How can I replace a microchip in my Amstrad sky+ box?
After last Fridays storms my Sky+ box lost power (no power light on front facia). Upon opening the unit up I noticed a small microchip (near the power connector) that had been 'blown apart' (the fragment of the black casing was loose in the box) There are scorch marks on the PCB. Is this possible to fix?
You can replace the chip using a very high intensity light to heat the chip up and then it will come off the board. The light must be directed very well so as not to affect other components. The new chip could be put on in the same fashion. But the chip is probably programmed with a specific program and you wouldn't have that or the programmer to program it with.
SkyGuy
September 2012
Those chips are 'stuck on' in the factory by machines using Surface Mount Technology. This makes the board extremely difficult to repair and so mostly repairers replace the whole board. However (here's another gotcha) due to the high level of large scale integration (to keep the price down) the boards are expensive and therefore it is usually cheaper to replace the box rather than repair it.
If you call Sky they will do this for about £65.
t
July 2007
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