Fixing Cyberstorm MK-III CPU socket

tnt23 · 15 May 2014, 22:59

Sooo, I have borrowed this Phase5 Cyberstorm MK-III equipped with 68060RC50 from a friend along with his A4000. I needed an 040 or 060 CPU card to dig compatibility problems my network/RAM combo card had with 040.

Anyway, I was only able to run the setup for a day, when it started to show all kinds of lockups, boot failures, green screen, and finally stopped to boot at all. Pressing Caps Lock toggled its LED ten or twelve times and then stopped toggling. After some googling I decided to take a look at the CPU.

Everything looked more or less OK, except for those suspicious CPU socket pins.

Yeah right, this is it: socket problem. The disease is pretty well known, and can be cured. One excellent recipe suggests removing old socket and replacing it with a bunch of socket strips:

http://pink.myshoesaretootight.com/m...rm_socket.html

I haven't got that lot of socket strips, and totally was not ready for that amount of soldering. Besides, it would be nice to keep original socket. I happen to own an inexpensive Chinese hot bench, and the idea was to carefully and slowly heat the board up until the solder was about to melt; and then to have all those cracked solder joints to heal themselves with a good bit of flux and hot air gun. (It helps to try the procedure on an old PC motherboard first)

A big portion of flux was applied to socket pins where possible, with the hope it'd soak the rest of them later. Aluminium foil scotch tape protected certain board areas and components.

Baking time! The hot bench heats up very slowly, somewhere 1C in 2 seconds. The set temperature is 300C, and it drops to about 280C at 2cm height where the board is fixed. I don't have a pyrometer so this temperature was set by trial and error with (now certainly dead) that old PC mobo.

While flux starts evaporating, hot air gun helps pins to restore solder joints from top.

All done, let the board cool down. The result looks much better:

Zoomin in:

Et voila!

alexh · 15 May 2014, 23:21

nicely done

fitzsteve · 15 May 2014, 23:26

Nice work :-D

prowler · 15 May 2014, 23:35

Hey, that's a great job!

Those joints look real solid now.

alenppc · 16 May 2014, 23:06

Excellent, I bet you can also heat the board from the bottom with the heat gun after soaking the pins with solder flux. Good for future reference!

Hewitson · 02 June 2014, 09:54

Congratulations on the repair, impressive considering the brand of equipment used.

voxel · 02 June 2014, 13:10

Well done pal ^^)

Mrs Beanbag · 02 June 2014, 13:26

does such a high temperature not risk damaging the components?

tnt23 · 02 June 2014, 14:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs Beanbag

does such a high temperature not risk damaging the components?

The risk is minimal, provided you are only heating the necessary parts (pins, solder joints) and don't expose them to extra high temperatures. When the boards are assembled on factories they are heated to a similar grade (250-300C or higher), including each and every component be it ceramic or plastic.

DarrenHD · 09 June 2014, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by tnt23

The risk is minimal, provided you are only heating the necessary parts (pins, solder joints) and don't expose them to extra high temperatures. When the boards are assembled on factories they are heated to a similar grade (250-300C or higher), including each and every component be it ceramic or plastic.

Wow impressive fix! How does the socket pins get cracked like that? Just over time with heating and cooling? I worry about my cyberstorms now (so far they are ok!)

tnt23 · 09 June 2014, 21:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarrenHD

Wow impressive fix! How does the socket pins get cracked like that? Just over time with heating and cooling? I worry about my cyberstorms now (so far they are ok!)

My guess would be that the MK3 design with SMT CPU socket used instead of through hole is not perfect. When installing the card or putting SIMM memory modules in place one for sure applies unneeded force to the PCB. Provided there is no support underneath the board except for 4 corner spacers, the PCB will be bending slightly in the middle, hence those cracks.

I don't think heat is the problem, the 68060 in my other accelerator gets hot but is not burning my finger.

15 May 2014, 22:59	#1
tnt23 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Saint-Petersburg / Russia Posts: 324	Fixing Cyberstorm MK-III CPU socket Sooo, I have borrowed this Phase5 Cyberstorm MK-III equipped with 68060RC50 from a friend along with his A4000. I needed an 040 or 060 CPU card to dig compatibility problems my network/RAM combo card had with 040. Anyway, I was only able to run the setup for a day, when it started to show all kinds of lockups, boot failures, green screen, and finally stopped to boot at all. Pressing Caps Lock toggled its LED ten or twelve times and then stopped toggling. After some googling I decided to take a look at the CPU. Everything looked more or less OK, except for those suspicious CPU socket pins. Yeah right, this is it: socket problem. The disease is pretty well known, and can be cured. One excellent recipe suggests removing old socket and replacing it with a bunch of socket strips: http://pink.myshoesaretootight.com/m...rm_socket.html I haven't got that lot of socket strips, and totally was not ready for that amount of soldering. Besides, it would be nice to keep original socket. I happen to own an inexpensive Chinese hot bench, and the idea was to carefully and slowly heat the board up until the solder was about to melt; and then to have all those cracked solder joints to heal themselves with a good bit of flux and hot air gun. (It helps to try the procedure on an old PC motherboard first) A big portion of flux was applied to socket pins where possible, with the hope it'd soak the rest of them later. Aluminium foil scotch tape protected certain board areas and components. Baking time! The hot bench heats up very slowly, somewhere 1C in 2 seconds. The set temperature is 300C, and it drops to about 280C at 2cm height where the board is fixed. I don't have a pyrometer so this temperature was set by trial and error with (now certainly dead) that old PC mobo. While flux starts evaporating, hot air gun helps pins to restore solder joints from top. All done, let the board cool down. The result looks much better: Zoomin in: Et voila!

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15 May 2014, 23:21	#2
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,357	nicely done

15 May 2014, 23:26	#3
fitzsteve Professional slacker! Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kent, UK Age: 44 Posts: 6,683	Nice work :-D

15 May 2014, 23:35	#4
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Hey, that's a great job! Those joints look real solid now.

16 May 2014, 23:06	#5
alenppc Registered User Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Canada Age: 44 Posts: 910	Excellent, I bet you can also heat the board from the bottom with the heat gun after soaking the pins with solder flux. Good for future reference!

02 June 2014, 09:54	#6
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,773	Congratulations on the repair, impressive considering the brand of equipment used.

02 June 2014, 13:10	#7
voxel Amiga Nuts! Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Le Mayet d'Ecole, 03800, FRANCE Posts: 176	Well done pal ^^)

02 June 2014, 13:26	#8
Mrs Beanbag Glastonbridge Software Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Edinburgh/Scotland Posts: 2,243	does such a high temperature not risk damaging the components?

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