Trying to FIX a LENOVO CHROMEBOOK S345 with some Previous Funny Business

[@coctailrob]

I like the way Vince doesn’t just stop at the keyboard is faulty but goes into full autopsy mode.

[@dont-want-no-wrench]

he has a lot of curiosity, which is a great thing

[@whollymindless]

This was an adventure, not a failure. Your skills at telling the story have gotten SO GOOD - knowing when to time lapse and the voiceovers to keep the pace and interest. Bravo.

[@DarkStarUk]

You always amaze me with your skills you've come so far in the past few year's. Nothing is ever a fail and it's been an absolute pleasure watching your videos from tea breaks to your rolls Royce and even when you nearly get blown up by the fans. Thank you for an entertaining us all through 2022. All the best to you and your family see you in 2023

[@VikasGupta-bx5qv]

It's really shameful how some manufactures assemble their products in such a way that they are almost impossible to repair. This was a very enjoyable video regardless.

[@gregfisher216]

I admire your resourcefulness! the way you track down parts and problems .You never seem to get frustrated or angry ! we could all learn from that !

[@pherman8852]

I think my two favorite fix videos that you do are the car, and computers. You always seem to get into and out of trouble on those… I love it buddy

[@-never-gonna-give-you-up-]

7:30 that transition is so satisfying, almost magic how it turns from a burned down board to a brand new board lol thats crazy

[@GadgetUK164]

There's no such thing as a failure video - we've all learned from this! =D

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Chris, it will be properly resurrected one day...Trigger's Broom style but it will work once again 😂👌

[@audibell]

Thanks

[@Mymatevince]

Hey!!! Thank you so much 🎅🎄🙏

[@hinny2005]

Keyboards are about a tenner on eBay, you can melt the plastic welds back enough. I did keyboard replacement on a almost identically laptop the other week.

[@joseph_donovan]

I always suffer a flicker of trepidation whenever you take the cover off a laptop because my fecund imagination is expecting a pink-footed tarantula to jump out at you! A neurosurgeon would have been proud of your fixing those microscopic tracks! Phew! Oh, and your tenacity is awesome! I salute you!

[@Shadowmanbluesbluesman]

Really enjoyed this, never a failure, the information gained is worth the time and effort and the video was very entertaining

[@Jorkofvich]

Vince you're repair looks great, I cannot emphasize to other people how hard it is working on that small of a scale, you truly are working on the next level. I would bet it would have worked for sure if it was the corrosion that was the issue, love the videos Vince!

[@ianforfun1]

What a cliffhanger to the very end! That video was a thriller and the forensic autopsy gave an insight into just how delicate and vulnerable technology is. When I bought a new 15.6" 1T HD with 8GB ram laptop 5 years ago, just a few weeks later spilt my pot noodle over the keyboard and after an urgent and Valliant rescue attempt sadly failed and a third of the keyboard keys did not work. My computer shop said it was too corroded to replace it with a replacement. It's still in use today with an external Monitor, Keyboard Mouse and it works fine. The lesson learned is never ever take anything liquid near computers and your Chromebook is usable.

[@brendanhull8858]

What a great video. Loved it all, the micro surgery, showes what can be done. And I loved seeing the keyboard and how some fluid can get in. I wish people on eBay would be more honest. If I found something with a genuine fault I would send it to you so will keep my eyes out. Merry Xmas to you and family and thanks for the enjoyment

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks Brendan, maybe the laptop came in as part of job lot and it was just sold on. Still very strange though the back story of why a chip was ripped off???? Cheers 👌👍

[@Ragnar8504]

@@Mymatevince Combined with the broken back cover it looks like some severely ham-fisted person tried to open the laptop with a prybar or similar tool

[@jrsc01.]

Hi Vince would you do a Q&A session? Just answering wisdoms you get from the comments, not about a specific video repair, but just as general? Also would be great if you did a live chat too! Been watching since you were Mr Telephone Man!

[@patricktrakzel9657]

That was a lot of work Vince. We all learned from this, so in the end it is not a failure. Thanks for the lesson.

[@LetsPlayKeldeo]

I was so confused why a piece of poop was laying on top of the chrome book

[@TattooDallas]

Isn't that a blunt? I don't think it's shit bro

[@HNedel]

Definitely a turd 😅

[@RollingRoadEFI]

@@TattooDallas That's a turd there, scooter.

