Solved! HP dv4 1225mx black screen after running for 30min?

mobilewarrior

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Sep 2, 2011
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18,510
Hello every one this is my first post so thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to help. My son has an HP dv4 1225mx it powers on and runs great for about 30 min then the screen goes black. If it has been sitting for say a week or so and you power it on it may run all day before erroring. A friend of ours did a reflow on the gpu with a heat gun. Any ideas wahat might cause this issue? Thanks again
 
Solution
yeah, the failing graphics chip was just another excuse made by HP to cover up the fact that they purposely make a product to fail to boost up their own sales. i mean if they made a quality product, they would be out of business in a few years, right. as far as the oven thing, a technique ive never used, i would advise against it. other then not wanting to serve my family something to eat out of the same thing i used to melt down electronics, theres a ton more faults to come of this. an oven is most likely dirty, and temp control will be almost impossible to gauge. how many times have you baked a cake perfect one week and burnt it the next under the same recipe. plus this repair only calls for the graphics chip to be re-soldered, and...

circuitcowboy

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Sep 10, 2011
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ok, well let me first say im not one of those internet know it all's. every ones problem is unique in its own way. but you already know the problem. just had a failed attempt on the solution. assuming you have done your share of research, im sure your probably aware that your buddy doing a reflow with a heat gun probably isnt the best way to go. it usually ends up a temporary fix for several reasons. that doesnt mean it dont work. hell, i started out with a $10.99 heat gun and my stove as a preheating station. but i believe it shuts off after 30 min do to the original problem of over heating. theres solder balls under the GPU that come loose from the chip or the board, or melt and touch eachother, causing the screen to go out or the machine to turn off, kinda like grounding out. and why a heat gun isnt the best tool is the speed and amount of air that it produces. a reflow consist of basically melting the GPU loose from the board and reseating it. and with all that air blowing, theres a possibility of miss-positioning the chip. that along with a few other factors can be behind a failed reflow. but the #1 most important step during a reflow, is also the #1 thing that people dont think is important, and either get skimpy on it or skip the step compleatly. CLEANING AND FLUX!!!without the use of alcohol and flux, there is no point of going any further. this step takes me more time then anything. i wash under the chip twice, once during prep, then i preheat the board and do it again, the heat allowing the flow of alcohol to get under the chip a lil better. then back on the preheater to evaporate alcohol and apply liquid, no clean flux under the chip. ALOT OF FLUX. its cheap and easy to get. also right before i hit it with the heat, i squirt a lil more under there and throw a lil gooey flux arounds the edges. also proper after cooling is important, but i think all that was done proper. know to keep it cool. the vents shouldve been nicely cleaned and ONLY arctic silver applied as thermal paste. lose the crappy thermal pad on the GPU. get some copper shims online, or (what i do) find a local scrap yard and buy a sheat of thin copper. shims online are like 20 bux :( when a 1 lbs sheet from a scrap yard will cost 3 bux and will be enough to fix 15 laptops. cut the copper into shims as big as you can get them, without them grounding anything out. i usually make them the same size as the chip im putting them on. put on booth CPU and GPU. now the GPU will have a gap from that thermal pad you removed, so you will need 2 or 3 layers copper to fill it. make sure the copper shims are as flat as possible and apply a real thin layer of thermal paste to both sides of the shims. if there is tape on the heat sink, remove it so the whole base of the heat sink touches the copper, this means you will have to apply electrical tape to the chip itself. this is to prevent any grounding from the large copper plates added. whew!!! thats alot. lol, but i guaranty this drops temps by as little as 25 degrees, and as much as 75 degrees. which is the base root of the problem. also leave a lil flux around the GPU area. flux melts a lil sooner then solder and has a smell to it. this can act as a warning to shut down your computer and have serviced before it gets to bad again. i hope this helps and in no way am i putting down anyone elses techniques. this just works for me.
 

