Onkyo No Sound HDMI DTS Repair Fix Tutorial

Holding the camera and the heat gun at the same time. Not recommended but you won't have to do that if you use this procedure. This step was a nail biter because I had a LOT of missing information as to how long or how much I should heat the IC. I was worried that any second I would see the IC fly off the pad.
FYI I chose to use high quality low ESR radial caps for replacements of the SMD packages because this board is a known Onkyo issue and radials will allow for visual inspection. SMD's don't bulge or 'pop up' when bad. They 'can' blow up...but that's another story.

And that's it. Allow the board to either cool without taking the surface temp down slowly or not, that's your call. I chose to cook it down slowly(ish). Reinstall the board or replace caps at this point. I had already replaced the caps and had nothing to lose by going right into the reflow. If you have a working HDMI board but want to reflow as a precaution I would reflow first and reinstall the board to make sure it still works before tackling the caps.
One note about the two grey cables on top of the board; don't forget to press down on top of one half of the connector. The wires will slide right in if you get it right. You shouldn't have veins popping out on your arms (or forehead) to do this but the net is full of stories of people fighting these two connectors and breaking them.
Comments and constructive criticism welcome.

justgreg: Nice write up. Would you mind if I split off your tutorial into a separate thread so it is easier to find rather then be buried in here?

2/25/14
FOLLOWUP: I've had to reflow the IC when I lost audio again after two days of heating and cooling. (on/standby). I believe it failed because I was too conservative with the high temp. phase of the procedure. Regardless of the level of sophistication of the gear I'm using (or lack thereof) from what I've been reading this can happen if doing reflow and not full-on rework, so I won't blame it entirely on my home brew approach. 

I also revised my 'oven' design. In Oven Rev. 2.0 I made the sides about .75in/19mm and flared them outward from the base about 33 deg. The goal this time around was:
1) Channel more hot air to the BGA joint area
2) Put less heat onto the top of the chip

I ran it for 5 hours at 3/4 max volume (my wife wasn't home, but now my dog hates me) and ran it for a total of 10 hours before shutting it down for the day.

One interesting observation; I noticed that just prior to totally losing all audio, other than having to leave the receiver on until the IC heated up, was the LFE output greatly diminished prior to not hearing the power-on relay latch (with resulting total loss of audio). If your bass isn't what it used to be and you're trying to compensate with adjustments you've never had to make before and it still isn't right, I'd definitely suspect the TI HDMI board IC and think about reflowing. Of course it could be something totally unrelated to the HDMI board but at my experience level that's where I"d start. Regardless, whether you're reflowing for the first time or revisiting a previous attempt, don't forget to apply No Clean liquid flux first.

2/26/14
As soon as I got up for the day the first thing I did even before grabbing a cup of coffee (yeah...I need a life) was power up the 708 while it was stone cold to see if the repair stuck over night. It's winter here and I turn the thermostat down to 65F at night so the receiver was quite cold. The relays latched in a timely manner after it performed it's POST and went right to producing good output across all channels with excellent LFE effects.  This is hardly the true test of time given my first attempt went wonky in two days but stay tuned. I'll definitely let you know if or when it goes out again.
If it does, I won't try to reflow again because obviously the existing BGA solder isn't up to the task. It took me some time to realize I was asking a lot of these BGA solder joints (yeah...umma rookie). After all, they failed for a reason to begin with right? If it does fail again a full rework is indicated. I'll have no choice but to either buy the gear or bite the bullet and send it out for full blown rework to someone who does have the goods. (Nash?..buddy?..pal?) 


On a related note, I've been sourcing PC based endoscopic digital microscopes with still and video capabilities to see if I can see what the manufacturers see when they inspect BGA solder joints, at least the outer perimeter ones. I found one with X/Y/Z micrometer like adjustments, manually focused, (as opposed to fixed) LED lit, contact distance resolving, a mini angled mirror, and best of all, it's very inexpensive so if it doesn't do a great job I won't be out food for a day (month?). Seeing as I don't know anyone with access to an X-Ray machine, looking at the perimeter joints is as close as I'm going to get to seeing 'under the hood'.
It's the joints I CAN'T see that are going to trip the trigger on my OCD and bug the heck out of me!

March 15th and still working.

Ok. Here we are at May 16 and I've had to put heat to the DTS chip. So although my home brew attempt at a lasting fix worked for a couple months, it shouldn't be considered a permanent repair if you follow my procedure. There are many variables involved but the biggest consideration should be given to the quality of the solder used by the manufacturer, and the BGA process itself.
Because the HDMI boards are becoming scarce due to repair shops buying up all available boards to fix and sell, you'll have to determine if you want to DIY reflow or pay them the $80-ish for one they've repaired. Some repairers are installing a daughter board at the time of repair that's supposed to enhance the boards capabilities so if you have ~$80+shipping, that may be the way to go. Keep in mind not all repair shops are created equal so ask about a warranty if you either send them your HDMI board or buy one they have ready to ship.