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Tried a hot air rework station on a stubborn HDMI port and cooked the board
Honestly, I was trying to swap a damaged HDMI port on a PS4 motherboard last weekend. Used a cheap 858D hot air station at 400C for about 30 seconds, but I didn't tape off the nearby plastic connector. The plastic melted and seeped under the HDMI pins, shorting everything out. Learned that low-temp solder paste and proper kapton tape are a must for ports like that. Has anyone else ruined a board by forgetting to shield adjacent parts?
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alice3361mo ago
That 858D hits hard at 400C, I've been there. I melted a USB port on an old laptop board because I was in a rush and didn't use any kapton tape. The plastic just kind of bubbled up and got all over the pins, totally wrecked the whole area. It's such a bummer when that happens because the fix turns into a much bigger job than you planned. Low-temp solder is a game changer for stuff like that, it makes you less tempted to crank up the heat. Sorry about your PS4 board, that one stings.
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derek_schmidt61mo ago
Low temp solder really is the move here. Once you get used to it you never wanna go back to cranking it up and praying nothing nearby melts. Aluminum foil can help in a pinch if you don't have kapton tape, just gotta be careful it doesn't shift around. The worst part is when the plastic actually flows into the solder joints and you can't even get a wick to work on it anymore. Had a friend try to desolder a whole row of pins once after that happened and he just ended up pulling pads off instead. Better to just take the L and replace the whole connector board if possible rather than fighting it for hours.
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the_ryan1mo ago
My buddy Dave did this exact thing to a Xbox One board last year. He had a 858D too, cranked it to 400C and tried to swap a USB port. Forgot about a nearby ribbon cable header. The plastic melted and dripped right into the header pins. Sealed them all together like glue. He spent two hours trying to clean it out with a toothpick and alcohol. Board was toast.
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