Fist time I've seen that before!

This one was interesting.
This week I received in a revision 1.(3/4) Xbox with (guessing a bad top D0? . . . Wrong!) a shredded top A0. In this case the person working on this box thought the damage had become un-repairable. Good for them they were wrong :-). Take a look, some pretty pictures :)



Before we get too deep into this let me begin with: I like it when people quit before the damage it so extensive that it can't be fixed.
With that said here we go:
Here is the (missing) top A0. This particular board had the VIAs annular ring for A0 fractured. D0 is right below and has sustained moderate damage as well. Because of the damage to D0 and my distaste for (the mechanical stability of) bottom side mods I had to be a little creative on the fix.
Here is that same A0, after being cleaned up and having a nice length of Kynar wire attached to it and carefully soldered to the trace. :oops: no pic available
While I applaud people soldering themselves rather than not understanding anything about how to mod their boxes, I wish they'd learn to solder on a scrap board first! This is the blob of solder that was attempted to be attached (I assume to A0 due to the damage).
A note: The trick is not more solder it's less! The kind of joints we are making will never be super secure physically, just electrically. That is why I highly recommend a strain relief of some sort, so the joint between the wire and board don't see any stress.
The wire heads on over to the TSOP where it rejoins to A0 here at pin 20.
Also at pin 21 the new attach for D0 is brought off. To all those new at soldering I need to stress that your run of the mill RatShack or Weller soldering iron is the wrong tool for the job.
While I will concede that someone with extensive skill and experience with their equipment could do this with a long pencil iron, a fine pitch SMT rework station is the right tool here.
Metcals are widely regarded as the best but at a grand easy they are too pricey for me (care to donate?).
Hakko makes a fine rig that at around $300 is a great value (it's what I use).
Also included in this repair (though not shown) are: A pin socket (2 pin) for D0 (no ground on this one) to connect to the SMARTXX chip sent in with the board. A 12 pin socket for same said chip. The combination of the two sockets make the modchip completely removable without any soldering at all, but giving all the stability and benefits of a soldered mod. This is part of my standard mod install service.
So the key takeaways from this lesson are:
  • Soldering: less is more.
  • Be sure the point you are trying to solder is the correct one
  • All is not lost if your first attempt fails
  • If you do not think you can fix it then send your board to someone with a reputation in repairs.

Cheers All;

-nB