Rowenta Steamer/Iron

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
I apologize for posting this so late but here is another project that I am working on. It is a Rowenta steamer/iron and the problem is that when you click the button on the iron, no steam comes out. I took the iron apart and there seems to be no problem with it so I took the base apart and so far I haven't found the problem. I tested the pump (right hand side of picture) by removing it from the base and connecting it directly to a wall outlet. I made sure it had a water source to pump from so as not to ruin the pump. It seems to work just fine so I think the next thing I will try is simply cleaning out the lines that transport the steam and cleaning out the silver metal piece in the center which actually creates the steam. If that doesn't work then I will test the switch which allows the steam through the lines.


InFocus Projector

Tuesday, August 9, 2011
This projector is my brother's and, as you can see, it has issues. the sides are darkened and I think it is because one of the mirrors needs adjusted. I have been working on this projector for a while and it is very time-consuming. In order to adjust the mirror, you have to remove a number of screws so that you can remove the casing that the mirror is in. Then there are two hex-head screws which must be adjusted (these adjust the mirror). The hard part is that you have to replace everything before turning the projector back on to see if you got it right. You get the picture.
 

Below you can see the pictures I took of the projector. The top one is a zoomed-out view of the projector and the bottom one is of the mirror casing. I have become quite familiar with it as I have had to remove it and replace it several times. I have made some progress but I am still not sure if I will be able to fix it or not. In the bottom picture it is the mirror on the top right of the casing that I have been adjusting and it has mad a visible difference but I still have not been able to get the display to where I want it. I will be updating you on the projector as soon as I am done working on it.

 

Artifacting Video Card

Monday, August 8, 2011
This is a project I have been working on for about a month and so far I have been unsuccessful. It is a radeon X1800 XT that displays pink lines across the screen and the screen goes black soon after booting up the computer. A friend of mine, an electrical engineer and a pc gaming enthusiast, suggested that it might be the memory on the board. I have been trying to heat up the memory in hopes that it will reflow the solder, but so far I have gotten zero results. Below are pictures of the video card and the artifacting that is occurring.




I originally tried heating it in the oven at approximately 380 degrees Fahrenheit, and then letting it cool for a while. Achieving no results with this approach, I contemplated using a heat gun but could not think of a suitable way to insulate the rest of the board. At this point I was ready to give up on the project altogether, but I acquired a butane-fueled torch/heat gun/soldering iron that was the perfect size for what I needed it for. I am not sure how hot it gets but I am sure it is far beyond 200 degrees, even on low. I originally attempted heating the memory(pictured below) on medium-to-low for 3 minutes. That approach did not work and now I am going to try heating it on high for   3 minutes. I am planning on increasing the heat and time until either the video card is ruined or it is fixed. I will update you when either happens.