Solder repair needed for mainboard

[Larry Roberts]

I bought an Epox EP-3VCA2 socket 370 board off eBay to replace
the older Socket 7 board in my Legacy box. This system is used for old
Win9x/DOS games that won't run on my WinXP Pro system. The guy who
sold the board charged $2.00 for the board, but $20.00 for S&H (was
supposed to be UPS Ground). His feedback was great, so I didn't
question it. Similar Pentium III AGP socket 370 boards go for $30.00,
and up with S&H included. Thought I was getting a deal at $22.00
total.
Well. I receive the board, and first thing I notice is the
battery socket has a broken solder point. I email him about the
problem, and ask if he has a replacement. He replies that he does, but
wants $15.00 to cover S&H. He was "slick", cause he didn't ship it
UPS, but shipped it USPS Priority with no insurance, so it cost a
whole $5.15 to ship. Then by only charging me $2.00 for the board, he
would only be responsible for refunding me $2.00 since S&H charges
don't count. I replied that I wouldn't pay that much since he already
made a $15.00 profit from S&H charges alone. He replied back saying
he'd take $10.00. This guy suks, and there is no way I'm gona send
another $10.00 for him to ship me another busted mainboard, and he
would make another $5.00 profit.
The board boots up, but is unable to hold the BIOS settings.
The battery socket looks like it could be resoldered as the point
that's broken is not directly under the socket. Unfortunately I'm to
handicapped to work a solder iron ( I ruined an old Dreamcast trying
to repair the control board already). No one I know can do that kind
of soldering. There is no electronics repair place in town. Is there a
place on the net that would do this? Epox won't touch it, cause they
want me to buy a new board.

 

[Paul]

I bought an Epox EP-3VCA2 socket 370 board off eBay to replace
the older Socket 7 board in my Legacy box. This system is used for old
Win9x/DOS games that won't run on my WinXP Pro system. The guy who
sold the board charged $2.00 for the board, but $20.00 for S&H (was
supposed to be UPS Ground). His feedback was great, so I didn't
question it. Similar Pentium III AGP socket 370 boards go for $30.00,
and up with S&H included. Thought I was getting a deal at $22.00
total.
Well. I receive the board, and first thing I notice is the
battery socket has a broken solder point. I email him about the
problem, and ask if he has a replacement. He replies that he does, but
wants $15.00 to cover S&H. He was "slick", cause he didn't ship it
UPS, but shipped it USPS Priority with no insurance, so it cost a
whole $5.15 to ship. Then by only charging me $2.00 for the board, he
would only be responsible for refunding me $2.00 since S&H charges
don't count. I replied that I wouldn't pay that much since he already
made a $15.00 profit from S&H charges alone. He replied back saying
he'd take $10.00. This guy suks, and there is no way I'm gona send
another $10.00 for him to ship me another busted mainboard, and he
would make another $5.00 profit.
The board boots up, but is unable to hold the BIOS settings.
The battery socket looks like it could be resoldered as the point
that's broken is not directly under the socket. Unfortunately I'm to
handicapped to work a solder iron ( I ruined an old Dreamcast trying
to repair the control board already). No one I know can do that kind
of soldering. There is no electronics repair place in town. Is there a
place on the net that would do this? Epox won't touch it, cause they
want me to buy a new board.

There is an example of a battery socket here. Is the spring in the bottom
broken, or the contact on the side of the socket ?

http://shopping.microbattery.com/s.nl;jsessionid=0?sc=2&category=708&it=A&id=6124

Necessity is the mother of invention, and as a replacement, you could:

1) If the parts are actually mechanically secure, use window defroster
paint to restore the connection. The CMOS battery has a high impedance
connection to the computer (typically a 1K ohm resistor in series
with the battery). The resistance of defroster paint should not
cause a problem. The only issue with materials like this, is shock
resistance, or resistance to mechanical stress. The area you place
the conductive material, should not be subject to expansion and
contraction. The advantage of this method, is maybe a painting
technique is easier for you to manage.

