http://www.freelancetech.info/services daily 1.0 2025-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1581331737000-PL9C6G9I4YDQJLICTI1Q/mainpic1.jpg Computer repairs Liquid damage repair? no problem https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1581331729528-ZDWI1BMF8ALP4B7JYVA5/mainpic2.jpg Computer repairs Does your laptop need a good cleanout? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1581331775890-K651AOVZI7PXJ6XC3WXN/mainpic4.jpg Computer repairs One drop of liquid made it through the keyboard on this laptop and landed right on a power management chip required for the machine to power on, it was fine after the corrosion was resolved. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1581331771821-T2DBMFLVO8ZL1F307Y0Q/mainpic3.jpg Computer repairs Does your PC deserve a good clean out? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1571247482974-HAOLJ30MAK4Z4DRR3RXI/Untitled12121.jpg Computer repairs - PLA + wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1571247398933-U9IOMDMBIRDMQAWFC7MX/Untitled121.jpg Computer repairs - PLA + Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1571247456959-GTHZGZZMVCYBB0O9FRGX/Untitled1212.jpg Computer repairs - PLA + Wood https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1574436997991-AWXHR50ETX0WMXJF903Y/ASA.jpg Computer repairs - ASA Functional hose fitting https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1574437005247-G6AF39ZBN1FZAHA1D276/ABS.jpg Computer repairs - ABS Articulated model https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1574515977467-OY9WJ3G7YI69ETHRPFJH/ABS2.jpg Computer repairs - ABS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1567073635584-UAPPK325XH27AWY6MP40/20160906_035634_2.jpg Computer repairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579432442537-AA2R1IONMQVFWBQVS40N/20191230_100709half.jpg Computer repairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1581333530077-U6PP2AYPCB2ISW6X1YRD/consoles+banner+inverted.jpg Computer repairs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1581334872502-HFN764L4B83K8IXP5EWO/Untitled8half.jpg Computer repairs http://www.freelancetech.info/blog daily 0.75 2025-10-05 http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2025/10/5/playstation-hdmi-repair monthly 0.5 2025-10-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/0429260b-ffe8-446e-9582-8f0f64526911/1.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair - Make it stand out Pretty sure I never got paid for this one so I’ll make this an advert: if you want to buy just the HDMI port and mess it up trying to do it yourself I’ll sell you whatever port you want for 1 million dollars https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761401696799-1KJ9BV4AE42D0HWBM0E1/1.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761401738596-4A1Z3KLEHTP1XVIU6DJT/2.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761401827273-HJUSZYQD3IUWNZCOUM3V/3.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761401873448-S5L9LKDT3ZD6MZKMQANW/4.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761403609645-M591HTBHUDG2OIV096AM/1.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761403608088-FFG0Q5YBZ3PPGQF40GOJ/2.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761403630810-E8SNQ0NZO8239XRHBBX6/3.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761400676928-H0SI8OK98QRGEX3JTBMC/1.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761400917893-S9KIBHQTH3GG4DI0GL6B/3.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761400701342-6DV7NHG5P0N6P0EN0FQO/2.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1761400938271-JRX84J430GPODUAWT90G/4.png Freelance Tech Blog - Playstation HDMI repair http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2025/8/27/macbook-pro-a2338-not-charging-battery monthly 0.5 2025-08-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/fe41e6d9-50f2-44e1-9651-8e07c2da698b/Untitled3.png Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Pro A2338 Not charging battery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/18eca6d9-1ca0-43fd-a2b9-560c5c45fa4e/Untitled5.png Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Pro A2338 Not charging battery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/2091fd9d-db5a-4a03-9806-e717a2e94679/Untitled4.png Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Pro A2338 Not charging battery - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2025/4/28/bad-cables-macbook-pro-13-and-15-2016-2019-flexgate-issue monthly 0.5 2025-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1745837017254-L2OI01YGBCVL5EREIQG1/Untitled.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Cables - Macbook Pro 13" and 15" 2016-2019 Flexgate issue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1745837353520-IHN658MPXRGJ1K89GFWN/Untitled2.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Cables - Macbook Pro 13" and 15" 2016-2019 Flexgate issue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1745837393478-8UY3HM0YH2VMLEAAZBG0/Untitled3.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Cables - Macbook Pro 13" and 15" 2016-2019 Flexgate issue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1745837441336-9RJCL3MQFZ2EK1B4ZZBY/Untitled4.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Cables - Macbook Pro 13" and 15" 2016-2019 Flexgate issue http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2025/4/17/bad-diodes-bose-bass-module monthly 0.5 2025-04-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1744883672239-BV1BH74TZP86OPBI2XU6/Untitled.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Diodes - Bose Bass Module https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1744883691670-XLG90910H8HLZT23LPYY/Untitled2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Diodes - Bose Bass Module http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2025/2/1/bad-capacitprs monthly 0.5 2025-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738396952744-J7LQEUKY6JBP410H5NN8/Untitled.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738398408944-VFGJ2FEJHP0UD6291MDC/Untitled.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738393096317-41QEQW4I1FG8D31C140J/20250123_023519.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738393112577-FUZ4SERKELDCHY7GGYLJ/20250123_023529.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738399405202-0KBUMDF1HT48K4I9P3GI/Untitled.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738399422196-2YWUWRIO69TMB9M32YNC/crazy+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738399480874-28XM2QNZKQ5X12ITHT2L/crazy+4_2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738392245918-8F926F8M6ZRFTA5EPP7Q/20240911_153533.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1738392297380-2KC53RRQ5VNUQJ062B00/Untitled.png Freelance Tech Blog - Bad Capacitors http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2024/2/7/xbox-series-x-no-power-but-power-supply-ok monthly 0.5 2024-02-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1707228439643-3LMZEFF0XEGODUD05EG0/thermal1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Xbox Series X - No power but power supply ok This is one of a few situations I’ve had that were a perfect example of the value of a thermal camera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1707228454494-F5A9DLZ373B20N1RPJZH/thermal+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Xbox Series X - No power but power supply ok Inject 1v and there is our prey over the far left of the board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1707228561116-DY29PLMEJ61NQO67VTWM/20240130_013116.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Xbox Series X - No power but power supply ok https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1707228618567-2IOTJRHYEZO85QFXJUU6/20240130_013124.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Xbox Series X - No power but power supply ok I was sure it was C7 but after destroying C7 turns out it was C6. Thermal camera isn’t perfect but you are going to directly hit the cause of the problem or the innocent bystander standing right next to it which is close enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1707230689759-SFMNYADUJRG5769HPB42/20240131_074833.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Xbox Series X - No power but power supply ok Done. That’s the end of the story, http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2022/9/30/panasonic-toughbook-fz-55-no-power monthly 0.5 2022-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/f062d63c-f83a-4cde-b24b-fdde2a9bd380/4+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1664537911463-ENV8VKLZPT6G0EB3THI1/20220304_150323.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1664537829053-GVSHJN133PX6I8WFDYPN/chassis+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1664537797470-EQRVACUMQ7NLRTM5ZFJW/20220304_150242.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/b76571a3-b755-4c6f-bc6f-2ff2f79d81fa/6+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/7593b406-35a8-44da-9f01-7f8779be2b07/9+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/b7035830-3d31-48b6-952a-3b8d606e71eb/3+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/cf46d11d-6721-43f1-8e70-9d4426e4bf96/8+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/d1029496-fcc9-421a-9cf5-c457f18861d7/7+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/b0d30fd0-8a86-421c-a95c-a350386d6598/10+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/f553f17f-2bea-4f26-a975-e9c056c9181a/1+beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Panasonic Toughbook FZ-55 no power - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2022/9/20/a1534-no-power-faulty-cd3215c00 monthly 0.5 2024-07-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1663677159764-O3CVHC6E8IUTARKN9WES/20211021_035456.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1534 no power, faulty CD3215C00 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1663677688249-CMD8U8XFNV5Z91PKMG08/20211212_171300.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1534 no power, faulty CD3215C00 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1663677702089-SP4EPJU0Z7KRRCA7WR56/20211212_182425.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1534 no power, faulty CD3215C00 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1663677715149-3318UO6X2I0OTME5E0BT/20220126_080956.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1534 no power, faulty CD3215C00 This little gremlin right here http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2021/8/14/gaming-pc-build-fail monthly 0.5 2022-09-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628886054002-4E8B09ZF2ZP10MR44AJD/8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins CPU and CPU socket damaged, NVMe slot damaged and components just below 1st RAM slot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628886031969-45SVZ9IPFGP4BBG9AE85/1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins as bad as these groups of pins were bend I was able to straighten them with a decent digital microscope and some fine tip tools, there were 4 clusters of bent pins like this https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628886028515-TUVXGF84TRCTCBY7C3DY/2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins some of the pins have a slight S shape bend in them, don’t worry about this as long as it is as straight as you can get it the socket will straighten it out when you close the clamp https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628886049020-0GNYHGORZ2G043KJCY5Z/3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins ahhh that was stressful, there is a fingerprint of that crappy white thermal paste in the middle of the CPU, wonder what they were doing there https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890193518-K6GPA2K6DS8ACDVWYUTB/9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins damage to CPU socket from pins getting mashed and bent, clean any flakes of plastic out of the holes and try to straighten any of the slots the CPU pins go into if any are bent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890185634-YAX5TXWAO429YXB50D6V/10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins another spot where a cluster of pins were bent against the socket. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890385436-MXV1PBBPP41BB5JBDGNC/beforeafter1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins these turned out to just be bent pins two on the far end that wouldn’t have been making contact and just needed to be straightened. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890403551-KDCA3XU7O6G1Y2IVFLBS/beforeafter2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins another before and after photo from a different angle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890250815-TL3MUK6NPEWUCPA10IAI/11.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins Chunk missing off corner of that IC, chunk missing off corner of that largest capacitor, resistor has one end broken off and smaller cap is broken off the board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890249740-12SZHDMNZ7ZWIOYXZSSR/12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890293609-0938M20XAHPOLI3AVORI/13.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins That IC is a generic drive IC that you can get directly from China for like $2 or $4 but would take a month to get here so for now we’re just going to hope it still works ok, that large cap can’t identify the value, it just measures as a resistor, I’ve put the values of the small resistor and small cap. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890303707-6R0CL40A5WYNJDYJJPE6/14.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890337881-5S531ECTZFBN16BS1GOK/15.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins small cap and resistor replaced, as for the large capacitor for the moment we’re just going to hope it is optional rather than try to put a replacement there if we are just guessing the correct value. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890336410-HPJ3JVMKM0JPNJ3K45WF/16.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins turns out system works, who say’s wishful thinking never works, before I tested it I discovered the Gskill RAM has missing pins from one of it’s RAM modules https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1628890366274-GWGFAIQAT87RDD7WWGSZ/17.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Ryzen AM4 bent CPU pins I don’t even know how this damage would happen, seriously how http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2021/5/3/a1932-no-power-liquid monthly 0.5 2024-07-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619967993264-EO89XJPWOZE5JFA3FHAI/20210312_2309002_2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage Small area of liquid damage on opposite side of the board that the USB type C ports connect to https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966106698-WYE6TT5M3YBRO73FL5FV/20210312_230951.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage The resistor at the top of the image and two at the very bottom of the image are the only corroded components but they are kind of important for the laptop to be able to accept power and charge the battery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966106343-FPK8B2HUQQ6NLWW2BFMY/20210312_231007.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage Little bit of goo just above the corroded resistors, no corrosion caused though, it was really painful carefully cleaning off that goo, it was really sticky https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966303436-A7O4K3ZXBGUOH5PGO9QB/20210322_005827.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage You can see where the bottom most resistor goes, the pad it solders to is half missing, there is enough there for the resistor to attach to luckily. Soldering a wire to bypass the missing pad wouldn’t be an option in this situation https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966302105-0AR22WAFP1YRZS42U149/20210329_000122.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage Those two are 15 Ohm resistors https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966383772-JQ38C4E62QNRP4PI35FS/20210329_000134.