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HELP!!! I need to solder a chip back on my mobo! Will it work!?

E

Epsil0n00

Golden Member
Hello all!
I will say now thank you in advance to anyone with suggestions/advice!

I was just installing some RAM in a computer at work (Dell Dimension 4500) and after the installation the computer wouldn't POST at all! After some testing, etc. I noticed that there was a chip missing from the motherboard! :Q Sure enough, when I search the bottom of the case, the little chip was laying there. This isn't like a South Bridge chip or anything major like that, but obviously it is serious enough that the unit won't post now. 🙁

I don't even know how it got knocked off! I install RAM almost everyday and I have never had anything like this happen! I blame it on Dell and their bad solder joints!

Anyway, the chip only has two contacts to the mobo and I can clearly see where it came loose from... do you think it would work to simply solder the little chip back on there? Can I ruin the motherboard completely by solding it back on (like, I would imagine that I need to be careful not to connect any other compents to one another by dripping solder on the mobo, etc.)?

Any advice? Will this work? Anyone ever had a similar situation?
Thanks!

Epsil0n

EDIT: a bit more information about the chip that fell off: it sits next to the RAM slots, just below the mobo's main power connection.
 
I don't see why it wouldn't. I would do it because well it won't even post so you can't really hurt it anymore
GL!!
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
Hello all!
I will say now thank you in advance to anyone with suggestions/advice!

I was just installing some RAM in a computer at work (Dell Dimension 4500) and after the installation the computer wouldn't POST at all! After some testing, etc. I noticed that there was a chip missing from the motherboard! :Q Sure enough, when I search the bottom of the case, the little chip was laying there. This isn't like a South Bridge chip or anything major like that, but obviously it is serious enough that the unit won't post now. 🙁

I don't even know how it got knocked off! I install RAM almost everyday and I have never had anything like this happen! I blame it on Dell and their bad solder joints!

Anyway, the chip only has two contacts to the mobo and I can clearly see where it came loose from... do you think it would work to simply solder the little chip back on there? Can I ruin the motherboard completely by solding it back on (like, I would imagine that I need to be careful not to connect any other compents to one another by dripping solder on the mobo, etc.)?

Any advice? Will this work? Anyone ever had a similar situation?
Thanks!

Epsil0n
Click to expand...


What do you have to lose? The thing already doesn't work, so trying to fix it isn't gonna make it not work twice as much or something. As long as the chip is ok re-soldering should work fine.
 
If its a Dell and still under warenty, won't soldering back the missing piece void said warenty?

If its all yours now, fire away that solder gun. If its still covered, I'd sent it back for a replacement. Let them worry about it.
 
Originally posted by: Coalfax
If its a Dell and still under warenty, won't soldering back the missing piece void said warenty?

If its all yours now, fire away that solder gun. If its still covered, I'd sent it back for a replacement. Let them worry about it.
Click to expand...

good point!
 
I just soldered it back on and it didn't work. I soldered it on very cleanly and didn't damage anything else in the process. I don't understand why that didn't fix it, but it didn't.

Now, I am on the phone with Dell. ...and, yes, it is under warranty (well, except for the fact that I just voided it). I am going to see if they'll just ship me a new mobo.

Thanks for your advice and assistance!
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
I just soldered it back on and it didn't work. I soldered it on very cleanly and didn't damage anything else in the process. I don't understand why that didn't fix it, but it didn't.

Now, I am on the phone with Dell. ...and, yes, it is under warranty (well, except for the fact that I just voided it). I am going to see if they'll just ship me a new mobo.

Thanks for your advice and assistance!
Click to expand...

You probably held the soldering iron onto the board too long and it heated up the metal causing something else to fail. You need to have a very hot iron and a steady hand when soldering onto the board. Also if there is too much resistance or voltage drop in your joint it may not work either.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dell voids the warranty on the machine now. As soon as Dell sees that you tried to solder the part on they will probably void the warranty and expect payment for the replacement part.
 
Originally posted by: mikecel79
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
I just soldered it back on and it didn't work. I soldered it on very cleanly and didn't damage anything else in the process. I don't understand why that didn't fix it, but it didn't.

Now, I am on the phone with Dell. ...and, yes, it is under warranty (well, except for the fact that I just voided it). I am going to see if they'll just ship me a new mobo.

Thanks for your advice and assistance!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be surprised if Dell voids the warranty on the machine now. As soon as Dell sees that you tried to solder the part on they will probably void the warranty and expect payment for the replacement part.
Click to expand...

I just got off the phone with Dell. They are sending me a new mobo 'next day air.' I don't have enough faith in Dell's competence to think that they will notice that I soldered a little chip back on the motherboard. I would bet that they will just take my dead mobo out of the return shipping box and toss it right in the trash! Now, if they had sent out an actuall person, they might have noticed... but even that is unlikely. Oh well, new mobo for me. I will post again if they end up charging me for the part (ie. if they find out about the soldering).

 
The chip could be anything really, from a resistor, to a capacitor to a diode. If it's a resistor you can place it back without having to worry about polarity.

If it was a capacitor or diode, you might have put it in backwarcks.
 
It was a square chip, about 1/4" thick. It had two connects on one side of the chip (wish I had a digicam handy), and it was clear which side was the bottom--so there was no possibility of putting it on backwards. I am not sure what its purpose was, but the mobo sure didn't like to run without it. 😀
 
I just got off the phone with Dell. They are sending me a new mobo 'next day air.' I don't have enough faith in Dell's competence to think that they will notice that I soldered a little chip back on the motherboard. I would bet that they will just take my dead mobo out of the return shipping box and toss it right in the trash! Now, if they had sent out an actuall person, they might have noticed... but even that is unlikely. Oh well, new mobo for me. I will post again if they end up charging me for the part (ie. if they find out about the soldering).
Click to expand...

Don't be so sure about that. One of our techs where I work was RMAing the 10GB drives in some of our Optiplex GX110s even the they were fine. He was doing this because Dell was sending out 20GB drives to replace the 10GBs since they can't get 10GBs anymore (he thought it would be an easy way to upgrade them). Well about a month later we got a call from out account rep that 5 of the 7 drives that were sent back tested perfectly with no errors at all...... So don't be so sure they won't test it.
 
Originally posted by: Epsil0n00
It was a square chip, about 1/4" thick. It had two connects on one side of the chip (wish I had a digicam handy), and it was clear which side was the bottom--so there was no possibility of putting it on backwards. I am not sure what its purpose was, but the mobo sure didn't like to run without it. 😀
Click to expand...

sounds like a transistor to me...

good luck trying to BS your way through your warranty 😉
 
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