Mr.Bitey Posted March 16, 2007 Posted March 16, 2007 Hi Guys, Ive got a damaged component on my External 3.5" HDD Enclosure for my pc (its a usb/firewire one). The component in question is a small silver oval shaped thing maybe 1cm long and about 3-4mm wide and about 4mm tall. It has 2 prongs on the underside (for connecting into the pcb) - one of which is snapped off! Identifying markings on the top are: NSK SH 12.000ALE Its identified on the PCB as Y2, there is another one called Y1. Y1 (which is still attached) looks the same, but has the following markings: NSK 5J 24.576 ALA Any ideas what it is, and more importantly where I can get a replacement :-) Cheers, Bitey
DrP Posted March 16, 2007 Posted March 16, 2007 Its a 12MHz crystal, or a 12MHz crystal oscillator. One way to tell if its just a plain crystal is to load up one of the pins with a bit of stray capacitance (ie your finger) and watch what happens to the frequency output. If it wanders all over the place, its a crystal, if not, its an oscillator (of course, since your's is broken, thats a bit hard to do!). Since it only has two pins, odds on its a plain and simple crystal. That only leaves the question of series or parrallel resonance. The person behind the counter at the electronics shop probably won't know what that means. You should be able to pick one up at your local electronics shop.
mello yello Posted March 17, 2007 Posted March 17, 2007 Why cant you just resolder it back onto the board? Youll need a very thin tipped soldering iron and a magnifying glass if you havent done it before and just a wee wee bit of solder on the tip and just let it run on the joint. Or just drop into any radio/TV technicians workshop and ask him nicely if hell do it for you..probably charge you a 6 pack..so have one in the car ready
DrP Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 The pin has broken at the housing if I read him correctly (sounds like the xtal was knocked off the PCB).
mello yello Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 The pin has broken at the housing if I read him correctly (sounds like the xtal was knocked off the PCB). Oh well in that case repair costs just went up to a whole slab
Mr.Bitey Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 Thanks Guys, I'll suss out how much a replacement is.. No probs soldering the beast myself, and yes its broken off at the joint on the 'thing' itself (theres no stump!).. I might give it a shot soldering something on there.. trouble is (with my soldering iron thats not really for this type of fine work that it might melt the solder holding the new leg (im calling it peg-leg) onto the unit (im calling the pirate) so when I solder the peg-leg back onto the pcb (we'll call this one the ship) it'll probably melt the solder on peg-leg and the pirate will not be lashed to the deck of the ship but look like it, until I see if it wobbles around (which will break it off anyway even if it is working . Ok mello - youve talked me into it (well that and some coopers ales)... I'll attach an extra long peg leg onto both stumpy and the original working leg (like a set of stilts)... this way I can still lash it to the deck of the ship without melting peg-leg.. so I should be able to see if the pirate can stand or not Ahoy, Bitey
Mr.Bitey Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 Well, the ships on fire and going down fast.... There is no way my 2mm soldering iron can attach solder to the .2mm joint let alone attach ole peg-leg... theres just not enough of ole stumpy left I'll see if i can raid something that looks similar from an old card or motherboard Cheers, Bitey (who threw out a heap of old kit last weekend (L:())
mello yello Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Ahoy Not sure if a Long John Silver is the best idea as it would slightly alter The Resistance on board the ship. Maybe Capn P might be able to answer that. Id give it a go..but it is a Hard Drive youre playing with so maybe pull into the nearest port and get a proper new one. Theres a Vantec eSata/USB that goes for about 60 - 65 Dubloons in the French Quarter. Perhaps a lusty wench in red might help you forget your troubles edit...too late hes abandoned ship ....good move
Mr.Bitey Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 This bastard isnt going to win by making me buy a new one.. I shall have my glory! Ive got a heap of old drives i can test it with, so im not fussed if it all ends in smoke, but i'll be dammned if im going to buy a new one before this one's blackened and scorched to hell. Cant repair electornics with something ment for working on train-tracks.. heat it all up - melt everything and shove it together - thats the bitey way! if only I had one of the butane pen torches... Chips Ahoy! Capt'n Bitey PS: Does Coopers ale = Flux ? :-) I think Ive got some resin somewhere :ph34r: :)
DrP Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 I'll suss out how much a replacement is.. Too much heat for too long and you'll find that the crystal will fall out of its holder in the can. Cant repair electornics with something ment for working on train-tracks.. heat it all up - melt everything and shove it together - thats the bitey way! if only I had one of the butane pen torches... That reminds me of the time an ex-Telstra liney at a previous work place of mine attended a job that I was working on. I needed a few wires soldered together in a roof cavity to join some cable runs (serial, not eth). So I dispatched the liney to do the work. .... .... Time elapses and the liney comes back down from the ceiling and explains that he can't do the job, the insulation keeps melting of the wire. 'Odd', I thought, 'That cable is supposed to have heat resistant insulation'. It turns out that the liney didn't have a soldering iron, it could best be described as a welding iron. It had a bit the size of a chisel and must have been rated at 200 watts! God only knows what he used to solder at Telstra - earth bonding straps? (not legal to solder em anyway!).
