Mr. Fixer

CAMSUR NITRO 5 Revived!

Unit Name: Acer Nitro 5

Problem: No Power

Description: Unit was shipped via LBC from Camarines Sur. According to the owner, unit was sent to a shop in Pasig for an LCD replacement. Then was returned a no power.

This is becoming a common theme. Some irresponsible individuals masquerading a a legitimate shop, leaving the customers high and dry after frying the customer’s PCH. They replace the LCD with the battery connected, which in turn fries the PCH chip of the motherboard. Not only they leave the motherboard shorted, but the replacement LCD will also be fried, which I will not dare to install again.

Solution: Replaced PCH, cleaned the heatsink and fans, repasted.

Shipped the unit back to the happy owner.

Another Predator Revived

Unit Name: Predator Helios 300

Problem: No Power

Description: Brought in for no power. Was sent to another repair center.

Tests shows that 19V main power rail was shorted to ground.

Traced short to 2 mosfets directly powering the VCORE line of the processor, and a 0.1nF smd capacitor within the same line.

Also found burned PCB traces.

Solution: Replace 2 dual mosfets, 1 capacitor. Issue Resolved.

PM for your inquiries. I don’t usually respond to comments.

MR. FIXER IS LOCATED IN ANTIPOLO for those asking.

GPU Card Repair

Unit name: MSI GTX 1050Ti

Problem: No Display

Description: Customer sent whole desktop system via Lalamove. Was told that unit has not been operational for months now. It started with garbage display, and eventually died out.

Diagnostics indicate that all voltages are present. No problems with the whole circuit. Tested with a different board to see if card will function (even without display) , but unfortunately, the integrated gpu kicks in, instead of the card. Looks to be a dead gpu.

However, there might a small chance that this is a case of cold solder. Ran the unit under the bga machine to hopefully address the cold solder, instead of the ordinary reheating done thru a hot air machine. This should be better as position, airsp*ed, and heat is consistent.

Solution: Ran gpu chip under bga machine, gpu stress tests done. Unit now back in action.

DANGERS OF A BAD DIAGNOSIS

Unit Type(s): Acer swift 3, Macbook air 2017

Problem: Both no power.

Description: Acer swift 3 was diagnosed for motherboard to be replaced due to apparent defect on onboard ram. Upon my diagnostics, it looks to be a defect on the chip providing power to the onboard ram. BIOS was also problematic and needs to be flashed. And lastly, lcd was found to be dead. Resolving those 3 fixed the issue and revived the unit.

For the macbook air, diagnostics show a short on the vccio line, and a reflash of the efi.

Solution: Acer - fix ram power source, flash bios, & replace lcd. Macbook air - change shorted components, reflash efi.

REFERRAL FROM GILMORE TECH

Unit type: Acer Nitro 5

Problem: No power/PCH Failure

Description: Dropped off personally by a Gilmore Tech. Diagnosed as a dead PCH. Tests done confirms initial diagnosis. 3V, 1V, and 1.8V lines are all shorted with voltage injection on all three shows PCH heating up.

All other voltage lines look ok. So this looks to be a fairly straight PCH replacement.

Solution: Replace PCH, flash BIOS, and boom! Unit is back in action!

Customer deferred LCD replacement. It was agreed that no warranty will be given since customer opted out of replacing the LCD.

Another Predator Revived! (from CATANDUANES)

Unit Type: Acer Predator Helios 300

Problem: No Power

Description: Unit sent via LBC directly from Catanduanes. As per the owner, unit has already been dead for a year, as it was left in that state after multiple tries within the area (reheated), then to greenhills, without getting a fix.

During the power up test, found a short on the 3v line, as well as the 1V line, directly feeding pch, resulting to being extremely hot to the touch.

Solution: Replaced PCH, the LCD, cleaned the fans, added some pastes, ran a stress test and boom, unit is back in action!

Another Acer Nitro 5 Revived!

Bad PCH replaced.

Unit type: Acer Predator Helios

Issue: Powers up, but shuts off after 3 seconds

Description: Customer sent the unit via Lalamove. According to him, unit was already checked at greenhills and was deemed no fix. Checked the unit and saw signs of the PCH being shorted on 2 power rails. Test on LCD also saw that its dead.

Solution: Replace PCH, replace 144Hz LCD, repasted the cpu and gpu, Flashed BIOS, and voila! Unit is now back in business.

Getting ready for war!!! CPU/GPU/PCH Replacement working soon.

