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Has Acid eaten into your computer's motherboard ? click below to view 2 jpeg pictures (97Kb).
psssst ..... Want to do it yourself ?
If Not ... We reconstruct damaged and acid eaten circuit boards. Call for an assessment and estimation quote.
Doing it yourself ? confident ?.. OK ,.. please read on.. it's not difficult !
Do it yourself ? Yes if you think that you are up to it, technically competent, then by all means, do it yourself,
but do it properly, clean off every last trace of acid and acid etched copper track work, realising that if you
damage or come across damage track work, it will need to be touched-up with a trace of 0.5mm diameter tinned
fine copper wire which can be angled and bent into position, thus following and reinforcing the damaged circuit
tracks, soldering as you go. Please use a temperature controlled soldering iron, one that displays with LEDs
the actual temperature either expressed as a digital display or as a LED bargraph. Don't "cook" the PCB tracks.
After soldering, remove all traces of flux, clean off with a thinners or acetate based solvent, making sure not to
inhale any of the neuro-toxins and any carcinogens that abound in hydrocarbon based solvents, or better still,
use some reliable methylated spirits, it may take longer but it's much safer to use than hydrocarbon based
products.
Select a fresh 60 mA Hr 3.6 Volt Ni-Cad and solder to the legs only ( keeping heat off the actual "Cells" ), a red
to the positive end ( +ve ) and a black wire to the negative ( -ve ) end .
Using a 35mm plastic film container, poke two small holes in the lid, then push the two wires through these holes
and then pull them out, taking up the slack wire, then put the battery in the container and place the lid firmly on
the film container and solder the red wire to where the positive (+Ve) wire was attached and then the black (-Ve)
wire to where the negative ( -ve ) leg of the old battery was attached. We suggest discovering which is positive
and which is the negative wire before you start.
Melt some clear hot melt glue over the two soldered wire for mechanical support and insulation and now you
have a correctly installed Ni-Cad battery, all safely away from the other circuits, remember, Ni-Cads "off-gas"
as a chemical by-product of the charging process.
Next, mount the plastic container in a way so that it permanently stands upright with double sided tape on the
base and adhere it in a position so that any gases that may escape will not eat into a circuit board directly
above for instance, use your own good thinking and judgment on the simplest but most affective long term way
to mount it.
After the circuit board area that you cleaned is dry, inspect with a loupe ( an eye piece ) to carefully examine the
area and if you are satisfied that all is good, then and only then, cover it with a clear lacquer or use a clear nail
polish, this will seal it once again, keeping the air and any moisture off the exposed copper tracks etcetera.
The key is total clean-off of the acid and just as important, really close visual inspection, with a good "loupe"
or magnifying eyepiece, thorough inspection will lead to years of trouble free operation from the acid affected
area, making sure to coat the affected area with a good sealing non-conductive lacquer as outlined on this page.
After reading this and you're not comfortable with the above task, please have your friendly technician do it for
you. Please make sure they do know what is involved and quiz them on their experience in these type of repairs.
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Don't want to do it yourself ? That's fine, not everyone is a techo ! now Moving right along......
Our advise is to have your friendly technician carefully remove this offending Ni-Cad battery, or if you are not
very confident that this task can be performed to your satisfaction, find someone who can do it, or send your,
boxed and safely packed motherboard to us for assessment, via secure and very trackable Australia Post.
We strongly urge you to remove the cover off your computer and check out your computer's 3.6V Ni-Cad battery
and as a precaution, replace it now. If the Ni-Cad is more that 3 years old, then totally remove the Ni-Cad and
replace it with a fresh and new one, replacing it into a empty 35mm film container with a red and black wire
protruding out via two small holes in the 35mm film container lid. The two wires, the positive and the negative
must be carefully soldered to the two pads on the A4000 motherboard, and carefully to the two ends of the
Ni-Cad battery inside the 35 mm film container, the correct way of course , +ve to +ve and the -ve to -ve.
Put a knot in each wire so they do not pull through the lid once the battery is secured within the container.
If you like, pack the battery in foam rubber but remember to leave an air hole for the "off-gas" to release.
This puts an end of ( potential ) circuit board damage problem forever.
This will alleviate any future acid leaks, the 35mm film container acts as an isolator as well as an insulator and
can be adhered to the chassis facing upwards with double sided tape or hot-melt glue, which ever is convenient
for you. We do suggest that this procedure by carried out only by a qualified technician or a person with a
good technical expertise background who has good many years experience in multi-layer soldering techniques.
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While on the subject of soldering, this word is spelt sol-der-ing not soddering,
sol as in soul, der as in durr, ing as in ring . We are flabbergasted on just
how many " illiterates " are actually out there and you know who you are !
It is easy to pronounce, say it slowly, sol - der- ing easy isn't it ? ...
OK ... now you've got it ... SOL DER ING ! There is no silent " L " in the word.
Don't put one there. Learn it ! remember it ! Apply it ! Use it ;-)
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Our service fee for this service including new 3.6 V Ni-Cad battery is AUD$ 45.00 + GST = AUD$ 49.50
Email us :sales@unitechelectronics.com
