A majority of repair stores don't have the equipment or staff to work on circuit boards and that's where Device Pro Solutions helps out. Our specialty is circuit board repair and it doesn't have to be expensive. The cost of fixing most devices is cheaper than replacing them with another device. We started by fixing circuit boards for other repair stores, but our retail business has grown by word of mouth and many Kansas City local customers come straight to us and others across the country mail us devices to repair.
This iPad 7 is an example of what we see on a daily basis. The device was sent in to us from another repair store that diagnosed the problem as a circuit board issue. They tested a good battery and charge port, and the device still wouldn't charge. We confirmed the problem and determined it was a problem with the tristar chip, this is a common issue when these devices won't charge after trying a good charger, battery and charge port. We use a testing device called a tristar tester to help confirm the problem is with the tristar chip.
Here's a photo showing the results when we connect the iPad 7 to the tristar tester.
The process to fix the iPad 7 or any other device with this issue is to replace the tristar chip with a new tristar. The next photo shows the iPad 7 circuit board with the tristar circled. It's a small chip that's maybe 2mm in size.
The other photo shows the board after we removed the tristar. You'll see a coin below it so you can see how small the chip and components are on the circuit board.
We use a microscope and hot air station to heat up the chip and solder, so it can be removed from the board. Once removed we clean up the existing solder and make sure the board is ready for a new chip. It's a delicate process since the chip is so small, and you need to be careful not to use too much heat or touch any other chips while replacing this chip. We've simplified the process to explain it here, but this does take quite a bit of practice and experience with the right equipment.
Once the repair is done and the iPad 7 has a new tristar, we test it out and make sure that it will charge. We like to use a USB ammeter so we can see the voltage and how many amps the iPad is pulling. When it's not charging it will draw 0 amps(A), in this photo you can see it's pulling 1.85 amps so it's charging properly and has been fixed.
People always want to know what might have caused this problem. The problem is the tristar chip is sensitive to improper voltage or voltage spikes/drops. This damage can occur when using inexpensive charging blocks or lightning cables. It may not happen the first time you use the block or cable, but if you're not using a high quality Apple certified cable or charging block you're at risk of damaging your iPhone or iPad.
The good news is that we can fix these issues and many other problems that happen with iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and other devices. If you have this issue contact us and we'll let you know how we can help you.