This iPhone 11 Pro Max came in for the usual baseband & no wifi issue. Super common on these sandwich boards.
I split it & noticed there were about 22 ripped pads across the whole board. Which is funny because I usually see all the ripped pads in just one section. But this one had it randomly on almost every side lol
Just based on initial inspection, it looked like it was fixable. About 5-10 looked like ground, so that reduced the total amount of pads to fix. I re-quoted the customer & got approval to do the repair.
I scratched out a few of the left over vias, so i can solder on the solder lug replacement pads. Then I came across these 5 pads.
The whole via was gone! There was nothing left on the board to solder the solder lug onto.
If you look closely (scroll to the left to see all the pics!) you can see where it's torn. Looking at ZXW, I can see where these all end up. I can technically run jumpers to every spot, but at that point, it's just not worth the effort for a repair.
If it was something I needed to do for data, then I'd definitely give it a try. But this is just for repair and who knows if it'll be reliable.
So I'm calling this a NO FIX.
Can't fix them all 🤷♂️
What about you? When do you decide to call something a no fix? Would you have attempted to fix all this? Let me know below!
If you have a Seek Thermal Cam, you're missing out if you don't have a VCC Seek Stand: https://www.vccboardrepairs.com/buy-seek-stand
Injured Gadgets just got these back in stock, so get them while you can!
It can take us a while to build these out sometimes, so they're sometimes out of stock for a while, but we're working towards always having inventory ready to build more as they sell out.
This stand makes using a thermal cam so easy. So much better than any other thermal solution on the market.
It allows you to get real close up (using my Macro Lens), and easily find where the short is coming from.
Plus it's hard free, so you can have your hands free to try to boot the device from DCPS, while having an image that is in focus & not moving around.
You can even record a video through the app, while you inject voltage into the short, so you can go back & see exactly which component was it that was heating up.
Save yourself lots of time by getting a Seek Cam, Stand & Macro Lens! ...
Anyone who is doing game console repairs, knows how many screws you need to remove to access the motherboard.
Especially the PS5, with the 5,000 screws or so.
If you don't already have an electric screwdriver, GET ONE ASAP.
🌟 Cordless Screwdriver with T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3E5duCj
🌟Extended T9 Bit: https://amzn.to/3c4YJac
It's rechargeable through micro USB and allows you to easily swap the tips out. You can also fold it to be straight or L shape.
Let me know below if you are already using an electric screwdriver 👇👇
This Pixel 6 came in for no power after another repair shop tried to repair the Display FPC connector (See pic1)
By the looks of it, they struggled badly trying to get this soldered on lol
So I found there were signs of overheating on the CPU and EERPOM chip, which was likely the fault. (See pic2)
I went through the full CPU Swap process, transplanting the CPU, RAM, UFS and EEPROM, only for the phone to bootloop & then give me the error in pic3
Unfortunately, it seems like something corrupted the UFS in the process, causing data not to be recoverable
This makes me sad, as an FPC replacement should be one of the easiest solder jobs to do, but this is what happens when inexperienced techs practice on customer's devices 😭
I totally get the urge to try it. You see videos... it looks easy.. you got some random hot air station & cheap iron combo from amazon
So why not?
Well this is why not.. you can totally kill the customer's device & data
If you want to learn how to solder, practice on ...
Had an S23 Ultra come in for a simple display connector issue… but it turned into a mess after someone tried to fix it themselves.
Glue all over the connector, uneven solder, no flux used, pads almost compromised… the whole thing was shifted and barely hanging on.
This is one of those repairs that looks easy on YouTube, but in reality takes a lot of control, the right temps, and proper prep.
Ended up doing a full FPC replacement and got it fully working again.
Curious how you guys approach these:
Do you pre-tin connectors or go straight install?
Hot air only or hybrid with iron touch-up?
What temps / airflow are you running for these Samsung FPCs?
Also… how often are you seeing DIY attempts make things worse lately?
Full video here:
Had an iPhone 11 Pro Max come in for no power. Device was in excellent condition, no cracks, no signs of impact. Customer said it just randomly died.
Honestly, this is one of those classic faults I used to see all the time, and still enjoy because of how straightforward it is once you know what to look for.
First step, as always with no power, was checking current draw on the DC power supply.
Boot behavior:
Current was jumping all over the place. It would bounce from 0 → ~500mA → 0 → a few mA → back up again. Just constantly pulsing with no stable draw.
That kind of behavior usually points to a short on a NAND cap
So I threw it under the thermal cam (Seek Compact Pro). Timing is key here, because you only see heat when current is actually being drawn. When it drops to zero, there’s no heat signature.
Caught it at the right moment and found a hotspot on the board.
Under the microscope, the area showed a slightly darkened cap under the underfill, classic sign.
Ended up being a shorted PP3V0 cap ...
