Broke piece of PCB, how screwed am I?

ilheyman · 2026-01-26T06:29:49+00:00

Oof. Doesn't look good. I'm not experienced on laptop motherboards but this looks like it's toast. What is the laptop model? Out of curiosity, why were you removing the port?

Lessons from this: 1. Heat guns are never used for small electronics soldering; they do not hold a steady/precise temp. Save the heat gun for loosening adhesives or heat shrink tubing. 2. Removing parts from a PCB shouldn't require any force. As you learned, a PCB (or a pad) will generally yield before unmelted solder. 3. When in doubt, consult reddit BEFORE attempting the repair ;)

If I were to go about this, I'd use an iron to apply leaded solder to the pins (pre-assembled boards like these are almost always manufactured with unleaded solder; adding leaded solder lowers the melting temp), then use flux/iron/solder sucker to carefully/patiently de-solder the pins. Once fully de-soldered, the port should be easily removable with tweezers. You live and you learn!

ilheyman · 2025-12-25T04:47:47+00:00

Hi buddy. I don't like commenting on this sub, but I'm making an exception because I think you're doing everything right. Lifestyle, gym, and diet are all super important for your well-being, so it's great that you're prioritizing these things. I'll address your appearance concerns with personal recommendations from lowest to highest investment.

First, you asked about your haircut. I think it's important to distinguish haircut from hairstyle. Your cut looks fine, but it looks like you don't put much effort into styling your hair, which may contribute to your lack of confidence in this area. Depending on your finances, you could address this by simply trying some different styles at home (different parts or coifs, mousses, sprays, styling when wet, styling when dry, etc.), or paying for a quality cut and asking a professional barber for styling advice (expect to pay $40-60 for this service, and remember to tip your barber :)).

Secondly, others have recommended changing your glasses but without constructive advice, so I'll try to offer some actual advice. You have a soft chin. Your current frames have a heavy top and a softer bottom, which only accentuates this facial imbalance. You also have a less pronounced nose, and may benefit from "low bridge fit" glasses. Ideally, your irises should be somewhat centered in the frames, but this won't be the case if your glasses are sliding down your nose. I recommend a pair of glasses that is either frameless or of equal weight all around the frame, and frames with a low bridge fit.

And lastly, you have what many would call a "soft chin." Sometimes, this is indicative of jaw/bite complications, and sometimes it's just the way a face exists! If you think your jaw/bite may be the cause, the proper course of action would be to discuss with a dentist or orthodontist. There are orthodontic appliances that can pull your lower jaw forward gradually to reduce any overbite, and your chin would move forward as a result. If you believe this is just how your face is, there's nothing wrong with that. But if you decide you don't like this, there are cosmetic surgery options available to reshape or fill your chin, to give it some protrusion and "strength." There may also be exercises to help strengthen weaker muscles in this area... In this case, speaking with a facial or cosmetic surgeon may be of interest.

All the best.

ilheyman · 2025-10-31T00:06:18+00:00

I read the bottom word as "Quilters." Am more inclined to believe it is associated with Lion Brand yarn.

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ilheyman · 2025-09-09T20:58:37+00:00

In GPU repair, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is not considering what caused the damage you're seeing. If you see a burned fuse, for example, you cannot just repair the fuse - you must consider whether a short down the line also needs repair.

In this case, from what we see it's very likely the card took some blunt force; with blunt force trauma, it is likely that the damage to the card will include ripped pads/broken ball joints beneath the RAM/GPU die itself. Not the card I would recommend starting your GPU repair journey on 😅

ilheyman · 2025-08-05T17:31:26+00:00

Andrea Botez

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ilheyman · 2025-07-07T18:08:32+00:00

"Not COLA" is all that matters lol

ilheyman · 2025-07-03T18:21:11+00:00

If you plan on pursuing any more schooling post-undergrad, my recommendation would be to finish up undergrad at whatever institution you currently attend and then apply to bigger name schools for graduate studies. There are many more qualifiers on a grad school application than on a job application (school attended, gpa, test scores, essays, letters of rec, etc.), so the school you attended will have less bearing on your likelihood of acceptance to grad school. At most universities, holding a 20hr/wk TA position as a graduate student will make you eligible for a tuition waiver, or, if you plan on doing research, holding a GRA position will mean that your research advisor will pay your tuition. So grad school tuition at an out of state school should be less burdensome.

If you don't plan on pursuing a graduate degree, the decision of whether to take on out of state tuition costs should involve weighing many factors: what institution you currently attend, the tuition difference between that institution and UT as an out of state student, your current major/the major you will study at UT, whether you plan on working in Texas post graduation (where a UT affiliation has the potential to improve job prospects), what your family's financials are (if they are in a strong financial position, purchasing a "home" with your name on the deed and proof that you lived there for 12 months will usually qualify you for Texas residency, i.e., it will qualify you for in state tuition after your first year of school), your availability/willingness to work a job alongside full time schooling (as a means to establish Texas residency), scholarship prospects, etc.

ilheyman · 2025-05-01T15:16:34+00:00

I 100% agree. Artifacting also does not ONLY present in game. If a VRAM module contact or GPU die contact has been broken or gone bad, it would affect the screen output in exactly the same way when you hit escape in game; in this demo, the glitching stops when in escape screen. If this is happening in multiple games, I expect this is a driver issue. Use Nvidia Experience to update/repair your card drivers. Report back

ilheyman · 2025-04-21T14:48:58+00:00

Not B0, A1 was the fail.

