I just succesfully baked DDR4

[Jism]

Ok so i had random lockups, esp when the computer was left to idle. When i ramped up memtest86 it found some errors that i could narrow down to just one stick. Pretty much the same adress range kept throwing errors even at a stock 2133Mhz on a Ryzen 2700x. I was like shit, this is todays hardware that usually doesnt last longer then 1.5 year on avg. I peeked on the heatspreader, and figured out it could be removed quite easily.

Since i baked motherboards, GPU's in the past with succes, why not try it with ram.... So i turned on the oven (pre-set 200 degrees) and i quickly made something to hold the stick into place. Once the desired temperature was there i inserted it, timed it for 5 minutes (1 minue to heat up) and after the timer went off shut it down, open the lid and let it cool down (do not ever move components that are in 200 degree mark).

So i assembled the thing back again, was quite easy with the heatspreader still intact includig it's glue type of strip, stick it back into my computer and fired it off the bat with 3133Mhz settings and a CL of 14 at 1.35v. Guess what ... The thing is passing every memtest!

I have quite tested that stick on forehand in various slots. It would repeatedly throw the same error at the same memory adress using different (lower) speed and loser timings. Sometimes by simply running a bit looser could solve it, but it seemed like a hardware based error or something. Not quite sure what was going on. I find it extremely remarkable that a 200 degree enviroment did a wonder for this 16GB stick. It works, flawless and without any issues now.

I know when memory errors exist its usually within the chip and thats something you just cant fix with baking. Perhaps the quality of the solder over time got worse. I have no idea. The computer always ran cool. So anyone dealing with the same as i had... Try a baking proces! ... Pics will follow.

 

[AlwaysHope]

Wow, good to know, appreciate you writing this up!

 

[Jism]

Dont mind the dirty oven, and trick i used to hold it in place. Please people if you ever attempt to bake any hardware,

- The fumes can be toxic, make sure you ventilate properly
- Hardware like this on 200 degree temperatures will only take a slight tap in order for components to start falling off
- Baking is not a guarantee, but if your out of warranty or you just voided it there's nothing left you have to lose really

It does work. It just passed like 2 complete cycles of memtest86, i fired up the 2nd stick leading up to 32GB and it works flawless.

 

[DrCR]

To confirm, your unit of measurement is Celsius, not Fahrenheit, correct?

My first thought was ‘huh, I would have tried 400’, but then I realized unlike in science, my lead alloy smelting experience has been in Her Royal Highness’ units and 200 C is about 400 F.

 

[stiffmeister]

The baking "trick" does work in some cases and is best when all else has failed, your hardware is out of warranty and you have nothing left to lose and it will be replaced, even if it meets all those criteria it still may not work, but you probably have nothing left to try at this point, I've "baked" 2 GPU's back to life, never thought of trying it on RAM or any other component TBH but why the heck not

 

[Shrek]

Did you use any flux?

 

[stiffmeister]

Did you use any flux?

None required for baking, you are effectively gently molding slightly loose, cracked joints back together that may have failed during normal operation, no soldering experience is required

 

[DrCR]

It’s not hot enough for oxidation to be a concern

 

[Jism]

The baking "trick" does work in some cases and is best when all else has failed, your hardware is out of warranty and you have nothing left to lose and it will be replaced, even if it meets all those criteria it still may not work, but you probably have nothing left to try at this point, I've "baked" 2 GPU's back to life, never thought of trying it on RAM or any other component TBH but why the heck not

Technically by this trick, i saved myself buying a identical, 32GB kit tomorrow. I have no clue on why it suddenly stopped. I think it's in my system for some time now.

I've never either baked a memory stick before. But if it was proned to fail; what else could i lose? I'm flabbered that it works lol and it just does overclocking straight out of the box. I'd say based on the timings alone the situation is a bit better.

 

[Shrek]

It’s not hot enough for oxidation to be a concern

I would argue that room temperature is enough to oxidize solder.