mobilewarrior

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Sep 2, 2011
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18,510
I have done a bit of research and agree with you about the heat gun. My next question to you is what would you recommend for a heat source at home. I have read a lot of info about using an oven and following heating profiles to achieve the best results. I have told my some I thought we should do the reflow again and install the copper shims. I am pretty sure it is an overheating issue and not a failed chip. I apperciate all the info you have provided and look forward to learning more.
 

circuitcowboy

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Sep 10, 2011
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18,510
yeah, the failing graphics chip was just another excuse made by HP to cover up the fact that they purposely make a product to fail to boost up their own sales. i mean if they made a quality product, they would be out of business in a few years, right. as far as the oven thing, a technique ive never used, i would advise against it. other then not wanting to serve my family something to eat out of the same thing i used to melt down electronics, theres a ton more faults to come of this. an oven is most likely dirty, and temp control will be almost impossible to gauge. how many times have you baked a cake perfect one week and burnt it the next under the same recipe. plus this repair only calls for the graphics chip to be re-soldered, and the oven would basically re-solder every component, leaving room for possible errors in ever single component. the obvious choice would be a low budget hot air re-work station, running any where from $130 to $300. which would not be very cost efficient if only needed for one dv4. but very cost efficient if u got even just two needs for it, xbox 360's T.V. sets or other laptops even with in your family that needs tending to. also any flat pancake skillet running about 30 bux at walmart for a preheater is very much advised. but if only one repair is needed, i must say i dont advise against the heat gun. as stated before, i used one for several months along with a xbox 360 metal casing, as a mobo hoder sitting on top of my stove as a preheating station. and still had about a 70% success rate, but not by closely fallowing directions, but adding my own by way of common sense. seeing that every situation, heat gun, stove, mother board is different, you have to by able to adapt the technique to your surroundings. my advise, do the reflow again with the heat gun and use some kind of preheater to warm the bottom of the mobo. it usually wont hurt anything, ive reflowed a dv6000 5 times to get it to work. as long as your refluxing, the solder will do its job. isolate, not cover, but block off, the surrounding area as to not expose other components to unnecessary heat. just card board cut outs have worked for me. apply the flux and use the lowest possible setting that will still reach temps high enough to not only melt solder, but get a lil higher. since the solder is under a chip, it will take a lil more heat to melt. now to find the proper temp, time and distance of your gun.. take a few tiny bits of solder and put them on a spare mobo if available, if not available just a peice of cardboard is fine. melt the solder and let dry. apply a lil flux and preheat it like you was to reflow it, then timing yourself and remembering the distance in between the solder and the gun, see when and how long it takes for those pieces of solder to re-melt and form nice small balls. add on about ten seconds time and take away a lil distance on the actual reflow and you should be good on making sure all the solder balls have melted but not over done. the flux used under the chip is also a good indication that your getting close to temp when its fully smoking. take atleast 5 min cooling down the mobo with the gun and leave on the warming station for bout 10 min additionally before you cut all heating elements off. leave alone for atleast 30 min then du the shims. i cant express enough that this is just my story of success and not me saying this is the only or correct way to do this. i hated reading every one contradicting each other in forums when i was learning how to do repairs. but i can say this way brought me at least 4 laptops at 100% success and 30 xbox 360's at 70% success before i moved on to better equipment, in which i still fallow the same base ideas. theres a few more tricks and tips if needed. fell free to ask. thanx
 
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circuitcowboy

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Sep 10, 2011
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going over the list of needed supportlies in my head, I realized it can become pricey and there's no need to by a lot of the things for only one repair. where as I have plenty from having my own shop. u cab message me for any needed items that ill ship u if needed.
 

circuitcowboy

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Sep 10, 2011
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18,510
going over the list of needed supportlies in my head, I realized it can become pricey and there's no need to by a lot of the things for only one repair. where as I have plenty from having my own shop. u cab message me for any needed items that ill ship u if needed.
 

mobilewarrior

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Sep 2, 2011
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18,510
Before I ask you anything else I would just like to say thank you for your time and input, I really appreciate it. What are your thought on using a pen tourch to heat things? too much heat? What method do you reccommend for placing the mobo in the skillet to preheat and if you would can you list me a brief step by step so I am clear on the procedure. Thanks for all your help.