Anyone solder the bridges closed on a Duron/Athlon

[stonythug]

I was just wondering if anyone has soldered the bridges closed on their Duron/Athlon. I work at a company that has a foundry in house and I have access to a ton of electrical engineering tools(too bad I'm a computer science major and wouldn't know what to do with them). We also have some people who fix boards using solder so I was thinking about bringing in the duron that's currently being shipped to me and having them solder the bridges closed. Would this be possible? I haven't actually gotten the chip yet, but I'm concerned that bridges aren't spread out enough and that it would be too difficult to only connect the adjacent bridges and not the neighboring ones. I don't know, like I said, I'm a CS major so I'm pretty clueless when it comes to this stuff. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks, -stony

 

[Supradude]

it can be done in principal,... but the EE's there better be pretty darn precise as the heat from a soldering iron could well melt the bridges themselves or cause lots of mystery damage to the chip and core because of the direct pinpoint heat... propose the idea to the Electrical guys and see if they can do it,... if you have chips to spare... it may be worthwhile to try one but since so many people have success with common pencil lead, why go to the trouible and risk killing a chip?

 

[Laz]

I have a Duron 600 and I've soldered the bridges myself. The chip is not all that sesitive to heat and soldering is quite straightforward, I had to do it twice (2 separate chips) and both worked fine. I used a gas soldering iron, so I'm not sure what the heat rating on it would be, but it was turned up quite high to get the solder to catch.

 

[DaddyG]

There's little chance of melting the bidges, they have a tungsten core and then they are Gold Plated. The Loctite Defogger Kit 15067 is cheap at $7, its reversible with acetone and there no chance of damaging anything with heat.

 

[lhampel]

Yes, My t-bird hsa all the L1 bridges soldered & it workx fine

 

[Nutdotnet]

What actaully is the BEST and EASIEST way to Close the bridges, I am going to be doing it soon.

 

[silver24]

I thank the Defroster repair kit trick is great, permanent,Unless you spill acetone, wont wear out.

 

[Healey]

Going on 4 months with a #2 pencil job. No probs.

 

[Nutdotnet]

So with the Loctite stuff I just apply a small amount on to connect each bridge??

 

[lhampel]

Nutdotnet, do yourself a favor and use a nice big magnifying glass.
Loctite the L1 bridges closed. Dip a wood toothpic in the stuff & connect the L1 bridges.

But soldering the L1 bridges closed didn't cost me anything

 

[DaddyG]

Nut man,

There's a thread on How to do the Loctite trick, search the forums. If your hand is not so steady, mask of between the bridges, art supply stores have I think very thin masking tape. Make sure the solution is mixed well. The 'eye' end of a needle or the slightly mashed end of a toothpick work well. The real trick is to be ready to work quickly. The solution dries very fast.

 

[stonythug]

Yo I searched for that thread with the trick and found it but here's the link.

Don't bother taking it because it's been removed. Anyone know of another place that has a good tutorial on how to use the defogger kit?

 

[DaddyG]

There really isn'too much more to tell. Usual precautions are recommended, well vented room, watch out for contact lenses as the 'stuff' has nasty fumes which might screw 'em up. Practice applying on something else, to check how quick it dries. Shake bottle frequently to make sure the particles are well mixed. Good light and magnifier realy help. Have acetone handy for clean-up.