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Author Topic: Micro Cuts On The Mainboard  (Read 20 times)

houbahop

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« on: November 01, 2007, 01:59:00 PM »
Hi,

I have previously written a message to explain my xbox problem here.

Then I have read a few threads and iddentified it as the "corrosion problem", so I have edited my previous message with this one.

I will right now open my xbox and take some pics that I will show you, to be sure to know where I must soldier the Kynar wire. (my xbox is not v1.1)

Thanks and please don't blame me for this unusefull post. It's because I have edited the previous one  rolleyes:

Houbahop.

This post has been edited by houbahop: Nov 1 2007, 09:18 PM
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houbahop

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2007, 04:20:00 PM »
Here are a few pics.

(IMG:http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/2867/corrosionxs7.jpg)
(IMG:http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/175/endpu8.jpg)


I'm sorry, my camera is old (1 megapixel) and I wasn't able to take good closer shots , even in macro mode.

I will use a multimeter to test the affected lines, but it seem that only A,B and maybe C must be shunted.

If I have well understood, this corrosion is made because of a problem in the assembly line.
So; does it means that once that it will be repaired, it should be ok for a long time ? (I hope so !)

Houb.
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DarkMatter

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2007, 06:41:00 PM »
I'm assuming you've seen my tutorial on the corrosion issue here:
http://forums.llamma.com/viewtopic.php?t=12329

Here's the theory:
During the manufacture of the motherboard, its assumed that some corrosive liquid is being splashed onto the areas in question whilst on the assembly line. The motherboard may go through some more process's before it gets washed, dried and ready for installation into a case, or its populated with components, or shipped to where all the assembly is done.
There will be the odd amount of motherboards that may get pulled off the line prior to the washing process and left to one side for reasons of rework or some other nature. Or the factory doesn't run on a 24 hour basis, therefore all the motherboards prior to going into the washing machine have the corrosive liquid still on them until the next shift starts, thus allowing it to begin its corrosion.
Once the corrosion has commenced, washing will not remove it entirely. It then slowly, over the years start to eat away the affected tracks until it reaches a point where it eats enough or all of it where the X-Box starts playing up.
Testing the motherboard at the factory will not show the problem, as it is a very slow process. Also a certain amount of motherboards would be visually inspected, but the corrosion material is dismissed as washing machine remnants and not something corrosive.
The reason for the above analogy is to demonstrate that not all motherboards are affected, only a small percentage. You unfortunately are one of the unlucky percentage.

If you follow my tutorial, then you should not have any more problems with this particular fault for the life of the console, so don't worry.
I hope the above helps, and please let us know how you get on.
Good luck!!!  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
Regards,
DarkMatter

EDIT: By the way, V1.1 and V1.0 are identical in regards to this fix, but if you have a later version motherboard, then please let me know the version number and hopefully I'll have one which I can scan and post up showing all the A~E points. But as far as I know, the corrosion affects V1.0 and V1.1 motherboards only.

This post has been edited by DarkMatter: Nov 2 2007, 01:46 AM
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houbahop

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2007, 04:47:00 AM »
Hello and thanks for your reply.

Yes, it's your tutorial that I have seen :-)

My xbox is V1.3 (I have done the serial number test, I should verify by opening it)

If you know where I must soldier the kinar wire, thanks ! (It shouldn't be complicated to test with the multimeter however). I have located the three "dots", you can see them on my second pic. But they are not exactly located the same that on your pics.

Thanks,

Houbahop.

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DarkMatter

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2007, 04:59:00 PM »
I've completed the tutorial for the V1.2~V1.3 motherboards. Here's the link:
http://forums.llamma.com/viewtopic.php?p=73985#73985
Please let us know how you get on.
Good luck!!!
Regards,
DarkMatter
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houbahop

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« Reply #5 on: November 05, 2007, 04:41:00 AM »
Hello DarkMatter,

thank you for the new tutorial (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

If I can ask more details again, I think it would be nice to have a part of the tutorial that says more about the soldiering tool that we must use. More specially about the size of the "needle" (sorry, I don't know how to call that in english).

I have a soldiering tool, but I think that mine is too big. I'm afraid to try with this one. In an other way, it's sad to buy an other one that will probably cost more or as much as an other used xbox  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

It you can show us a picture of the of your soldiering material and a few informations to know wich one to buy on ebay, thank you (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Houbahop.

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DarkMatter

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2007, 05:31:00 PM »
The type of soldering iron you purchase really depends on your soldering skills and what you intend on using the iron for.
For reworking stuff like X-Box motherboards, you really need a temperature controlled iron with a small tip.
Wattage of the iron should be between 15 and 40 Watts. Iron temperature should be around 380 to 400 degrees Celsius.
For doing run of the mill soldering such as tinning wires, through-hole component soldering etc., then an iron that plugs directly into the AC, with no temperature compensation would be adequate, with a medium sized tip.
The picture below shows an example of some types of tips that are available for a certain Hakko iron.
We are only interested in the tip size at this point. So a chisel or conical type tip with a point size of around 0.5mm to 1.6mm would be ideal for X-Box reworking.
The red shaded areas don't come into play in regards to tip size, that's more for adaptation to your soldering iron.
What ever you do, DON'T get a tip with a really fine point, eg. 0.2mm or less, otherwise you won't be able to solder to high current areas or ground planes. The tip needs an adequate heating area.
Make sure that the soldering iron you buy has readily available tips, in various sizes.
The only types of soldering irons I prefer are Hakko and Weller. But there is a brand called Sunko which are Hakko clones, but for half the price. But they will do the job just as good as the Hakko's.
If you need tips on how to solder, then look on the internet, as there are a ton of tutorials on the subject.
By the way. If you do purchase a reasonable soldering iron (or even a cheapie), NEVER file the tip to clean it. You'll end up removing the special plating, and you'll find solder will no longer stick.

(IMG:http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/Riggon/Iron_tips.jpg)

I hope the above helps.
Regards,
DarkMatter

P.S. Picture is courtesy of WES Components catalog.
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houbahop

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Micro Cuts On The Mainboard
« Reply #7 on: November 07, 2007, 08:31:00 PM »
Thank you,

I think that you couldn't do a better explaination  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

All what I was wondering is written in your post.

The funny thing is that I have an electronic background, but never really practiced a lot. Only theory.

I will seek for an iron now.
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