2) The CMOS battery develops 3V or so. At 2.4V or lower, the contents of
the CMOS RAM in the Southbridge might be lost. To replace the
battery, all you need is a 3V source of power.

Go to Radio Shack. Purchase a 2 cell battery holder. Like this one:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062252

Purchase two AA batteries to go in the holder. The AA batteries should
develop 1.5V each (ask the salesman if you aren't sure). Two in series,
in the battery holder, develops 3V, which is what the CMOS needs.
Computer CMOS circuits do NOT charge the battery, so there is no danger
of explosion or the like. The battery holder has a red and a black wire.
Red is + and should be joined to the + terminal on the original CMOS
battery socket. The black wire is minus and goes to the other terminal.
Glue the battery holder in place, using your favorite glue (not while
the batteries are in it, as they might get stuck too). Battery life
will be as long as the shelf life of the batteries (up to 7 years).

For solution (2) to work, requires a means to make sure the wires are
secure. That is tougher than it sounds. Radio Shack also has a line of
alligator clips. Some of the clips have a screw terminal on them. The
bare wire is pinched under the screw head. For the alligator clip to
work, both pieces of metal in the socket have to be accessible to the
jaws of the alligator clip, which again might not be as easy as you
think.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062224

But at least solution (2) does not require shipping the board to
someone on the Internet.

Also, in terms of skill sets, if you don't have a TV repair shop
(or even a Radio/TV/Stereo store), consider your school system. Schools
have shop classes. If you have a technical school of some sort, see if
you can talk to the instructor. Perhaps you can arrange something there.
Maybe the kid at the RadioShack could fix it for a fee.

Paul

 

[Senex]

Larry Roberts stunned us with this revelation on 10/18/2006 :

I bought an Epox EP-3VCA2 socket 370 board off eBay to replace
the older Socket 7 board in my Legacy box. This system is used for old
Win9x/DOS games that won't run on my WinXP Pro system. The guy who
sold the board charged $2.00 for the board, but $20.00 for S&H (was
supposed to be UPS Ground). His feedback was great, so I didn't
question it. Similar Pentium III AGP socket 370 boards go for $30.00,
and up with S&H included. Thought I was getting a deal at $22.00
total.
Well. I receive the board, and first thing I notice is the
battery socket has a broken solder point. I email him about the
problem, and ask if he has a replacement. He replies that he does, but
wants $15.00 to cover S&H. He was "slick", cause he didn't ship it
UPS, but shipped it USPS Priority with no insurance, so it cost a
whole $5.15 to ship. Then by only charging me $2.00 for the board, he
would only be responsible for refunding me $2.00 since S&H charges
don't count. I replied that I wouldn't pay that much since he already
made a $15.00 profit from S&H charges alone. He replied back saying
he'd take $10.00. This guy suks, and there is no way I'm gona send
another $10.00 for him to ship me another busted mainboard, and he
would make another $5.00 profit.
The board boots up, but is unable to hold the BIOS settings.
The battery socket looks like it could be resoldered as the point
that's broken is not directly under the socket. Unfortunately I'm to
handicapped to work a solder iron ( I ruined an old Dreamcast trying
to repair the control board already). No one I know can do that kind
of soldering. There is no electronics repair place in town. Is there a
place on the net that would do this? Epox won't touch it, cause they
want me to buy a new board.

Moral of the story?? Don't buy junk on e-bay.

