Pin Broke off NEC Chip. Is this fixable. Benz Key Fob Repair

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[@ubergeeknz]

What a great repair. You wouldn't get this from a "warranty" type repairer, just more proof that Right To Repair is critical to keeping technology out of landfills.

[@larrybud]

It's about time and money. This thing probably costs 10 bucks to make for the car companies, with 100,000% markup.

[@thetechconspiracy2]

@@larrybud Exactly. Someone with the skills needed to to board-level repairs like this is going to charge way more than it would be worth to repair the key fob, when the dealer can fix it in 10 minutes (most of which is waiting for a machine to cut the key) with a part that barely costs anything to make and plugging a tool into the car to learn the new key fob. If they are charging a dime over $50, they had better be coming out to your house to program the key (they can look up the cut on their computer system based on the VIN, and cut it before they come out)

[@gtx1650max-q]

@@thetechconspiracy2 I would look at it like this, if there would be more skilled people like him that would increase some competition which may decrease repair costs.

[@Diehard4077]

@@thetechconspiracy2 board level repair (I've been getting into it as a hobby) will always be a thing due to greed seriously my 07 dodge i brought a already cut key that needed to be programmed to the dealer they charged me 120ish CAD and the reason i brought them a key i cut is because to get a key supplied by them was 300+ CAD FOR A 07 DODGE

[@paulbains9152]

@@thetechconspiracy2 I usually fix stuff like this for my freinds , for free . The challenge of not being beat by a chip .

[@ranieriphoto]

It’s a real pleasure to see how you approach a problem, formulate a plan of action, then always do your best for the customer! A true professional.

[@fredob7207]

There is a way to read the codes from the chip if you really need it I could send you a link to the video on here and they have some of the necessary tools on the video as well

[@rahulmechatronics]

@@fredob7207 please share link

[@Electronicsautomotive]

Yes you can renew this chip check vvdimb tool. Good work with this chip👏 🙌

[@thesmartguy3523]

Yes, you can even make keys with VVDI MB in all keys lost situation and add key, so long as it's FBS2/FBS3

[@coctailrob]

That’s what I love about KZbin. Viewers coming up with the solutions. Everyone wins.

[@everlasting1]

I feel like I'm late to the party discovering this channel. My favorite thing: that I see the TRUE JOY on your face when you are able to fix something! Sure, you provide real value for your customers and that's your job, but you look like you genuinely are excited and pleased with yourself when you're able to troubleshoot and fix a problem, and the fixer's watching you (myself included) know and love this feeling. You're very positive and a pleasure to watch, keep it up!

[@desnick2316]

you mean when WE are able to fix something, lol

[@BrianB14471]

That looks like damage from a small screwdriver being used to open the FOB housing when changing a battery. At first look I knew that pin should be repairable, but I would have used an exacto to scrape the overmold down. The other thing I would suggest is TakPak CA glue over the part of the chip you ground away.

[@harpingon]

Okay! I was watching this video and thinking, "how though?" how do you get that pin broken. But yeah - inserting a pokey thing to try and get the fob open to change a battery could for sure do that.

[@obd6HsN]

Yeah, those fobs have a hard life, and are covered with a conformal coating from the factory. I'd definitely have sprayed a bit more conformal coat on to cover that part

[@tomkroebel4936]

As I am repairing a lot of remote controls I can absolutely confirm! And it's the same for all these broken coils in FOBs...

[@Ozzy3333333]

Been doing this since 1984, I just use a dermal cutoff wheel, I the last 11 years I use boiling acid, we decap our chips to do FIB work on prototype chips (mostly making metal layer changes and some other stuff). We also decap for thermal imaging for latch up debug/etc.

[@carpethooligan]

I'm sorry did you say boiling acid?

[@Ozzy3333333]

@@carpethooligan yes

[@carpethooligan]

@@Ozzy3333333 Sounds interesting. I'd like to know more!

[@ktingmar]

Wow, THAT is a new level! I was sitting with my mouth open: "How in the world did this repair work?" Absolute top-notch repair, great job!

