Now, I'm not one to make a big fuss. This is more for other VBoxII owners out there as to what to look for in case yours goes on the fritz. Check the solder joints at the PCB, especially those near the "back" of the board near the coax input/output. Check for dirty traces or small pieces of solder lying around (found some of those too).
My picture taking skill aren't incredible. The joints I'm talking about are the first one down from the top right-hand corner and then the third one down from the same corner. You can see the solder glob, and then a ring around it, that is the pad which should be covered in solder. The solder glob was BARELY making contact with the trace.
You can also see some small white specs more towards the back of the picture and to the left. These became progressively worse towards the left side of the board (which you can't see in the pic), but it was pretty filthy with what appeared to be residue from the manufacturing process. It was not anything from the home environment.
Also, this board has someone's fingerprint permanently etched into the board. Guess they weren't wearing gloves. Additionally, I found numerous small solder balls around the board. I gave it all a good scrubbing, put it back together and it worked.
I never intended on opening this unit, but needed to do something after one of the spring loaded clips on the back which hold the actuator wires decided to take a flying leap behind the TV somewhere. But, I'm glad I fixed the sketchy looking solder joints now rather than later.
My picture taking skill aren't incredible. The joints I'm talking about are the first one down from the top right-hand corner and then the third one down from the same corner. You can see the solder glob, and then a ring around it, that is the pad which should be covered in solder. The solder glob was BARELY making contact with the trace.
You can also see some small white specs more towards the back of the picture and to the left. These became progressively worse towards the left side of the board (which you can't see in the pic), but it was pretty filthy with what appeared to be residue from the manufacturing process. It was not anything from the home environment.
Also, this board has someone's fingerprint permanently etched into the board. Guess they weren't wearing gloves. Additionally, I found numerous small solder balls around the board. I gave it all a good scrubbing, put it back together and it worked.
I never intended on opening this unit, but needed to do something after one of the spring loaded clips on the back which hold the actuator wires decided to take a flying leap behind the TV somewhere. But, I'm glad I fixed the sketchy looking solder joints now rather than later.
Both vBox II's that I own have suffered from that problem
