Tried booting a PC with a literal hairdryer to fix a cold solder joint

Had an old gaming rig that would only boot after sitting in a warm room for 20 minutes. Got frustrated one winter morning and aimed a hair dryer at the motherboard for 45 seconds. It fired right up, no joke. Learned that thermal expansion can temporarily bridge a cracked joint, but it's a bandaid not a fix. Anyone else ever tried heat to diagnose intermittent boot issues?

2 comments

2 Comments

jessel3526d ago

45 seconds with a hairdryer" - dude, that's crazy it worked... I would've been too scared to even try that.

williamprice26d ago

Holy cow, no kidding! I was the same way at first, I thought no way am I putting a hairdryer near my console. But I had this one game that kept freezing at the same spot and I was getting desperate. I tried it on low heat holding it like a foot away and swirling it around for maybe a minute. Honestly I was shocked it worked, that game booted right up after that. It felt like I was doing some kind of risky surgery in my living room but hey it saved me from buying a new system.