Question about the magic of flux on a 20 year old circuit board

I saw a corroded DVD player motherboard go from completely dead to running discs again after I hit it with fresh flux and reflowed the main chip, but has anyone else had a fix hold for more than 6 months after doing that?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifersmith6d ago

I mean, yeah, @morganhayes is right about heat cycles being the killer. I did a reflow on an old Xbox 360 that lasted like a year and a half before it just stopped turning on completely one day. The chip itself was fine but those old boards just get so brittle, the pads actually cracked around it after enough on and off. If it's sitting still and not getting moved or heated up a lot, I'd say your odds are way better. But honestly on a 20 year old board I'd just call it a temporary win and not expect years out of it.

morganhayes6d agoMost Upvoted

I saw a video from Louis Rossmann where he talked about a fix like that on an old laptop board that lasted almost two years before it finally gave out again. He said the main thing is if the chip itself isn't damaged, just cracked solder joints, then reflowing with good flux can hold for a long time. But on a 20 year old board, the board material itself can get brittle and the pads can lift, so that's a big risk. I've got a DVD player I did that to about 8 months ago and it's still working fine, but I keep it in a cool spot and don't move it around much. The heat cycles from turning it on and off seem to be what kills those kinds of repairs eventually, so if you leave it on all the time it might last longer. I'd say it's worth a shot but don't expect it to be permanent on something that old.