VOGONS


First post, by Intel486dx33

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Hello,
I recently purchased 4 Voodoo-3 PCI card that are known non-working.
I don't even know what brand these are.
They are labled 3DFX but I don't know who manufactured them.
One is labeled "Evil King Pro". By Color Power mfg.
http://www.vgamuseum.info/index.php/component … x-voodoo-3-3000
Does anyone know where I can get a bios rom for this card ?
So I tested 2 of them in my IBM Aptiva running Win98se and installed some Voodoo3 drivers.
http://www.vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?file … 316&menustate=0

What I get is a garbled video. After I installed the drivers I get an hour glass and that's it.

So after close visual inspection with a magnifying glass I can see no physical defects or damage to the cards.
The Computer bios picks up the the Video card fine.
Win98se also picks up the video card and ask to install the drivers.

So the bios and power to the video card appears to be working fine.

I am assuming that the problem is some bad "capacitors"
It is a common problem to get garbled video with bad capacitors.

There are 3 capacitors on each cards.

(2) ( Sanyo brand ) ( 1000uf , 6.3v , 05.0c - 105c )
https://www.ebay.com/itm/20pcs-6-3V-1000uF-6- … 872.m2749.l2649

and

(1) ( EM or Epi brand ) ( 100uf , 18v , -40c - 105c )
https://www.ebay.com/itm/172650651788

Does anyone know how to go about trouble shooting these cards ?

I am thinking about disassembling them and washing them in soapy water to clean them of any contaminates or electrolites and then
testing them again back in the computer.

Also checking the microfarad of the capacitors with a meter.

Does anyone know what polymer capacitors can replace these caps ?

I think I am going to try to reflow the graphics chip first with a heat gun.

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Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2018-07-22, 19:00. Edited 10 times in total.

Reply 1 of 11, by Intel486dx33

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Reply 3 of 11, by Intel486dx33

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Yeah, I ordered a heat gun and some flux. I am going to try to reflow the graphics chip first.
I already checked the regulators and they are okay. It’s either the graphics chip or capacitors from what I am diagnosing.

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2018-07-23, 11:22. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 4 of 11, by Jasin Natael

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Good luck! I've done the oven reflow trick on a few cards and boards, but i've never tried using flux and doing it correctly. Hope it works out for you and you can save another Voodoo

Reply 5 of 11, by ODwilly

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Try reflowing the ram as well if caps and graphics reflow don't work. might be some cracked solder joints I the connections.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1

Reply 6 of 11, by Intel486dx33

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I can see why the solder job between the graphics chip and board would go bad as the graphics chip gets really HOT during operation.
And the solder balls leave a large gap between the graphics chip and board.
I ordered some NO-Clean FLUX and I am going to try to reflow the graphics chip first.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/131799461266

Ultimately, These cards need a complete rebuild with NEW caps, and regulators.

I watched this video on how to reflow the graphics chip.
https://youtu.be/Du863owEhC4?t=154

https://youtu.be/iLWkNPTyg2k?t=97

Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2018-07-23, 11:24. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 7 of 11, by SSTV2

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Maybe you should leave those cards for the future repair, because anyone, at least somewhat experienced in electronics, can clearly see that you don't have enough experience in this field and had never reflowed BGAs the proper way. Learning to do that on rare PCI V3s is not the best idea.

Reply 8 of 11, by Intel486dx33

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Yeah, I think I will practice on an generic graphics card.

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Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2018-07-27, 01:21. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 9 of 11, by Intel486dx33

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SSTV2 wrote:

Maybe you should leave those cards for the future .

I think you are right. I really want to keep these cards and fix them right some day . These card need NEW caps and components. And a complete reflow done right. I just don't have the tools to do it.
Does anyone know of someone who repairs graphics cards ?

Well, at least I have one Evil king working.

YES ! it worked....

Caution : Perform out doors in well ventilated area. Use protective gloves and safety goggles.

I used no-clean flux and a cheap heat gun set to low setting. poured flux under 3DFX graphics chip and on memory chip contacts and pads. I then used the heat gun set on low and heated up the chips until the desired temperature is reached. Use a temperature gun. Be generous with the flux. Use allot.

CAUTION ! Do NOT heat above noted temperatures as you could damage chips and circuit board.

Took about 1-2 minutes total time.

And it worked !

How to do it :

A ) Remove fan and heat sink from card. Clean 3DFX graphics chip from adhesive with razor blade and isopropyl alcohol.
I took the card outside and place it on a large brick for thermal insulation protective properties from the heat gun high temps.
Then use the heat gun. You can use aluminum foil to mask off areas you don't want to heat.

Task at hand:
To repair the welds between the circuit board chips and PCB in order to get this Voodoo card working again.
Many of these Voodoo cards stop working because of broken solder welds. It's not necessarily because the chips are bad, Just broken solder welds.
These welds tend to break from high heat and poor manufacturing process.

b) First I would reflow the ram chips solder welds with with some No-clean flux at 217c degrees and then test card back in computer.
c) If that does not work then heat the GPU chip to 150c degrees and test back in computer.
d) If it still does not work then reflow the 3DFX GPU chip with some NO-clean flux at 217c degrees.

1) Pour some No-clean flux under 3DFX GPU chip. Heat the 3DFX graphics chip to 150c let cool down and test back in computer. ( baking temp of 3DFX chip ).
If it works then the 3DFX Chip was the problem and not the solder balls.

2) If that does not fix the problem then reflow the 3DFX graphics chip at 217c ( solder balls melting point ).
use no-clean flux under the graphics chip to reflow the solder balls.
As soon as the flux evaporates stop heating.

3) If you need to reflow the memory chips then reflow at 217c ( solder melting point ).
use no-clean flux on the chip legs, contacts and pads.
As soon as the flux evaporates stop heating.

It's a good idea to reflow the 3DFX graphics chip and memory chips at the same time.
Only takes a minute or two. Don't touch the chips while reflowing, Just let the flux do the work.

When complete clean off excess flux with isopropyl alcohol.

One of my Evil kings is Alive again !

I still need to replace the caps but it's working.

The other evil king is going to need a complete re-ball of the GPU and reflow of the memory chips.

Gun I used
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1500W-Heat-Gun-Hot-A … 75.c10#viTabs_0

No-Clean Flux I used
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SRA-312-No-Clean-Flu … 872.m2749.l2649

Temperature gun:
https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-774 … temperature+gun

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Last edited by Intel486dx33 on 2019-06-23, 22:20. Edited 5 times in total.

Reply 10 of 11, by shamino

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Glad you got one of them going. I hope it holds up, but beware that this type of repair is notorious for not lasting over the long term.
However, most of the people on the internet that I've seen do this didn't seem to have a clue and probably weren't melting the solder properly. You've put more thought into this so maybe it will have more lasting results.

Reply 11 of 11, by Intel486dx33

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Update:
For a more professional repair, I would use a professional hot air gun re-work station with temp control and digital read out.
To have better control over the hot air temps.

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