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage This one at the top was 100 Ohm and like I said in the description on this post, 3 resistors costs less than 5c, it’s not like the damage is some special unobtainable chip https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966381354-21Y7GWG71N78LKQNP7KV/20210329_035740.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage reassembled and ready to test. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966419872-0S3CHKL8ZZFZHUV5DJGT/Untitled.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage This is why soldering a wire to bypass the missing pad wouldn’t be an option, that pad goes directly through the board to the thunderbolt chip, nowhere else you could attach a wire to, you would probably have better luck digging a hole through the board to the other side rather than soldering a wire around to the other side of the board and under the thunderbolt chip. but fortunately that’s not a problem for today. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1619966422001-HKNTNDC01T9MEMGPR4PS/20210329_035730.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - A1932 No power, No charge, Liquid damage works fine and fully charged the battery. MWAHAHAHAHAA http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2021/2/15/acer-laptop-corrosion-from-ants-making-their-home-inside-the-machine monthly 0.5 2021-02-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386189158-ZYRDC7NIUSX0Q0GBLMK3/1beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine Top corner of realtek audio chipset https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386188281-NN3SP2G9DD0BJO02Y40K/2beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine bottom corner of realtek audio controller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386211810-DLJXX94SODWRAUCCFV2C/3beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386216574-6ATSPTVGVF7BDNNFUN9M/4beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386236145-F1OPT7CVMOQJVLASBC9W/5beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386240937-BVQDV232188OGQ1YGV4B/6beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386263341-LITZIA9CABV4FAPDED4B/7beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine This one here there is a test pad corroded all the way through and gone and it is part of the trace so a wire had to be soldered across to complete the circuit , a really tiny wire that is about 2mm long https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386269451-WYHI0WDZ8RDT4UMQ9SSZ/8beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine I probably should have cleaned this a bit better and coated the exposed copper with solder and covered with some green PCB protector https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386285372-1UHI8J9U8KY6MYJ90OLV/9beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386301633-J5F7OCTUKI1QUGOM73LK/10beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386314844-BWY2JN8QB791AKRF332G/11beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386325961-1YUIE2053Q3MCJGNKUQR/12beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine Keyboard connector https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386339040-PS6M7B5YSRW0QREAPS67/13beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine Connector for CMOS battery the right leg is really badly corroded and was the most corroded solder join that wouldn’t accept solder at all so i removed the whole thing and you can see half of that pad is gone on the bottom half, didn’t have time to find a replacement connector and didn’t try soldering the CMOS battery wires directly to the board because all the electricity that caused that really bad corrosion would have come from the battery and it’s probably dead flat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386350291-4P4EVKQGD1OHTFNQO5IQ/14beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386360076-O8UYLHLVH9M361NHZ993/16beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613386369311-36AZXUWC9L5FEV613301/17beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613388223344-JTDF212ZHYPAVVA8BKDQ/20210211_025244.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine WLAN card I just removed the shield and checked the components underneath, it was so rusted it wasn’t worth putting back on or poisoning the water in my ultrasonic cleaner with all that rust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1613388236180-MJAB0AL3AOAU0G7QZZ41/20210211_172012.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Acer laptop corrosion from ants making their home inside the machine And it works. MWAHAHAHAHAHA http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2020/9/13/macbook-board-repair-a1466-liquid-damage-no-sound-system-running-slow monthly 0.5 2024-07-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948002756-4BSE9KV0P89IQ8P830YS/15.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Jtag connector cleaned up enough, the wonky soldering doesn’t matter, as long as they’re not shorted together with corrosion it’ll be fine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948220715-4DWSVVGL9ETFTS2OWA45/16.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow U7090 caps and resistors above it cleaned up and solder joins refreshed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948422833-7VSMGFVBVEKEQ5TKP1G0/17.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow SMC reset chip U5110, solder joins on the edges cleaned up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948437968-6PCN6LSXBBDHVI6T1HC3/18.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow This cap was suspended inside the corrosion blob, the corroded test pad floated off the board as soon as the soldering iron tip got close, luckily it isn’t a problem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948479313-3PPUPTT5DWCMFDENZME4/19.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow pads cleaned up and mangled capacitor replaced. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948489250-MAFXR5WA2PZ3LAQ7U758/20.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Components below 24Mhz Crystal cleaned up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948835158-48CTRBNVEPJBMRWABS96/21.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Jtag isolation chips U1845 and Q1840, ended up lifting the chip with the 3 contacts either side off the board and cleaning up the middle solder points on either side before putting the chip back. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948748630-Q72MTPVCD2ORVH6T45UQ/22.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow U1845 and Q1840 cleaned up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948964042-VEUP4OY8EIBBGCGW2PMZ/25.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow This little resistor next to U6100 needed it’s solder joins refreshed and the test pad above it cleaned up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949008506-VM156K3NAYB67SKN40PT/23.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599948973286-Q78C9TMLQAOVUKGZ6B5Q/26.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949058318-QP0TLJKR9D2GPYTX6G58/24.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949136653-4E68TKJ2ACL5WYXQ6OCX/25.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949430492-1CWOK0YYHHD3EKALOBG7/before+after.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Before and after https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949429305-4PU2K9SMMHVI02Q89TP4/before+after2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Before and after https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949470553-SISL8XCVGN12FM0XMMUV/before+after4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Before and after https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949471300-2N9QNWJTF2SWU2J1LVLY/jtag+before+and+after.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Before and after https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949553450-HSU8OB411HSE14ACLYSB/before+after3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Before and after https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599949558041-L3VK3Q733IIP3ZUOWGV2/before+after5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Before and after https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947064169-FCPNVBYEQDI7BLO3MLP9/Top.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow So yeah, this one had visible corrosion on at least 6 spots on both sides of the board that have all miraculously gone around everything that is a critical power related component., the old useless Jtag connector across https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947065139-LOWG34LMPGHQ7L4KT8LH/Bottom.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow The blob next to the SMC has a capacitor inside it that has detached from the board, this seems to be the main issue https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947215445-GAPDG1JY29WJTW4NWE82/1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow The Jtag connector can just be bulldozed off the board, it’s used for testing the board function when it’s manufactured, I’m not quite at the Louis Rossmann level where i just bulldoze components that aren’t needed off the board yet so I cleaned it up. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947216111-11732VFAQXBKG4VDRA4H/2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow This is U7090 which is a critical power chip G3Hot supply, but the chip itself wasn’t corroded just the little caps and resistors above it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947351386-QVLS28ONRKNG0I366SX3/3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow This is U5110, SMC Reset, supervisor & AVREF supply, Pin 8 with the big green blob of corrosion hanging out is the output to the capacitor on the other side next to the SMC that is detached from the board, the 4 pins on each side of this chip are easily cleaned up without needing to lift the chip off the board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947342473-YO03RNY0L1MXPT7C8FKF/4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow gooey residue around the wifi connector, no corrosion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947436530-D7RAU32LUQU9JV3ZEX8M/5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow gooey residue below the wifi card but nothing got onto the wifi card somehow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947436896-PEULM44MPWEO9UB13FII/6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow The display connector was stuck to the board and difficult to unplug because liquid had made it;s way under the cable and straight through the liquid ingress indicator but not into the connector itself or the connector on the board, luckiest customer ever. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947518358-RFYOLWR5QVVE85BNO2ZV/8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow Inside that blob is a capacitor lifted completely off the board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947555233-7087LNNGMOS32QLGG17K/10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow U6100, SPIROM, kind of critical, just has greasy residue all around it, no corrosion, the 4 pins either side are visible without lifting the chip off the board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947599848-DVVIDLKDZUUF1MALCMI6/11.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow 24Mhz Crystal, kind of critical too, Crystal itself isn’t affected, just the little caps and resistors above it and that green test pad isn’t supposed to be green https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947633939-C9AOKJ80W4NZ1JXE8DIJ/12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow That little chip to the left is U1845 CPU Jtag Isolation and the chip next to it that is mostly corroded is it’s partner Q1840, this chip needed to be remove and the middle of the 3 pins on each side really needed their pads cleaned up a lot before the chip was put back on https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947669396-F3M4L9OD1VOPJOU4Z4L7/13.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow U4650 over the other end of the board near the ports is labelled as “Mojo SMC Debug Mux” or my dumbarse explanation, it’s connected to the USB ports which were working fine but there is a bit of green on the bottom right that doesn’t show up in the photo very well. removed this chip and the solder joins underneath were fine, just had superficial corrosion on the edge. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1599947701867-8NLXG72NMGVCWDDXZIYN/14.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid damage, no sound and system running slow This shielded corner looked bad because it had that greasy residue all around it, lifted the shield and no corrosion underneath http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2020/6/4/macbook-board-repair-a1466-liquid-damage monthly 0.5 2024-07-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210074864-O89FAN5S5M292XTV71Q1/20200429_175716.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage Firstly take photos of any existing damage before starting on the job because one out of a thousand psycho customers will try to blame anything on you even things they know aren’t your fault and were like that before hand. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210098205-IF9VNJMC63DZ60ZQNRQN/20200429_175757.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage really hope there is only a board issue and not a broken screen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210156571-AL5TWKG8CLX5OJ8Y6SGK/20200430_055540.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage The entire mainboard was covered in this white fuzzy stuff https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210202689-X4VTX61P2ZQDJSA4OCHA/20200430_055703.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage like seriously it was absolutely everywhere https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210114909-1NQ1P23AX4XAWZ3IRF4B/20200429_181224.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage I think they might own a bird that lives really close to the laptop https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210139316-8ZVSBEVZE02RLK77QZQE/20200430_055232.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage Are you the cause of this Mr Insect, answer me……. No response, I think he might be an actual innocent victim, he looks kind of innocent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591209992314-AROVG0UZX6UIQUCNRM7P/1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage And this would be the root cause U1950, A power signaling chip that is kind of important. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591209986307-RIYJT1E8LMD2D3SRJ1YC/2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage Lets remove this chip and see how bad it is https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210032350-B3AW07RTIIM58TPMH1HL/2-1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage 3 pads on the corner are very very corroded, mostly pad 8 on the bottom right is completely gone so this macbook hasn’t been powering on for a while https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210037442-YVEME162KYMWZ3VQTUYD/3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage pad 1 and 7 are ok but pad 8, completely gone https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210074863-69UCBEBSCPKWQIZY39F5/5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage for perspective that entire area under the microscope is that tiny circle on the board, really really small soldering is what makes is challenging, the entire jumper wire is about 2-3mm long https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210048174-RA31UAQ836BHX2XYUXBO/4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage All of those are kind of important for the machine to be able to power on, no amount of magical thinking trying to play with startup key combinations will overcome corrosion on the board on a critical power signaling chip, only directly dealing with the corrosion damage will resolve it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210223856-0CEPSN5TSSKN07M1MBM9/20200430_094248.