 

[Chris Hill]

I bought an Epox EP-3VCA2 socket 370 board off eBay to replace
the older Socket 7 board in my Legacy box. This system is used for old
Win9x/DOS games that won't run on my WinXP Pro system. The guy who
sold the board charged $2.00 for the board, but $20.00 for S&H (was
supposed to be UPS Ground). His feedback was great, so I didn't
question it. Similar Pentium III AGP socket 370 boards go for $30.00,
and up with S&H included. Thought I was getting a deal at $22.00
total.
Well. I receive the board, and first thing I notice is the
battery socket has a broken solder point. I email him about the
problem, and ask if he has a replacement. He replies that he does, but
wants $15.00 to cover S&H. He was "slick", cause he didn't ship it
UPS, but shipped it USPS Priority with no insurance, so it cost a
whole $5.15 to ship. Then by only charging me $2.00 for the board, he
would only be responsible for refunding me $2.00 since S&H charges
don't count. I replied that I wouldn't pay that much since he already
made a $15.00 profit from S&H charges alone. He replied back saying
he'd take $10.00. This guy suks, and there is no way I'm gona send
another $10.00 for him to ship me another busted mainboard, and he
would make another $5.00 profit.
The board boots up, but is unable to hold the BIOS settings.
The battery socket looks like it could be resoldered as the point
that's broken is not directly under the socket. Unfortunately I'm to
handicapped to work a solder iron ( I ruined an old Dreamcast trying
to repair the control board already). No one I know can do that kind
of soldering. There is no electronics repair place in town. Is there a
place on the net that would do this? Epox won't touch it, cause they
want me to buy a new board.

Idea: just leave the darned thing plugged in; the 5vsb voltage will
keep the cmos settings.

 

[Larry Roberts]

Larry Roberts stunned us with this revelation on 10/18/2006 :



Moral of the story?? Don't buy junk on e-bay.

Well, since socket 370 boards are not easy to come by anymore
in new condition... Ebay is about all there is. In case you didn't
read all my post... The board is for a legacy game box to play games
that can not be made to run on Win2k/XP, or new hardware. It has to be
old hardware for what I need.

 

[Larry Roberts]

There is an example of a battery socket here. Is the spring in the bottom
broken, or the contact on the side of the socket ?

http://shopping.microbattery.com/s.nl;jsessionid=0?sc=2&category=708&it=A&id=6124

That's the socket, but what's broken is the point where the
socket contacts the mainboard. There are 2 points. In the pic, the
point that's broke is the left side... under the "square box". I could
problably push down on the socket with my finger, and hold the contact
point down to the board, and it would work, but I don't have a way to
keep it in place with anything, so soldering it seems the only fix.
I will try the tech school as you suggested.

 

[Davy]

For a miniature soldering iron and a small tube of solder you could
probably do it yourself... the soldering iron must have
a fine tip and no more than 15 Watts power rating,
guess around £/$5 or so for the lot.

But first a little practice.
Get 3 strips of bare tinned copper wire about 18~22 SWG/AWG, chop one
of the lengths about 2" evenly form them into a ladder and
solder away, will help if you gently loop the runs round the frame's
to aid strength and neatness with a pair of pliers like a little
hook. Applying the soldering iron tip counting 2 or 3 seconds is long
enough applying the solder at the joint at the same time.

Only thing to remember is to ensure the mobo is disconnected from the
power source and pull the PSU plug from the mobo first and all leads
inc. any USBs etc.

Ensure the joints are nice and clean before soldering, avoid using too
much solder as to cause it to 'blob on the iron' the solder should run
evenly the right amount of heat and applying both at the same time
will do the trick providing the joint's are clean, you can clean them
with a small file or sand paper if not.... won't solder right if they
look dull or tarnish not even electronic components.

At least there's are fair soldering lesson for ya.

Davy

 

[Senex]

Larry Roberts stunned us with this revelation on 10/18/2006 :

<snip>

Well, since socket 370 boards are not easy to come by anymore
in new condition... Ebay is about all there is. In case you didn't
read all my post... The board is for a legacy game box to play games
that can not be made to run on Win2k/XP, or new hardware. It has to be
old hardware for what I need.

