDWRT or MerlinWRT and probably others. All via the IP interface. I suppose you could hack around and use JTAG but it would be purely an exercise for fun rather than required.
Thanks for sharing 👍
Good eye
Thanks 👍
Great job, mate.👌👌
Cheers Mate 👍🙂
Lucky it was just a supply chip. Network gear I usually deal with almost always has a blown up main chip of some sort, usually a PHY, hub or controller. Getting replacements of those costs more than the device is worth in many cases.
Interesting. I've not looked at much network gear. I recently bought a Starlink router to have a go at...
Sir, what do you use for your hot air? The link you show for "Aixun T3A Soldering Station" does not work from here in the states.
Sorry about that. The hot air station I'm using now is an Atten ST-862D (I bought it used from eBay).
I've been meaning to ask, were you an engineer for many years or is this all just home grown knowledge?
All pretty much home grown knowledge or things I've picked up over the years. I've always been interested in computers and electronics since I was a kid, some stuff still baffles me.. which is why I put in the video description I'm no expert but I do enjoy fixing things 🙂
@@BuyitFixitSame for me. As a 12-year-old, I took things apart and sometimes couldn't put them back together. But I always wanted to know how things work
That sounds pretty much what I used to do too 😂😂😂😂
Same with me I’m auto mechanic by profession and i love fixing electronics devices too🎉
It's the same here. My boyfriend, Wayne, started out by taking his Christmas presents apart on Boxing Day, much to the horror of his mum and dad. But he did not mean to be destructive, but wasn't happy to know that it worked, but wanted to know WHY it worked.
Then, he learned how to put it all back together. That became taking it apart, repairing it, then putting it back together while reading about electronic and mechanical theory.
Passed exams, but sadly, doesn't have much in the way of test equipment. Stuff we just cannot afford.BUT HE WORKS SAFELY, AND WILL NEVER COMPROMISE ON COMPONENT REPLACEMENT, OR REPAIR.
Do you ever change the temp of your iron when you are dealing with a large pad? I think I saw before you keep it around 300?
I do, although it's usually when I remember that I can! I've been that used to an Antex iron for years I keep forgetting I can turn this one up 😂😂
I have a quick question for you. What do you use for unsolderable surfaces when you can get the solder to stick to things like batteries. I don't see that in your list of things you use my friend.
The only time I've came across that was on some Aluminium fuses, but I managed to get some Aluminium flux from Aliexpress which seems to work. If it's not Aluminium I just usually scrape or grind it back until it's shiny and add plenty of flux. Not sure if that is helpful or not?
Lol.....I was the third bidder and forgot about it, good fix😋
😂😂😂Thanks 👍
Asus routers have a reputation of having cold solder joints sometimes, on the ground circuit so u need a decent soldering iron to fix due to high thermal mass.
Thanks for that. I think I should have perhaps removed the heatsink on the other side of the board as it seemed to be quite hot after I replaced the IC. It must have been soaking up a fair bit of heat.
Nice fix.
Thanks Steve 👍
21:15. As someone who used to fix ASICs and work with tinny tinnyyyy components i know that feeling 🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Job well done. Thums up. "I'll turn the light back on... Watch your eyes..." So overly polite. Just like Big Clive again :D
Thanks 👍🙂
these are great routers look in to flashing merlin firmware on it i have that exact model and using merlin you can run a system wide adblocker and do lots of other usefull things that the deafult firmware cant
Thanks 👍I did flash DDWRT onto another router I used to use a few years back. I've already got another one of these routers and a GT-AC5300 which is the main one and I was after another as another mesh node for one of the outbuildings. I've already got a Raspberry Pi running Pi-hole for adblocking 😉
QFN chips can be a pain to solder. Some just solder on, but some just fight you like they don't want to be there, even after tinning them
Yes, this one was a bit of a pain, I did one on a Milwaukee brushless Multi-tool and that one went on straight away, also I think a couple of the power banks I repaired had them too. I think it was the heatsink on the back of the board soaking up the heat. Perhaps I should have removed that and it might have been easier.
hey i am happy for you but for all the equipment you used to find the problem its easier to buy another!
While there's a lot of truth in that, the ethos of the channel is to help people who wish to repair their items. We live in such a throw away society now 😢
good job!!!
Thanks 👍
I would like one
I've now got two now. I use them as "extenders" as part of the mesh network as we've got outbuildings. They are connected to a GT-AC5300 which is my main router.
Awesome !....cheers.
Cheers Andymouse 👍
This is a good example of why you need a microscope to zoom in real close and an oscilloscope when doing fault finding. Multimeters are to slow for some circuits and Fluke is probably the best brand there is when it comes to multimeters.
Thanks 👍Yes I've always liked Fluke meters. I need to wear glasses now for anything closer than arms length, and with things being so small a microscope is definitely needed!
