[Greg Reid]

One more suggestion....I have found cures to many issues of the type that you describe by using what we used to call 'freeze spray'. It is essentially a small aerosol can of freon and it's commonly used by housecleaning services to remove chewing gum from carpets..
When you have an intermittent issue like this, especially one that seems to show up as the components warm up to operating temp, you can spray this stuff on individual components and solder joints. It's used with the straw so you can pinpoint individual spots. Many times, cooling the faulty component or connection will start the device working again. I have found many faulty capacitors, IC chips, transistors and etc. this way. Sometimes even a bad solder joint will straighten out when cooled suddenly. Capacitors, transistors, diodes and ICs are especially receptive to this method.
Even if freon is no longer used, I'm sure it's been replaced by something comparable. You have to be a little more cautious with this being that it is used with power on.
Just another thought on something you might try.

[Stuckinda60s]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

One more suggestion....I have found cures to many issues of the type that you describe by using what we used to call 'freeze spray'. It is essentially a small aerosol can of freon and it's commonly used by housecleaning services to remove chewing gum from carpets..
When you have an intermittent issue like this, especially one that seems to show up as the components warm up to operating temp, you can spray this stuff on individual components and solder joints. It's used with the straw so you can pinpoint individual spots. Many times, cooling the faulty component or connection will start the device working again. I have found many faulty capacitors, IC chips, transistors and etc. this way. Sometimes even a bad solder joint will straighten out when cooled suddenly. Capacitors, transistors, diodes and ICs are especially receptive to this method.
Even if freon is no longer used, I'm sure it's been replaced by something comparable. You have to be a little more cautious with this being that it is used with power on.
Just another thought on something you might try.

CO2 would be an alternative. The EPA hasn't found a way to outlaw that...yet.

[John V.]

I'll also throw something out there that will sound bizarre (at least to me).

I have a HP LaserJet P2015 printer. This model has a known problem with the formatter circuit board (whatever that is supposed to do).

Printer was less than 2 years old when it started acting up, out of warranty. HP offered to repair for a price, but it hardly seemed worth it.

I went on-line and learned of the common problem.

Was blamed on crappy solder joints on the (wait for it) Chinese produced circuit board.

The solution was to pull the board, then bake it in the oven at 350 deg for 8 minutes.

I did it and the printer worked like a champ for about a year.

I have now rebaked it 2-3 times over the course of the past 3 years, last time maybe 2 months ago. Each time, the printer has worked perfectly when I put it back together.

Supposedly the temp is just warm enough to reflow the solder joints on the board but not so hot as to cook any of the components.

I set the board in a glass pie dish, solder joints down, board components up. I make legs out of some small screws to stand the board off the dish.

I'm told the oven bake process fixes lots of misbehaving circuit boards. If your problem is with the board, maybe baking it will help. Try at your own risk. You might want to google baking circuit boards first to see what the web has to say.

Good luck.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by John V.

I'll also throw something out there that will sound bizarre (at least to me).

I have a HP LaserJet P2015 printer. This model has a known problem with the formatter circuit board (whatever that is supposed to do).

Printer was less than 2 years old when it started acting up, out of warranty. HP offered to repair for a price, but it hardly seemed worth it.

I went on-line and learned of the common problem.

Was blamed on crappy solder joints on the (wait for it) Chinese produced circuit board.

The solution was to pull the board, then bake it in the oven at 350 deg for 8 minutes.

I did it and the printer worked like a champ for about a year.

I have now rebaked it 2-3 times over the course of the past 3 years, last time maybe 2 months ago. Each time, the printer has worked perfectly when I put it back together.

Supposedly the temp is just warm enough to reflow the solder joints on the board but not so hot as to cook any of the components.

I set the board in a glass pie dish, solder joints down, board components up. I make legs out of some small screws to stand the board off the dish.

I'm told the oven bake process fixes lots of misbehaving circuit boards. If your problem is with the board, maybe baking it will help. Try at your own risk. You might want to google baking circuit boards first to see what the web has to say.

Good luck.

Never heard that one but I can tell you that I've spent many, many hours meticulously re-soldering every single joint on a solder board to get the same result. Definitely worth a try if your fairly handy with an iron and have some patience.