[@scouse1967]

I always look forward to a new uploaded video from you, Alex. You level of soldering and repair work on tech is just out of this world.

[@darkbreed]

congratulation, this is a hardcore repair. you deserve the designation as a professional.

[@CynaOlow]

Nicely done. I work a lot with forensic data recovery from vehicle components and sometime, chips damaged by corrosion (flooded cars), fire or several mechanical damages exhibit this problem. I approach it in the same way, usually there's plenty of connectors still buried in the epoxy. Things get a little more difficult with QFN or BGA packages.

[@eightbitoni]

You can reprogram these chips with special tools like VVDI Benz VVDI MB BGA tool or a CGDI Prog MB Benz Car Key programmer, love the videos and thank you

[@optimizelogicrepair2784]

The solder wick they sell is top notch. I bought 3 spools of it. Use it every day. Now my 10 spools of Goot Wick sit in a box, unless I need it for something very small. Now, if they could get this premium wick they sell in different sizes, now you REALLY got something. Oh yeah, and I bought the UNI-T thermal camera, LOVE IT! that thing has already paid me back.

[@infotechsailor]

@@fluke196c maybe he means amtech?

[@gary00832]

Funny how we end up right back to the rtr .. the dealer has the equipment and software to read and write to that chip..They want you to come back so they can wax you that money! Good repair boss! Keep up the good work of sticking it to the man!!!!!!

[@davidcameron648]

Very unlikely that the dealers have access to the tools to read or write to that chip for security reasons (any data should be encrypted and obfuscated to keep thieves from reading the data from a fob and making a copy). The manufacturer is the one able to make copies, but $500 USD and up is price gouging for a device that costs at most a few dollars to manufacture.

[@pointer2null]

Chip is encrypted to prevent it being read and cloned.

[@clydecare]

You're amazingly creative with the repairs. Everyone should strive to be at your Level of dedication to get the repair done.

[@zigbug1314]

Another absolutely amazing fix. I love how you look for solutions, not problems.

[@bobuk5722]

Ah, I saw the screwdriver comment below, I was wondering how the damage happened. Brilliant repair job

[@bubbaluv500]

Fantastic repair. A nice big slap in the face for 'throw away' culture. Kudos.

[@floydp6217]

beautiful, fluid fix! Grinding down that IC was nerve-wracking to watch lol

[@sk22ng]

Fantastic! On top of the brilliant repair successfully completed right before our eyes no cost for donor part, just a large amount of brains mixed with flux & solder as well as some more wear on the grinding bit. Big boss has now made a small profit to go towards purchasing more awesome equipment. Absolutely brilliant!

[@SubjectiveFunny]

I think most people enjoy these videos as much for you as for the repairs. Thank you for sharing.

[@edward20049]

I am amazed at your confidence and approach

[@nlo114]

Good save! In my last job, the benches in the cleanroom each had a 1/4" vacuum port for slurping up debris. By making a small filter in a plastic box it enabled us to wash areas with IPA, and suck-up as we cleaned, leaving no residue. A cheap vacuum/suction pump with a filter would be a great help with SM work like this.

[@Darren777Au]

Always good to think outside the box when it comes to repairing. Nice work.

[@PaulGrayUK]

He thought thru the box (best of both worlds) as soon as he picked up the Dremel to get access to the pin. Yes, well nice work indeed. Also, the humility and common sense to testing out upon a donner chip, shows the level of professionalism that you don't often see - somebody sure of themselves but not over cocky and with that - truly defining the word professionalisim.

[@melstead3981]

I don't think that Alex knows what it is to think inside the box. As long as I have been watching, that is simply the way it is. He has made me more adventures. That has made me a better repair person. Thank you Alex for putting a higher standard on professionalism.

[@georgekabbazi1837]

It's just miraculous to me how u give life to these parts ...... I'm not even an electrician but u sure inspired me to be one

[@Helladamnleet]

I like how legitimately happy he looks when he confirms his fix. Like, you can tell he's way more stoked than he lets on

[@Chamussu]

It's amazing how you approach each problem ! I'm french and your videos are my saint bible ! Let's continue...

