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G4 Processor Damage

Submitted by Hawaii Cruiser on April 14, 2008 - 2:38am. Hardware Repair Help

I've got an Apple OEM dual 1Ghz processor card for a Quicksilver G4 that does not work at all. Looking very closely at the card, I see no signs of damage--no scratches, burns, etc.--except at the spots where the heatsink clips attach to the card (see photo). Copper foil is exposed, and on the worst one, it looks like corrosion has worn all the way through to the fiberglass, possibly breaking the line. There's obvious moisture damage with rust and blue copper corrosion. I assume the line that is broken--which runs all the way around the card--is a ground line (?). Could this possibly be the cause of the card malfunction? If so, how would I repair it? thanks!

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Photo

Submitted by Hawaii Cruiser on April 14, 2008 - 2:42am.

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Marker

Submitted by alk on April 14, 2008 - 3:04am.

Isn't there a marker doodad that lays down silver conductive ink? I could swear I've heard of people using these things to repair traces on PCBs just like what you're talking about. Of course, in your case, the problem is pretty severe, and putting the heatsink clips back on might scrape any fix away.

You could try a white-wire fix. Find where the ground is exposed elsewhere and solder in a bridge of narrow gauge wire bridging the gap but routed away from the heatsink clips. In fact, this might be a more prudent and longer lasting solution than the marker approach...

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Drew

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I'd second the white-wire fix

Submitted by eeun on April 14, 2008 - 2:58pm.

I'd second the white-wire fix.
I took a look at a QS 733 processor I've got and it does look like that path is needed for proper grounding.

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Try it with a paperclip or so

Submitted by themike on April 14, 2008 - 6:27pm.

Try it with a paperclip or some alligator-style clips first. Easier than soldering on some maybe-otherwise-dead-anyway hardware.

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I disagree. There's more than

Submitted by eeun on April 14, 2008 - 7:54pm.

I disagree. There's more than one trace gone, so that'd be quite a juggling act.
Even alligator clips mounted in the tight space between the CPU card and the logic board in a powered up system seems like it'd be less risky to do the job properly, and lessen the risk of adding the logic board to the list of broken components. In fact, at the rear of the processor card, I don't think there'd be room for clips when it's installed.
If it were just one trace, and more easily accessible, I'd agree.

Trust me...scraping the traces and soldering 4 bridges around the clip mounts will take little time, and if the processor still doesn't work, you've at least eliminated the clip pads as a cause.