Reparing Laptops/PC Board Level Repairs

[jdunderhill]

Hi

I am very interested in learning how to repair Laptops, I can build and repair Desktop PC's no problem, I was wondering if anyone has any links to any resources where I could learn the skills?

I know that repairing Laptops can be a very specialised area but thats what makes it a challenge for me to get into and learn!

I also was curious about companies boasting that they perform board level and component level repairs on motherboards, how do they actually do that?

Thanks in advance for the help

Regards

Jamie

 

[franklin97355]

To do board level repairs on ;aptops you would need to get the replacement parts from the laptop manufacturer or a company that rebuilds the parts and resells them. For component level repair you find the bad component and remove and replace it. I have no links for you, sorry.

 

[edfair]

Depends on what skills you presently have. Building PCs can be as simple as fitting things together and adding screws. That doesn't qualify you as a component level repairman.
Are you doing component level repair on desktops, or are you doing FRU swapouts?
Do you have the soldering skills, the diagnostic test equipment, and parts sources? Surface mount parts can be a challenge and without the diagnostic stuff you won't know what to replace, even if you can get it.


Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[jdunderhill]

Thanks very much for the reply, for the component level repair, would you need any specialised tools to perform this or just a good old soldering iron!?

I only ask because I would really like to get into this area and have a really keen interest

Regards

Jamie

 

[jdunderhill]

Sorry, just saw your post edfair, I think it answered the question, thank you both very much

 

[franklin97355]

You WILL need special tools both to find the problem and then to repair them. It's real hard to remove surface mount, multi pin devices with a "good old soldering iron

 

[BadFrog]

If you have ever closely examined a surface mount chip on a PCB then you should be able to answer your own question. I've heard people boast they can solder those with a very fine tipped iron but I have never seen it. And thats just one of those things I have to see to believe! There is indeed specialized equipment for those tasks.

As far as laptops go. Are you friggin nuts!!! Laptops are evil, avoid them like the plague!

The above is a personal opinion only.

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy"
Albert Einstein

 

[edfair]

The surface mount soldering skills are not that tough. But better to go to a technical school where it is taught rather than OJT. The tools aren't that expensive but impractical unless you are going to be using them regularly.
The diagnostic tools are the big money items.

You can do small surface mount chips with fine point low wattage irons but from experience I would expect a very high failure rate on anything over 2 sides and more than 7 or 8 pins per side. And probably 50% failure on even the little chips. At the low power you don't normally ruin the board.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[orypecos]

I don't know about laptops in particular, but I know with other electronic equipment, they mark the componets with their own encripted values, so even if you find the bad component, you will have difficulty knowing want to replace it with. Are you already adept at replacing components on desk top systems? Many times when working on circuit boards, you will damage the board trying to get enough heat to melt the solder, but not too much to damage other components or 'samewhiched' internal circuit paths. The price of most components and even whole systems have come down so much, and labor is getting so expensive, that replacement of modules is even sometimes not cost effective. Avaya now changes out the whole computer for most of their voice mail systems. They found it wasn't cost effective for a onsite technician to replace the mother board, or just about anything else either.

 

[felixc]

Repairing laptops as a sideline isn't a good idea. The few thing you'd be able to do is to clean keyboards, repair some mechanical things like broken connectors, and swap some high-level parts if you're lucky enough to find replacement ones. Almost nothing is standard within a laptop, and worse, you won't find any diagnostic information for such machines. Unfortunately this is one of the reasons why the marketing people are trying to sell laptops to everyone. They're expensive, they don't last, and they're tough to repair. Captive customer base. Hello profit margins!

As far as repair equipment: (good ones)
- binocular is $2000.
- SMT iron is $200.
- hot air rework tool is $1500.
- BGA rework tool is $15K and more.
- BGA inspection tool is $20K and more.

Notwithstanding the skills that you need to acquire to do a good job with these tools.

Still interested?