VOGONS


First post, by rjbrown99

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I have a Gigabyte GA-486US motherboard, which was used in the first computer I owned way back when 😀

https://theretroweb.com/motherboards/s/gigabyte-ga-486us

I found a second one on eBay recently but it appears to have some damage. Next to the processor slot there are some motherboard traces that were gouged, probably when an old CPU was pulled. They are next to the CPU socket and are quite small - see attached photo.

My question is this: it appears that to restore this board, microsoldering would be required. To anyone who has done repairs like this, what do you think the level of effort or skill would be? Asking as I'm minimally capable of soldering - I can for example solder in the headers on a Raspberry Pi Zero. But I've never done anything that small, and after watching a few videos on iFixit I'm not convinced I can do it.

If your answer is "it would be hard, but doable for someone who is experienced with microsoldering" - are there any services you might recommend who could do this on my behalf? Or do you think it's damaged beyond repair?

Thanks!

Reply 1 of 5, by Shponglefan

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It looks repairable, though not the easiest of repairs.

The way I would approach it would be to remove the socket, then repair the damaged board traces preferably with equivalent sized traces, then replace the socket with a new one.

This would require a combination of desoldering tools/hot air for the socket, a microscope, soldering iron with small tip, and copper traces. Could also use extremely thin enamel wire instead of copper trace material. Might also require epoxy to fill in any damaged parts of the circuit board.

Pentium 4 Multi-OS Build
486 DX4-100 with 6 sound cards
486 DX-33 with 5 sound cards

Reply 2 of 5, by rjbrown99

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Thanks for the advice, that sounds like it might be a bit out of my depth.

Reply 3 of 5, by st31276a

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Looks as if somebody ripped the cpu out of it with a crowbar style tool, probably for the gold.

Definitely fixable, but the trace under the socket will likely need (what remains of) the socket to be removed...

Use nice magnifier and patience.

Reply 4 of 5, by Ydee

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What dumb animal pulls a CPU out of a socket like that?!!

Reply 5 of 5, by rjbrown99

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I agree it looks like someone ripped out the CPU. It's too bad as these boards are not common. I'm reaching out to a few microsoldering service providers to see if they might entertain a repair of this board, but most seem aimed at phone/tablet/game console repairs.

If someone here wants to reach out by all means please get in contact, I'm willing to make the investment and expectations are low as it definitely isn't a working board right now anyway. Thanks!