 

[Deleted member 185158]

Nice job with the reflow. Grats.

 

[delshay]

Dont mind the dirty oven, and trick i used to hold it in place. Please people if you ever attempt to bake any hardware,

- The fumes can be toxic, make sure you ventilate properly
- Hardware like this on 200 degree temperatures will only take a slight tap in order for components to start falling off
- Baking is not a guarantee, but if your out of warranty or you just voided it there's nothing left you have to lose really

It does work. It just passed like 2 complete cycles of memtest86, i fired up the 2nd stick leading up to 32GB and it works flawless.

Is that a real soldering/reflow oven or your kitchen oven?

 

[Hyderz]

free fix are the best fix, well done

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Is it worth trying a bake on a faulty motherboard?
Here is a video of the problem-

 

[delshay]

- Hardware like this on 200 degree temperatures will only take a slight tap in order for components to start falling off

Actually it depends on the work carry out. Double sided populated PCB run the risk of components falling off. When doing reflow a gentle tap is sometimes needed to get 100% perfect alignment with the soldering pads. This was part of the instructions (tip) that came with my workstation, it's not always required as the solder should pull the device in & align it with the pads, but if you want guaranteed 100% perfection a gentle tap will do it even if you have a vision base alignment tool. ..I'm taking very faint gentle tap on the PCB at it's hottest under "infrared lamp",

Gentle tap on the PCB is not recommend if placed in an oven as you can't control the heat from below, it's recommend for those users that have a preheater & another heat source from above. Only use tap method if you think its not 100% in alignment.

Note I'm talking a series of quick gentle taps around 3 - 8 taps on the PCB

EDIT: The tap method can be used & when using an oven provided the PCB in question is single sided populated, ie no components is present on the other side on the PCB which can fall off. ..A gentle tap on the oven casing or tray should be enough.

.

 

[Bomby569]

Is it worth trying a bake on a faulty motherboard?

i only tried once with a gpu. Anyway lots people tried i saw videos of it, there's also a YT i follow said i tries everything but motherboards, never works. But like they said if all else fails and is out warranty you have nothing to loose.

 

[Jism]

Is it worth trying a bake on a faulty motherboard?
Here is a video of the problem-

If you think the issue is a soldering joint being broken then yes. If you dont know the issue because it's simply not giving or doing a POST, no. Chances are it wont work. The error or fault has to be very specific to soldering joints. I dont know how my DDR4 stick managed to work again flawless after a reflow, but appearantly it woud'nt hurt either doing so.

Your free to try, but be aware, remove anything you can from the board, meaning heatsinks, plastic in particular (that will be to the point of melting), battery and so on. Just a bare naked and cleaned out motherboard. Normally for a GPU your looking at a avg 7 minutes on 200 degrees celcius, for a motherboard it could be equal to perhaps 8 minutes. Make sure to not move it when it's at full temperature, you can knock off components just like that and your screwed.

If it did'nt or does'nt work, the problem is'nt related to a reflow; but something else. Your bios might be corrupted too, ever think of that? If there's a manual on Quick flash or so (Asus has that, just put a new bios file on a stick and hold a button on the back of the board, it can flash even without a CPU) read it and try it out.

Is that a real soldering/reflow oven or your kitchen oven?

Thats my kitchen oven. Very modest and really hot unit up to 250 degrees celcius. When you open the lid your face is presented with a shitload of heat if you dont watch out.

Actually it depends on the work carry out. Double sided populated PCB run the risk of components falling off. When doing reflow a gentle tap is sometimes needed to get 100% perfect alignment with the soldering pads. This was part of the instructions (tip) that came with my workstation, it's not always required as the solder should pull the device in & align it with the pads, but if you want guaranteed 100% perfection a gentle tap will do it even if you have a vision base alignment tool. ..I'm taking very faint gentle tap on the PCB at it's hottest under "infrared lamp",

Gentle tap on the PCB is not recommend if placed in an oven as you can't control the heat from below, it's recommend for those users that have a preheater & another heat source from above. Only use tap method if you think its not 100% in alignment.

