The victim
What you will need:
Archos charge repair
Hi, this following description is how to repair an Archos 6-10-20gb+ player and recorder after damaging the charging circuit by over voltage or accidental reverse polarity. DO NOT ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU CAN SOLDER WELL
The victim
What you will need:
1: A small phillips screwdriver
2: A pair of tweezers or other small tool
3: A soldering iron 30w will do, nothing to big
4: Some solder
5: Some solder braid or a suction tool
6: IPA or FLUX cleaner (Optional)
7: And your new IC of course:- MC34063AD
Phase 1:
My musical friend ready for its operation, here currently with a damaged IC
Ready to operate
Phase 2:
Here we can see the removed top cover exposing the damaged IC, small 8 pinned chip at very bottom of the unit. Just unscrew the 4 small black screws at top and bottom, be careful of the lose buttons on the unit and do not lose the screws or parts, just gently pull the top cover off, push the two supports in each side to release. I would recommend removing the batteries, however I was confident and did not.
Ready to go
Phase 3:
You can remove the IC in two ways, either cut the legs of the ic remove and de-solder, or the easiest way is to heat one side with a blob of solder and gently lift, this way when you heat the other side, the chip simply will fall away from the PCB, when you move it. Be careful not to add to much heat, and not spread solder around the pcb or drop blobs on any other components. After you lift one side with your tweezers, heat the other side and push the damaged IC aside. That black spec on my finger is the removed IC. Warning be careful to note the orientation of the IC, PIN 1 TOP LEFT!.
The damaged IC
Phase 4:
Here you can see the unit running on its last remaining power just before it dies, as no charge is getting to the unit after I reversed the polarity and blew the IC. Please note the black dot bottom right, that is the removed damaged IC, the unit will still operate with this taken off as its only for charging. Gently heat the pads where the chip was, and use your braid or suction tool to remove the excess solder left on the pads, make sure you leave no shorts. Please note pins 5-6 are shorted by default so this does not matter. You do not have to do this, I recommend you do, as if done right, when your new IC is fitted, you should not be able to tell its even been replaced.
Ready for NEW IC
Phase5:
Now simply place you new IC over the pads, getting it as square fit as you can, not very hard as its only 8 pins. NOTE ORIENTATION OF IC AND PIN 1 TO TOP LEFT! VERY IMPORTANT!. Now add a tiny amount of solder to each leg, making sure its well soldered, and also you have NO SHORTS between any legs apart from 5-6. Again an easy way is to tack the chip on pin 1 and 8 to the pcb by touching the legs, then run the iron across each side with solder, this will give you a factory fitted look, but it takes practice. Again check for shorts. Sorry i could not do a close-up, my camera just blurs.
The new IC ready to fit
Phase 6:
Check your work, and DOUBLE CHECK your work, you do not want any problems, check PIN 1 Top left, and no shorts except pins 5-6 by default. Now would be a good time to clean the chip and area with cleaner, like IPA, but its not essential unless you want it tool look as its never been touched like me :-). Then when you are completely sure everything is 100% try it, here we see I have plugged in the unit to test it works, before putting it all back together.
Fitted IC unit is charging!NOTE: That the unit has now begun to charge, the lights are on and charging: is displayed on the screen. Watch for a while and check all is ok. If for any reason the unit does not charge or come on when you plug in the charger, disconnect ASAP and check your work again
Phase 7:
When you are happy that your musical friend has been brought back to life, run around the room screaming YES!, and then gently reverse step 1 to return him to normal. Here you see him back together like new and charging like a baby. :-)
The operation was a success
FINISH:
I would like to say this was for me an easy operation, as I already work in electronics all day, but it is not a hard job, but please only attempt this if you feel confident, I will take no responsibility for your actions, this is only a guide for the interested. In total the IC will cost you 71p from RS, and is very cheap, I purchased two, one spare in-case I damage it again. Of course, if you have no tools and time, it will cost more.
My musical friend is now back where he should be AT MY SIDE
OH JOY!!
