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That time I fixed a fried motherboard with a hair dryer in a Best Buy parking lot

Was in Omaha last Tuesday doing an emergency data recovery for a realtor's laptop that wouldn't boot. Turns out the power surge fried a capacitor on the board, and I left my heat gun at the shop. Grabbed a $15 hair dryer from the store next door, hit the bad cap with hot air for about 45 seconds, and the thing actually fired up. Got the files off before it died again five minutes later. Has anyone else MacGyvered a repair with weird tools?

3 comments

3 Comments

logan_mitchell1mo ago

Sounds like you had the right idea, max_brown. Sometimes the ghetto rig works when you're in a pinch. I've done worse with zip ties and electrical tape just to get a system running long enough to grab files.

max_brown1mo ago

Wow, 45 seconds of hair dryer heat actually brought a dead board back to life? Did you have to hold the cap in place with something while it reflowed, or was the connection already solid enough?

sanchez.mary1mo ago

You ever notice how in life, some things that seem dead just need a little bit of warmth to come back around? It's like plants that look dried out but perk up after some water. For the cap, I just let it sit on the board loose while I aimed the hair dryer at the whole area for about 45 seconds. The solder underneath melts and reflows on its own as long as the cap is close enough. Gravity and surface tension kept it in place, no need to hold it down with anything. It's a simple fix that works more often than people think, just like how a little patience can revive a lot of things.