Pasensiya na sa mga naghihintay. Malapit na malapit na! ;)

Before calling directly, try sending a message first via messenger, or thru sms. I am the sole engineer and proprietor. No secretaries. This is a hobby that became a small business due to the demand.

I am usually engaged in other businesses aside from this, as well as with my priority as a dad of three.

If I am not answering your call, it does not mean I am not accomodating or rude. You just caught me on a bad time.

This is a business borne out of frustration with customers having to deal with shady techs that are not honest with their customers. Pag hindi kaya, mag iimbento ng sira. Pag maganda piyesa, papalitan. Walang malasakit in short.

This is also a business borne out of trust. Pag wala pong tiwala, ok lang po na hindi niyo ipadala yung unit niyo. Ok lang din pong ipull-out niyo pag natatagalan kayo sa gawa ko.

Hindi ko po namadaliin ang paggawa sa unit niyo especially pag mahirap yung case. Pero 110% effort lagi ibibigay natin para maayos unit niyo.

We just purchased a new equipment para mas lumaki yung chance ng repairability ng matatanggap naming unit. Mas pulidong trabaho, para sa mga customers.

Mr. Fixer is here to help you, not work for you. Importante po maintindihan natin yung kaibahan ng dalawa para walang sense of entitlement na pinagsisimulan ng di pagkakaunawaan.

Salamat po sa suporta.

BEWARE:

A technician from Cavite is using pictures of my repair and passing it off as his own, for his own gain.

Mr. Fixer is only one branch in Antipolo with no
other engineer except the proprietor and owner.
Expansion is still being studied, and is still in the pipeline.

Isang branch lang sa Antipolo, isang engineer lang, to make sure na laging quality ang gawa.

Maraming salamat po.

TWO YEARS & 4 TECHS LATER

STRAIGHT FROM DAVAO CITY

Unit name: Asus TUF FX505G

Problem: DEAD Unit due to dog p*e

Description: Customer came to Manila from Davao City for a vacation. They also brought their defective laptop to drop it off to yours truly.

Customer mentioned that 4 shops already saw the unit but unfortunately, its still not fixed. Unit has been dead since August of 2021.

Checked the unit and initial check looks to be something wrong with the SIO, but digging thoroughly, showed a missing signal that enables the unit to start.

Fixed the said signal, and voila, unit came back from the dead after 2 years!

Solution: Replaced components to fix missing startup signal.

Everyday is a brand new learning experience!

TOASTED NITRO!

Unit Name: Acer Nitro 5

Problem: Dead Unit, Burnt component,PCB.

Description: Customer sent this via lalamove courier. He sent picture of the board showing a bad burn that looks to be a mini explosion at a certain part of the board.

Upon further inspection, it looks to be a case of a failed component in the 1.8v section shorting the 19v directly to ground, that resulted in the component burning, and with it the traces of the PCB. The problem is, the ground plane of the pcb is under the said 19v trace, making the rebuilding harder than usual.

Also found was a burnt coil powering parts of the gpu.

Area were the burn happened was cleaned thoroughly, then solder mask was applied to the area to cover the exposed ground plane. The 19v line and traces feeding the 1.8v regulator was restored, then regulator ic was replaced, as well as the burnt coil.

Tests were made again to ensure that there aren’t any more short circuits on the power rails.

Powered the unit up, and voila! Unit back in business!

Solution: Clean/Rebuild traces. Replace burnt components.

PS: it never fails to make me happy to get a pleasant reaction from customers. It validates what I do and encourages me to be better, everyday.

PS4 is ❤️❤️❤️

Item Name: PS4 Slim

Problem: No Power/Dead Unit

Description: Pretty straightforward repair, we just need to know if issue is isolated to the power supply or problem went to the motherboard.

Basic tests and troubleshooting showed that power supply is missing the standby 5V, thereby proving a dead power supply unit.

Ordered and replaced the power supply unit to resolve the issue.

Solution: Replace power supply unit. Issue resolved = Happy kiddos!

ON THE RIGHT TRACK, BUT CAME UP SHORT…

Unit Name: MSI Gaming Laptop

Problem: No Power/Dead Unit

Description: Unit was brought in for no power. Customer stated that it already came from two other shops, first in Greenhills, then Manila.

Documentation was sent to the customer where shop stated their findings. It showed that they concluded that PCH was dead and needs to be replaced. This conclusion was triggered by their test on some of the reset signals from the EC not being present.