[@TattooDallas]

​@@RollingRoadEFI who you calling scooter gay bait

[@TheTony111111]

also, you have done really well fixing those traces. As NorthridgeFix says the more you do something the better you get.

[@ImranMughal-s5f]

I thought the more I do something, the worse I get at it. I'm so confused.

[@malcseaman9807]

Tip: use a scalpel or exacto knife to pick up those copper tracks and help lay them down more easily. Love the channel!

[@OctavMandru]

It takes a brave man to go so far into a basket case and still come out successful. Bravo mate

[@colinfielder6695]

You know what I learned? That taking apart a keyboard was really cool, I was unaware of how much goes into it! I also learned that you, "Vince" should do any TV show on offer! You you would be great! Live and Learn Mate!

[@matthewcb1970]

That was tough viewing, Vince. Whoever sold it knew it was damaged beyond reasonable repair. Not very honest of them.

[@williamharris8367]

But if the device was (accurately) described as unrepairable then nobody would have bought it. I always assume that used electronics are just e-waste, and I pay accordingly.

[@BrianOfAteionas]

@@williamharris8367 I don't know, there's something especially scummy about selling it knowing that has a previous a repair fail AND has missing parts AND for the price they asked.

[@ligametis]

It isn't even damaged. It was destroyed by prying out that chip cold.

[@solarbirdyz]

Yeah. This was jimmied and they knew it, and that's dishonest as hell.

[@MyRegardsToTheDodo]

@@solarbirdyz You don't know if the seller is the same person who damaged it. Maybe the seller got it, tested it, realized it didn't work and sold it off. We don't see the full ebay listing. The seller even mentioned that it had been opened up before. If I buy something for spares or repair, I assume that it is potentially broken beyond repair and if it's been opened before I also assume it has been tampered with by somebody who potentially shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a screwdriver.

[@crashandburn450]

It's nice to see you back to electronics I miss them

[@Tokaisho1]

Most of his previous videos from this week are electronics

[@coctailrob]

That missing chip is an eMMC the storage chip. I recognise the BGA pattern.

[@alanmuir9768]

That answers my question on weather it has upgradeable storage, No not really for most folks.

[@radio-ged4626]

In my last job we used to occasionally get these style of keyboards. The keyboard assy without the palmrest was available and to replace it we had to plastic weld them in. Hated doing it and eventually only offered to replace whole assy with palmrest as it was too time consuming. Gutted for you after replacing those tracks only to then notice the ripped BGA pads for the missing EC chip. Great effort though. Your patience is epic.

[@di_luka]

There is no such a thing like loosing time, we are loosing time no matter what we do... if you do what you enjoy and love the time is not lost. Greetings and thanks for the great content, let's keep enjoying.

[@TechGorilla1987]

@18:43 - sounds like Life Lion helicopter coming over the house. I love the sound of whirlybirds!

[@Mymatevince]

Hahaha, I think that might be the washing machine vibrating!!!! 😂👍👍👍

[@TechGorilla1987]

@@Mymatevince Nice! I have super sensitive dog hearing unless it's voices. Sometimes with my headphones, I hear things like people walking up stairs and subtle background noises that even careful editing couldn't hear. It's a curse not a blessing. Auditory hypersensitivity is not a great trait to have and is tough to explain to others.

[@Mymatevince]

@@TechGorilla1987 Oh no!!! My videos must be a nightmare as there is constant noise and sometimes conversations in the background. You show true commitment to watch so many of them...cheers Gorilla👌👍

[@Mymatevince]

@@TechGorilla1987 Just reread about the voices...probably for the best as they could be chatting about anything in the background 🤣

[@TechGorilla1987]

@@Mymatevince Mate, it's nothing about that at all. Your sound is always so good that it never crosses my mind. I'm a super-regular watcher and have been for a LONG time. You're why I bought my wife and I a Switch. Breath Of The Wild was the best!

[@rusty4053]

Very enjoyable to watch even as a failure. That footage at 21min mark...very nice!

[@AnonymousRepair]

EMMC memory chip ( the SSD or in other words hard disk drive) That board should work without the emmc chip, Well now you have spares for it, The chip side connections are more important than the bottom pins, You could have a short on the main power rail, Thank you for the mention, doubled check your solder joints on the chip Still an awesome video 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks AR 👍👍👍

[@ErrorMessageNotFound]

It's good practice working with those tiny track strips replacement tape. That will no doubt come in handy in a future project.