[@k42uy4]

I always look forward to a new uploaded video from you, Alex. The experience you share and your advice is invaluable.

[@skydonkey245]

its like watching a skilled dentist at work, well done

[@ZaneofAustin]

spectacular, i love how calm and collect you were grinding away at that chip

[@tschupbach]

The grinding pen and flux have saved many boards here, won't be without them. The flux is easy to clean, and the pen makes short work of damaged or missing areas on boards. On reading the chip, normally the programmable portion of the chip has a "fuse" that is purposely blown after programming to prevent accessing the code that would allow you to read and then program a new chip. Find the datasheet for the chip and look up the program method. If that's the case, now we know why Benz can charge $1,500 for a fob.

[@deluxeddelirium]

Impressive work. You must have steady hands

[@lewis2553]

I did something like this on a Texas Instruments calculator once. It required the use of a microscope. Once the jumper was soldered, I very gently cleaned the area, dried it with light puffs of canned air, and then put some epoxy cement over it for mechanical support and protection. You should consider doing that, too. You were very fortunate that the chip case was plastic and not ceramic like the kind used in defense electronics.

[@jerryquigg3497]

Excellent imaginative technique.

[@Big74Mike2012]

@ 3:26 He doesn't want "da-breeze" to fly around! 😆😆😆

[@aceace5457]

you and big boss are awesome i watch you everyday and learn new stuff , i am disabled and work on a folding bench with a vice attached to it , it helps me hold conponents in place , see i had a brain heammorrage at 25 etc so makes movement very hard indeed , i wish i could afford that flux etc but being disabled really sucks the meat off of you. good posting videos aas well. regards .

[@arnierosen7743]

Pure genius! I have never seen a chio ground or would never have thought of it.

[@TheMaroc75]

I admire your work in my eyes you are a virtuoso. I'm in my mid-40s and would take an apprenticeship with you anytime. Keep it up and continue to enlighten us with your work´

[@abogacorpattorney]

Great job. I can see now why you're so proud of your work

[@user-si6pc3it4t]

This video Saved my life, Absolute Legend!

[@temejumbo9794]

Good repair as always.👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿👍🏿

[@diesalweasel]

I did think before i see you perform the operation .i was thinking about grinding it .

[@dennissmithjr.5370]

Great job, did it start his car though. The original issue was the doors worked but would not start car.

[@joetuktyyuktuk8635]

A true electronic surgeon.

[@biomed2341]

I learned something new today with this video...keep on making other techniques on repairing SMD components...Thanks

[@Star_Kay]

So good the first thing which crossed my mind when I saw the broken pin. Would be possible to grind bit of chip off with grinding pen for the fix? Very happy to see at end of video it worked. This question bugged me for quite a while.

[@Jacobt844]

Wouldn't have thought you could do that, what a great watch

[@floridaapplemacprosinc.2224]

that's super educational knowing you can get into an IC like that.

[@shadowarez1337]

I'm surprised this doesn't need a coating with UV treatment? As always amazing work with these device's.

[@ubergeeknz]

it's tinned, that's enough to prevent corrosion for the foreseeable future, and there's no need to insulate it from anything electrically. Do you see any UV coating on the other pins?

[@shadowarez1337]

@@ubergeeknz I was just seeing part of chip exposed and my ocd nature kicked in and thought oh dang shouldn that be covered.

[@digitechicnal]

Amazing work!! Thanks for these videos, Ive learned so much on smd work from these and have done several repairs. Cheers!!!

[@AzimuthAviation]

Ah... reminds me of the good old days at the PACE station repairing circuit cards for a third generation mainframe. Well done!

[@mohcinemohvine3780]

Iam a car programmer this chip can be just writing you cant read dump from you have to read eis dump generate keys and write new dump of key generate to this chip nec using ak500 or cgdi or vvdi mb key programmer regards all the best

[@deadprivacy]

the recoding is done in the car using the ignition module , ecu etc, you need a programming level diagnostic machine and also a numeric code that can be obtained from the dealer network. unsure on merc keys but it varies as to whethe you need a "virgin" - as in , program once and never recode fob, i dont think that you do , in any case aftermarket nes are usually available...

