Tech gurus: Dead thumb drive?

[KChurch86]

Alright, I'm calling on all you tech savy guys and gals. I need some major help. I've got a flash drive that I use at work, it's got tens of thousands of CAD files, drawings, some CNC programs, etc. saved on it and the other day it decided to stop working. The drive can't be read on any computer I've tried it on, my machine won't read it, the lathe won't read it, nothing.

When you first plug the flash drive into the USB slot, the light turns on for a half a second or less, then turns off and that's it.

I removed the outer case from the chip to inspect the solder joints, because I know the drive is old and has seen better days. There are 2 little ears that connect the rectangular part of the drive to the chip, the solder joints there look ok - could be better, but not separated. The 4 solder joints that connect the pins inside the rectangular plug to the chip all look a little thin and there's a clear crack across one of them, but it doesn't look like it goes all the way through.

Given the condition of the solder joints, I'm not completely ruling out physical damage, but I fear the drive may be kaputz.

Anybody know any tips, tricks, secrets, repairs, magic tricks, or have any spare voodoo you care to share? I'm all ears.

I NEED these files. They were all backed up to another thumb drive until some asshat swiped it so this is my last hope.

 

[Muadeeb]

Remove as much plastic as you can, then bake the board at 250 for about 8 minutes. I've temporarily fixed some printers this way.

Sent via wild ferrets on crack

 

[KChurch86]

That's as de-plastic'd as it can get. I can peel that sticker off the chip too if need be.

 

[TKDx00]

Short of resoldering, I'd contact the maker, explain what you see and ask them for posible solutions.

 

[KChurch86]

Short of resoldering, I'd contact the maker, explain what you see and ask them for posible solutions.

It's a no-name thumb drive that we got as a promotional advertising handout

I immediately thought re-soldering, but we don't have any micro-soldering tools.

 

[J Everett]

Recheck the solders where the USB pins connect to the board. That's the most common failure point because of pushing it in and pulling it out of the USB ports, and the easiest to fix.

 

[KChurch86]

Recheck the solders where the USB pins connect to the board. That's the most common failure point because of pushing it in and pulling it out of the USB ports, and the easiest to fix.

I looked at them under 6x magnification, and there's definitely one cracked one but it doesn't appear to go all the way through. I'll check them out again tomorrow at work.

I was wondering if maybe the pins are damaged inside the rectangular part of the connector? Not sure how likely that is but I can see how the solder joints on the pins are a weak point. This thing gets plugged in and unplugged easily 2-dozen times daily.

 

[J Everett]

I would try to resolder that one cracked solder connection. I had an amplifier board that kept cutting out due to the overheat protection circuit. Turned out that some solders had cracked but you could barely see, even under 10x magnification...

It's already not working; what would it hurt to try to fix that one solder?

 

[KChurch86]

Gotcha, I'll give it a go when I can lay hands on a size-appropriate soldering iron.

 

[J Everett]

15 watts should do it. 25 watts will probably burn it.

If you get it to work, back up the data immediately, and put it on a new flash drive. And keep the back up on a computer or portable hard drive this time.

 

[KChurch86]

Definitely. If I'm able to get it working again, I'll be backing this thing up as many places as possible.

Remove as much plastic as you can, then bake the board at 250 for about 8 minutes. I've temporarily fixed some printers this way.

Sent via wild ferrets on crack

I meant to ask: What's the voodoo behind this? I know 250 is a low temp. but it won't hurt the electronics at all?

 

[Muadeeb]

The theory behind the baking is it'll melt the solder enough to get it to start to flow, but not so much that it will overrun the solder pads. As for the 250, it's the lowest setting that most ovens will go to and at that temp, the heat will barely get through the ceramic in 8 minutes. 30 minutes would damage the chips, but 8 will be safe. Also, with the circuit unpowered, it is more heat tolerant than if it was powered on.

 

[KChurch86]

The theory behind the baking is it'll melt the solder enough to get it to start to flow, but not so much that it will overrun the solder pads. As for the 250, it's the lowest setting that most ovens will go to and at that temp, the heat will barely get through the ceramic in 8 minutes. 30 minutes would damage the chips, but 8 will be safe. Also, with the circuit unpowered, it is more heat tolerant than if it was powered on.

Cool, that's exactly what I was guessing the trick was all about.


Side comment: Assuming the failure wasn't caused by a physical defect or break in the stick, how likely is it that an outside party could pull my data from it? I know if the memory component is done, then so is my data. What about the processor that controls the whole thing? If the processor is gone, I should be able to go to one of the good local shops and see if they can remove the memory chip, implant it on a new donor, and get my files, right?

Anybody have experience with that? How much moolah did it run you, if you don't mind my asking?

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[faster]

Resurrecting this one from the dead.... Did you ever get this fixed? Still need help? We usually charge about $350/hr to recover this kind of stuff, but I got a guy that owes me a favor or two. PM me, may be able to hook a fellow x'er up.

 

[KChurch86]

Resurrecting this one from the dead.... Did you ever get this fixed? Still need help? We usually charge about $350/hr to recover this kind of stuff, but I got a guy that owes me a favor or two. PM me, may be able to hook a fellow x'er up.

Negative, the drive is still dead but I've been hanging on to it, waiting for a message like this to come along, haha.

PM sent.