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage Jumper wire almost in place and ready to go https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591211538056-33UGXCXELJICRNF1KGJ5/20200531_025619.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage U1950 replaced with a part from a junk donor board, you can’t buy these chips on their own, you need donor boards. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210282244-CTEHZHX5XDEZ1Y9JRYWP/20200531_025637.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage Ok next problem is ALLSYSPWRGD is missing, it’s the voltage that runs to pad 1 that was corroded and it runs from this transistor chip just to the right of U1950 in the diagram, Q8150 and it measures 0.0v on pad 4 where ALLSYSPWRGD originates from a lot of people would blindly replace it but it can easily just be a bad solder join from the other end of this trace fizzing out from the corrosion at the other end so I refreshed the solder joins on this chip and guess what, ALLSYSPWRGD is back, yayyyy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210324507-PKQA6RZ9C95ZZUKOVYRK/20200531_025652.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage This chip further to the right and a little lower is U7600 and it generates the voltages that get sent to Q8150 so i refreshed the solder joins around it’s edges too, macbook boots reliably just like it should now. Customer throwing a tantrum despite laptop being fixed and ready and doesn’t want to collect it, man some people are special https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591212176181-PJMWR1K2GTZP4WTTQUZE/20200531_040556.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage reassembling the machine I noticed corrosion on the back of the wifi card, it’s on the same rear edge of the board that Q1950 is but on the top not the bottom like Q1950, I better fix this before it becomes a problem if it isn’t already, even though customer didn’t mention wifi being a problem it will be my fault if I didn’t notice this and fix it too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210385353-PVNKT2TT8DLDVZIGL2ZJ/20200531_040603.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage Capacitor 290 and the not labelled resistor that lives next to it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210388486-5RQGIG1V03VYSO2K4VUT/20200531_041721.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage remove the resistor and capacitor and refresh those solder joins, get rid of the crusty corrosion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591210418120-4KB2G4N9MKL5UI841ZXZ/20200531_045356.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Macbook Board Repair A1466 Liquid Damage both test ok and I only have replacements of that size resistor, not that size capacitor though so she gets her old parts put back on, after how rude she’s been she can keep her resistor and capacitor with the corrosion removed, if anyone is curious the resistor was 15 ohms and the capacitor was 13.3 pF and the wifi works in recovery console so that’s good enough for me, don’t have the customers password and don’t want to log into her machine for further testing, any further problems are her problem. http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2020/6/3/random-tech-adventures monthly 0.5 2020-09-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591114912551-WS298CBSFIGKTMQFASVP/20200216_105836.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Lenovo Y520-15IKBN 80WK keyboard replacement, the keyboard is actually set into the top cover but no top covers are available in Australia but new keyboards are, just means careful cutting of the plastic notches that hold it into place and making sure the new keyboard is glued into place as good as possible with epoxy, all because one letter wasn’t working. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591114911137-SIB72QQBAFILREXC8ZQP/20200216_114719.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Little bit of thermal pad leakage from the heat https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591114970484-EQX4GXCOEMHQFNQRFLAW/20200216_122605.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Broken screw housing on the bottom cover, surprisingly common in laptops, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591114970505-IPLHGRCFBNDFB5S0QGQJ/20200216_122617.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures can usually be glued back into place with epoxy unless the broken pieces of the plastic that surrounds the brass piece is broken into 1000 pieces, then it’s a bit hard, had plenty of time to dry while I messed around with the keyboard replacement https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115016739-LHIF0R6BR5WLEIR3UF88/20200414_113802.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures This one has delayed write warnings in the event log, missing like 9 screws from the guy that replaced the failing hard drive, hasn’t been used for like two years so the SSD shouldn’t be failing but not sure what is causing the occasional BSOD, was about 2 years out of date with windows updates so did all the windows updates as a first step https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115016837-MK53A876CXZQJR4I1R3L/20200422_103338.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Old Generic Custom build, no idea what company, just needed a good clean out and cleaning of the RAM contacts and etc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115075724-Z9ANDO1Q52MT9WODWOMG/20200422_103345.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115072151-KA3GZC26ZD5JF7TBGMYS/20200424_032720.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Another two old Dell’s from the same customer, same problem, just overdue for a good clean out, memory and HDD tests etc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115133563-U44D6R14J8KWB60YT7CU/20200424_032731.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115160823-9NTNAUJ2W42EY6CRQVC6/a1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Someone actually brought in an ancient windows XP box, needed a really good cleanout https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115212047-5VF1PS7TFZ1ZPHF475MB/a2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures HDD failing so replaced it with a 120GB SSD, installed Lubuntu and a bit of educational software for her kids and an 80mm fan at the front because it keeps the passively cooled video card like 10-15 degrees cooler with a little bit of air flow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115228262-XNXK45LHR5P9L8E2MUTC/a3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115267409-LD4FV0TZCOFDQL9LOS1P/ASUSrefurb.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Replace cooling fan in an old battleaxe i7 I have here that was destined for the dump years ago, had nothing wrong with it, fan was blocked with dust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115273496-COOA9XCM85B4O4KHV1J5/beaten1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Stop beating up your laptops https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115321193-G5SRYA5OOHXO5U6YGG4X/beaten2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Stop beating up your laptops, they don’t like it https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115320383-E7P9WL5GQB9RR7ZOD7CS/D0.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures This guy brought me a custom build with intermittent power issues, when it did power on it worked fine but wouldn’t turn on randomly, second hand refurb mainboard from china, that detail is important later https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115380637-3YYJMRV2NE5FYLFBTKTT/D2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures It worked fine for me until the customer came to collect it and it started playing up just as he was on the way to collect, during troubleshooting I noticed some burned plastic on the inside edge of the 24-pin ATX power connector and a sticker right in front of the burned plastic, under the sticker was this, there is not meant to be anything there on one of these boards and it’s connecting 5v to bypass a fault I presume? not the cause of the current fault though. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115433801-SE667KTEURH410CNRLVP/D4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures I noticed the bottom of the CPU had flux on it, it’s from the CPU socket, the CPU socket has been replaced, hmmmm, stay tuned for more about CPU socket replacement in a future blog post https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115444031-B50P8UM8PRWOYM3NC7O0/D5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures After a few days of troubleshooting turns out this resistor above the SuperIO chip was the cause of the fault, can’t remember if it was the one on the left or right, they both look equally suspicious. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115384372-CRPKF82M0A7D8GIP55QT/D1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Circled is the capacitor with a wire attached to one end and the arrow shows the location of the resistor that was the cause of the current fault, was a really good learning experience identifying this with no schematic, just a multimeter and pinout diagram of the SuperIO chasing the 3.3v from the power switch header to where it goes looking for the cause. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115466214-L6IXQVJKT7RZ005RMNOW/FX1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Picked up printer work from a new company servicing Fuji Xerox machines, this one had nothing wrong, was actually a windows setting problem, damn you Windows 10 and Microsoft office https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115479884-7VO13IPZFO3PCK8UX81Z/FXLI1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Another printer, the marks circled are coming out on the print outs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115493242-4AQTDX55ADO54YO9CF1A/FXLI2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures it’s actually a Solid Ink printer, the ink cards are blocks of wax with color in them, they get better and more glossy color printouts than a laser jet but more economical, can go a long time not in use and still be fine, just don’t move it while it’s powered on and warm, cleaning blade needed replacing https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115505883-LG2XQ7R779LUY9PW6IJ8/FXLI3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures look at that waste wax, they have less waste compared to ink or laser jet printers, there is literally nothing left of used ink carts, it’s just a block of wax molded into shape and 100% gets consumed for print outs, This was a really interesting job, had never seen one of these printers before even though the technology was pioneered in the 70’s https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115511964-1LVR9VN21WTXI3B1UUZ9/HDtunehdd.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Customer wanted to speed up his laptop, old HDD performance results https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115523193-DQA8H6QRLTMHUX9JPUSU/HDtunessd.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures same laptop with new SSD, he was happy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115885897-VI1OE8D88UA8M1E4264O/RAM1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures noticed some corrosion on the RAM modules before finishing it off, might have even been from humidity given the strange location and vent on the bottom location, https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115897643-SH37ONMMCYMYX1YW9VRU/RAM2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures cleaned the affected RAM contacts etc. with isopropyl alcohol to try to prevent it continuing to corrode until it causes a problem https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115573207-K0B0Z0LQEAYLYQ9J421F/hot1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Same customer the brought the ancient XP machine, laptop running slow because it’s always hot even when pretty much idle, figured heat sink and CPU cooler needed a clean as usual https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115572972-Z01FKWT99OTS4GSZPADN/hot2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Wrong, the machine has no fan, just a hole where a fan should go, even the header where the fan is supposed to plug in has no connector soldered to the board so it seems HP very deliberately didn’t put a fan in this model, you can buy fans for this model though so I was curious if you could just solder a fan directly to the board and have a laptop that doesn’t overheat permanently https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115622358-JSSFDFSXRC7NQB560LX3/KL.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures ASUS ROG G74S, had corroded HDMI port https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115628323-2UYMSDVKUVWRB7JZKN8V/KL2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures and USB3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115652645-AVKY4NUFFO5JXP68173D/KL3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures USB 2 was also a problem apparently but didn’t look corroded so i removed all 3, had a replacement USB2 and USB3 connector in my stock that were the same or close enough, HDMI port scavenged from old acer mainboard https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115688066-51CZ8UBBV0XXUV8GC6D6/KL4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures remembered to take a photo of all ports removed but not after replacing them https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115694495-WD72ZANEX6EKXL6PSV4F/KL5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures during reassembling to test discovered there was a missing latch on the 4 pin cable from the touchpad and touchpad buttons and the piece of blue plastic that is attached to the white cable is missing, I found a 4 pin patch from the same Acer mainboard I pinched the HDMI port from and was able to carefully slide it into this connector without breaking it and stuck a replacement piece of plastic to the other cable so it clamps down firmly in the connector, customer was on the way so didn’t take an after photo, all 3 ports seem to work fine but USB3 not connecting ok, turns out USB3 driver issues was the most commonly discussed issue with this model laptop so emailed the links to the customer, he’s a programmer so he was happy to troubleshoot himself, I’ll have to chase up how he went and make sure my soldering wasn’t the problem. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115741181-KYT0H1TE16BFSUVRCR5B/M1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Lenovo Yoga 910-13IKB not powering on, noticed some goo on the corner near the fan connector. The customer purchased it through his workplace and as far as he knew it was new and had never had work done. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115757245-PW9T4A1F413N65I1VTHE/M2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures residual flux from some work being done on the board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115782426-9LXBPK2L5FABXFZI87T8/M4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures the opposite side of the board on that corner is was looks like the main power management IC and it looks like that was replaced causing the residual flux on the top side of that corner https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115796215-ZFQKR1UD3J2X697XKH71/M3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures little bit of corrosion on the pins for the ribbon cable that connects the power switch sub board to the mainboard on the mainboard end, also not the cause of the fault https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115839839-L0JHHM1RN8YL9HFJMRFB/M5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Circled is the flux goo, the arrow pointing at the connector on the power switch sub board is the cause of the fault or maybe the cable as clearly the laptop has either had it’s keyboard replaced and the white stuff is the backing left over from the old keyboard or the cables are scavenged from another dead laptop, it’s usually bad solder joins on the connector apparently and it’s a double row of pins in a 39 pin connector so you have to retouch the solder joins on both sides of the connector, after spending ages on that still faulted the same, it seems like it’s the cable, if you press down on the connector the power button works, release pressure, stop working. So I stuck gaffer tape over the connector to hold permanent force down on it and added more foam onto of the piece of rubber that sits on top of those connectors to apply more down force when the bottom panel is on, alternatively you can press the novo button with a paper clip on these ones and choose normal boot to get it to boot in the case of this fault, the cheapest i could find a replacement one of those special ribbon cables was $40 from china (second hand). and $100+ for a new sub board and cable included. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115833990-TFLXVHSQLAGROTB3P2ES/new+stickets.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures new stickers for custom builds, so much nicer than my old stickers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115927093-SXG8NINMJV6SPPGMY3SB/TT3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures This section is called “Curse of the Thermaltake Power Supply” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115931191-EA2FR4WV12FYEHPF03I3/TT4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Connector shorted internally https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115970631-TE3FCG7EJG4N7FKSP9R6/TT5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures to be fair it is a 6-8 year old PSU but still that’s a horrible way to spontaneously fail because guess what was connected to that power cable https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591115977783-1P4MGNY7TW6SZUG91V3G/TT6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures The SSD, fortunately the SSD is fine, the black stuff was just oily stuff from the plastic melting and cleaned off easily with isopropyl alcohol. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116023901-TWEWTWG28G6KS4EYS6BS/TT7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures This one was apparently a PSU used in a new server build or a company that does large scale power grid work and whoever used a thermaltake litepower in what was supposed to be a server needs a slap, it failed day one the server was installed. I sold them a nice Corsair RM550 with a 10 year warranty and the server is back up and running, customer opened the PSU before bringing it to me and they’re allowed to because they are electricians but seriously never do that, PSU’s are generally not worth fixing and tricky to make 100% reliable or even test properly without expensive equipment https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116026830-3HFOU12W6AZL7CCKA708/TT8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures This was the rainbow PC from the last blog post, flaky PSU, it was the oldest thing in the PC, he got it second hand 3 months earlier and this PSU is one of the cheap ones that come included with cases I think, often fail or become unreliable after 3 years or less https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116059741-OAL53J4OVP4DAUL11Q9O/TT9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures This was from a Prion PC, i think it’s nearly 5 years old and works for the most part but has stability issues at least twice a day and led to the customer having a really really corrupt windows install, HDD is fine but needed a clean install. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116110088-P2EN698WP203Z6V9MY9G/workshop+assistant.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures My new workshop apprentice https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116245515-UUD3OI615X2YETQ2LPLB/XboxOneS+HDMI0.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Xbox One S HDMI port replacement https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116266164-WO9JDEEQ2VGPD5YE1YR7/XboxOneS+HDMI1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Nice and clean read for a new port https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116293166-FS3FVXDK43G68VJH563H/XboxOneS+HDMI2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures so clean https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116311530-QUVYURGRN5AUIZNDBJQK/XboxOneS+HDMI3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures did a beautiful job replacing the port, soldering to be proud of and forgot to take an after photo, was occupied looking at the corrosion on the bottom of the board, some people report this as oxidization on the underside of the board but to me looks like corrosion, might be caused by being run in a high humidity environment because liquid really can’t get into the bottom on the board without going over the rest of the internals to get there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116325664-AJROFGGTMC7QTLQNDG7B/XboxOneS+HDMI4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures cleaned bottom of the board as good as possible to try to stop the corrosion for progressing any more than it has https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116143421-Y9FE46X1VP7Z4D88QVXQ/XboxOneS+HDMI+PWR1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Discovered reassembling that I broke the power switch off the front which is apparently a common stuff up, enough that the part number of the correct replacement switch out of the thousands of micro switches available is listed with supplier part numbers in a forum of console repairers so saved me hours trying to figure out the correct replacement switch. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116170218-1ICXQ8AGKXNBE0E00Y27/XboxOneS+HDMI+PWR2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures Replaced it at my cost and apologized to the customer because it meant he had to wait a little longer than he should have https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116204904-1EXTS80193P32LDAPHJP/XboxOneS+HDMI+PWR3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures a little tricky to get nice and straight because of the tiny size but fairly easy to do https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116214856-7X2RQZQRDW8UTU5S6QXR/XboxOneS+HDMI+PWR4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures As good as new, HDMI port replacement worked fine too https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1591116081925-V8EA6RM2GQB6OJ9VUN2H/workshop+assistant+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Random Tech Adventures My old apprentice flew away so frogbert here is my new one apparently. http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2020/1/4/more-random-pics monthly 0.5 2020-03-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106318816-OT9PIOPHMGY8ZNZUD9RH/ko1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics This customer went to another local tech, I can’t name him directly but lets just say his name rhymes with Terd…….Terd IT, he replaced the fan on her video card but it still had the same problems, he told her he had never seen the blue screen of death she experienced and couldn’t imagine what else could be wrong and that he couldn’t help her after the second visit, basically it runs for me for 5 minutes so there can’t be anything wrong with it, well as soon as I took off the side panel, look at that SATA cable, the plastic it clips into on the hard drive is broken, bit of hot melt glue fixes that and tacks it securely into place. Not the main problem, just one of them. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106387439-T9RD7G26ZTLSV8MK7248/ko2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Hard drive has command timeout count warning, like I said in the second last blog post, usually bad SATA cable (or not plugged in all the way) or chipset drivers need updating. Indeed what was going on but still not the root cause of problems, just causes hard drive to drop out and produce command timeout errors. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106400884-PJZ4NIF28MPX8MTNJEI9/ko3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics After a few reboots the machine stopped displaying at all, nothing to onboard display or video card, usually RAM contacts are corroded or oxidized from age/heat, sweaty fingers will cause corrosion wherever it was touched etc. these just had general oxidization across all contacts eventually it stop proper contact and causes problems. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578177802987-02NDFAYPBS9GGGT2N0GS/ko5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Same with the video card that had a high quality terd fan replacement. Someone that takes pride in their work would do a better fan replacement, he only charged her $20 so at least he didn’t charge top dollar for that. It’s not the cause of her problems. cleaning the contacts was what is necessary right now, take note of the before and after of the video card contacts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106434035-8ADFQF4YU0IYCVMKD2TS/ko4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics close up of what the oxidized RAM contacts look like, I forgot to adjust the color correction on that microscope but you get the idea. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106477145-VFN3IBLGFNAYUVTR64XR/ko6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics cleaned on the right and not cleaned on the left under a microscope. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579356465208-5TRO7Z29U07SNYHJCTAC/BSOD.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics and both on board video and display card are displaying again, wow, then I got the BSOD, the one he told her he had never heard of or seen before and had no idea what it meant, inaccessible boot device, it means exactly what it say’s and it’s been around since windows XP at least, commonly failing or corrupt hard drive but can be bad connection to the hard drive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106509797-MY8D7OL89FRSCVKRN0E3/ko7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics oxidization on the SATA contacts for the SSD which is the boot device, causing poor contact and intermittent connection problems. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106522255-FA1IQFRTBEPQ7EBHQPHT/ko8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I couldn’t make up comedy this good if I tried. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106589083-72MMHOLGBV5NRETW8I53/ko9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics It’s an old SSD but the SMART reports no warnings or errors, it should be fine for the foreseeable future, her machine has been working fine for about two months now where it wasn’t running for 2 days in a row previously after two visits to old mate Terd and the customer lived happily ever after. The End https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105331755-E7P0ZB4WBHQPM0JRM2RA/20191223_210904.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics More 3D printing, something something, 5th element https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105140935-ZM2PQ0JATN1JPLEK5KV5/20190716_123931.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics dirty contacts cause problems, no matter how many alleged techs claim it doesn’t, It does https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105141632-JTEB9R9045JKIZI018AN/20190903_135540.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics This is a 4G hot spot used by a customer I haven’t heard from for ages, apparently it worked fine after I helped him set it up and after a couple of months the screen just went crazy, a glitched upside down mirror image, but it still works as a 4G hotspot, just hurts your brain trying to read the screen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105270673-ZZ67D33DBFJKWVWYAQWK/20191022_012807.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Exploring SD card data recovery, this looks so much easier than MicroSD card recovery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105259838-T427R1YSPZJYNLAHVUCB/20191115_110815.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics This customer sent their laptop away to have a broken screen replaced, when it came back it had a near flat battery and not getting power from the DC socket, they replaced the screen ok enough but during testing the laptop they didn’t notice it wasn’t getting power from the DC jack because it wasn’t plugged in, just sitting barely inside the socket. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105502604-BS6MBV0ZK48PYCQ1E9AK/beforeafter.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics at a secret location, installing new server and UPS before the old server dies. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105486353-D5XOO19XVJ5PV0K9VCAC/beforeafter2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I even was able to actually get permission to remove redundant old cable mess for a change. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105547301-JJ2J90TMUDPSASH6EXTV/beforeafter22.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics So long old cables that were plugged into nothing, you won’t be in the way ever again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105368459-B46Y58PGLSWC1MT7TQ9W/20191225_014556.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I was going to scrutinize a refurbished switch and point out everything wrong but it is actually pretty clean on the inside, latest firmware, works fine…….fair enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105413601-UHFJRRS4H6APARYPJKB2/20191204_1044361.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics at an even more secret location, removing old hardware and installing and patching new hardware, look at those color coded patch leads, beautiful https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105548249-V09OUVNI8RQR2S0USRI4/bs1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics This was a totally dodgy customer, contacted me via txt, was paranoid about me replacing their screen voiding their warranty, I checked HP’s website and they only had 1 month of warranty left, didn’t send any photos of the damage even though I asked several times, I went ahead and ordered a new screen without seeing the machine, I figured lets find out how dodgy this woman is. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105609679-32573LK122HY3SVQE0F6/bs2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics She drops it off and the screen is bent like a banana as if somebody had stomped on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578177734872-J9UTV3VH6Y1PLVAN5338/bs3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics obvious sign the someone else had at least attempted to open laptop, later when she made me deal with her boyfriend instead of talking to me herself he swore nobody had looked at it and the bent part must have just been where it was bumped. the only way a part of the side chassis bents outwards like that is someone trying to pry the bottom plate off and bending it outwards. But anyway https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105727547-MBCPD8NXQBNAUWQS6XLM/bs4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics The new screen didn’t work, the touch screen digitizer works but no display to screen so I suspected the display cable was damaged considering it was half hanging outside the screen panel when it arrived. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105967115-BDZH9XVQHMIBVZSJM92H/bs12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics the connector on the original bent screen were bent at the edges from the cable being ripped out from the damage to the screen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105967141-WG47HO5H0FQHGDP5TEX1/bs9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics The screen supplier trusted me enough to send an advance replacement on the off chance the screen they sent was a dud, in the mean time I scrutinized the LCD cable, found no signs of broken wires. re-wrapping an LCD cable is a real pain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105728606-DAMZI10UXAGTCNV79M04/bs5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Second screen didn’t work, Also asked customer what actually happened to her laptop, turns out her boyfriend punched the crap out of it, and immediately after finding out the second screen replacement didn’t work I had the boyfriend demanding to come and collect the laptop while it was still in dismantled state with 5 minutes notice, I’ll give you one guess what my response was. No you can collect it Monday after it’s reassembled like any normal customer. He carried on like a sausage but was smart enough not to turn up here knowing he was unwelcome. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106130706-663HFF1NCPW9K30BU31V/bs18.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics by now you’re probably wondering how I straightened the bent aluminium panel the screen sits in, well i needed something smaller but harder than a rubber mallet but also softer than a rubber mallet to not scratch it, rubber taped over my hammer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106164949-N8Y2E6CZW748FNRH533A/bs19.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics with a layer of silk taped over the rubber on the hammer. The Silk hammer. That should be my pron star / super hero name The silk hammer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106025030-67SW8PGQKNZZZJP2LE0I/bs13.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics both fuses near the LCD connector aren’t blown, could be any of those caps or resistors between the connector and APU if they are lucky, under that black square with the screws on the corner is the CPU/GPU, if it’s the actual APU damaged or a broken connection under the APU that wouldn’t be fun, don’t think you can get reballing stencils for the Vega 11 APU’s so it would be a painstaking and delicate task, removing, reballing and reseating the APU worst case scenario for a moderate chance of success, it’s possible that wouldn’t fix it. or you could squirt flux everywhere and blast it with heat and hope for the best, that’s an even lower chance of a long term fix. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106017775-DGENN4QPP9IPL316T1S4/bs14.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics updating the BIOS did result in the screen switching to a mode where the back light was permanently on but no display to laptops screen or ext screen, needed to be forced powered off, while it was full back light with no display I used the chance to flex the LCD cable along the full length of the cable and no affect at all, this would seem to rule out the cable being the issue, the main board has damage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106078606-U6WD08PT9A6ZOS6BI014/bs15.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics look at how straight and flat that panel is now, don’t mess with the silk hammer, he’ll straighten out your nonsense really gently https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106079748-LIAOS22HT5QF7QJ75C3B/bs16.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics the silk hammer…… is coming to get ya really soft banging the silk hammer…… gentle bad arse fella really soft tapping He’ll straighten you out, without leaving a scratch, don’t mess with the silk hammer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106129851-OU8PCTA32GBV9DWIO8DW/bs17.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics insert more cheesy silk hammer theme song. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578105837802-6CGF8RS5P65B3VZDJO0W/bs7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics The only other customer that has ever come to me with a smashed screen because her boyfriend punched the screen in was because she was in an abusive relationship, I know that because she told me exactly that, it’s a fair guess this is the case with this one. the customer ended up coming to collect with the police escorting her and got a friend to actually collect it from me and pay for the screen, i guess facing me after the crap her boyfriend carried on with was difficult, it was a great opportunity to tell the police the full story and they agreed there is no good explanation for a guy to beat the crap out of his girlfriends laptop and agreed they should keep an eye on that guy, I was able to give them his full name that he hadn’t given to me because the silk hammer is also an awesome detective, they didn’t require to see the photos I had taken and wrote the guys name down to look into him. I hope for both of their sake that he pulled his head out of his arse and got a grip on reality. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106240459-EHM3X4YL270MSIPP8G17/dc1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics A Sega dreamcast, smell that retro goodness, no power, after stuffing around scrutinizing the power supply I decided to fix the two broken wires on the fan cable that was squashed under the controller board because i couldn’t find anything wrong with the power supply and fixing the wires on the existing fan was faster and easier than finding an equivalent replacement fan that doesn’t require a lot more power to run. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106255886-WJA65FXZJFUIT1QJDDXC/dc2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I didn’t take a before photo because I really didn’t expect that to fix it but turns out the fan power cable being broken stops the console turning on at all, the controller had some buttons not working which turned out to be a thin layer of dust on the contacts on the board inside the controller, nothing wrong with the actual controller board inside the console, that might be how the fan cable got broken, someone stuffing around with the controller interface board in the console and squashed the wired when screwing it back in. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578177780007-TSCMUVJZSNPBHUK8ZCYQ/galaxy+tab+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics A Samsung tablet, apparently was plugged into a USB hub that blew up and took the tablet with it, not the burnt looking connections between the two different sides of the battery, the new battery wasn’t like that, also replaced the internal USB charge port/cable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106342361-ESRCTYJL4MGAEQH8ZFMA/galaxy+tab+3_1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Also replaced the external USB charge cable because with the original cable it was charging at a snails pace, there were a few inductors that didn’t look right but tested ok. I should have completed this one a long time ago, customer was glad to hear I wasn’t dead or abducted by aliens and actually fixed their tablet. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106604153-7GS6XK7M9BMX623Q26CP/mbptp0.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics This one, grrr, SSD upgrade, stuffing around reloading OS to force auto firmware update to support new SSD properly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106666449-V35NUAOGY87M8OTRNH31/mbptp1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics replaced thermal paste on CPU and GPU https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106670537-KYBQBV03QCO7QHVEHIML/mbptp2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics look at how much thermal paste leaked under the plastic cover that is meant to prevent it leaking under there. this would contribute to overheating, too much cheap crappy thermal paste is worse than not enough. i’m pretty sure this is the factory applied thermal paste too. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106750137-1QL9HEW960KEWO96CVNY/mbptp3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics The Nvidia logo is burned into the heat sink, this thing has been absolutely baking. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106750136-BTQDUP9I53I1F6YK1ET2/mbptp4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics cleaned fans, new battery is on the way before the old one puffs up and explodes, the improved thermals should extend the bloated old batteries life span anyway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106848335-VXR12MZ0KOGOYDL4OJ5S/mobo1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics One of my MSI mainboards that has had such a hard life the thermal pads for the heat sink on the VRM’s for the CPU have leaked their oily stuff all down the board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106804450-K9O7WJVQV8ML3E3OT9XJ/mobo2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics bler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106881232-D1RFIRCBMX7NHX5FFLG6/mobo3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics through the backside too https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106912765-JPNAI5K9P9XIPQPA86G9/mobo4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics clean off as much excess with isopropyl and q-tips first https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106949869-2O4BX0QAQXJL3O3QFVCG/mobo5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics after a couple of trips through the ultrasonic cleaner and immersing in isopropyl it still has oily stuff stained on the board. the stuff soaks into the board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578106988541-I8W6HR8LRB6Z0EKQU174/mobo6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics fresh high quality thermal pads, it’s ready to go back into work being constant thrashed with maximum CPU workload. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578177806359-H5YCGEKFEWUFOIQ879FV/mobo7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics MSI make good boards but the thermal pads could do with some improving, not the ones that leak oily stuff when they get over a certain temp would be nice, also the screws that hold the heat sinks on, they snap if you over tighten them just a little bit, I had to venture to my bucket of every size and type screw imaginable and everything is fine, the only good thing is the screws are that crappy it is really easy to drill out the broken screw with a dremel tool without damaging the screw thread. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107081704-67U5J9THKTQQBB8KJONC/newpc2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics 3rd gen Ryzen, I’ve waited long enough. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107093735-HOE61MZ52SJEYSD8VKSY/newpc3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics 3 times the Raw performance of my old FX-9590 and less than half the power consumption. excellent. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107044873-0SVJ7VPCZ9ZUK75HO0XU/newpc1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics It’s been 5 years almost and AMD has been releasing some really great CPU’s putting intel under enough pressure they actually had to slash the price on their top tier consumer CPU’s. Time to replace my personal main PC. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578683265991-CVUFPOOQW2D7FQPYNLIT/zz10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics High powered LED strip that was going to go into my new PC until I noticed it’s melted the rubber at every place there is an LED, except one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107112233-LETYALJ6GTQH25I4SHM8/printer1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics It’s been so long since I worked on printers. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107142030-R426QP27WABZ81T68VNP/printer2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics there was a piece of plastic jammed down the side paper feed path. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107153213-8QYNQUQLPPNGQPDCZ7EH/printer3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I can’t even find where this piece of plastic came from which means it probably doesn’t really need it, *throws plastic piece over shoulder* problem solved https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107188532-XF4FVSV46PTMLY3JY5N7/psp1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics This PSP was found on a school oval years ago looking like it was hit by a lawn mower and missing it’s battery, i got a new battery for it to discover the screen was shattered, ordered a screen and it’s sat there for years because it’s barely worth fixing. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107197399-VRT9ES6HWIAR3KTTTHHA/psp2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics turns out it’s like a 15 minute job, these things are easy to dismantle, the screen has scratched from years of floating around waiting for me to care, matches the marks in the plastic from being hit by a lawn mower. memory card wasn’t readable. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107266853-4IDP3FKEN4ASP2C7JAFO/psp3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I got some microSD to Sony memory stick adapters because they were cheaper than refurbed ancient Sony memory stick cards, after they arrived I noticed the contacts were covered in god knows what, probably urine, the outer most pins on either end mostly, after cleaning that off, guess what, it works fine. repair cost, approx the same as the $50 these things sell for on ebay if it didn’t have a scratched screen and plastic case that looks obviously hit by a lawn mower, looks like this one gets adopted into my console collection with the other orphans that got rescued on their way to the dump. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107266859-HI8OUK5NF2DEOUKQS9E0/refurb1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Giving my arse hole R9-290’s one last chance refurb, don’t even ask, I’ll stuff around with these things under linux, they have modified BIOS with maxes the hash rate they can do but they can’t display properly under windows with drivers loaded, maybe linux will be more stable when I have the spare time. latest windows drivers actually reduces the hash rate to 33% the old total anyway so they have nearly outlived their usefulness under windows anyway. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107301939-656M2OG8A5I4Y5X8DJ5I/ss1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics A Samsung laptop for a change, with way way too much thermal paste, like I said too much crappy thermal paste causes overheating, doesn’t solve it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107335576-MYWCHDDGZ0HUYI25NPLJ/ss2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics look at how much has oozed under that plastic protective cover. Traps heat all around the CPU. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107366143-VCFLB40N436CL6B7VHQI/ss3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics more thermal paste around the GPU than on it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107402359-FZ164RL8IW54YJG8H5FZ/ss4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics SMART warning for G-shock, totally normal for nearly any laptop. Stop beating your laptops, treat them nice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107413338-QNBCC8LL0T6RNGIO1J3Q/ss5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I’m not the first fool to dismantle the machine and the plastic tab fell off the cable for the side USB ports, needed to cut a piece of plastic to size to slide in above the cable so it has force down on the pins in the socket. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107469285-R8F5X9I2UAE2CQ0QC53O/tosh1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics A really really old Toshiba laptop, running really hot, totally normal even before they’re old and clogged with dust. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107479052-O41VEHWI3KUVRDJ0T80G/tosh2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics memory ok https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107518878-MKNVXVPTAGMCE1M9TYGS/tosh3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics not even a G-shock warning on the 6-8 year old Hitachi HDD, impressive. Hitachi hard drives were the best, Hitachi sold their hard drive division to Western Digital years ago so buying the better quality WD drives is probably the best bet these days. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107547672-J8GZH4ITAXOPFYOI2B31/vc1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics refurbing video card fans because it’s a lot cheaper than replacing them all the time. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107613762-X184SE580AAE89D3Z3R1/vc2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics the lube inside the bearing drys out and becomes like a glue, has nothing to do with dust, excessive heat and fan running near max all the time is the main causes. Need to clean out the poo inside the bearing with isopropyl and a Q-tip and flush out the dry black lube inside the brass piece on the back cover for the fan using some kind of contact cleaner and some really tiny brushes. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107625608-81JC04OTN4LHBH1VE1G9/vc3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics weee, they spin freely again. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107701598-1UPUD7VOTF90HEFW7W3X/vc4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics clean as new. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107735700-LXVWOLJV13P3SGJROVYB/vc5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics be careful, some fans can’t be separated like this without completely breaking them like PC case fans, GPU fans mostly can, some just gently slide the fan off, some like the fans on MSI cards have a plastic circlip under the label on the back side, after removing that they can be gently slid off the shaft. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107843809-QM18FFYBM9B7X22Y7ZMK/z4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Turns out there are a million stencils on thingiverse, don’t mess with batman……errr I mean the silk hammer. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578177750487-SEOUI2NO5LG2OB7IFPV4/c1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics I’m not above fixing crap like cheap vernier calipers, turns out the shaft being covered in poo was most of the problem https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578177770058-OGUJO7HK28LH64GTM74C/c2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics see, no poo, it measures again, it’s a Christmas miracle. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579007062133-BUHIYA4DQMQUNQ5ZRIC6/zzz2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Look at all those nice clean contacts, not a single one bent, what on earth is wrong with this board. Possibly damage by the dirt quality thermal take PSU (the kind that comes included with cheap cases) that was put into this system before it was sold second hand, it lasted about 3 months……….I didn’t take a photo of it because it’s so crap it’s a waste of electricity taking a photo of it, when tested under load a self resetting fuse in the PSU trips and it needs to be unplugged for a while before it will work again but voltages report ok by the tester, such is the case with most flaky PSU’s it’s difficult to exactly identify their fault, if you’re going to spend $350 on a mainboard and $450 on a CPU and $400 on a video card it’s worth a quality PSU so you don’t damage your expensive components when the cheap PSU starts to go sideways about 1-3 years of age. I had a spare board to replace it with, I’ll figure this boards problems later. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579007047907-IA3MU58KM256U65FYZL9/zzz1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Damn socket 1151 and Z series chipsets. I hate both equally https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579007082793-0MJFEPE6SG9RUIH6ENRA/zzz3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics PSA: if you’re using a customer cooler with mounting lugs that screw down, put the plastic washer on the bottoms, it’s really really important. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579430392562-UUYKQUTRW9DGIWH4GRZ2/zzz5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Because bare metal screwing down onto the board will damage traces on the mainboard like this one a customer brought me ages ago. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579430380847-O6CD7J33HHNMT8D4EWSZ/zzz6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics It’s another Z series chipset 1151 board, i got it working but it likes to play up sometimes and I’ll give you one guess why, that break on the left looks like the trace is cut right through, I think it’s one that runs from the CPU to the RAM so better than average chance that it’s important. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579430443962-3WFZVOCE362ESGMCSR1X/zzz7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics The top left is just a big earth section, no traces to cut, how good is this new microscope camera, to the naked eye this board looks clean, under the scope you can count the dust particles on the board, glorious. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1579007081064-ETY0KY57B2I09AOBVPFY/zzz4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Use good PSU’s put the plastic washers on the bottom of the mounting lugs, don’t use a $9 CPU cooler and everything is rainbows. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107756411-6C9FFGZQPG2N0Y9JE14U/z1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Next blog post will have a lot of Phone stuff, look at all those iPhones, all missing their home buttons, can’t wait to find out how much other stuff is missing inside them. It’s about time I actually applied myself to learn phones though…..to be continued https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107852102-P8JXP1FRH0ZS99KIE1D6/zhdd1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Also in the next blog post, lots and lots of hard drive repair stuff, this pic is swapping the BIOS from a hard drive that had USB interface only on the hard drive to an equivalent board with SATA interface because recovery doesn’t have a chance with the USB interface boards. the BIOS chip needs to be swapped for the donor board to function and have a chance of reading the drive. remove BIOS chip from donor board. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107898173-6S73R8ZDC5AQY8CI3M1P/zhdd2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics remove BIOS chip from source board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107912660-FG2JWFR3WAZ8913BQ2F1/zhdd3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics solder onto donor board, stupid drive still not readable, turns out it has particles floating around inside on the platters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578608970531-E2SEEF1V2P09BXD8FOHB/zhdd4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics look at that shiny particle, there is a few more but that’s the largest one, can’t see where they came from, head doesn’t look damaged, maybe the head has collided with the second platter underneath………to be continued https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107932134-NKG559M14LFHLIFCJLNE/zphone1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics An iPhone board with rust on the top of all the screws but no sign of liquid damage on the board to explain why it stopped getting power, USB power meter confirms the phone is drawing no current when connected to power. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578107982385-7HWUOMQCZGQY09W8XBU1/zphone2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Tiny bit of corrosion on the bottom of that gold strip near the top of the board. wonder what’s under that shield to the right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1578108005360-6YFVJBB3LI3H5GFA99UZ/zphone3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - More Random Pics Broadcom chip and a bunch of other stuff, that baby poo colored rectangle thing on the right side of the photo has lifted up a bit, I need to tack that down again but no obvious sign of liquid damage under here, I think that half circle on the bottom of the Broadcom chip is just some of the protective coating for the caps underneath it splashed onto the chip. http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2019/9/21/htc-vive-sweat-damaged-misadventures monthly 0.5 2019-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059359666-BC7HAG736H5ES9E2519D/1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059446047-X8WOKZAK0VBJNLTAUC83/2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059547847-MDEN41EYNO0J9XNPVODX/3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures Shortly after this point trying to make the connections either end look as nice as the one in the middle another half a dozen pins fell off the right side, so I left the cable alone for a while and moved onto the dumpster fire of a corroded board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059576029-UL2FRPR9Q0EMODYY1JIK/4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures that corroded hole where sweat pooled up is a worry, one pad came off the board when removing the corroded connector https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059605215-AB90SI7G2TQMOXPNJYDO/5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059686513-DRVFPMETNA7SPZ2M29HL/7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures covered the exposed path right next to it and the what it probably earth right above that was a little exposed, and joined the end of that trace to the piece of copper sticking out of the hole, it’s not shorted to ground and seems to have continuity with what seems to be where it comes out on the other side of the board. so far so good the crater wasn’t as bad as it looked. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059920695-7080KE9QNFMZ949FL9ZF/8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures As for the cable this was a great chance to go crazy with little wires for the first time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059731030-NR180CT4CRZE1TWXHRZM/9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059650829-QXXBEDXL99J7GZTDYLRX/6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569059974260-U063BWZXK903N5ZUKO40/10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures Just like I planned excellent https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569060014417-IEKLIT0TMGA8XHAJU0Z3/11.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures errrr https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569060277653-HSW8LO051Y5PQNMQDK7C/12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures ahhhhhh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569060055139-J7EF48HE0JI5POWJ5GOO/13.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures eh? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569060422458-QOH9AD4PX5COFTLIIZSG/14.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures either end and a few pins in the middle are all earth so no actually 39 wires required I think i got away with 34 and could have cut it down to 30 if I messed up the end of the cable a little more just the right way https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569060473128-U5I3M2FJOO1GJ1A69DME/15.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures If i had to do it again i might run all the wires directly from the pin on the cable to the pad on the board beside and over the top of each other, minimise the wire length and put a line of PCB protect down the middle in between the pads so one big line keeps all the wires separate as they pass each other in the middle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1569060516505-X7MZVNGUW0XIYJ2QJJCK/16.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - HTC Vive Sweat damaged misadventures the other end of that cable connects to one of the LCD screens on the Vive, the guy that owns the VR head set, we’ll call him Mr Sweaty boy for the purpose of this explanation, actually snapped the LCD screen in half with his fingers accidentally before we even got to trying to connect the cable, I did end up connecting the remaining half a screen to the cable but I might never get to find out if my crazy soldering actually worked. http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2019/8/2/wtf-have-i-been-doing-again monthly 0.5 2019-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668297438-571B1Y97PSFWAGF7GTFL/3d+printing+0.1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again Building an army of machines to send back through time to do….. errrr stuff https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668301902-L4TOCHOXWG8CYL3435C9/3d+printing+0.2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668337460-XH0HBSNACPII53E3PVWP/3d+printing+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668333046-H4VCN9EYRQLYX63TK14F/3d+printing+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668355261-EZ8L6IKD3JC26ZYOL8PG/20150110_095812.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668360353-6YAJMH480TAR2V3J8LNN/20150110_100039.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668483003-COPJY77PWKPKAUH7XQGB/20160229_063446.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668533456-L04A58XBFPZ40B5KXY6G/20160304_072117.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668545949-PO9QZT8F6WVA83EPTG9L/20160308_134618.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668564999-3PU8QWURBI762S85XVSA/20160330_170803.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668365834-BK40BFVOJ21I6NINMT13/20150119_155947.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again If you’ve ever had to do a job at a fast food chain, this is probably a normal sight that you’re used to. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668578386-JS6OTF51JNYRV84FZIQD/20160714_225831.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again the absolute worst one of my UPS batteries have failed, one of them leaked for a while before the UPS decided it had battery problems. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668592050-TRPRLWMGW50ONDS3XMSL/20160714_225850.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668614769-32OGUFW8A3THAUX0W2P3/20170410_045608.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668669571-K2HZFH0QII84XJPTJS2E/20170517_143609.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again The only case of someone smashing their USB port pins together and shorting the USB controller and not killing the mainboard, that mainboard still lives it’s onboard USB doesn’t work but that’s a minor detail really that you can replace with a $25 USB card https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668686773-TSLMGPDV3G7PWDD41B1E/20170907_142828.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668711801-WITJ2PK0T2LI1EN9M2UC/20180126_130422.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again refurb time for one of my video cards and the heat sink collected a cap on it’s way off, i’m so glad i could just tack that back down and it was fine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668741971-HDPR0OHB2QT12HRL0H7U/20180704_213840.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again Not my rig, I’m just baby sitting it until crypto currency prices do something exciting again. Mining crypto isn’t a get rich quick scheme that many would lead you to believe, it;s more a game of patience……so much patience https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668907019-NG2D04DY03N65HFZD6IS/20180810_205755.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668906349-IIKYC8P9NGBZ0WNOPJXM/20180824_113322.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again If anyone wants an extra large desk mat with any image you like printed on it, $30 each https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668943284-0M35MTW4LZOGA60S8OTV/20180824_113909.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again I think this might almost be a large enough mouse pad for me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564668976384-3L0YNEO8SVLZNFDPE3QL/20181014_091511.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again CPAP machine after going away for service, turns out not worth fixing, apparently people refurbishing and servicing their own machines is supposed to be a thing but I didn’t find much actually information about it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669003435-HAM0WXDBWHG2X328RQLA/20181112_235039_001.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again my guard frogs https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669033321-AQUR0MR747EGII1CG56U/20181126_105037.