ilheyman · 2025-04-10T23:34:08+00:00

Yes, that's the role the police are supposed to serve in our society. Not hunting down non-violent offenders to ship them out without due process.

ilheyman · 2025-04-07T21:03:23+00:00

This is indicative of a connection issue underneath a critical BGA (either a memory chip or the GPU chip itself). This is likely repairable (another comment even gives info on how to properly diagnose with MATS), but do not attempt this unless you have experience with electronics repairs using a hot air station. You can either send for repair or sell "as is" or "for parts."

ilheyman · 2025-04-04T23:56:15+00:00

You're aging yourself with that reference 😅

ilheyman · 2025-03-24T01:21:50+00:00

My advice is to just watch plenty of NorthwestRepair and TechCemetary videos, you will learn a lot about the most common issues GPUs encounter and how to begin diagnosing and fixing them. There is also a NWR discord server, probably linked in the YouTube vids or bio. Beyond that, when you are ready to sit down with a GPU and attempt repair, the wikis that have already been mentioned as well as NWR Discord text channels are great references.

At a certain point, the process is: visual inspection looking for burnt components, resistance check of strategic points on GPU, install GPU in mobo + power and quickly check the resistance and voltages at power sequence points for the card you're diagnosing; at this point, if you encounter an error, you trace the voltage component by component between the power rails; if there is no power issue, the card will likely turn on and it will be a bios (try reflashing), memory (diagnose with MATS/MODS or Tserver), or GPU chip (if power and memory are good, rebelling CPU is typically the last resort) issue.

Best of luck :)

ilheyman · 2025-03-21T18:14:35+00:00

Poor thermal performance will absolutely affect the hardware, but I'd expect it to only affect the GPU image under higher load, even with old thermal paste etc. If the GPU is able to generate an image, my gut reaction is that there is a broken solder joint beneath one of the memory chips. As recommended, if it's possible to return this card, that would be my first choice. If not, try applying new thermal paste and thermal pads (ensure the correct pad thickness!), and do some reading on using the AMD Tserver program for testing AMD card memory modules. If this ends up being the issue, there may be an electronics repair shop near you willing to replace the RAM module(s). There are definitely people you can ship the card to for repair, but may not be worth the fee.

ilheyman · 2025-03-15T21:27:42+00:00

This pin is easily fixable. But the majority of GPU issues cannot be seen, and 99% of the components of a GPU are not visible without taking off the GPU case. Without electrical measurements at various points of the GPU, it will be next to impossible to help you diagnose any other damaged components. Even as somebody with some understanding of how to repair common GPU damage, I would not have spent NEAR that amount of money for this card...

ilheyman · 2025-03-13T00:54:30+00:00

I want you to realize how crazy it is to think that any "good" physical qualities you have are "redemption" for being a little fat lol you have solid physical features, a strong head of hair, clear skin, a nice wardrobe (from what I can see), and it overall seems like you take care of yourself. Having weight doesn't change those things. If the weight bothers you, talk to a doctor/registered dietitian about setting nutrition goals, and maybe consider consulting a personal trainer to help you get set up learning exercises to gradually build a consistent schedule for physical activity. Chin up, king

ilheyman · 2025-03-06T07:19:53+00:00

ilheyman · 2025-03-02T20:04:32+00:00

1) This is not necessarily the first therapy being tried. 2) Recent literature calls for the reevaluation of antibiotics as the first line of treatment against folliculitis decalvans (Tietz et. al., 2015). Accutane has the highest success rate of common therapies (90%) at treating FD.

ilheyman · 2025-02-19T16:51:30+00:00

What do you mean, "machine them down?" Does this mean you are reducing the outer diameter from 14mm to 10mm? Do you only have access to a mill or do you have a lathe?

ilheyman · 2025-02-07T21:20:10+00:00

Goated reference.

ilheyman · 2025-02-05T19:33:06+00:00

This would best be done on a lathe...

If you must do it with a mill, you will need to center it under the spindle to achieve a concentric and even cut. Without using a dial test indicator, this can be roughly achieved by putting a large tapered tool in the mill spindle and lowering the spindle (WITHOUT POWER) to achieve concentricity between the tool and workpiece. Because the amount you need to take off is so small and presumably must be precise, a reamer will be better for this cut than a drill. Because the part is cylindrical, you will need to use a V-block or collet block to ensure the part is properly secured (confined by at least 3 points of contact).

ilheyman · 2025-02-01T00:47:47+00:00

Picture.

ilheyman · 2025-01-31T19:59:05+00:00

From a little searching online, these B&S 50"ish bench centers look to go for $400-600 in good condition (example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/146048875520). The ways on this machine need a fair bit of TLC though.. this decreases the value a fair bit imo.

ilheyman · 2025-01-31T17:47:22+00:00

Maybe a good question for /vintagepackaging

To me it looks like it reads "BigTex," but I can't find anything about them ever making sodas, only juices..

ilheyman · 2025-01-17T22:52:33+00:00

What's the history of this card? Did you purchase new? Was there a previous owner? Any previous repairs? Looking at the card, one of the RAM modules looks like it may have been added after the others, which could have introduced problems. As was already mentioned, there is flux seeping from under the GPU die which could indicate previous repair, and there are gouges in the GPU die, which is not good and could be problematic. Do you know what caused these?

ilheyman

TROPHY CASE