Copper Tracks pulled off USB Flash Drive

[dvelguru]

Hello Everyone,

I recently broke my Sandisk Flash USB and luckily I have experience soldering, but there is always something new to learn.

But the problem is two copper tracks have to taken with the USB Male.

**broken link removed**

Open to ideas, please explain as well.

Thank You

 

[Mickster]

Post unedited pics of both sides of the PCB.

From your 1st pic, it's not possible to accurately follow the circuit due to the white rectangles

 

[dvelguru]

Updated images (Copper Tracks pulled off USB Flash Drive)

Post unedited pics of both sides of the PCB.

From your 1st pic, it's not possible to accurately follow the circuit due to the white rectangles

Original Images

BACK
**broken link removed**
From:
Top of the PCB in the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4.0 GB showing the S705-720242 which appears to be the controller, a 12 MHz...

FRONT
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From: Top of the PCB in the SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4.0 GB showing the SDTNKLCHSM-4096 Flash IC, LED, USB connector, and a few...

Front Problem
**broken link removed**

 

[Mickster]

Is the USB connector detached from the PCB, on the damaged drive?

It would be nice to have a look at a pic the actual damaged drive and not a pic of good one.

There is the possibility of there being tracks under the USB connector, since there are vias on the bottom.

 

[Hero999]

I'm guessing the tracks have lifted and broken.

It's probably not worth repairing but I understand you might have data on it, you want to keep.

If my assumption is correct you'll need to scratch away the solder resist and resolder the connector. If you manage to do this then I recommend backing up all of the files so another drive and throwing it away because it will probably won't be as reliable as it was before.

If you're not bothered about the data then throw it out, as I mentioned above, if you repair it, it won't be reliable so it's not worth loosing your data over.

 

[dvelguru]

Thanx for the reply, but I want to experiment but I don't want to do it blind folded.

Any ideas?

Remember the copper track is gone on USB Data + and GND

 

[Mickster]

Without seeing the PCB with the USB connector removed, it looks like 5V is connected to the green section and D+ is connected to the yellow portion. As said previously, there may be tracks hidden beneath the USB connector, so simply making the connections pictured may not work.

As Hero also points out, if you do manage to retrieve the data, back it up and replace the drive with a new one.

 

[Mickster]

Thanx for the reply, but I want to experiment but I don't want to do it blind folded.

Any ideas?

Remember the copper track is gone on USB Data + and GND

Oops, seems my labelling is incorrect...

 

[dvelguru]

I am taking a picture now Mick, but it will not be high quality. So I'll take a couple.

 

[dvelguru]

Here is an image without the USB
**broken link removed**

 

[Mickster]

The image is blurred to the point of being unreadable....

If you have access to a scanner, or can take a decent shot of the section outlined in yellow, it may be of much more use. Use the camera flash if you can, but angle the PCB slightly so that it doesn't bounce back at the lens. If you can, rest the camera on something solid, so that pressing the shutter button minimises any movement.

 

[dvelguru]

Mickster, I wish I had a digital camera

I'm doing this from a cell phone. And that image right there is from a scanner.

I'm waiting for the images to upload to my phone account and come to my email.

Will see them shortly

 

[dvelguru]

Going to get a digital camera right now Mick.

 

[Mickster]

Ok, whilst we wait for the better quality images, a bit of info which may or may not help you.

For the sake of simplicity, PCB's are made from a non-conductive substrate, coated on one, or both sides with a thin layer of copper. (There are multi-layer PCB's, but we'll keep it simple) To produce the necessary printed 'wiring' which connects each component, a mask is applied to each copper surface. Where there is no masking, the copper is to be removed and this is done by a chemical etching process, leaving behind a uniform thickness copper 'circuit', covered by the mask. The mask is then removed and a layer of solder-resist applied over the top, leaving just enough space around contact pads for the components to be placed and attached by the soldering process. Once the soldering process has been carried out, there may be further coatings applied in order to protect the PCB from moisture etc.

Generally, the solder-resist coating tends to be green but there are many different colours in use. In your case, the solder-resist is green and the copper circuit can be easily seen beneath it.

In order to make a connection or a repair to a PCB, the solder-resist has to be removed at the points to be soldered. In this case, we don't actually know the exact points which need to be repaired yet, but a close visual inspection with some form of magnification can help....Do you have a jeweller's loupe or a good magnifying glass?

Where the pads for the USB connector have been detached from the PCB, there will likely be other tracks covered in solder-resist, but showing rough edges of bare copper where they were once joined. These are the points which need to be re-connected. To do so, the solder-resist has to scraped away to allow a repair and a new solder connection made.

 

[dvelguru]

Running to radioshack right now to pickup a magnifying glass. It is a block away

 

[dvelguru]

You guys were a great help and inspiration to continue on the path of experimentation.

I successfully recovered the data from the broken USB. After I purchased a magnification glass from Radioshack, I examined the part closely for hours, napped and got back to it.

Crucial steps taken to achieve this:
1. I scratched away some of the green coat after realizing what a track was and what was traveling where.

2. Applied a tiny amount of flux, and soldered with a tiny amount of solder a tip of a wire.

3. I already have one wire for 5V attached to a sewing needle.

4. Touched the sewing needle and that bad boy powered up and I copied all the data off.

Maybe I'll save this and take HQ pictures to show everyone. Maybe it will help someone in the future.

Thank You!

 

[Hero999]

Great, you've recovered your data.

Yes, please post some pictures.

As you had to inject the power with a needle, at least there's no chance of you forgetting it's bad and accidentally using it.