mello yello Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 If its a smoldering heap you want I can do that for free Can you somehow tie a long sharper bit onto the end of the iron and run the solder down it? You know those bread packet cable twistie things? Strip the plastic or even just burn the plastic off and use one or two of them to attach something like a needle point or a nail or something to make the tip of the iron pointier? You only need to transfer lots of heat. Then just let the solder run down the tip onto the stump....and leave the drop there ready for the leg to go on Steady as she goes Magyver Too much heat for too long and you'll find that the crystal will fall out of its holder in the can. Oh no not the Coopers Hes not in mortal danger is he Doc? Bitey!!!! dont let the crystal fall into the can
Mr.Bitey Posted March 18, 2007 Author Posted March 18, 2007 Too much heat for too long and you'll find that the crystal will fall out of its holder in the can.That reminds me of the time an ex-Telstra liney at a previous work place of mine attended a job that I was working on. I needed a few wires soldered together in a roof cavity to join some cable runs (serial, not eth). So I dispatched the liney to do the work. .... .... Time elapses and the liney comes back down from the ceiling and explains that he can't do the job, the insulation keeps melting of the wire. 'Odd', I thought, 'That cable is supposed to have heat resistant insulation'. It turns out that the liney didn't have a soldering iron, it could best be described as a welding iron. It had a bit the size of a chisel and must have been rated at 200 watts! God only knows what he used to solder at Telstra - earth bonding straps? (not legal to solder em anyway!). LOL - Yes drP - thats about what it boils down to (literally)... it'll fall out of its can - theres a ghoul inside this little metal box?? - I shall have to get him out to see what its like - perhaps these are infact 'Troll-Amulets' hmm interesting! Now your tale reminds me of an old mate telling of working in an exchange (telstra) and the tech dropped the spanner.. on the main bus bar (which aparently are like train-tracks .. anyway, there was quite a noise and some smoke - the spanner never touched the ground :-) Now.. Ive checked my 'spare cards' and found what looks like the same thing, but different frequency jaycar dont have 12mhz ones on their online catalogue.. and of course ive thrown out my massive stash of old pc bits/bobs which undoubtably would have the required part. I'll email jaycar - theyve probably got em, but just not on their online catalogue.. Cheers, Burny Mello - no fear of anything falling into the can.. Ive no got any kidney stones which require coopers-pales to 'pass' - both to relieve the pain, and assist in the passing Im presuming thats what DrP is talking about Cheers, Boozey
DrP Posted March 18, 2007 Posted March 18, 2007 Now your tale reminds me of an old mate telling of working in an exchange (telstra) and the tech dropped the spanner.. on the main bus bar (which aparently are like train-tracks .. anyway, there was quite a noise and some smoke - the spanner never touched the ground :-) I've seen a spanner have to be kicked off a 48 volt battery bus, melted the sole of the shoe used to kick it off too. I've also seen someone stick a meter probe into a 48 volt connector and accidentally short it. It might only be 50 volts, but all those amps make quite a mess - much soot and charing and a big bite taken out of both the connector contacts and the meter probe.
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