Sesshoumaru

iTrader: (1)

My friend sent his haltech in due to water damage a fault of his own.

He recieved it back and has never worked.

Has same issues as when we sent it in. No fuel pump prime and spark.

It goes online and reads the sensors ok.

Here are the repairs done to it........... Seems pretty sketchy to me.

tims

looks like you burned some traces on the main board. this really cannot be fixed. by soldering in the jumper wires they have tried to replicate the trace with a piece of wire. likely the only thing they could do without replacing the main circuit board, but then that would be a completely new ECU. Best bet is to replace the ECU with a good used one or a new unit. If the repaired unit doesn't work and hasn't work since its return, then I would check with Haltech to see if they will try to fix it again. good luck

davedge

If it went to Haltech for repairs, and was returned... then it sounds like the ECU might be good. I would look elsewhere in the system for possible issues that you may be having.

Obviously water damage is not something that is easily fixed, and if you dropped your laptop in the lake and sent it to HP for repair, they'd probably laugh at you.

I would look closer into your wiring, if it has NEVER worked, as this is probably more likely the problem.

Sesshoumaru

iTrader: (1)

LOL

I drove the car with my E6X fine and runs great (fresh rebuild solid 800rpm idle). Definately the E6X as no fuel pump is dead give away after swap'n units.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Actually, traces can be fixed.. I know this because I am trained to do it. Soldering jumper wires is a sign of poor repair capability and or laziness.. Seems to be a hallmark of Haltech repair these days..

Sesshoumaru

iTrader: (1)

All the traces are fine.

c_mart_28

iTrader: (1)

Its my haltech. I called Au today and talked to a service rep. Got connected to a real nice guy named Paul and he seemed sincere in his interest in the problem. He told me to box it up, send it his way and he would have it taken care of at no additional cost. If the problem is remedied without too much hassle, I'll have not a bad thing to say about the whole situation. I'll keep this post updated.

Sesshoumaru

iTrader: (1)

^^

13BT510

J-rat - im no engineer or anything - ive done a little SMC repair and i cannot imagine how you would do a repair like this without using jumper wires...how exactly do you repair a track on a 7 layer board if one of those tracks is not a surface track?

Even on the surface if the board is water damaged and pads are corroded how do you repair this? Im genuinely interested if its really possible or your just talking smack like alot of so called experts do.

In my experience water damage is the hardest to repair because as a repair person you dont know how long it was underwater, how much penetration there was into the layers, how quickly and effectively the board was dried out....ive had circuit boards that have been water damaged, shorted something out etc, i replaced the components got the thing working and a month later things just stop working from corrosion either surface or in between the layers - maybe J-rat is more experienced than i am and can shed some more light?

tims

13BT510,
You asked the question I was afraid to ask. I would like to know if there is a way to fix damage like was mentioned above. thanks

davedge

I'll make 3...

And while you're at it, I have some water I want turned into wine... maybe you could help out with that aswell?

13BT510

Just as i suspected - another armchair expert who thinks he knows it all but when asked to put his money where his mouth is nothing more that hot air !!!!

So unless anyone has any REAL evidence that tracks on a PCB can be fixed id say that the repair you got was probably a pretty good effort for an ECU that has been underwater. As someone else mentioned take your laptop back to HP after you dunk it and see if they even think about trying to help you out by repairing it....

tims

I must agree. I am no expert, nor do I try to play one on the internet, but I have not even heard of a technique to repair traces without jumper wires. I am always open to new technologies and techniques to repair things.

c_mart_28

iTrader: (1)

Well, to get back on subject--got an email back from Paul (day after actually getting shipment, props to haltech) and they found the problem. When we tried the ecm in my car we couldn't get spark, Paul had said they weren't able to get the fuel pump power and they fixed the problem (thats all the detail he went into.) I'm hoping spark is also tied in the with fuel pump and my problem will be solved. As far as the original method of repair, my money is riding on that Haltech's repair techs know their business and are very good at what they do. Water damage being almost the worst of what could happen, I'm not too upset at having to send the unit back a second time. Especially since this time my only cost was shipping to Au. They covered the repair costs and shipping as well-- all in very short order I might add.

13BT510

Im impressed.

I heard Haltech is pushing their customer service hard at the moment as they are trying to rebiuld their name amongst the bigger ECU manufacturers that wont give you the time of day...i also heard they have been developing a new ECU that will be released early next year that will be a serious rival for the M800 with new software that is actually user friendly (although i will wait to see it myself before i believe that one).

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Armchair expert? LOL! Lets see, I am a NAVSEA certified PCB repair technician. Part of the training I recieve is to excavate multilayer PCBs and repair burned runs, then back out of the repair while repairing any runs that I had to move in the process.

If you would like me to go into detail on how the process is done, I can certaintly do that for you. But I think you get the point. Dont speak about what you dont know anything about.

Here are some of my qualifications as a 2M technician:

tims

not doubting your resume but I would like any info on this type of repair. I don't need the technicians procedures but an overview would be nice.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

I didnt accuse you of doubting my credentials, it was the other individual I was referencing to.

Its simple really, but the repair has to be done under a microscope. Also, if the board is really thick, and exhibits no outward signs of damage, locating the run for repair will be difficult.

If you want a brief overview, it goes like this:

Identify run that requires repair, and ascertain how many levels will need to be excavated. The area of excavation will depend on how many levels you have to go down. Excavate, and remove any good runs that are in the way. These have standards for removal that makes them perfectly safe to re-install with no harm to the PCB. Once you have gotten to the burned run, replace, and then start building back up using board replacement epoxy. You have to do it in stages so you can re-lay the runs you removed on the way in. Then recoat board with conformal and marvel at what they say cant be done.

tims

that sounds like alot of time to repair several bad traces, and of course time is money. It seems that this technique would be to expensive for a part that only cost $800-$900. what is the typical cost to repair a damaged board? with say 2 or 3 damaged traces like the example above.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Actually, its not expensive, nor does it take much time. Figure 6-8 hours total repair time and about $5 in parts.

Problem is, you need someone that is capable of the repair, and has the equipment (microscope and Pace PRC2000).

tims

Yes, what is 6-8 hours of labor going to cost? Likely new ECU is cheaper.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

My labor? Not that expensive.. What do you want fixed?

13BT510

Well J-Rat im glad you decided to come back and back up your post. I will be the first to admit your qualifications far outweigh mine. Compared to your long list of schooling i am not even an armchair expert...id be lucky to be an armchair.

This is the first time i have heard of such a repair technique and would be very interested to actually see it in action.

Lets be realistic though - 6-8 hours of labour on an ECU at a moderate rate of even $75 an hour is a $600 repair. Before you go ahead and say that your rates are not $75 an hour lets remember if you are running a business you would have to charge this sort of money to cover rent, wages, materials, tools etc.

I apologise for blowing you up in regard to your qualifications and abilities - i hope you can accept my apology. Perhaps you could get a job at Haltech doing their repairs !

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Its not that expensive, but then again, I do it for the military. That means I do it for $200,000.00 dollar boards. I guess that makes it cost effective. And I doubt Haltech could afford me..