Please Note: This price does not include repairs to an acid affected area, replacing tracks one by one is a very
exacting technical service and may take several hours to perform, depending on how extensive the acid
damage is done to your motherboard, seen or unseen in between the printed circuit board layers.
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 **CLICK HERE** to go to C-TICK information page
Don't let lightning strike and fry your modem, printer/scanner and computer
Line "ZAPS" collectively known as "transients", spikes, surges and other fluctuations in the electrical power
supply can spell disaster for all types of electrical equipment, especially for all computers, desktop or laptops,
modems, facsimile machines, EFTPOS terminals and other electronic related peripherals.
The results of such transients range from irreparable damage to subtle operational problems the next time your
next time your computer crashes or hangs for no apparent reason, consider the possibility of an anomaly in the
power supply placing a glitch on your hard drive and not your operating system. Your PC may have been spiked!
The screen may display the BSD ( Blue Screen of Death ) or the BSP ( Black Screen of Peril ) neither of these are
good looks.
The cause of these transients is so widely varied. Lightning strikes are the most dramatic and the most serious
and devastating examples of electronic and electrical damage, along with other naturally occurring electrical
activity, eg: Static Electricity. The 3M company wrote and dedicated an entire thick book on this very subject.
In fact as much as 80% of electrical equipment problems have been shown to be the direct or indirect result of
lightning and over voltage surges. When you consider that a lightning strike within a one kilometre radius of
your home or office can generate up to a staggering 120 million volt surge into the local above ground and also
below-ground level power cables and telephone lines, it's not hard to see how problems can arise.
On a more mundane level, any piece of electrical equipment sharing the same circuit as the device you are
using can cause a spike or surge when switched on or off. Offending appliances can simply be household or
office items such as vacuum cleaners, fridges and freezers and anything else that utilises an electric motor or
electro magnetic switching. Electric Arc Welders are somewhat notorious in creating spikes and surges.
Even equipment on a different circuit can be the source of problems by inducing voltage irregularities in
your neighbouring power cables.
As such business travellers and home workers alike need to very beware. Hotel cleaning staff will as a rule, not
bother generally check who or what is plugged in next door when cleaning a recently vacated a room, and your
laptop on charge could easily be drawing power from the same circuit as the maid's hotel vacuum cleaner.
Similarly, your state-of-the-art home office could be easily affected by a dodgy switch in the fridge in the kitchen.
If you have ever seen a light bulb dim momentarily or even very quickly, when appliances such as these are
are switched on, imagine what it's doing to your computer or other delicate electronic devices, DVD recorders, etc.
As well as the spectacular and terminal equipment failure that can be brought about by nasty lightning strikes,
a consistently poor mains power supply in your area can dramatically reduce the life-span of an electronic device.
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Regular and albeit small, irregularities in the supply it is claimed, can place additional wear on the transformer
transformer in your equipment, supposedly leading it to develop faults long before it otherwise should. Not true.
There is no real scientific evidence that a ordinary "E" or "C" core transformer can be damaged by surges or
spikes ! It is simply a lie to state this. Beware of people who say this. If travelling outside your office, we do
suggest using a high quality mains surge protection device, using a surge guard is the best free advice we can
give to you. Please see below " SURGE PROTECTORS " .
It's also worth checking your insurance for the cover provided in the event of damage or faults caused by lightning
strikes. Some companies exclude this cover or place additional excesses where equipment is not adequately
protected against such terrible eventualities, to minimise their exposure to heavy claims. Act of God eh ? hmmm
A FINAL NOTE ON CIRCUIT BREAKERS AND POWER-BOARDS
Please don't be misled : Quick acting circuit breakers, Overload protected Power boards, fast-blow wire fuses and
other such " waffled about " and very misused terminology as safety devices, " yes " these devices do have their
"place" in the big protection scheme of things, however they DO NOT SAVE ELECTRONICS FROM DYING AS A
RESULT OF A SPIKE ON YOUR MAINS these are only there to stop you overloading a single 10 Amp power outlet,
for example, switching on a 3 bar 1200 watt (5 Amp) electric heater and a 1000 watt (4.16 Amps) jug then trying to
switch on a 850 watt (3.54 Amps) micro wave oven will not protect you against lightning strikes only an overload
on that feed line to that particular 10 Amp power point or GPO ( General Purpose Outlet ).
Doing the maths.. 5.0 + 4.16 + 3.54 = 12.70 Amps , Looking for a fuse blow out and a possible spike as a result ?
A spike or transient can occur in a nano second (1x10^ -9) to a micro second (1x10^ -6), the thermal spring
mechanism that provides movement to trigger the cut-off within a circuit breaker takes anything from 1 to five
seconds to react to an overload only, not to a micro-second spike !
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Please remember this!
To save your valuable data from disappearing into the ether ... use a quality un-interruptible power supply, which
keeps the mains voltage present at all times even when brown-outs and blackouts occur, see below "U.P.S's" .
  
Why am I getting small shocks from my Electronic equipment and it is biting me with electrical sparks ?
 
   
sales@unitechelectronics.com
   
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