Damn brutal to desolder an SMD one pin at a time… I’d try it with chipquick, but this way? No.

Yes, good job, but if you ever do it again use ChipQuick. A unique indium alloy solder that when melted with ordinary solder, forms a new alloy that melts at about 100C, much easier to remove the dead chip. Just be sure to clean up the old solder before replacing the chip.

Just cut all pins using exacto knife, remove the chip, and clean up broken pins with soldering iron. Easier than lifting pins one by one.

When shipping my computer back home from college, I forgot to take off the big copper heatsink I put on my video card (gf ti4200). When the box showed up at home, I could hear that the heatsink had broken free (I had used nylon screws, yeah I know, save it) and was loose inside the case.
When the heatsink had broken free, it slammed into the nearest ramsink (on the video card) ripping the chip free from the board, and pulling up/out some pads/traces with it.

To make a long story a little shorter: after 4 hours using: a microscope, a very steady hand, and a superfine soldering iron tip, I was able to resolder the chip back in place (using the pads that had not been ripped off) and soldering to what was left to the traces where a pad had been ripped off the board.
To this day, the board still works fine.
The memory doesn’t overclock like it used to, but hey….

Oh and a side note, you wont be able to do this to modern video cards as they use BGA style ram.
Well if it did rip clean off you might be able to reflow it back on with a hotplate and hotair tool.

“$1100 for a replacement motherboard. They opted to buy the $5 chip from Digikey and install it. The write up details the many steps involved in the replacement of the chip, which took the entire”

He and his co-workers took an entire day. Even if they are badly paid, it costs the company well over the 1100 USD.

wow! that is freaky! but i would be too scared of hurting the mb more than it already is…

waste a whole day or buy a generic pcmcia firewire card for $12 at newegg. definately got soldering skilz, tho.

Hot air tools and improvised heat shields to protect surrounding SMD components. You’d have been done in about 45 minutes and it’d be indistinguishable from Factory. And sure the cost of the tool is off-putting to some, but after you’ve removed ONE admittadely large TSSOP 48pin with it you will never ever EVER go back to the heat-and-lift method.

There are other techniques such as smothering all the pins with solder, and I’ve used these with good success (and even for installation with the help of a good desoldering station), but you do run the risk of burning out a chip or lifting traces if you’re not familiar with the techniques.

This was rather weak like one of those stick a PC in a toaster. Only justifiable with a rebuttal like “the reward was in the effort”. Because 8 hours to do a 2hour tops job with proper tools or even just get a pcmcia card would have been a lot smarter I must say. I mean my grandma could solder that if you gave her 8hours (she is good with a pin and thread!). I thought hackaday was about progression? This was not well planned, I’m going to submit a idea I have to mow your lawn with nose hair clippers!

If the mobo was working fine and its just the firewire chip that burnt out was it really worth it.
Awsome idea for when something really integral gets fried.

Chipquik is faster and if you are careful the removed chip can be re-used. Also this does less damage to the pads.

However, cutting the pins off one at a time is a time honoured technique.
-A

quickway of doing SMD chips, mount the chip in the right place with a little glue, next drown the pins on solder (quickly, dont bake it) then use that de-soldering breaded coppermesh to suckup the access solder again.. and you’re left with a very clean mount.. practice first with some old chips before doing the real thing tho..

BTW 23,24 How the hell can you double post! It’s frigging impossible considering you have to check your comments through email!!

Good Grief! Just cut the pins, remove the chip, heat pads to remove pins, solder braid to remove excess, Isopropanol alcohol to remove flux, solder new chip and Bob’s your mother’s brother! Talk about a long-winded way of doing things. Of course, this only applies if you don’t wish to re-use the IC :-)