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I've got a Dothan Keyring!

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Bobtod

Bobtod

Member
​
Joined
May 16, 2003
Location
UK - Midlands
Am I the first? My shiny new 740 only lasted 15mins :mad:

Long story - short explanation:

1. Design and make copper heatspreader on my step dads lathe
2. Make lots of neoprene gaskets
3. Take chip out of packet
4. Install with vapoXE
5. Turn on, notice I had bad contact with loads temps around 10C
6. Shut down and inspect vapo mounting to discover lip of neoprene between copper heatspreader and vapo block
7. Trim off edge with scapel and slip cutting through 10 tracks on processor board!
8. The 10 tracks cover a total of around 2mm, so no chance of fixing :bang head

I now have a £150 keyring!

bummer

BT
 
Bummer. :( Too bad. There really isn't anything you can do to fix this. If it makes you feel any better I melted a SIMM today...
 
Here it is:

Dothan.jpg


I can't believe how careless I was with the scalpel after I took so long getting it prepared with insulation and stuff. I completely forgot the board had traces all over it the top of it! As I was cutting around the copper spreader I didn't even realise I must have been touching the board at the same time, that's why you can see the cut line goes around in a circle. Doh!

Full size jpeg of the damage
 
bchur83 said:
So, have you even tried testing after the slip? It looks to me like it may not have cut all the way through the traces.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've tried it in 2 different boards with no joy. The thin parallel lines are where I tried to bridge the connections with a soft pencil and then score gaps between the lead with a scalpel blade, that didn't work either.

Most of the line is just a surface scratch, the copper tracks are still there but on a couple of tracks (2nd and 3rd from the LEFT) the copper has been scratched away completely. It is difficult to show in the picture but it is a lot clearer under my 50x microscope, it looks like I could fix it easily until I look at it with the naked eye and then realise how small the tracks really are.

If anyone has any ideas let me know or else it's gonna get a hole drilled in the corner at the weekend and will soon be another addition to my keyring collection.

I was so distraught and traumatised by the whole event that I've just bought another chip which should be here tomorrow ;) Best hide that scalpel!!

BT

Edited to correct my left from right!
 
Last edited:
Before you drill a hole in it, I might still try repairing it. What may work is filling the entire area with something that conducts well, then wipe it off so it only remains in the scratches then clear with an exacto knife as much as possible between the traces to keep them from all being merged into one.
 
I've seen this a lot on modded XBOX's, the screw type mod chips, have a few pins and you often see a scratch across the tracks. It's normally fixable, but from the photo these look real deep. I'd still give it a go, I should be back with some info :)

Scott.
 
This can be repaired by a fairly skilled repair technician. We can do these where I work but seeing how we are on opposite sides of the pond, it would be impractical for me to do it. Try to find a PCB shop in the UK who could do it for you.
 
I will hold off drilling it for the time being! My new chip turned up today so I will try that later, maybe I can find someone to repair the damaged chip in the UK?

cheers for all the replies

bt
 
Got my new dothan up and running with my vapo XE. It wont pass 250fsb with any multiplier unfortunately :(
Tested Prime stable @ 2800mhz so far, will bench at 2900-2950mhz
1M SuperPi 25secs 248x12 2976mhz

bt
 
oh my........
25s for a intel?
god where have i been?
i need a dothan..in a desktop
Very nice speeds there. and that shows you how much dothan can do at same clocks as P4's. hope you well in repairing that chip.
 
Bobtod said:
Am I the first? My shiny new 740 only lasted 15mins :mad:

Long story - short explanation:

1. Design and make copper heatspreader on my step dads lathe
2. Make lots of neoprene gaskets
3. Take chip out of packet
4. Install with vapoXE
5. Turn on, notice I had bad contact with loads temps around 10C
6. Shut down and inspect vapo mounting to discover lip of neoprene between copper heatspreader and vapo block
7. Trim off edge with scapel and slip cutting through 10 tracks on processor board!
8. The 10 tracks cover a total of around 2mm, so no chance of fixing :bang head

I now have a £150 keyring!

bummer

BT
Click to expand...

ouch, sorry to hear that man
I myself have a xp2400 I scratched with the hsf :)

D
 
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