-= Dead Laptop MoBo (Reflow & Cooling Mod Project) =-

[coolnezz]

---

Problem:
The dreaded "Power LED on but no video on screen".
So I had my home laptop on for 5 days straight. So one morning I decided to turn it off. When I got back home that evening, turned the laptop on, the fan turns on for 3-5 seconds then off again. Nothing showing the screen, no POST. I knew then it's the dreaded GPU solder issue. The notebook just turned 1.5 years so it's out of warranty. Thought about buying a new board for it but it cost $200, bringing it to a tech shop will cost another $150 in labor. So I thought why not fix it myself. I've never opened up or fix a laptop myself but I'm pretty confident with my DIY skills.

So I went online and ordered the necessary tools that I don't have yet. I needed a heat gun and a rotary tool. I could have baked the mobo like what you'd find some people do on youtube but I didn't want to risk damaging the caps and other chips.



Here are the tools I've ordered:




So I've opened up the laptop and was shocked to find that the thermal compound on
the CPU was all dried up and almost gone. The GPU compound appears to be OK
but I can tell something's wrong. It seems that the heat sink was not completely
pressing on the GPU chip. So I need to come up with a solution, a copper shim to
go in between.



Dried up thermal paste:







Cleaned it with 97% isopropyl alcohol:





Used the heat gun to reflow the mobo. 2 min. pre-heat (~6" away). 8 min. full heat (400C ~2"). 2 min. cool down (~6" apart).







Waited 60 mins to cool the mobo down. Attached just the HSF and screen, w/o thermal paste first for initial test whether it'll POST, cross-fingers and pray.... IT'S ALIVE!





Second part of the project is to devise a piece of thin metal to place in between the HSF and GPU/CPU
to create a solid contact. I've come up with 2 pennies (97% copper, pre-1970s), since copper is a good
conductor of heat. Sanded and polished them down using the rotary tool:






Prepare to install the HSF. Placed the right amount of thermal compound on top of the GPU/CPU. The
place the copper shims on top, plus add another layer of paste on top. Then carefully place the HSF
ensuring the pennies don't move:






So I've installed the just the HSF and screen for initial test... and BAM!






We're back in business! This just saved me $600+ for a new laptop. Or $350+ for a new mobo and labor.
Now I can be a laptop tech! Send me your dead mobo! j/k lol.






-coolnezz-

[dwarfy]

nice share boss.
pila man pud ang heat gun ug rotary tool?
unsa model sa imo laptop?
TIA

[xyberblue]

Cool kaayo bro.
Subscribe ko para ako balik2an ug check ni imo steps.

[werty]

what laptop model is this?

[noy.juan]

TS suggestion lang try using NeoBCD to replace grub boot menu...

im just curios why would some one run a laptop nonstop for 5 days... even for torrent downloading it is atleast well ventilated and cooled.... a very bad habit... and could wear your laptop down fast...

[regilsolon]

the POST is cool to read.. job well done bro..this is I called DIY tech guy.

[semahj]

nice share boss...

[coolnezz]

Update:

375 days after raising it from the dead... it is still alive and kicking! Hoping for it to last another 375 days!
yipeekayay! (*knock-on-wood*)

[togoys]

this thread is just right in time jud...last night i disassembled the laptop of my couzin...it's an MSI EX465 laptop...the problem is same..no display but led light turns on fan is spinning.. .
questions...... asa ka naka palit ana imong heat gun master? tagpila?
kanang pennies imo g.gamit ba... imo ra na g.gamit as sort of para contacts between the heatsink ang the video chip? naa man gud koy nakit.an over the net i don't know if nka basa ba ka ani nga paagi...ang kanang pennies kay e.butang on top of the chip while heating it...the idea is to avoid the popping of the chip since naay weight on top of it so di xa mo mo pop...
I will be trying my luck this kind of DIY ug maka secure nko ug heat gun...WISH ME LUCK..!!!! hehehe..=)

[janhenz1]

should be stickied.

DIY rasad ko on my laptops and netbooks basta HDD,RAM and inverter lang. hehe.

murag pwede ang pre-1982 US pennies ani kay 95% copper man?
basin pwede sad heavy duty nga hair dryers, would that suffice or required nga 400C gyud?

60s and 70s ni and i'm keepig them just in case.