Mick is there any end to your talents? Making great looking Pizza and repairing routers 😊
Cheers Gary 👍I thought we needed some chips to go with the pizza 🍕🍕😂😂😂😂😂
@@BuyitFixit lol 😂
Cmon Mick, it's not a pry tool, it's a spudger. LOL Cheers
😂😂😂😂👍
One fear I have is plugging my oscilloscope in to more than 5vdc for fear of killing a $700.00 machine. Have you any news on the intercom? Also, do you ever use Digiikey for components?
They are designed for that mate :) Well hopefully they are anyway. I had done my back in hence the late reply. I'm planning on having a look at it tomorrow. Those trace repairs I ordered came but they are bloody tiny! and far too small for that. I've used Digikey a few times. I prefer them to Mouser.
Now it's working again do you get anything from the serial port header?
I totally forgot to try. I'd imagine it would as doing a quick search mentions a CFE prompt which you can use to flash it with different FW.
here's a tip for you, - When you need to see the lettering on a chip that is hard to see Just take a sharpy ink pen black in color and the ink will highlight the lettering.
Thanks for the tip 👍
I am experiencing issues with my ASUS RT-AX86U Pro. The 5GHz radio does not work at all. The 5GHz LED remains off, even though the 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi LEDs should illuminate when the router is powered on. It appears that the WiFi 5GHz chip (Broadcom BCM43684) is not working. Can it be fixed by replacing the chip?
How do you know the chip is not working? Does it get hot or something? I'd probably pull up a datasheet for it, and check you are getting the correct voltages to it first, and any clocks / Xtal pins. If all those are correct and present then I'd probably suspect the chip.
No pizza today - what a pity. I am already afraid as my FritzBox is making some squeaky noise - condensors ?!
Perhaps there's a tiny mouse inside? ;-)
Depends on what you mean by squeaky noise.
A high pitched whine could be coil whine or a capacitor resonating. This is usually not a sign of something being damaged but just that silence wasn't a concern during the design stage or cheaper parts where chosen that couldn't run with switching frequencies outside the human hearing range.
It can be caused by the power supply being overloaded or running at close to its max capacity which in theory could be because of leaky capacitors but I'd consider that unlikely if the device isn't old or it's been dropped from a height significant enough to crack a ceramic cap.
No pizza, just air fried chips 👍😂😂😂😂 Could be capacitors or switching noise from one of the inductors?
How many wooly bar bars do you have?
Around 80 or so at the moment (including this years lambs).
If you ever wanna find the ip to the router and it’s not on the router. Just open cmd and type ipconfig. The gateway of that on a home router is always the router ip
Thanks John, yes totally forgot about ipconfig, and it's one of the things I used to use regular, same as tracert, ping etc 😂😂😂👍
I have a hickvision dvr that needs to be repaired. Is this something that you you would do?
What's wrong with it? you can drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com
I see someone using the Rossman technique of installing QFNs
what do you use for your oscillocope
It's a Hantek DSO5102P. The only thing I wish it had was protocol decoding like the RIGOL scopes
@@BuyitFixit im thinking on getting one but would love to see more videos on how to use one and what can be dun with it
I have tried repairing one of these, but unfortunately one of the radio ICs had a similar faith like your IC, and I couldn't find that IC available anywhere.
Pity, yes sometimes obtaining parts is a bit of an issue 🙁
👍👍
👍🙂
"took it to local repair guy" = I took it apart and had a poke around but it still didn't work. 🤣
👍Yes my thoughts exactly 😂😂😂😂
How can you get a item looked at by yourself
Drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com and I'll see what I can do.
Hello, is there chance that you could measure and tell me value of resistor which is in middle of screen at 22:35 (horizontal one), I blew it away with hot air sadly.
Is that the one just above the IC? if so, it goes to between pin 10 and 11. I'd have to take it apart to check it, but the datasheet (search MT3125 datasheet) says its a 10 ohm resistor . Hope that helps.
Thank you for answer. Not this one, right horizontal one. I guess it is feedback resistor. Sadly full datasheet is not available for public, so can't calculate value of resistor for 1v0 output
Just follow the bellowing pic! 27:44
😂😂😂😂I didn't spot that!
Did you happen to test the 2.4Ghz radio? It didn't pop up when you first reset it, only the 5Ghz showed up.
No, totally forgot about that!
I have the same problem! Just disassembled it and the exact same component has a similar white pimple ont it... would you be able to charge me a repair if I ship it to you?
Drop me an email at the channels name at out look dot com and I'll try to help.
25:08 Hum...would it show something on AC, though?
I didn't try that, but it would have been DC being switched at 1.2Mhz so I doubt it would.
@@BuyitFixit On some meters, AC shows the ripple of a DC supply. I'm wondering if you could have seen like half a volt RMS or something.