[@AlanDike]

nice work with that grinder.. 3 or 4 times I was like.. NOOO he went too far only to see I was wrong. Nice light touch.

[@commodoresixfour7478]

That's a professional repair. Thanks for the video.

[@kunjupulla]

The probabilities of being able to read the programming of the microcontroller are very slim. I mean, security-wise that makes sense. If I have that device, then all I have to do is to get a job as a valet. There's a high chance that if u try to read from it, it'll erase itself.

[@marcus_w0]

Well, that certainly looks like a totally unattended fault of the keyfob. It definitely doesn't look like someone has messed up with a way to big soldering iron and no clue what they do, at all.

[@tecnogof]

Mind blown... Nah! Can't beat experience an a bit of thinking outside the box. Great job Alex!

[@calebplant4194]

respect from Turkey

[@shotgun2197]

I love these key fob repair videos. Can't wait to see more

[@rdmneto]

Tnx for the tip. I tryed and it works perfectly.

[@Technoid_Mutant]

Yes. Fixable. Chip away around the broken off pin to expose a bit of unbrokenoff pin. Brush that bit, Flux it, Tin it, and solder to it a lenght of leg. I borrow my legs from the extra bits from standard value resistors and get to use the resistors as well!

[@shaun2938]

you make it look so easy

[@slystanislav]

Ремонт на компонентном уровне, сейчас такое почти ни кто не умеет

[@DrDirtNips]

Wow..... that was amazing repair.

[@Loyaltrends]

Such an amazing repair , you are truly a ‘chip surgeon’ ✌🏻

[@bigstone5124]

This case "the pin is gone". Amazing skills thank you

[@CarlAlbermarle]

This one you did the job like a dentist 😀

[@PaulGrayUK]

Shocking to think a single small wire from a lump of sand can cost £500 to replace - sadly a cost all born out of human greed as if people didn't steal cars, break into houses etc - life would be so much cheaper and better. Brilliant work SIr and glad to see even after all these years, the reward of the smallest success still brings a smile to your face and rightly so. Keep on being you.

[@wthornton7346]

IMO Greed and poverty are the biggest cause of crime. Stealing cars is usually a result of the poverty end of the equation. I don't see many car theives living in mansions but I see lots of financial criminals living in them. It's never black and white but that is my opinion.

[@CrashnServers]

I'm always amazed at the types of damage that happens. That pin ripped out of the chip inside the fob housing.

[@xsauce3858]

how is that possible ?

[@ubergeeknz]

@@xsauce3858 that board suffered a physical mishap of some kind. Perhaps the customer was trying to replace the battery and slipped with a screwdriver or something.

[@darkwood777]

@@xsauce3858 I was thinking the fob was stepped on and the broken case damaged the board, but I can see how a screwdriver could do this.

[@CrashnServers]

@@xsauce3858 I was gonna say 👽 but 99% user inflicted is more likely 🤣

[@BlondieSL]

What I found most interesting is why that capacitor was missing, the way it looked on the trace and why the IC chip had the edge/corner literally broken like that. SOMETHING happened there and it would be very interesting to know what happened. For example, did the fob get dropped and all that damage somehow popped the chip? It's interesting.

[@ananiasgaudencio1585]

It happens a lot when you pry it open them to replace the batteries.

[@BlondieSL]

@@ananiasgaudencio1585 Ahhh. I didn't realize that, but i can see that being a problem. I usually have to use a flat blade to change mine. Going forward, I'll be more cautious. Thanks for the tip.

[@chosipian]

very impressive repair.....

[@SURGE101]

Great video and great repair,nice touch with the grinding pen, looks like a great tool to have👍

[@kevincozens6837]

Nice repair. You made it look easy. The missing component looked like a capacitor. You could have measured its value and replaced it with a new part instead of needing to take one off a donor board. It would allow you to replace the missing part on another board in the future.

