Repairing a faulty Firewire Port
Step 3. Here we go !
Ok, now is the time to get our hand dirty. If you think you need some practice before doing it on your beloved Mac, I suggest you get and old (PC !) motherboard to get yourself ready.
You will require :
- a good soldering iron with a thin tip
- thin tin solder
- thin de-soldering mesh
- a lens (giving a 5x or 10x enlargement)
- a damp sponge
- a clean, quiet and well illuminated desk !!
Step 4. de-solder the damaged PHY :
My testing bed is one of my hard drive case that doesn't work anymore.
Locate and remember the position of the set : pin 1 is designed by a dot. The best way to remove the old chip is to cut the pins, to avoid damaging the printed circuits on the board. To achieve that, use a cutting blade over the pins a few times with gentle pressure.
Once the pins are cut half way, apply a tad more pressure in up-and-down movements. (see photo)
Be extra careful not to rip through the pins or on the printed board below ! this could mean permanent damages to your board.
Repeat the operation for three sides of the chip. then gently lift and remove the chip by prying it off.
Step 5. Cleansing the chip's emplacement :
Of course, there are still residue of the pins. To remove them, the best way is to "dampen" the tip of the iron (which needs to be warmed up for at least 5 minutes) with a bit of tin solder and gently scrub over the zone you want to clean. The residues should stick to the tip of the soldering iron, iron which you will need to clean with the sponge.
Once cleaned, one can put a bit of solder on top of the contacts on the board, while being careful not to remove them in the way...
Here's an example of what it should look like :