@NicksStuff possibly, I'll have to try it sometime if I remember 👍
My router died recently --- my ISP had me do tests over the phone --- then ordered me a new one.
But we were still 4 days without internet.
Might be an idea to pick a spare one up from a car boot sale or such. I always like to have things as a backup, especially where we live. Probably the reason why I've got backup generators etc as we've been without electricity for over a week before.
Hi there can you please tune up your Mic in the next Videos please love your work ang how you fix them problems Re:
Tune up?
@22:54 - That board is kind of sus in my opinion. It didn't want to take solder no way, no how.
I think it was the small tip on my iron not giving enough heat, reason why I switched to the larger tip as it gives more thermal mass.
I have a shaky hands to and i welded 4 stopper act like finger on each side so that the ic will not move after centering it on the track😅😅😅
😂😂😂👍
I don't understand how people can destroy devices as they do (in this case the cable on the power supply)?
I have receivers, speakers, routers, tools, keyboards, etc, etc that are 15+ years old that look as they were new ...
Yes, although I think my wife or one of the kids did run over my laptop wire while vacuuming so I guess it's easily done.
It's rou ter, a rooter is something that lives with chickens 😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
While i appreciate oscilloscopes have their advantages, ive found 95% of the time i just use my multimeter. My oscilloscope gets pulled out only few times a year 😮 And its a siglent damn expensive bugger
I have a cheap little pocket oscilloscope. Works surprisingly well, just one channel, but lots of functions and touch control. That's more than enough for occasional signal debugging where a multimeter doesn't cut it.
Sometimes I wish I had a big fancy one, but for hobby use I don't want to spend a few hundreds.
Same, little DSO made from chinesium. Don't need it usually, but an old school VCR at the repair cafe a few months ago? Invaluable. Here's the front and back porch, the analogue output looks fine. Either your new TV doesn't recognise analogue composite signals, or your scart cable at home is dodgy.
Bless her, she came in the next month to say it was the cable all along. Not exactly a fix, but a satisfying win all the same.
Yes I use the meter a fair bit, thought it might make a change using the scope. I know people like seeing the scope being used, but as you say 95% of the time I use my meter👍
"Probably an easy fix" They always say that, don't they?
Yep, or "it's probably just a fuse.." 😂😂😂
Networking isn’t my thing..I can’t make a working router work let alone attempting to repair a broken one! 😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂😂Yes, it can be tricky. I've actually got one of these already.. my network is like this.. Starlink which feeds into an ASUS GT AC5300 with a raspberry pi running pi-hole as an adblocker, then another cable goes to an RT-AC86U in the kitchen, then another cable goes over to the barn where I've got another Asus router, and two outdoor access points, a POE switch running some IP cameras. You should have seem tech support trying to work all of this out when I had 4G and had issues with their signal and they tell me to reboot my router. I'm like "which one? I've got about 4 connected.." 😂😂😂
@@BuyitFixit My days!! That’s mental 🤣🤣🤣 I thought I had it hard hats off to you mate ! That’s quality 👍
@@BuyitFixit Actually I’ll briefly explain just to highlight my issue. I had fibre optic with sky. Switched from sky to Talk Talk on their fibre optic plan at the time. However Talk Talks fibre optic plan didn’t use fibre optic at all! When the phone disputes finally ended up in an engineer coming round to fix the connection issue..he hooked it up to the old phone line..pointed at the newer (fibre optic) installation and literally said “I don’t know what your going to do with that” 🤣. I had to blag it on the phone for hours to finally get a new router that was actually fibre optic compatible. The amount of people paying for something they aren’t getting is probably scary numbers from that experience I had!. I spent hours on the phone that week! 🤣🤣
Yup... that's why one buys more than one replacement chip. Going blind watching that micro repair.
😂😂😂👍Yes was quite small that IC!
Better than factory! Lol
😂😂😂😂👍
I am still smelling Pizza😂😂
😂😂😂😂🍕🍕👍
an asus gaming router oh hell itll be so "default" overclocked it needs an asus gaming fire extinguisher
throw the turd straight in the bin
😂😂😂I've got one of those already, another model and a GT-AC5300 as my main router.. Happy to report no fires as yet🤞
I guess the sheep must be asleep now.....
Yes 😂😂😂I usually try to record when it's dark partly because of noise from animals etc.
Board level fault finding at its finest. That model of modem/router will allow you to tether your 4G/5G iPhone or android if your landline goes down. More jokes & scopes please.
Thanks 👍5G? that would be a thing where we live... There is only one 4G provider in our area and one mast, which is over-subscribed now (as I've just left them), all the other providers here are 2G. I've just had to install a Starlink system as the 4G was unusable from 5PM - 11PM. I've already got another one of these and a GT-AC5300 so I was going to use this one as another mesh node in one of our outbuildings.