[@SONNYemc]

big fan of fob keys repairs

[@SyncMan172]

Awesome repair 👍

[@lanzlocz]

We are impressed.

[@tetraquark2402]

Nicely done

[@antoniskonstantakis5474]

I always look forward to a new video from you and the funny thing is,,, I know nothing about electronics🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@joeteejoetee]

Actually you can leave the chip in place on the PCB, and grind away the plastic until it exposes the lead-wire stub. Solder a small 4-6mm long solid copper wire to the PCB trace, and then bend&trim the other end of the wire onto the chips' stub, and solder that. And Voila: All pins are now reconnected. (I only recommend leaded solder for making this easy repair)

[@dbg2644]

I wonder how this pin suddenly became “unsoldered”

[@buntaranph]

i think it's corrosion. the car from 2004.

[@CompromisedCEO]

Was broken off, the chip looks like it was impacted

[@xxxxbigdavexxxx]

I would suggest screwdriver popped into the unit to pry it open, and slipped knocking cap off and destroying the corner of the IC

[@ananiasgaudencio1585]

@@xxxxbigdavexxxx correctamundo!! I sell replacement covers form some car keys and those Mercedes need some "help" from a needle nose plyers, not a screwdriver.

[@davidcameron648]

Mechanical damage from opening it. A tool scraped across the PCB ripping off that capacitor and damaging the legs on the chip.

[@ovalwingnut]

We did good. Cheers!

[@maku143]

This was an Awesome job 👌🏻 Excellent piece of work 👍🏻

[@nickolaswilcox425]

this reminds me of repairing dallas clock chips, ive got a few systems with them and at least one wont boot with a null clock set which is kinda problematic on those things

[@LFTRnow]

There are two additional ways to do this, you can scratch through using an xacto knive blade (which requires patience, but gives a very nice narrow slot to work with) or you can use a laser strong enough to ablate the plastic (the copper leadframe underneath is unharmed). Also, some people may have a CNC-style router (usually based on an X-Y laser table or 3-D printer table), which is just the automated version of what he did by hand.

[@giorgostexnikos6976]

with the aytel maxim im 608 programmer you can program these keys

[@nunamvseravno]

I've done this in the past and it's doable but be aware that the chip pin only goes about 1 mm deep (depending on the type of chip and topology) so don't grind too much off. Besides that, you can program a new NEC chip even if your merc doesn't have any keys at all ;-)

[@ubergeeknz]

I expect that's why he tried on a donor chip first, to guage the correct depth

[@fpk1954]

Super Job gemacht ! 😎💓👍 🇩🇪

[@lucymc0191]

what a fix alex ....definately top 5 fixes of all time .... joe from uk

[@BudLarsenjr]

You are amazing! Have you seen the "Curiousmarc" channel? He and his guys had reverse engineered and restored an Apollo coms and telemetry unit that was on the spacecraft end. You and Marc make my KZbin experience AWESOME!

[@franfgm]

Excelent!!! "Chapeau!!" From Argentina

[@georgibayramski8178]

Hello Alex. There is a way to program this keys. But probably you don't do a car 🚗 repair ☺️ in your experience. There is exclusive software what can allow you to do this. Number on the chip is added to program. Look at this if you have time. You are my favourite repair man. I can send you link or picture if you like to reprogram the key's. THANKS FOR YOUR VIDEOS.

[@bky1967]

Good work. Thanks

[@nickloughrey9841]

mini diamond file does a similar job ......... 40 years ago when those tools not avaliable

[@johneygd]

Absolutely fantastic,all that matters is a working chip👍

[@lackyali1110]

Good work...Fine hands

[@robertglas5854]

Amazing skills!

[@AmigaofRochester]

I have had to repair many chips this way. Mainly on old macs where corrosion eats the leg off. It looks ugly but is very necessary.

[@ClumsyCars]

Ive had luck getting a solder ball to stick the broken legs little bit of exposed metal, although its probably not a long term solution.

[@changedpepe7745]

There are no problems, only challenges 💪🏽