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again The company sent a new front gate for the machine, I didn’t need to fix that, I looked up the IC and turns out those pair of pins are something like 50v and 70v right next to each other not earth pin or anything. What’s the bet an insect landed right there. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564679796667-I1AFS2W0GHUVJIJ7N1PS/BW+IC+in+gate+blown.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again i was close 40v and 60v https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669133307-HTERJB3PI9F8G4503581/20190409_115433.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669176758-B6AXQ1YV4YDEE6GZF5KX/20190625_153055.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again This machine came in for an SSD upgrade, I just happened to notice the explosion marks on the charge port https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669280829-LRL0L65AFF1ANNCULZVC/apple+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669350741-11ELHBPSOA473TQVJS7V/apple+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669421577-RYEMXS42LQGY4B2Y5LGX/apple+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669465085-WSBEW0X9YHSLBDZM1AEU/apple+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669517209-JX9JSC0L835ODGXXK57T/apple+5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669608936-E9HM5HI080HIAH6ZT74J/apple+6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again even though this PSU board looks like it’s been baking in an oven way too long, it still works, the 27” all-in-one machines often have overheating mostly on the right side where the GPU is mounted, I’ve seen several where it was the left side that cools the CPU overheating from the fan profile not kicking up the fan speed and the PSU board on the left side of the machine gets backed as well as the main board itself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669607089-R3RHG6FU4IQKILOAAVAY/apple+zombie+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again i got this case pre gutted for a bargain, I’m going to mod it into a PC case because I’m that kind of sicko. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669653320-DJG8SHZS4JXCHGN1RM4Y/apple+zombie.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again maybe change the logo on the side into a banana or a pineapple while i’m at it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669655371-H8YJ82EEBAR51LY3BNM2/bird+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again One Summer afternoon, while I pondered, weak and weary, listening to the wild storm descending, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door. “’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—Only this and nothing more.” I opened wide the door;— Darkness and a tiny bird there and nothing more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669710836-KU5GZI3D3WDS0F5AWGFR/bird+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again Open here I flung the chamber door, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped the saturated bird, Perched upon a refurbed i7 laptop Then the bird said, squeak, squeak, squeak, only this and nothing more I replied, I know it's wild outside, you may stay until the morn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669706557-N04VX4IY5E0D3VJ78BBV/bird+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again The next morning he was sitting on my pants staring at me, waiting for me to wake and open the door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669756921-67B23D4FLWUJ2ZSXK0EZ/bird+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again I whispered “You’re free to leave, the storm has passed, it’s a safe and beautiful morning” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669766641-Q41UKLNU99BKR99DJA3L/bird+5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again He lived happily ever after and nests in the tree just outside my chamber door. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669834393-NG8LZ82LQFYNV3B4B4FI/corrosion+before.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669824516-68H5K389JWQPBGRWYUBW/corrosion+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669886456-6WA9Z074S99TK8K690A5/crazy+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669889913-5NUKTONFJCJ0WXFEO2CC/Crazy+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669927536-VKOW1OUX824KH0V1K192/crazy+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669911976-4MZ1S3XFX7XB4WO0RF11/crazy+4_2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669978223-3EDWDD2OQMQKPELAXSY9/crazy+5.1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564669989735-KSQ9J7XJPPA25V2DD7XH/crazy+5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670024192-FPCHWH4YWXIQ6EPW0LG9/customers+trying+to+kill+me+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again If you bring a laptop to me with no description as to what went wrong and the inside of the power adaptor socket has that much corrosion as if it’s been floating around in the ocean then I might assume you’re trying to kill me https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670133709-LAVMLX01PXNZCYBJKILO/customers+trying+to+kill+me.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again If you bring me a really cheap PC and after sitting under my bench for a week plugged into power but turned off and spontaneously catches fire while I’m asleep because there is a big chunk of rust and corrosion inside the optical drive power connector that slowly bridged all the pins together i might assume you’re trying to kill me. Or maybe you just had someone really really sweaty look at it before me and not tell me about that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670155290-U2WBHZEWQ0OV0ESV8DPP/h1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670179190-6KR7332AOVQMRZWDH1SR/h2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again one thing that totally sucks is when someone needs a new screen but turns out their screen hinge is also broken, a set of screen hinges can cost the best part of $100 inc freight and you can’t buy just the one you need, you need to buy a pair https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670197597-GCIICKYGMNDSX7C37TOX/h3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670211724-G9V90Y7JN8KT50E5BLX7/h5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670224738-V7XEWCO1B08A5U1F0LDN/image1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again this customer reported their power button needs to be pressed a lot before their laptop turns, turns out one tiny drop of beer through the keyboard onto the first power management IC just under the middle of the bottom of the keyboard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670250464-KOD162NTV2DFHSEXVZ8M/image2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670241492-4LL4J9466UFQTPF0OCDH/image3-2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again fortunately beer doesn’t seem to corrode through metal very much but coats it in a grotty layer that shorts out with neighbouring pins though. System powered on reliably after cleaning that up https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670232298-0ULHKT0Y2ZWIQPU35G89/image+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670340162-VR3GCCI0I46Y3PMGDEM1/intel+driver+issue+hdd+performance.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again HDD performance on an intel storage controller chipset, no updated drivers available https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670356452-LNIRDYU2WX7JFZVDN1P6/intel+driver+issue+hdd+performance2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again reinstalled existing drivers and it made a massive difference, not sure exactly what chipsets are affected but it seems to be a driver issue that over time degrades performance, removing and reloading the same driver resolves it??? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670416283-96FI0BQ1NW4NZ9PXZJZF/laptop+2+before.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670394934-BI1ULAB7NR4WLJWLQHAK/laptop+2+after.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670471291-RYWR4SYRS4VOXOC54ZD4/laptop+before.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670456444-OE2NC6TIST5XZLA182F2/laptop+after.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670514563-J3Q0GHCIYO99NVJTWFAO/mum.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again My mums computer, most spiders and cobwebs in any PC I’ve seen in the past few years, it was fine after cleaning the insides out and cleaning the RAM contacts. It literally just needed the cobwebs cleaned out https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670515385-OMZ12N9EZTVNFL1J0X2T/my+pc+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again the first AIO cooler that failed trying to keep my CPU cool (AMD FX-9590) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670572336-J51J8AHTR35TOTLYVQOT/my+pc+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again The second AIO that was failing keeping my system cool, that’s one of the big expensive NZXT Krakens, mounted upside down…….just because https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670588616-0RWVYHNDSAYZDODU2JFE/my+pc+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again turns out replacing the thermal pads under the heat sinks on the VRM’s for the CPU with actual really good heat pads and chipset under the heat sink below the CPU, replace the pink goo with some thermal grizzly, 10-15 degrees cooler idle with this giant air cooler https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670970729-BOX5B6RJXHGN4HROLY5H/p+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564670961580-ROB5M437UDZTCJFVXY4P/p2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again burning inside power socket https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671014024-OEMJLUL7YW3OQ0EBPO44/p3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671053502-HEHW4QOKL2077HM1H39S/p4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671083146-FSS0OXPLEUSRDSWB4J0B/p5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671121497-JX8ID5BCSN47YGQ654ZJ/p6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671149640-XOM11IVRYY40EWQXZJCT/p7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671175468-0DD17NGWB336MN2DE9KD/p8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671213165-2XMXBQ7SLPE15I474S56/p9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again the new socket caught fire same as the old one, it was this zombie capacitor https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671240966-KXB3EOD985GWOV4PVS35/p10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again So I replaced it and it’s friend. I’m not sure why but the bottom solder joins were perfect and easy, the top ones were a train wreck but it works. I don’t know what to think about the j tip soldering iron 50% of the time i love it 50% of the time i hate it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671379854-4UKPI8RLQB54HJI8CZNR/pc+before+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671381590-MNWV7EVFLA1A5210YZY1/pc+before.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671254187-Y2OX9M5F226MVEW72615/pc+after+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671327434-ZTO320C42645SJRF2L3X/pc+after.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671322948-MX9V587J4OET4PHDMSWR/pc+after+upgrade.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671436504-TDU9I70UT3TWVUF9GV1G/rasp+pi+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671442855-0Z7CVTTYJ2L6B7PIKLGR/rasp+pi+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671487129-DTPKZMETFC8WY2QWDV44/rasp+pi+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671484594-LFRQLCNR7PEGNVCLZ03N/rasp+pi+6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671543636-122W40ZBTEBP45I4SSN8/rasp+pi+9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671539774-ROGBUJ0VZXQZPQU90REC/rasp+pi+10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671642901-QBV5YG2Z8PI5PH0EE0QT/rasp+pi+12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671641771-MYP2272YFTF4MTGZOWBM/rasp+pi+14.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671746161-XQ4G0Q1CN3GX2FZ9O61P/rasp+pi+15.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671681238-37S4V4HS1EWKU07U5G0V/roller+burnout+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again yayyy melted rubber on the inside and outside of every part of the rollers, yayyyy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671717593-8XTEJQD40E97E9ACO37D/roller+burnout+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again after pulling it apart and cleaning every part with turpentine, then cleaning the turps off with ethanol. Fresh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671750237-PW75C0J539MFUO9NW7ML/roller+burnout+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671771471-79N9A4MNH7PO8X1T8DC0/roller+burnout+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671803932-L066QZZ57QNK61DJCBKB/scales+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671840582-UJGD9VC34G73XPU0EKZY/scales+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again a set of scales with a windows 7 machine inside it and a touch screen, rather fancy hardware too. I’m sure it could play Quake 1 easily, probably Quake 3 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671882493-DWK1W56DJ3DAUR3PAW3N/screw+loose+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again Sometimes the problem you find is there is literally a screw loose, or two https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671882230-WWO4EX35H2S9WW4SJRL5/screw+loose+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671943176-3MDURI6VB7DHIKWZH5RQ/server+dirty.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671920801-83DJUJPT8TO3L8RI23OT/server+clean.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671993632-HU4DB3ANK1D2034LCW30/server+fail+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564671997359-Y41YOO3CXK0YW3TS921Y/server+fail+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672044049-9Y89WVKM18X9I13Z8UTL/server+fail.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672044097-4IUUT6NJJ1VSPW1QHZB8/shambler+0.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again I got this rack for $10 because I was the only bidder, it costs $3500 to buy new so I just had to get it, turns out it weighs twice the amount they say in the specs on the website https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672131422-CTGWHM11TNXRDOF8IVFJ/shambler+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again It spent a bit of time with just one crummy 1U older server I got second hand, it ended up mining it’s value in AEON coin over 12 months and became a shelf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672125573-YYF80OAR5NNMYHU6MK3S/shambler+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again A shelf for a GPU farm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672185268-NVNMGIGR9DLBQHRL64FI/shambler+4_2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again I went through a purple phase https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672205397-47A63TVNVRCARO6K272L/shambler+6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672343791-6E5FK5Q5N4TGUNSY1FY6/shambler+fail.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again This was version 1, it needed a lot more airflow https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672267710-L9GZAQFBI8AC3SDG94IN/shambler+fail+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672404404-I9MUA2YRNJ5E4MM8QWZ8/shredder+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again the original plastic shredder, after 5 or 6 or 10 breakdowns after 5 mins of running it’s finally made it’s way to something that can do a half respectable job of shredding plastic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672416022-9RZE1ARLRDS18N6CRS5L/shredder+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672463885-BE9Z0MVS5ABSJVFHBE8Z/shredder+5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672484392-KCQITG2TV2Q8US4GZSQH/shredder+7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672519314-37I9128X5JU0G4K30FB5/shredder+11.