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I finally stopped trusting the factory solder after a smoke test fail

Had a router board come in last week, dead short on the power rail. Turns out a cold joint from the factory looked fine under a loupe but cracked the moment I flexed the board. Now I reflow every second-hand power connector before I even plug it in. Anyone else burn a board that way?
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nora54
nora5419d ago
Reflow those joints every time, it costs nothing but a few minutes. I started doing the same after a switch board died on me, the fix was a single solder ball that looked perfect until I touched it with a probe. Grab some flux and a decent iron, hit every power connector and inductor, you will save yourself a lot of headaches. Also check the caps while you are in there, cheap ones dry out fast on older gear.
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