Getting In Too Deep

Symptom 1:  Unit runs for a while then turns off Symptom 2:   Unit turns on, turns off immediately This unit arrives after another tech had attempted repairs.  Numerous screws missing from base and incorrect screws used in reassembly.  Complete tear-down and disassembly. After powering the unit up, I noticed that the heat sink copper was discolored [darkened] which is a sign of high heat.  Upon close inspection I noticed a kink in the heatshrink material covering the wires for the fan wires, so I strip back a portion of the insulation and the red wire was broken, and the black wire was only 2 strands. Yellow and White wires were OK.  Rather than replacing the fan (which is in short supply, and costly) I repaired the broken wires with solder and insulating them so that they would not short each other or the frame of the HS fan, which is negative ground. Screw also missing on the exterior frame that holds the heatsink downward onto the base, th...

Gateway MA7 - MX6958 * Centrino Duo Dead, Battery will not charge Works with good battery, Will not work with Adapter This unit arrived with a common problem that DC jacks presents. However when you continue to use with the defect, it eats the copper around the POS terminal of the jack. In this case the copper had been eaten away, as well as shorting between planes of the motherboards phenolic. So there is only one way to resolve it, by bypassing that section (if possible). The condition of this MA7 was too far gone to be able to bypass. One picture shows the scorching under the copper, the other shows the current path of the DC In. Will verify the model number when returning to shop

The number one issue with DV Series is: Blank or No Video displayed. The number two issue is : (tied) No Wi-fi or Continuous rebooting After repairing a number of HP DV Series laptops. I wanted to isolate the problem and make it easier for me to fix, and have them stay fixed! So digging deep into them I can only come to a couple of conclusions of why they fail. 1: Manufacturing - Hann-Starr Either the oxidation on motherboard or the Graphics Chips. Since the failure comes in both versions AMD and Intel lines. And in Intel and nVidia GPU's it seems it could be at the factory. 2: Distribution - nVidia Could the transit time and shipping packaging be contributing to the oxidation on the GPU? On one unit after a number of reflow failures, I decided to remove the GPU and prepare to 'reball' the chip. Then and only then did I notice there was no solder on some pads. So that points the finger to nVidia. Oxidation is the culprit since the solder balls are put on a ...

This HP DV9000 arrived with power problems. Difficult to diagnose simply by looking at the bottom side of the board (which faces tech when opened). When the power cable was disconnected from the board an obvious scorched connector was noticed. This 4 pin plug supplies power to 2 sections. Not wanting to be too verbose, I will simply say that all 4 connections to the motherboard are needed and when one pin is scorched and oxidized, it cannot provide adequate current or voltage. So the plug end was replaced, and the interior of the jack was cleaned of carbon residue from the scorching. The number of issues with this unit, makes for a days work. Power issues, broken LCD issues, SATA connector, USB port all on one machine. Everytime I fix one issue another pops up. And the customer wants it fast, but at a cheap price. When does it end?