Well dweeb, I look at the dollar signs being flung around by you and
something like this would probably make more *common* sense.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136146&ATT=13-136-146&CMP=OTC-17exta6

 

[Mike T.]

Idea: just leave the darned thing plugged in; the 5vsb voltage will

keep the cmos settings.

until the next power out

 

[Chris Hill]

until the next power out

That's what a ups is good for.

 

[John Doe]

The moral of the story...
"Don't buy a $2 mainboard on eBay"

 

[Rod Speed]

That's the socket, but what's broken is the point where the
socket contacts the mainboard. There are 2 points. In the pic, the
point that's broke is the left side... under the "square box". I could
problably push down on the socket with my finger, and hold the contact
point down to the board, and it would work, but I don't have a way to
keep it in place with anything, so soldering it seems the only fix.
I will try the tech school as you suggested.

Thats a very simple solder job tho, you sure you cant manage it yourself ?

 

[Larry Roberts]

Larry Roberts stunned us with this revelation on 10/18/2006 :



Well dweeb, I look at the dollar signs being flung around by you and
something like this would probably make more *common* sense.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136146&ATT=13-136-146&CMP=OTC-17exta6

Thanks for the non-productive help... Ignort!

 

[Larry Roberts]

Thats a very simple solder job tho, you sure you cant manage it yourself ?

No. I have very limited use of my hands these days. I have a
hard time writing with a pen. The pen starts sliping out my fingers
while writing. You can imagine what it's like to hold a hot solder
iron in one hand, the solder in the other, and not melt the solder
over other parts of the board. That's what happened when I tried
fixing the Dreamcast's controller board.

 

[Larry Roberts]

Larry Roberts stunned us with this revelation on 10/18/2006 :



Well dweeb, I look at the dollar signs being flung around by you and
something like this would probably make more *common* sense.

It also doesn't matter if it cost $2.00. It was sold as-in
great working condition. He sold it knowing the battery socket was
busted. He should have advertised it as damaged, or "sold as-is". The
seller also did not make just $2.00. He also made $15.00 bucks from
S&H. $17.00 is all socket 370 tech is worth these days.
Also. that crappy board you pointed to has no AGP slot for the
Voodoo 5 5500 card I have. This is a legacy game box. IGPs from those
days can't play old games. Hell, the new IGPs can barley play them.

 

[Senex]

Larry Roberts stunned us with this revelation on 10/18/2006 :

It also doesn't matter if it cost $2.00. It was sold as-in
great working condition. He sold it knowing the battery socket was
busted. He should have advertised it as damaged, or "sold as-is". The
seller also did not make just $2.00. He also made $15.00 bucks from
S&H. $17.00 is all socket 370 tech is worth these days.
Also. that crappy board you pointed to has no AGP slot for the
Voodoo 5 5500 card I have. This is a legacy game box. IGPs from those
days can't play old games. Hell, the new IGPs can barley play them.

Well, try this one on for size. It includes the processor and it has
onboard audio and supports AGP.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2341932&CatId=188

It's a good deal. Not like a 2 buck *crappy* piece of junk on e-bay.
Just trying to point you in a *good* direction.

 

[Larry Roberts]

Larry Roberts stunned us with this revelation on 10/18/2006 :



Well, try this one on for size. It includes the processor and it has
onboard audio and supports AGP.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2341932&CatId=188

It's a good deal. Not like a 2 buck *crappy* piece of junk on e-bay.
Just trying to point you in a *good* direction.