Upon inspection, it looks like they were on the right track in their troubleshooting as +3VALW is not present on the SIO rail, but present on other points. Unit was not turning on as only 2.2V was being fed to the SIO instead of 3.3V. A jumper was soldered from the LDO source to the SIO to make it work. This made the SIO work, but did not solve the problem.

I did several checks, focusing on the +3VALW, and found out that +RTCVCC is not present. This rail should have 3.3V as power is coming from the CMOS battery, and of course the +3VALW. Further test shows that +3VALW was not present on the +RTCVCC source, and the CMOS battery is also DEAD! Fixing both power sources, and properly programming the BIOS chip, eventually fixed the issue! Yup! issue is not in the PCH.

Solution: Fix +3VALW lines in SIO and +RTCVCC, BIOS reflashing.

NEVER SAY DIE! LOL. TIYAGA-TIYAGA LANG!

Replaced with Original 144Hz LCD for Acer Nitro 5/Predator Helios/Triton (exact model no). You know you are getting the same crisp and image quality! Have stocks available!

ANOTHER ALIEN RESCUE FROM QUEZON PROVINCE!!!

Unit Name: Alienware X15

Description: As seen in the conversation with the client, unit was water-damaged, battery failed, but continue to work for a bit. When the unit eventually failed, it was brought to the dealer only forcthem to recommend to replace the motherboard.

Based on all diagnostics, it looks to be that failure is not with the board, but with the expensive LCD. The difficult part about this type of unit is there’s no spare LCD with the right port just lying around the shop. I had to replace the LCD and continue the troubleshooting after.

Fortunately, I was able to order the spare from China, and what do you know, it looks like other than the battery, no other part has failed.

After communicating with the client, we agreed on the cost of replacing battery, aside from the LCD, and voila! Unit was picked up by one happy customer direct from Quezon!!!

This unit costs 130K plus. Don’t just let anyone “try” and fix it. Protect your investment.

FROM SAMAR TO ANTIPOLO!

Unit Name: Acer Nitro 5

Issue: No power when plugged in, can power when battery has charge.

Description: Customer came from Samar to hand over the unit personally, timed with his trip to Manila for a business.

He mentioned that that this unit was alreadyy handled by a tech from his area, but was unable to resolve the issue.

Also, he mentioned that he doesn’t have the parts available to resolve the problem.

Visual check shows a mosfet was taken out, but was not replaced, it wasn’t the problem, however. Checks pointed to another mosfet and a defective charging IC.

Solution: Replace charging IC, replace missing mosfet, replace defective mosfet.

4th TECH? SUCCESS!

Unit Name: ASUS TUF

Problem: DEAD UNIT

Description: Unit was brought in dead. According to customer, I’m already the 4th shop he brought this to.

Although the rate of success goes down each time another tech attempts a repair, I still accept these as I understand how important and expensive this investment is for all of us.

As always we start with the fundamental, and checks were made that brought us to replace the charging ic, as well as modifications was needed to be made to the primary mosfet to make this unit work.

Solution: Replace charging IC, modify primary and secondary mosfets.

PS: Real Techs charge according to skill and experience. If you think what I quote is too high, you always have the option to say no. That’s your prerogative.

I would not be offended if you decide not to send your unit to me for repair, but I’d definitely charge you higher if you sent it to another tech then bring it back to me because of a botched repair attempt. As they say, “you get what you pay for”.

Macbook Pro 2018 LCD replacement.

A TRICKY REPAIR FOR A TRICKED UP MSI RAIDER

Unit Name: MSI RAIDER GE77 HX

Problem: Intermittent charging issue

Description: Customer brought in the unit hoping that the prevalent issue can br fixed. Unit was initially brought in to another shop to no avail. Next up was a shop in Gilmore, where unit suddenly worked fine without any repair made. Shop/tech then insisted to repaste the unit.

After said repasting, unit displayed issues with charging. Charging stops intermittenly without heavy load, although the unit shows that the ac adapter is still plugged in.

This charging issue happens almost everytime during heavy load/gaming. Since unit is unable to get the power it needs under heavy load, the CPU and GPU throttles down, therefore FPS and general performance goes down, frustrating the customer. This is understandable given the supposed power of this laptop, specs-wise.

Unit was brought in to the official MSI service center, which was then referred to a third party tech, as the service center does not do board level repairs (not their fault, as they only recommend replacing the board, or ask you to buy a new unit instead). The third party tech then quoted the customer 7k (fair price) , to replace the charging IC.

