A to Z Challenge: Tools

Right now I'm at my kitchen table with a disassembled HP Laserjet 2015 printer. The tools I used were a good old phillip's head screwdriver and a black belt in Google Fu.

I took it apart so I could get at the formatter board. Turns out when the HP 2015 misbehaves (ie, error lights Paper Jam and/or Toner Out come on, and nothing can print), the error may lie with the formatter board.

Turns out that when these particular boards were manufactured, they had swapped to a newer lead-free solder. This solder has difficulty withstanding the operating temperatures of the HP 2015 and when that happens, you get dry solder joints. (This is bad.)

Even if you've got the correct tools for the job (like I do), these things were NOT designed to be soldered by hand. His Grace who's a Level 80 in Soldering and regularly assembles his own circuitry boards, took one look at this board and said "Buckley's."

So I turned to the universal solder reflow tool--the kitchen oven. If it works for all the other computer geeks on YouTube, it should work for me, right?

Then again, for all those for whom this trick failed, it's not like they're going to share it on YouTube, are they?

So?  Did it work?

Tune in tomorrow when I report my results.

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Her Grace relies on the tool of a printer from time to time. It's nice when they work.