Spent three days chasing a phantom short on a 2018 MacBook Pro board, turned out to be a single grain of solder under a tiny capacitor.

3 comments

3 Comments

Feel the pain on that one. You get your microscope out, start checking every trace and via, convinced it's some deep layer issue. All that time and stress, and the whole problem is a tiny speck you could blow away with your breath. Makes you want to just stare at the wall for a while. Classic board repair right there.

nelson.wren10d ago

Tell me about it. Classic.

fisher.thomas10d ago

Had a board last month with a phantom short. Spent two full days on it. Turned out to be a single stray solder ball hiding under a QFP, smaller than a grain of sand. The relief was unreal.