Tech contacted the customer the same day, as the unit is apparently fixed already. Customer tested the unit at home, but then it was the same issue. Customer contacted the tech, and brpught it in. Techs diagnosis is “board is causing the defect on chip”. Customer pulled the unit out as soon as he saw our ad.

We checked the unit out and found a partially short component that’s stealing the power generated by the ac adapter. Because its a partial short on the charging circuit, the power supplied was high enough to charge the battery, and power the unit on very low load/usage, but not enough on graphic intensive games.

As gaming typically is like a roller coaster ride in terms of gpu usage, unit charges when low power is needed by the system during a game (lobby, settings, buying weapons, etc.), and fails to charge during actual playtime.

Solution: Replace partially short component, recommend repasting after 3 months.

Note:

1. Wasn’t sure that charging IC was replaced, as there was no sign of it being replaced (no flux residue, no sign of soldering).

2. Repasting - thermal paste applied on processor and GPU too excessive. Instead of high quality thermal pads for the coils, vram, and drmos chips, another brand of paste is used, resulting a gooey mess.

Will need repasting.

Saving another LEGION from TARLAC!

Unit Name: LENOVO LEGION 5

Problem: DEAD unit

Description: Unit was shipped via LBC from Tarlac. According to the owner, this unit was already tested by the service center, twice.

Observed that unit turns on a sec, then immediately turns off.

Basic diagnostics were done, along with visual inspection. It seems that all tantalum capacitors were desoldered by someone and tested individually. Shotgun approach in repair is never, never recommended.

SIO was replaced as we saw that enable signals for the buck converter were shutting off immediately after turning on. That resolved the issue with the unit shutting down immediately after turning on. We were not out of the woods yet though. Unit now turns on longer, but does not display anything.

Further tests point to the APU as the culprit. However, we don’t usually just give up. What we do is step back, do multiple passes and checks, on different days. Doing so gives us a fresh perspective on troubleshooting. We think this is Mr. Fixer’s advantage from other repair shops. We may have the same skill level, but being a home shop affords me to give more time to each and every customer’s laptop. We exhaust all alternatives (with client cooperation) before raising the white flag.

Just as we were losing hope for the unit, we found a cut 3V rail in the APU itself. Looks like one of the transistors is toast. Said component was replaced and fingers were crossed, tests is made.

VOILA! Unit now runs like nothing happened.

Good news was given to the customer, who was very happy with the news, as we just saved a 80k plus unit. He asked that Windows 11 be reinstalled as well.

Unit was shipped to the customer via LBC as well.

Solution: Replaced and reprogrammed SIO, replaced defective component, reinstalled OS.

PRO TIP: There is a higher chance of your unit being repaired, if we are the first one to attempt the repair. That is true for any good tech.

GOT A LAPTOP PROBLEM? Padala mo lang!

WHEN YOUR TRUST PAYS OFF!!!

UNIT NAME: Acer Predator Helios 300

PROBLEM: Unit powers up for two seconds, then turns off.

DESCRIPTION: Customer made a huge gamble by buying a defective gaming machine. According to the previous owner, the shop that checked the unit concluded that the PCH (Chipset) and CPU are already defective.

Advised the client that fixing the unit is a long shot if the defect is really those two.

However, customer still pushed thru with the purchase, hoping that it was similar to previous cases where problem turned out to be another.

His gamble paid off big time! As the problem turned out to be the power rail providing 1.05V to the PCH. Luckily, replacement IC is already on my stock so we immediately knew if this will resolve the issue.

And as seen in the pictures, customer now has a working gaming laptop. Another score for mother nature!

Solution: Replace IC on PCH power rail. Issue resolved.

JACKPOT SI KUYA!!!

IMAGINE IF THE OWNER JUST GAVE UP😤
From LIPA, BATANGAS

Unit Name: ASUS TUF GAMING LAPTOP

Issue Type: DEAD UNIT

Description:

Unit was a week old according to the owner. He bought brand new memory upgrades from a different store as the store he bought the laptop from didn’t have them. I’m guessing that the laptop store did not honor the warranty anymore because of the upgrade. Sad, but not totally unfair.

Customer brought the unit to a tech near his area but, according to him, this was already a shorted GPU, which means whole motherboard needs to be replaced. In short, already a no fix.

While this is not a knock on the previous tech’s ability, this maybe a case of the neverending money vs. time battle. Most techs are pressured by repairing in numbers, due to their corresponding business needs.