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

Nah. I don't consider this a failure. It was very interesting and learnful.

[@sooze1969]

Funnily at the end of the video - the You Tube screen came up with 'Best Fails 2022' at 40mins. If only I had the same knowledge I'd love to be able to do all of that! Fab video...

[@Dasa188]

Good job finding the faults. You always know how to make videos interesting. Anybody else would've thrown it away after finding the bga chip missing from the board.

[@MyklBlue69]

I enjoyed the video Vince. And I admire your patience and skill with those traces! Keep up the good work!

[@PixelMaker04]

a 3d pen with the abs filament works wonders for the plastic rivets that hold these chromebook together as well as vintage calculators. I've used it for one I found on the side of the road. A bit of water damage on the screen, but it's still usable for what it is.

[@deborahmoore6214]

I love the bit at the end with a keyboard in 1 million pieces all over the desk and he says I can’t see anything obviously wrong with it. That’s classic

[@johnblackledge4009]

Such patience, and so even a non-techy person like me learned so much. I now look at my own Chromebook with awe, now knowing the internal complexity.

[@grahamgoodey1989]

Always enjoy your videos Vince your persistent is unrivaled at times keep up the great work😁

[@dodgydruid]

I'm glad you done this m8, one of my neighbours gave me 40 broken laptops, 20 odd tablets and another box of old phones and some of the laptops like the Vaio are in pristine condition and I am summing up the courage to start tackling this huge pile of machines. I watch NorthridgeFix daily as well as he hits on laptops a lot too and I reckon most of them are mosfet or cap failures that I have. Wishing you and yours a happy Xmas :D

[@countzero1136]

Yeah I've repaired a bunch of laptops and most no-go faults are bad caps/mosfets etc - I have had the occasional power management chip fail on certain brands (Looking at you HP)

[@teardownschool65]

Great video, Vince. I think for wax to be under the battery maybe someone melted a candle or something on top of the keyboard. Have a great christmas Vince 🎄

[@marcellipovsky8222]

Hi Vince, you know - you loose some, you win some. Now you have a non-fixed Chromebook for parts, but you've also practiced some micro soldering of pads and THAT will be worth a lot in the future. Merry Christmas! 🎅🎄

[@brendonelton]

You roll the dice, sometimes you win, sometimes you loose, I think you will eventually find a replacement for the right price one day, keep doing what you are doing, excellent stuff.

[@abdriver5563]

Your videos are always entertaining . Thanks

[@jack26cowlishaw]

new video every day it really is xmas. thankyou vince.

[@paulw9507]

Love your video's super content brilliant video really really enjoy thanks for brightening up my days. Merry Christmas to you and your family happy New year to you all.

[@wisher21uk]

Absolutely amazing Vince nothing seems to be out of your comfort zone, excellent repair of the pcb, I have used copper wire and flattened it and then cut to size it works great, have a great Christmas to you and your family. Regards Gary

[@Random_4400]

Nice, thease laptop/computer repair videos have to be my favorite! Even though it wasn't fully a success at least you saved one laptop from going to the landfill!

[@Davidsmithisyourdad]

Vince putting in the work before the holidays

[@rangercv4263]

Vince, excellent job with those replacement pads. I knew you could do it. Seems to me you’ve made quite a bit of progress with SMD work. Cudos mate and merry Christmas.

[@francescomastroianni6214]

9:15 The heating station sounds like a Og Phat Ps3 al full blast 😂😂😂💀💀💀

[@J.erem.y]

36:18 keyboard all over the desk, we all feel like that sometimes don't we lol.

[@hansregli8678]

Interesting to see. But it was NOT a waste of time for you either. From every failure you learn a lot of things. 1) First make a thorough visual inspection for missing or damaged parts. 2) You (and we watchers) learned how all that stuff looks like inside, especially such keyboards, and whether a repair is possible. In more higher class notebooks the keyboard is easily replacable and quite cheap to buy. Thanks for doing the filming.

[@vasileiospapadimitriou3005]

Thank you for this awesome video, love the persistence and your thought process! It's a shame to see Lenovo not having a repair friendly machine but still thank you for the content

[@Dg-zj6jo]

good old e bay was a brilliant video sir happy christmas vince

[@Mymatevince]

Haha, Happy Christmas to you too DG 🎄🎅🙏

[@markteeee]

The value is the knowledge, the learning.

