Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

HI guys I tried to repaste my G14 yesterday and I struggled to put back on safety metal on the battery plug and made a big spark,and I am so scared I started reading about it seams like motherboard is fried..can you guys give me an idea on what happened and what should I do ? I cannot afford to change mobo..

I previously had a board with this issue, see thread https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=105577

[Wootzor]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

HI guys I tried to repaste my G14 yesterday and I struggled to put back on safety metal on the battery plug and made a big spark,and I am so scared I started reading about it seams like motherboard is fried..can you guys give me an idea on what happened and what should I do ? I cannot afford to change mobo..

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

I'm concerned about these two right now. Double-check voltage first. Then remove power and check resistance to GND at any coil, any side.

I have the feeling there could be a issue with the +1.35V supply for VRAM.

Is it possible to share the schematics or is it already shared somewhere and you can share the link?

Will check tomorrow, thanks.
Schematic and boardview is in post 4.

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

I'm concerned about these two right now. Double-check voltage first. Then remove power and check resistance to GND at any coil, any side.

I have the feeling there could be a issue with the +1.35V supply for VRAM.

Is it possible to share the schematics or is it already shared somewhere and you can share the link?

Edit: somehow missed them completely. Thanks for pointing that out for me again...

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

I'm afraid to tell, there are more coils underneath the heatsink. Don't be afraid to remove it (carefully ofc!) since the Boards doesn't stays on for long anyway. So overheating won't be a issue right now. Will be very helpful to clarify where it is stuck.

Oh yeah, missed those.

Got them for you here.

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

I'm afraid to tell, there are more coils underneath the heatsink. Don't be afraid to remove it (carefully ofc!) since the Boards doesn't stays on for long anyway. So overheating won't be a issue right now. Will be very helpful to clarify where it is stuck.

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

Nooooo...

Check all coils for voltage within these 20 seconds. Maybe you can take a picture of the board and write the values near the coils.

Yeah

Got the readings of the coils, I do get 1.2, 1.8, 3.3 and 5V at the CPU GPU area, but the coils at the DC in area are wrong I believe?

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

Nooooo...

Check all coils for voltage within these 20 seconds. Maybe you can take a picture of the board and write the values near the coils.

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

I've challenged the same from time to time. Some boards have a massive heat dissipation in this area which make the task very hard. Additionally often the pins of the charging controller does not access the solder as it is supposed to be.

The only solution is to apply enough heat, maybe work with preheater, use leaded solder, a soldering tip which is neither to small, nor to big and as you already figured out, to pre-tin the pins.

I'm satisfied you figured that out in the end. Hopefully there doesn't appear a second issue.

I spoke to soon, laptop does turn on, but turns off after 20 seconds, no display or anything, just fanspin. I tried unplugging display etc, but nothing makes it stay on.

EDIT: Does not register USB-C power either. No external display either. CPU and GPU get hot.

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

I've challenged the same from time to time. Some boards have a massive heat dissipation in this area which make the task very hard. Additionally often the pins of the charging controller does not access the solder as it is supposed to be.

The only solution is to apply enough heat, maybe work with preheater, use leaded solder, a soldering tip which is neither to small, nor to big and as you already figured out, to pre-tin the pins.

I'm satisfied you figured that out in the end. Hopefully there doesn't appear a second issue.

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

Lalala... it seems, the Charging controller went bad again...

Third times the charm it seems! Resoldered a new BQ IC and it seems to boot, I need to get everything installed to check for output etc, but at least I have lights!
I Had a real hard time actually getting some off the pads connected with the BQ installed, this might have been the problem in the first place, they pre-tinned fine, but when the BQ was placed, the and I went to retouch the pins, the solder was just removed from some of them, I did you enough flux to coat the whole area. Could you advice on why this could be, and a solution?.

This time around I carefully pre-tinned the pads on the BQ chip itself as well, making sure that there was no way a connected pin could be missing, when soldering it on the board.

I use a Weller WMRP with a 0.2mm tip for the fine soldering, a WSP80 for larger pads/Ground pads and Amtech Flux (Real) with some leaded solder, but still, some of the pads seemed like they repelled solder
I use 380C on the big tip for ground pads etc, and 380C on the small 0.2mm tip for fixing up pins etc.

I've marked the pads (red) I am not happy with in the pic, also a pic of my setup.

Again, Thank you so much for the help, I am slowly learning, and appreciate your and the communities patience with my at times stupid questions

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

Lalala... it seems, the Charging controller went bad again...

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

No need when suspecting a internal short. In-circuit will still tell.

If nothing turns out, place the component back and check voltage at all three pins pls.

Alright... No internal shorts, everything is Mohm...
Now, I replaced the transistor..

ACDRV now measures 2.2v!? I might have done bad measurements before, but I doubt it, I normally double check..
What the hell is going on?

REGN is 0.6V again...

Let me give you new measurements for the before mentioned pins...

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

I should remove them from the board to test, right?

No need when suspecting a internal short. In-circuit will still tell.

If nothing turns out, place the component back and check voltage at all three pins pls.

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

This is so weird. Check the Mosfets again for internal short, for sanity

I should remove them from the board to test, right?

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

This is so weird. Check the Mosfets again for internal short, for sanity

And then place the component back and check voltage at all three pins pls.

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

It is not a diode, but basically does the same like in previous shared schematics.

so yes, remove it and see what happens. You'll lose the overvoltage(?) protection then, ofc... but that's a secondary issue right now...

Alright, ACDRV is now 1.2V!
DC-in mosfets are still low, 1.2V output from the first and 4V from the second.

[Sephir0th]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

This is the one, should I remote it and connect power?
It's a transistor.

I also uploaded a screenshot of the ACDRV path...

It is not a diode, but basically does the same like in previous shared schematics.

so yes, remove it and see what happens. You'll lose the overvoltage(?) protection then, ofc... but that's a secondary issue right now...

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

This is the one, should I remote it and connect power?
It's a transistor.

I also uploaded a screenshot of the ACDRV path...

[jacobtc]

Re: Dead ASUS ROG G14 (GA401)

Look, what i've found in the schematics of a ASUS GX531GS. Same charging IC and this extended ACDRV circuit. Maybe i'm wrong, but if this is a faulty diode, you should get ACDRV back as soon as you have removed it.

Check, try and report please.

I'll check! Thank you so much!