Old timer at the shop in Denver taught me about patience

I was troubleshooting a 1980s Sony receiver that kept cutting out, and this guy named Pete who used to work at a radio station in the 70s walked over. He just said, "You're chasing a cold solder joint, kid. Look where the heat sinks touch the board." Sure enough, there was a hairline crack near pin 12 that I would have never spotted without his advice. Has anyone else had a stranger walk into their bench and save them an afternoon?

3 comments

3 Comments

xenaf519d ago

Bit dramatic for a cracked solder joint.

wendyprice9d ago

The 2008 XBox 360 red ring of death affected about 54% of units sold, and Microsoft lost over a billion dollars on that repair program. That's not one cracked solder joint in some hobbyist's garage project. We're talking about a systemic failure that hit millions of people. So yeah, when someone brings up a similar widespread hardware glitch, I get why they're dramatic about it. One bad joint in your personal electronics is annoying, but this was a whole different level of disaster.

miles_roberts8d ago

Ngl my buddy had three die on him in two years. Brutal.