[@ionblade7888]

5:46 felt like a grown-up version of Blue's Clues. "A clue, a clue!"

[@P5ychoFox]

I saw where the chip was missing but like you I thought it was empty from the factory. Some great solder work you did though.

[@craftymulligar]

You give more effort than I would.

[@rfr653]

Good job mate 👍

[@polypetalous]

You got some steady hands.. could never

[@pldaniels]

That was bloomen painful to watch. Full props for being a persistant as you were. Better luck with the next one. I applaud you for doing the things you do without the aid of an optical microscope, that takes some solid talent.

[@Mymatevince]

Hey Paul, thanks for watching. I hope you're keeping well. Merry Christmas by the way, hope you had a good one. I'm assuming Christmas day has just ended for you🎄🥳

[@pldaniels]

@@Mymatevince yes, currently 01H30 here at the time of writing. Spent the day not fixing electronics but instead out in the yard pulling up old fencing posts ( 2400mm x 100mm treated logs ) and generally trying to clean the property up - seems perpetually a mess. Always appreciate how dynamic the things you do are - have a good Christmas yourself too.

[@Mymatevince]

@@pldaniels Thanks Paul. Well a change is as good as a rest. Look forward to chatting via email in the New Year👌👍

[@xXBeefyDjXx]

So close! FYI, in cases where the layers separate but they do work under pressure, you can simply use a dab of super glue to link them back together, I've repaired Laptop Keyboards this way in the past and you'll often find they have a tiny bit of adhesive holding the layers together spotted throughout, another reason to be careful if you do go down the rabbit hole of taking them apart! Great work on the micro soldering, shame about the severe damage. Imo it was probably water damage someone spilt something like a cleaner on it, maybe a polish of some kind if it was waxy? We'll never know! :P

[@mikec2111]

On pads, I have had some success (but not always) in using of all things, slug tape (copper with adhesive backing) by sticking down a block of tape onto the board, taking it along the track well clear of the chip, (even well over the remaining trace) then soldering on link wires at the join(as the back of the slug tape is insulated by the glue) then finally using a scalpel or needle to separate into strips. If the back of the chip is not metal used the strips can even run under the chip or varnished (solder mask). Often because of the size, even a scalpel can be too wide but strips can be separated using a fine needle or razor blade as it only needs the finest of gaps. The heat of the iron may lift the strip slightly but only in the middle and a good length of strip can keep it stuck down (though in truth it can still take several attempts). I tried cutting the strips before applying but reached screaming point and failed. One big block and carve it on the board worked better. 😂😂

[@darrenbrackenbury6370]

Hi mate dgeat video. What are the small copper repair strips call ?.

[@TechGorilla1987]

Or do a search for circuit board trace repair.

[@POIROT2070]

Nice video like always and yes Northbridge fix use that pads quite frequently and he always talking about fifth dimension when he something lose like that pads you mentioned so maybe he was a string theorist before he become one of the best fixers on YT who's gone know everything is possible 😂 😂 😂

[@jacquemisty507]

Still an awesome video mate 10 out of 10 would watch it again and merry christmas to you and your family

[@wakcedout]

Well you did get practice with those super tiny replacement trace pad things. So that's a plus, remember....always look on the bright side.

[@RobTaylor-HiTech]

Cool repair, however I don't think it was lithium grease. I had a similar issue with an Apple MacBook. The lithium battery pack (looked similar) had bloated somewhat and leaked the lithium out into the motherboard. The result looked very similar. And since the battery was also a bit messy I wonder if that's what happened. Always love your stuff. You're my favorite repair KZbinr.

[@pootnannies]

that thumbnail is gold!

[@TechGorilla1987]

@32:58 - I was hoping that you would dip it in IPA frankly. 🤣

[@simonnattrass2171]

Well done mate big respect 👌♥️👍

[@Jdbye]

For fixing the broken traces to the chip, wouldn't it be much easier to solder wires to the 3 corresponding pins on the chip while the chip is off the board and then just solder down the chip? Then you wouldn't have to deal with the microscopic adhesive copper pads.