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672537923-M0CELFUKJ71VNTEZ17GO/shredder+12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again a one design fits all design for the plastic shredder just doesn’t work, some plastics jam easier than others, blades wear down faster than expected, So these are what went into the alternate shredder not pictured here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672598761-KQPHE448YF45SDL35U88/SMART+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672614181-9UKRHDPDWR6DI7RNXOGE/SMARt+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672680739-WFUGC38QYXQP13SFTY9A/SMARt+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672700007-RZ625NYOVFNFJBEXJPBZ/smart+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672762886-2KOSEVZCAQTPJRE6QDDH/SMARt+5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672782885-8JTG80SS49UYVAHR8NAA/SMART+7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672836161-SIY81PPP37BSMROO6FJH/SMARt+8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672883339-CHV38CIUN1OUF8CN6OCI/SMART+9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672950296-ZWUN054SX7F9W51QJ1EQ/SMART+10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564672972416-V6SBE9XLH4PBKUGP3OUJ/SMART+11.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673031594-SAI3K53RWIWN9CTXWQZ2/SMART+12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673035053-JJOSZEHUPCK1L3H35FH1/SNART+6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673126938-H5N338QNYXWMZKFNINWP/struder+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673126452-4F6M21265172H7WHK2Y9/struder+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673209697-VIELE1OCOVMR2MNA1T11/struder+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673221125-FUYF5A542M1SDT4J0KDH/struder+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673297293-6SF3YX4Y6E822L578C0L/struder+5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again The glorious struder, waiting for me to get the shredding sorted out so we can get into recycling plastic into 3D printer filament. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673305858-ZV5X7RADNWXRBS70D1OE/struder+6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again drilling a 1.7mm hole in the exact centre of a bolt is way more fun than you’d imagine https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673346712-AEAWU14765K4H8WQH2RI/surface+pro+damaged+ports+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again destroyed USB port on surface book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673348225-5FF4VNG15UBQZ96FE6FG/surface+pro+port+damage+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again and that mini display port, i didn’t have appropriate replacement connectors for that machines and they were only passing through so no time to wait to get some. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673396621-V1DNSKSRKUI0G1KSG0DL/thermal+fail.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again After visiting the nearest apple authorised centre for repairs this apple had big chunks of thermal paste everywhere. Even I’m not that messy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673437315-1L55E5ERXOFXF5QL8SQW/thermal+pad+fail.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again This was a laptop that had never been opened, you can see the bubbles in the thermal pate where it’s been boiling and the mark on the heat pad for the GPU where it’s only ever had contact with half of the GPU, yayyy thermal fail, I’ve pulled apart thousands of laptops and it is honestly rare to see something like that. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673483637-2QG4IWE0XP5HVFP1858X/tiny+desktop.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673549750-V8OA46UUOMQ2XJYL5RHC/video+card+before.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673492261-H8X7GUPW2X4OZPWSY3TN/video+card+after.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673557331-OUMJN7MIXCC1TBTNTKL6/viewsonic.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564673691769-JE29SMRR568BK03BTON2/20190409_115222.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564674143868-6HAB2MXIYNI7ZFUB6BIO/plastic+1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again Shredded PET https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564674143273-2RTPPWK0WBL93WIWRFLA/plastic+2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564674960673-U48C9DZLQ4SO77IXWSVC/plastic+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again shredded HDPE mostly milk bottles https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564674969234-Y81FG23JONGPGCJNJYXM/plastic+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564674996313-AU3H200PZLQXE1GN8IW4/plastic+5.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again HDPE container 2 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675022023-U1F9XLLP3KSH4BY5O8LG/plastic+6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675032416-MEQHM3C5OIY905AVUBYV/plastic+8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again HIPS, booooooo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675053863-YUR6H1RUB9BXPKUVK6N8/random+ghetto+rack.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again I’m not a fan of mass produced computers usually but these new micro desktops that Lenovo and i think HP might have some, they’re so adorable, it’s smaller than the router https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675047275-MW0NBB73VLN9B6NS8ORV/random+rack+3.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again Mice yayyyyyy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675066069-EKD3GV2BBSQLNINO43WJ/random+rack+4.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675111922-OJW5RFLT7OZ7PP9VMGCR/random+rack+6.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675116677-0FJ8XZJS4CGH8MUB7IDQ/random+rack+7.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again This was the customer from hell. First visit they had their entire network infected with ransomware, they went to a local high school kid for help long before calling me, after getting a proper rotation of backup hard drives in place and their networked cleaned up enough they ditched the company that provided their internet, phone and internal networking infrastructure and plugging in a bigpond modem into the old system wasn’t that simple, so they called me only joking, they called the high school kid again then called me after more problems but had also changed managers so it was like ground hog day repeating itself https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675174220-DO6WCPX5U4B2MGMKK3RD/random+rack+8.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675171018-CPF20NAD1NG92FWF4PXT/random+rack+9.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675240397-RFTOMSU1SJITI4FQJV7R/random+rack+10.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675245583-Y7RAJJJ6L4EAG1O4MR0Z/random+rack+11.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675307370-7KI0KFT6G3P1C6GUOBAE/random+rack+12.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675307293-3FNG1WAQJ5XW9622RPBM/random+rack+13.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again If the guy that set up this phone system knew i was sent to connect all the ports they didn’t connect he’d probably be really mad. i think it looks better with a random mixture of coloured cables, I just wish I had a purple, pink and orange Ethernet cable to make it a full rainbow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675380047-OO12LRNH7DM94XUE7Y1U/random+rack+14.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1564675398349-7YBB87UFG7F60T4CJ4GI/random+rack+21.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing again This one was interesting, repeated internet/network issues for months, the receptionist swore at least 12 different technicians had been to look at their cabling and internet connection, as soon as I breathed on the rack i heard a crackle from a loose power socket in a power board (red arrow) it’s the power cable for their core switch and the cable was plugged in such that the active and ground were connected permanently but the neutral pin was barely touching and would lose contact briefly with the gentlest breeze or vibration, I’m really amazed something like that was missed by the 12 others that went before me. http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2014/10/13/crazy-days monthly 0.5 2019-11-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144943183-Y72A61MXWSYTZJ9I9MQN/20140128_015928.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144945959-8FLKGG8JBKLMGIE12EIZ/20140129_111803.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144965602-LWT7IPJOZZ6VLM5QPPKA/20140306_011807.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144968505-ALVJVDB29QHSVVSMHQMM/20140314_120837.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144983653-O9GUHKS2SQA5E3MKMARE/20140319_143715.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144983523-YXZRKSUJTBB9QPQXVC4F/20140319_143801.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144999393-TZRIQHR1YLBUMPEGYSJN/20140324_000058.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413144994213-3RGI6YA0PC7UNBRTX7RT/20140328_223836.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145009650-7CFDMM811CEEQEUJS4S8/20140515_053020.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145045723-COIOIEC3H8HUJPZ6F85D/20140515_123740.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145052773-LN0VTVFORB9I1UUO5YAL/20140516_115945.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145070965-Y38WSN9SC5U4ICTUL1HD/20140530_162407.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145063770-CNXS9C9Y9BQ7ZFJ8YPJM/20140611_143034.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145087048-NXQKCTIF7CNWLN4VOK0R/20140611_150254.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Macbook Macbook / Moneybox?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145120523-D7O3THB32BMGDFWRCUMM/20140618_165155.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Jeff's Crap i5 It's been overheating so bad it's whole life all the oily stuff flowed out of the heat pads under the heat sink and onto the GPU, CPU cooler contacting half the CPU at best for 2-3 years, it still works great and idles at 40 degrees instead of 80 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145119167-1A0DW77NN7BQ4FAB4PJK/20140620_222523.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Thermal paste different laptop same problem someone likes thermal paste https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145152238-6E67WP30CJDOKMF7ZNK0/20140620_222612.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145151894-YP18RJU6DBG88WMLIFP2/20140620_222625.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Thermal paste Someone likes too much thermal paste https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145179461-R8A1SM2HVVA2SHLPNGW0/20140708_153412.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145179676-V21YCA5SXT4ZHI7CYZ4Y/20140710_112623.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Milo Milk won't cause corrosion, unless it's Milo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145218073-92NOU4XFOKEXF57XGJEG/20140710_112645.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Milk Milk is the only liquid you want to spill on your laptop, it won't corrode like everything else will https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145203278-WWMJIUZ7UDF9RC23OFQ7/20140716_162131.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145223311-LTHHADRYXZP8Y30B0F4N/20140721_234344.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Trainwreck 1 7 missing screws, everything seems not right https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145250241-T7K0UDJ8T2GADQ150S7L/20140722_000631.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Trainwreck 2 something deffinately not right https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145250667-VL1ZT5JWU7JQO2PE1G18/20140722_001009.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Trainwreck 3 ? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413147465313-BO1FH8GIFMU38CI640LV/20140810_220358.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Trainwreck 4 Display card, most expensive part by far.......destroyed https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145282942-X5818PH414ECO5XST3EL/20140804_131653.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145309439-TEM21FX0TK3L0L7AGYYH/20140811_150253.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145303803-6LO6WL2F1J9BYQYMS8CN/20140816_094847_1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145328402-EPUN99UOAU063E3ICZHQ/20140816_094955_1.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145336779-JCWJ1HICEJRDGOLHZEED/20140831_021555_LLS.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145325487-QFU1WE0QPSZBSMQZ5WKK/20140826_043018.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - USB port https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145357733-T3PJNG9AGLIAP2V81O7O/20140906_060221.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145347931-4NBNDWLRUJD6RBY63Q5C/IMG_0233.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145364090-F53OTUFUB2LZXA9V52TA/IMG_0240.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145375873-GUZUAYGNMHSCHCI8HSRU/IMG_0242.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145381070-PJ609KSSUTE7BCYEDNWM/IMG_0320.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145391268-3KNQBO0CKPM8GFFJSZAU/IMG_0321.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145403633-30UCKN5VEIJC28FQ87UD/IMG_0626.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145403919-LK2VGD7RNVSGAY18B6UJ/IMG_0520.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? - Video card Upgrade The customer was afraid it wasn't big enough video card to replace the old one, it barely fit inside the case https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145415423-OBT4FJAA0S5EU3ZNFTA3/IMG_0627.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145424846-XCH5PISFLWE19SG5IXGC/IMG_0717.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145451983-03B5C0AGGOBXR8JA2E11/IMG_0718.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145460151-OV6FHJ1DT5GK1PM5R9B6/IMG_0720.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1413145496934-THKXKQH53D4ZJXD2KCV1/IMG_0734.JPG Freelance Tech Blog - WTF have I been doing ?!? http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2014/4/25/evolution-of-the-microsoft-scam-and-what-you-can-do monthly 0.5 2019-11-13 http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2014/3/23/use-your-pcs-idle-resources-to-help-find-a-cure monthly 0.5 2020-03-15 http://www.freelancetech.info/blog/2014/2/18/diary-of-a-madman monthly 0.5 2014-03-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1392648279898-0MEXK5K64MNHY889IPI2/mice2.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Products ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1393952051082-SQ2XGODHCEHYZ4TY8KMW/U-disk-32g-stainless-steel-usb-flash-drive-32g-metal-usb-flash-drive-usb-flash-drive.jpg_350x350.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Products ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1392648923508-8DPHGCPSRAZMTGD9DY30/Bamboo-USB-drivea.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Products ?!? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1393951830671-8LBNJ1U8X073R0XF11MR/TW3Q108-NN+Web+%282%29.jpg Freelance Tech Blog - Products ?!? http://www.freelancetech.info/scheduler daily 0.75 2025-03-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1574610560196-79XOOI26PRH8FMBI7UX2/cat+breaking+through+page.png Scheduler http://www.freelancetech.info/filament-choices daily 0.75 2019-12-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/1581335468471-Y7PUQY2DPHU1U5IGFOQ9/image2.jpg Available Filament Choices http://www.freelancetech.info/bigpond-missing-emails daily 0.75 2025-03-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/c0774465-bcf8-4934-900a-fc6f823658d6/2.png Bigpond Missing Emails - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/248454e1-1caf-4da6-85d3-df3bc41a9a8d/3.png Bigpond Missing Emails - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52a86daee4b0587426867edb/ddc1a480-57c6-4816-8e51-d1260a05f885/1.png Bigpond Missing Emails - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.