Nobody will socket my ECU

[RoasT BeeF]

Yeah. I have gone to like 10 different places and NOBODY thinks they can successfully remove the EPROM chip and put a socket in without ruining the board or the old chip. They are all sayin that you have to have some special $10,000 equipment to be able to remove the chip because its a multi-layer board. I have only talked to 2 guys that said they could do it but they would have to cut all the pins on the chip and remove them one at a time. They say they are pretty sure they can get it done if they do it that way but then whats the point of even putting a socket in there if I cant swap chips ya know? Anywho I was just wonderin if some people who have had this done could tell me where they got it done and how much it cost etc.

Thanks

 

[evotuner]

I found a TV repair shop that did mine, charged me $50. This shop was a dump too, I guarantee he didn't have a $10K machine or anything like that, and he did a great job.

 

[steve]

It just takes time and a steady hand to remove the EPROM and save it.

Steve

 

[KFT0001]

I had a hard time finding a shop that would do it either. Out of all the shops I tried, the only places that told me they could do it were a TV repair shop, and a general electronics repair shop. I didn't really trust either place though. The TV place was kind of shady, and I could hear the worker in the back talking in Chinese about not being sure he could do it. The other shop didn't want to do it originally, but after I explained to them what needed to be done exactly they told me they had a guy they could call who could do it. However, they gave me the run around and kept telling me that the guy was unavailable. The TV shop wanted around $65 and the other place told me it'd probably be $35 or so. I ended up buying some soldering tools and doing it myself.

 

[Diplomat]

This guy does EPROM socketing: Jestr Tuning

Of course, I'm sure there are many other people who you can ship it to for socketing. I just snagged this from my DSM bookmarks. If all else fails and no one can do it locally or you don't trust anyone, it might be better to just bite the bullet. Ship your ECU to someone who knows what they're doing and borrow your girlfriends '93 Nissan Sentra while you wait. I know it's embarrasing, but it'll all be worth it when UPS arrives with your EPROM.

 

[slickster]

Ask Jeff,
dsmchips

 

[RoasT BeeF]

I emailed Jeff and havent gotten a response. Steve said he could do it so I have kind of been talking to him. I really didnt want to have to ship it off some place and get it done but I guess thats what I might have to do. I am going to go back to one place I tried yesterday, I guess the dude who they said might be able to do it wouldnt be in until today. The other problem is I kind of live in a relatively small town. There arent many places to choose from. I ended up going into radio shack and asking them if they knew anybody. The owner of the store said he could probably do it but wanted me to check other places first cuz he didnt feel to confident that he could do it without messing something up. The only good thing about this is that I dont have to have any downtime cuz this is the ECU out of my other dsm.

Anyway thanks for the replies.

 

[NDgsx]

If you can't find a place to do it locally we've been socketing boards for over 7 years. It's not really that hard, just tedious.

 

[RoasT BeeF]

If you can't find a place to do it locally we've been socketing boards for over 7 years. It's not really that hard, just tedious.

Damn dude delete some PM's would ya? I cant even send u a message. How much do you charge and can you replace caps too?

thanks

 

[harryb]

Roast Beef-
The guys at Pina (NDGSX) can do caps replacement along with the socketing. I'm not sure what it will run, but they do amazing quality work and I wouldn't take my DSM anywhere else in the Northwest.

-Todd

 

[greathuskie]

haha think of how dirty the title of this thread can be

nobody will socket my ECU
haha
ok im tired, time for sleep

 

[logic]

Steve said he could do it so I have kind of been talking to him.

I'll happily throw in a reference for Steve here: he did a great job on our 1g ECU. I originally wanted him to socket it with a ZIF socket and check the caps; when he checked the caps, he was able to tell me that the caps had been previously serviced (but replaced with the stock 50V variety, which are just as prone to problems), and there was trace damage on the board from previous leakage that had never been properly addressed. He replaced the caps, cleaned up the damage, socketed the ECU, and had it back in my hands in 24 hours (I'm local, so insert some shipping delays for your situation).

On a side note, don't let some baboon with a soldering iron mess up your ECU just because it's a couple of bucks cheaper. I can solder, but I know better than to think I could clean up the cap mess I had and properly socket the chip. If it's done wrong, that's a pricey item to replace...

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Yeah thats one thing I DONT want to do is mess up this ECU. Thats why when people tell me they are going to have to cut it to get it out I am not going to trust them to touch it. It obvisouly can be taken out intact and if these locals cant do it I will ship it to somebody that knows what they're doing. I noticed yesterday after looking really close that one of the caps is leaking as well so looks like I will have to do more than just a socket. Might have Jeff at dsmchips throw in the 91- code with better maps and fuel trims too.