• Something solderered itself off?
    22 replies, posted
Right now, I am on my mom's computer, and previously I was on my computer. To the point: On my previous computer, I'm used to the parts getting hot, and nothing ever happens. But, today, as I'm playing TF2 with my new strange SMG, My computer turns off randomly and I hear something drop. This freaked me out a little. So, I look in there with a flashlight, I look at the bottom of the casing, and I find this:(sorry for crappy quality it was with my phone)[IMG]http://i43.tinypic.com/xoidyq.jpg[/IMG] I am guessing the mobo got so hot that the solder somehow undid itself and this came off. Now, I am asking, 1) How screwed am I? 2) What is it? 3) Is there any way to fix this? Thank you for feedback and reading this problem. Sincelery, DustySheep.
once again, probably gonna need a new motherboard. could be wrong, but i think those things cant exactly be put back on. it probably caused some damage when it got un-solderered. now the thing that is confusing me is that it didn't shut itself off before it got that hot.
It is a very, very old mobo. Only 4 slots for RAM, and I think you can find the specs on it on page 10 of post your deskstop. One of those pages.
Can you see where it came off? Because components should have gotten really really hot for something to desolder like that. I cant imagine that happening whitout other parts crapping out first. Operating temperatures for these things are usually around 100c max while the solder used probably melts at 200-450. So there is a good chance that it is fucked if it actually desoldered itself. [editline]20th March 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=DustySheep;35213364]It is a very, very old mobo. Only 4 slots for RAM, and I think you can find the specs on it on page 10 of post your deskstop. One of those pages.[/QUOTE] ? What use would we have for a pagenumber?
Well It came off in a spot below my graphics card. Also, a pagenumber to find my computer faster.
[QUOTE=DustySheep;35213611]Well It came off in a spot below my graphics card. Also, a pagenumber to find my computer faster.[/QUOTE] Faster on what? Do we have your pc manual at home or something? Well either buy a new mobo or solder it back on then. The second option requires some gear and experience though.
It's just a capacitor, bring it to any competent tinkerer and he'd be able to fix it in 10 minutes.
Solder isn't going to melt at 100c, and even if your computer got hot enough to melt it, your desk would probably start burning and/or burst into flames.
[QUOTE=ZestyLemons;35213999]Solder isn't going to melt at 100c, and even if your computer got hot enough to melt it, your desk would probably start burning and/or burst into flames.[/QUOTE] solder will contract if the temperature fluctuates enough. if the ambient temperature is low but the computer runs hot then it's pretty likely that the the solder just contracted too much after too many power cycles
older lead based solder can also crack if heated/cooled too quickly.
You can start by taking clear pictures of both the top and back side
That's an aluminum polymer SMD capacitor. Almost all motherboards use through-hole capacitors, so it's probably not off the motherboard. Many modern cards use banks of SMD capacitors like that one, it probably came off your video card. SMD and BGA mounted devices have bad problems with the solder connections cracking from non-uniform stresses due to uneven heating of the IC. Chips like the GPU will have different parts of the chip heated at different temperatures and cause groups of leads to expand one direction and contract another, causing fracturing. SMD capacitors can have the same issue happen if the PCB is stressed, or if the capacitor wasn't soldered on properly. You could try and solder the capacitor back on, [U]BUT[/U] make sure you observe proper polarity or the second you apply power to the capacitor, it will explode. [QUOTE=krazipanda;35214226]older lead based solder can also crack if heated/cooled too quickly.[/QUOTE] All solder is subject to structural failure because all metals have breaking points from stress. Cracked solder joints from stress is the same as bending a paper clip back and forth until it breaks.
[QUOTE=ZestyLemons;35213999]Solder isn't going to melt at 100c, and even if your computer got hot enough to melt it, your desk would probably start burning and/or burst into flames.[/QUOTE] That won't happen unless was hard soldered on there, and I doubt that a computer can get temperatures up to 800 Fahrenheit. It takes paper to burn at 451 F (great book by the way), so what temperature do you think a part wood part metal would light up hmm?
[QUOTE=Al Bundy;35223909]That won't happen unless was hard soldered on there,[/QUOTE] What the hell is "hard solder"? solder is solder. [QUOTE=Al Bundy;35223909]and I doubt that a computer can get temperatures up to 800 Fahrenheit. It takes paper to burn at 451 F (great book by the way), so what temperature do you think a part wood part metal would light up hmm?[/QUOTE] An entire PC can't reach those temperatures, but specific parts inside the PC can fail in such a way that they heat up to levels where they glow orange. I've seen one such occurrence where a GPU on a dual head ATI card started glowing orange, then white because someone soldered the wrong component back on the card after it broke off. After pulling the card out, the GPU surface was deformed and had silicon bubbles in it.
bohb was right, it was off of my card. My dad and I soldered it back on, but still didn't work. So I had to downgrade hack to a 6200. So we're just gonna solder to back off, clean it up a little, and get the 1-year warrant on it. Thank you people for helping.
[QUOTE=DustySheep;35293620]bohb was right, it was off of my card. My dad and I soldered it back on, but still didn't work. So I had to downgrade hack to a 6200. So we're just gonna solder to back off, clean it up a little, and get the 1-year warrant on it. Thank you people for helping.[/QUOTE] Did he observe correct polarity? If the capacitor was soldered on backwards it won't work. The capacitor could also be bad. For reference, the blue/green mark on the top of the capacitor is the negative side. The pads under the capacitor are usually marked to which hole is negative. The negative side is usually colored white, while the positive side has no markings. If the card manufacturer doesn't honor the warranty, you can buy new polymer capacitors on [url]www.mouser.com[/url]
[QUOTE=DustySheep;35293620]bohb was right, it was off of my card. [B]My dad and I soldered it back on[/B], but still didn't work. So I had to downgrade hack to a 6200. So we're just gonna solder to back off, clean it up a little, and get the 1-year warrant on it. Thank you people for helping.[/QUOTE] If it took two people to solder one tiny capacitor, then chances are it wasn't done right
[QUOTE=Thunderbolt;35294317]If it took two people to solder one tiny capacitor, then chances are it wasn't done right[/QUOTE] SMD capacitors are a pain in the ass to solder with just a soldering iron. Having someone hold it in place while soldering is much easier than using tape or a clamp which can cause damage.
[QUOTE=bohb;35294732]SMD capacitors are a pain in the ass to solder with just a soldering iron. Having someone hold it in place while soldering is much easier than using tape or a clamp which can cause damage.[/QUOTE] I just use a little dot of blu tack
[QUOTE=ButtsexV3;35295130]I just use a little dot of blu tack[/QUOTE] Same here, for bigger SMD components. I use the "tack and reflow" method overall, usually.
I just prefer not to have foreign substances lodged under components that could potentially cause problems later on (eating away at board, liquefying and causing shorts, crystallizing and causing other problems.)
I don't typically work with anything that creates enough heat to melt blu tack. it's not electrically conductive, by the way. don't worry about it causing shorts.
We figured out the warranty is 90 days, I've had this for more than 3 months, so I'll just have to stick with this 6200, or maybe buy a capacitor from mouser.com.
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