Not with us. We understand how important your laptop investment is. So we do not rush the troubleshooting.

Found out that one of the DRMOS in the vcore area causing the issue. replaced and voila unit runs like new.

Solution: Replace shorted component, applied high end thermal paste. Issue resolved.

Message us now!

OUT OF THIS WORLD FIX!

Unit Name: Alienware M15 R2

Problem: Charging issue.

Description: Repair was attempted already by an ALIENWARE AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER. Customer was basically advised to buy a brand new one, as spare parts for the unit are not available. Apparently, troubleshooting was done, and concluded that this is a motherboard failure.

While going to an authorized service center is always the preferred option - as all the needed authentic replacement part is available to them- the problem is they are only limited to whatever their repair handbook teaches.

Found out that this is not a motherboard issue, but a damaged dc input jack harness, caused by a defective ac adapter. It could have been a shorted ac adapter melting the plastic end of the harness.

Solution: Replace DC input jack harness assembly, replace ac adapter.

WALANG KAHUYAN, WALANG PALITAN, WALANG LOKOHAN!

Accept shipping from all corners of the Philippines!

TALK TO US NOW!

PREYING ON ANOTHER PREDATOR

Item Name: Predator Helios 300

Problem: Dead set

Description: A repair 6 weeks in the making. Mosfet on the battery charging circuit clearly burned. However after replacing said component, no power still observed.

Looked like the charging IC is fried as well, so replaced said chip. Still no go.
More tests are made and found 2 more components on the 5v rail defective. Test made and still no go.

Found another mosfet shorted in the vcore area.

Solution: Replace multiple components. Issue resolved.

COOLING THE COOLEST LAPTOP

Unit name: Razer Blade

Problem: Intermittent garbage display

Description: Unit was brought in due to said garbage display. However, said issue happens s very seldom.

This is a good short case study of a garbage display troubleshooting.

A novice tech will immediately conclude that this is a discrete GPU issue, which of course is a very valid observation.

Through questions asked during troubleshooting, the owner mentioned that this issue only happened when he was using slack, and other light apps.

As this unit utilizes both the integrated and discrete GPU, we can surmise that the app is only using the integrated intel gpu. From there you could draw the conclusion that if the problem happens intermittently, and only on apps requiring light resource from the gpu, it may only be a heating issue on the processor itself. Although it will not be bad to check the GPU temps as well.

Apps were installed to monitor the CPU and GPU temps. Burnin tests were done to see how the cpu and gpu reacts, temperature wise.

As expected GPU temp are within the set threshold. The CPU tells a different story. 2 of the 8 cores are shooting to 100 deg (set threshold) during testing, and the other cores are at the 70-80 mark. Idle averaging on the mid to high 60s.

Concluded that there’s a high chance that processor is heating up to the point that integrated GPU is not performing to spec due to the high temp.

Solution: The best laptops need the best cooling paste out there. Applied thermal paste, and vacuum cleaned the exhaust fins. Temps immediately went down an average of 12-13 degrees celcius after application.

THE BEST BRANDS AND BEST CARE FOR THE BEST TECHNOLOGY CAN OFFER.

ANOTHER ALIEN HAS LANDED

Item Name: Alienware X15 R1

Problem: No Power, Adapter shuts off when plugged.

Description: Fairly straightforward repair. Whenever a Dell Adapter’s light shuts off when plugged in, that means its detecting a short circuit on the motherboard therefore putting itself on protect mode.

The trick is where to find the shorted component. Main rail is A OK. Checked other branch of the main rail and found that the one going to the processor mosfets are shorted.

Voltage were injected and found 3 capacitors shorted, a very slight hint of being burnt, plus another shorted mosfet. Replaced said components and voila! Unit is revived!

Solution: Replaced shorted components.

PS: This unit was sent via GRAB. So far, ZERO incident of any unit shipped missing either via LALAMOVE, or GRAB.

Unit Name: Acer Nitro 5

Problem: Intermittent shut down, difficulty in powering the unit on.

Description: Pretty straightforward troubleshooting. Found out that keyboard is shorted.

Solution: Keyboard Replacement. Issue resolved.

QUICK, BUT NOT SO EASY FIX

Item Name: Acer Chromebook R11

Problem: No Power

Description: Unit was brought in due to not turning on. Straight up motherboard troubleshooting as everything is built in.

Found 1 defective power mosfet.

Solution: Replace Mosfet, Issue resolved.