So I received a Pinepower Desktop with a broken screen two weeks ago. Pine is sending a replacement unit so I am going to dig into the defective unit and see what I can do to repair it!
After 5 minutes with a spudger and screwdriver:
Can I even desolder the screen with a conventional iron here? Or do I need a hot gun?
Edit: I watched some videos on desoldering electronics and I am going to get a solder wick and try going that route.
Get some flux aswell, not only for soldering but for desoldering too it’s pretty useful to make the old solder pool up nicely instead of going everywhere
Through-hole components can easily be replaced with run of the mill soldering equipment.
If you’re still new to soldering, you want to limit the heat input to the board as much as possible. I feel like a lot of people have a bad experience when they try to just use solder wick and desolder a component for the first time. They end up cooking the crap out of the board sometimes beyond reasonable repair.
Instead, get a pair of flush cutters and clip off the offending screen’s leads leaving some length at the front where you can grip with some needle nose pliers. Then heat and remove each of the clipped leads before using solder wick or a plunger sucker doo dad to remove the excess solder from the board. After that, make sure it’s nice and cool then remove any flux residue that might remain you can use flux cleaner or isopropyl alcohol. Install your new screen and use some 60-40(if you can get it) to solder it in. Keep it nice and clean, you’ll do great.
Edit: 60-40 solder. Lead-free can work but it can be fiddley trying to get to flow properly if you don’t have a lot of heat and flux.
I’ve used a solder sucker to desolder this sort of thing before.
Worked just fine.
I am not new to soldering but I will admit most of my experience here is automotive. I have done some stuff on boards before but not quite such a large component before (I have replaced power wires and soldered in jumpers). Thank you for the suggestions,
I bought one of those as well. It should be here tomorrow.
I find that it helps clear the solder from through hole components. Wick is fine for smd.
Iron will work just fine.
To make your life easier, maybe buy a set of “desoldering needles”. They are hollow stainless steel tubes with a grip. Due to the type of stainless steel, the solder does not stick to them letting you easily free up the pins.
oh, that’s really cool.
Something to add to my wishlist!
So the lcd seems like it might be a custom job. It is an old school one with custom prints in it and a backlight. Not super hopeful I can find a replacement.
Solder sucker worked like a charm for clearing the through holes though.
Hard to get it in a photograph but you can just make out the custom graphics in the lcd layers.
How has your Pinepower been working so far? I would like to get a 5V high amperage PSU to power on multiple things with just one power outlet. I don’t really need a screen though, in fact, I would prefer a device that just delivers steady power while not being too inefficient on idle.
I may change my mind and move to a 12v PSU (or 2 of them) when I built my homelab, but for now, I just want to get a few 5A 3A USB outputs for a few devices, like my RPi 2 and 3 and maybe some unpowered USB hubs to make them DIY powered hubs.
I seriously need to get more US-plug USB chargers. I have only European ones, with adapters (they can work at 110V too), but I thought that instead of buying bulky ones that block 2 or 3 sockets on my power bars, I’d just get a 5V PSU and call it a day.
Or maybe I should look into something like those expensive multi-port ones from Anker or something…
Halp.
I have been pretty happy with mine. Best bang for the buck IMO. The screen goes to sleep when there isn’t a draw so I can’t imagine there is much pull when idle. Also the screen is an old school lcd (think calculator where it can only display numbers and specific characters not like a modern display) so I’d imagine it is pretty low power draw.
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