Note I'm talking a series of quick gentle taps around 3 - 8 taps on the PCB

EDIT: The tap method can be used & when using an oven provided the PCB in question is single sided populated, ie no components is present on the other side on the PCB which can fall off. ..A gentle tap on the oven casing or tray should be enough.

.

I understood, and i did my best to not let components drop or fall off, by doing something very unusual, not put pressure on any of the chips, IC's or so, and simply use something metallic from the kitchen to hold it in place. Exactly 4 minutes of heating was sufficient to get it working again. I have no clue how or why, but it solved all my issues all in once.

Today i took the effort to clean out the case, radiators, PSU and all that with a brush and vacuum cleaner. Esp the PSU was'nt opened up for 5+ years at least, it was covered with a bed of dust. everything runs so quiet now. Like brand new again.

 

[eidairaman1]

Temporary fix

 

[Jism]

Yep; or maybe not.

I saved myself a brand new 32GB kit.

 

[Shrek]

Temporary fix

Even if one uses flux?

I have fixed two video cards using a heat gun and flux, but I don't really use them so can't say the fix is long term.
Video Card Reflow | Electronics Repair And Technology News Video Card Reflow (jestineyong.com)

 

[Deleted member 24505]

If you think the issue is a soldering joint being broken then yes. If you dont know the issue because it's simply not giving or doing a POST, no. Chances are it wont work. The error or fault has to be very specific to soldering joints. I dont know how my DDR4 stick managed to work again flawless after a reflow, but appearantly it woud'nt hurt either doing so.

Your free to try, but be aware, remove anything you can from the board, meaning heatsinks, plastic in particular (that will be to the point of melting), battery and so on. Just a bare naked and cleaned out motherboard. Normally for a GPU your looking at a avg 7 minutes on 200 degrees celcius, for a motherboard it could be equal to perhaps 8 minutes. Make sure to not move it when it's at full temperature, you can knock off components just like that and your screwed.

If it did'nt or does'nt work, the problem is'nt related to a reflow; but something else. Your bios might be corrupted too, ever think of that? If there's a manual on Quick flash or so (Asus has that, just put a new bios file on a stick and hold a button on the back of the board, it can flash even without a CPU) read it and try it out.



Thats my kitchen oven. Very modest and really hot unit up to 250 degrees celcius. When you open the lid your face is presented with a shitload of heat if you dont watch out.



I understood, and i did my best to not let components drop or fall off, by doing something very unusual, not put pressure on any of the chips, IC's or so, and simply use something metallic from the kitchen to hold it in place. Exactly 4 minutes of heating was sufficient to get it working again. I have no clue how or why, but it solved all my issues all in once.

Today i took the effort to clean out the case, radiators, PSU and all that with a brush and vacuum cleaner. Esp the PSU was'nt opened up for 5+ years at least, it was covered with a bed of dust. everything runs so quiet now. Like brand new again.

Flashed newest bios, no change, changed bios chip, flashed newest bios, no change.

 

[cst1992]

I'm guessing that stick does not have two-sided memory chips. Because if that's the case, then it would not be impossible for the ones facing down to just follow the rules of gravity and fall off.

 

[RyzenMaster.sys]

Good to see you fixed it, but I do have to question why you didn't just get it replaced under warranty. Most ram has a lifetime warranty.

G.skill even let me RMA ram I bought used. All I had to pay was shipping and they gave me a brand new kit.

 

[Bomby569]

I'm guessing that stick does not have two-sided memory chips. Because if that's the case, then it would not be impossible for the ones facing down to just follow the rules of gravity and fall off.

fall how, they have the pcb on top of them?

 

[cst1992]

fall how, they have the pcb on top of them?

Is that a serious question?