 Teddy Boomk kudos Received
join:2007-01-29
Toronto, ON
kudos:7 | reply to mlord
Re: Upgrading Firmware on Thompson DCM475 The heatsink is sometimes placed very very badly, like covering more than half of the flash chip. On the other hand, the heatsink is made of a composite material that doesn't leave all kinds of metal shavings behind when you Dremel it.
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mlord
join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
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| Heh, looking under the heatsink, one can see that it covers the flash chip when centred on the CPU chip, so one can understand how it might get placed that way. But covering the flash chip is a big no-no IMHO. Perhaps a deeper and less broad heatsink could have done as well without preventing access to other components.
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mlord
join:2006-11-05
Nepean, ON
kudos:10 Reviews:
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Re: Upgrading Firmware on Thompson DCM475 said by mlord:Heh, looking under the heatsink, one can see that it covers the flash chip when centred on the CPU chip, so one can understand how it might get placed that way. One repair I got to do the other day, was replacing the heatsink inside a DCM-475 modem. The original ceramic heatsink was cracked, and as a result probably not cooling as well as it ought to.
After much cracking and prying, the rest of it came off in a hundred little bits, and then the incredible double-stick mounting tape was peeled off in strips, revealing the Broadcom chip under it all.
And.. revealing a smaller silk-screened outline for the heatsink as originally designed: a standard aluminium block with a multitude of fins, similar to what one might see covering the southbridge chip on a PC motherboard, or an older low-end video card. There are even two small mounting holes on the PCB for the heatsink spring clips.
I had some salvaged heatsinks of the right size on hand, but no clips, so the replacement got glued in place with "heatsink glue". Looks much neater and tidier than the ceramic monolith did, and the modem survived a 24-hour smoke test without complaint.
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