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A trick for finding tiny solder bridges on dense boards
Had a 2021 MacBook Pro come in last Thursday with a random shutdown issue. After reflowing the power circuit, I still got a short. Ended up using a bright LED flashlight at a shallow angle across the board, and the shadow from a nearly invisible bridge between two 0.5mm pads was obvious. Anyone else have a go-to method for spotting these microscopic faults?
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logan5615mo ago
That flashlight trick is way smarter than my usual squinting.
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the_tessa4mo ago
I've absolutely done that same thing for way too long.
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hugos465mo ago
Right, the squinting method. I've basically turned that into an Olympic sport at this point. My whole process is just squinting harder and harder until I either see the thing or give myself a headache. The flashlight idea is so simple it makes me feel like a caveman who just discovered the wheel. I guess I'm just committed to doing things the hard, dumb way.
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