[@BuyitFixit]

Great effort Vince! 👍👍 And nice to see you making good use of the grinding pen! I did notice when you said about the board, and was wondering if it was just a place for an optional chip that wasn't populated, but it seems not. That keyboard looked a nightmare! Looks like you were well stung with that one :( Had a thought for next year, I know you tried the KZbin fixers thing a while back, but next year we could do a "Secret Santa" type thing where a few of us fixers could each send each other a broken item to repair perhaps? Let me know your thoughts..

[@daz41262010]

way to go with ripping the hell out of that keyboard Vince :) Merry Christmas to you and your family :)

[@pootnannies]

it's good to stagger your scraping so they aren't so close together. you can also solder the jumper pad directly to naked traces like test pads or a capacitor. it makes it much easier and less cramped to do micro soldering. great attempt though!

[@StayMadNobodycares]

I thought that cigar was a human dropping.

[@HavingFunRepairs]

Given the display is good and that's the bulk of the product cost I would still call it a win. At some point eBay will probably be flooded with Chromebooks that have broken displays. Appreciate the teardown.

[@Mymatevince]

Cheers Shawn, yeah once the keyboards come down to £30 I will get it so this can fully work again. Just have to be a little bit patient with this 👌👍

[@morganpg]

Nice video! Even though you had to replace the board and ended up destroying it taking the keyboard apart, you learnt from it now and future chromebook repairs will be easier

[@marcoattard7095]

Hi Vince, still a good video because you provid that most common laptop keyboard problem 😭 Good job 👏😀👍

[@marcoattard7095]

Merry Christmas ⛄

[@peterroy3052]

Incredible achievement to get it working this far. Well done 🎉

[@TonyVeart]

Interesting and I learnt something. To me thats more important than if you actually got it fully working

[@Leonvolt28]

You could connect it to a tv or monitor and use it as a desktop or mediaplayer for your tv

[@TechGorilla1987]

My daughter did this with her old Chromebook. Wireless keyboard and track pad.

[@orcue70]

Unlucky Vince, but still Got it powered up, and because of the use of “ease of access option” it can be used, also you can use a wireless keyboard n mouse via the the usc obviously. Keep up the good work mate. You inspired me to fix my SNES that was given to me for a present a year ago It didn’t work when I opened it. After watching your vids I tried again messed around with it and got it working result = Childhood nostalgia.

[@senketsu8632]

Love your video's so much Vince.

[@kBitre]

You have a monumental amount of du diligence to fix a keyboard that wasn't meant to even be fixed

[@Old_Man_Pete]

Claim your money back from ebay if its still in the time frame. Product was not sold as seen. Item described as just stopped working, no mention of previous repair attempt.

[@kraiker1]

Hello, vince and all, I have a old laptop that won't sell and at this point I would just like to see it repaired. How can I go about sending something to Vince?

[@awesomeguysuncle]

I thought that was a blunt in the thumbnail 😂

[@I_Evo]

I thought it was a turd.🤣

[@benmillington6270]

🤣 Love the thumbnail pic.

[@ghostcat8244]

The thumbnail just mind me think is that a backwood blunt or a cigar 😅😅 til I see the eyes was like ohhhh

[@vwgolffancarreviews7111]

Have a nice Christmas and a happy new year Vince and how's the car going

[@guilhermephsor]

looks like the top-right corner pin trace has some corrosion underneath the solder mask as well

[@clivebarrell6448]

Full marks for trying Vince. But in the end, you were battling a piece of 'engineered for failure' landfill crap.

[@mardina1a]

Dead mainboard,dead battery,dead keyboard so you have bought a working screen anyway worth it.good to see a real repair attempt

[@JUNK4UCREW]

Hi Vince, the sticker with the barcode looks exactly like ones which come from TES AMM or (stock must go) my guess is somepoint in its lift its been refurbished or repaired previously.

[@bramvandenbroeck5060]

When he removed that battery and i saw those stains, it reminded me of a video made by Louis Rossmann called "don't blow a load on your macbook" and than seeing him touching and sniffing it made my skin crawl :p

[@raymondrogers5922]

It was a good try Vince have a good Christmas hope to see more vids in 2023

[@alanmuir9768]

I enjoyed watching this autopsy of the S345, On my s345, I only came to see if it had replaceable storage.

[@VeggeMight]

Plastic weld's are repairable if the casing has enough meat you can run a few tiny screws from backside into the casing (for stuff like this you wouldn't need many.