That's cool deal, but unfortunatly, the AGP slot is not keyed
for 3.3v AGP cards. My Voodoo 5 won't fit the slot. The boad I got
works, except the battery socket is broke. If I can't get someone
who's confident with a solder iron to help me with it, I'll just have
to risk killing it (self repair), or try, and find another board, and
hopefully not lose out again. It's frustrating when you try to put
together an old system that's not worth more than $50.00 (whole), and
end up spending 2, and 3 times as much. I already have the CPU, and
SDRAM for the socket 370. I really don't want to purchase a different
CPU, and memory for this as well.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

For a miniature soldering iron and a small tube of solder you could
probably do it yourself... the soldering iron must have
a fine tip and no more than 15 Watts power rating,

No! A 15W iron will take forever to heat up the battery holder's legs,
especially the one connected to the minus terminal of the battery,
which goes into the ground plane of the mobo. He needs at least 40W,
preferrably 50W, to melt the solder quickly enough to prevent damage to
the copper traces.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

I bought an Epox EP-3VCA2 socket 370 board off eBay

The guy who sold the board charged $2.00 for the board, but $20.00
for S&H (was supposed to be UPS Ground). His feedback was great,
so I didn't question it.

I wonder how much of that great feeback came from himself. I hope
you

Well. I receive the board, and first thing I notice is the
battery socket has a broken solder point. I email him about the
problem, and ask if he has a replacement. He replies that he does, but
wants $15.00 to cover S&H. He was "slick", cause he didn't ship it
UPS, but shipped it USPS Priority with no insurance, so it cost a
whole $5.15 to ship.

I have never, ever gotten good service from anybody who charged a lot
for shipping, and anything more than about $2 above actual shipping
costs has always meant a crooked merchant.

It's possible that the mobo has a set of 2-4 header pins just for an
external battery pack. If it does, then the safest repair will be to
remove the coin battery in there now and get a 2-cell AA battery
holder. Be sure to plug it in correctly because it could ruin the mobo
if hooked up backwards. Electronics parts dealers are often cheaper
than computer stores for items like this.

Before attempting to unsolder the battery holder, remove the coin
battery, and place the mobo on an anti-static surface, such as pink
bubble wrap or pink foam wrap. It's OK to use aluminum foil, provided
THE BATTERY IS FIRST REMOVED (can explode if shorted) and the first
contact between the mobo and foil is at the metal surrounding the rear
ports.

The safest way to unsolder the battery holder is by using a
temperature-regulated desoldering station equipped with an electric
vacuum pump. The next safest way is by gently breaking the plastic of
the battery holder (with diagonal cutters or by melting it with a hot
knife or soldering iron) so that each pin can be removed separately
with copper desoldering braid. This braid should be no more than about
2mm wide (wider will absorb so much heat that it may not get hot enough
to melt solder thoroughly) and it should be heated with a soldering
iron rated for at least 40W, preferrably 45-50W. You need all this
power to do the job quickly, before the glue holding the copper traces
breaks down, and the typical 25-35W iron is actually more likely to
cause damage because it will take longer to melt the solder, and the
solder may not liquify enough to be wicked up thoroughly by the braid.
The iron's tip has to be kept very clean and well-tinned to promote
maximum heat transfer, and the braid has to be cut off right after it
absorbs solder so that it won't divert heat away from the joint. And
once the solder is removed, don't simply pull the pins out but first
wiggle each pin around to make sure it's broken free of the solder. If
the solder can't be removed thoroughly, apply new 60% tin, 40% lead
solder (best is actually 63% tin, 37% lead "eutectic" solder) to the
joint. This job should first be practiced on a junked circuit board
first, but it has to have at least four layers because a 1-2 layer
board isn't nearly as difficult to desolder and isn't realistic
practice.

If you know somebody who has "Chip Quik" solder, be really nice to them
because it's a special solder that melts at a very low temperature and
is made specifically for unsoldering chips. It isn't cheap, about $1
an inch, I think.

 

[Rod Speed]

Davy wrote

No! A 15W iron will take forever to heat up the battery holder's legs,
Nope.

especially the one connected to the minus terminal of the battery,

It would be completely stupid to try soldering it with the battery in it.

which goes into the ground plane of the mobo. He needs
at least 40W, preferrably 50W, to melt the solder quickly
enough to prevent damage to the copper traces.

Oh bullshit.