Capacitor Replacement Review

[stelriah]

I recently replaced some blown capacitors of an HDTV power supply. It was my first soldering job and I didn't do the best job. However, the TV turned on just fine after the surgery. I half expected it to short circuit. I'd really appreciated it if anyone could give me some feedback on these photos of my soldering job. I'm wondering why the board works even though I connected points that weren't originally that way.

 

[Martimus]

Yes, you shorted three separate lines. Of course, without a pin out, I can't tell you what those pins do. You could have just shorted ground lines together, which wouldn't really matter other than minor ground loops. Another reason you aren't seeing any failures might simply be that the pins you shorted run at similar voltages, so shorting them wouldn't cause damage, although they may keep the device from doing whatever function it is supposed to do properly.

The easiest way to fix shorts like that (in my experience) is by adding flux and heating up the solder with a soldering iron. That should draw the solder away from the other pins. I usually combine this with solder wick to get rid of the extra solder, and clean it up before applying power again.