Austin Evans Broke These with a USB Killer - Can I Fix Any?!

Austin Evans Broke These with a USB Killer - Can I Fix Any?! Austin Evans sent these to me after breaking them with a USB killer. I'm guessing most of them are beyond repair but I still can't resist opening them up to see if I can figure out what got fried and if there's any way I can fix it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tools I Use:

Equipment Used:

TronicsFix assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. All material provided within this Youtube channel is for informational, educational, & entertainment purposes only. Some of these projects, materials, and techniques may not be appropriate for all ages or skill levels. No information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result.
TronicsFix does not make any claims of the safety of the projects, techniques, or resources listed on this channel and will not take responsibility of what you do with the information provided by this channel. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not TronicsFix. Please do not attempt anything contained in this video unless you accept personal responsibility for the results, whether they are good or bad.

TronicsFix Affiliate Advertising
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The music used in this video does not require attribution.

[kineticbongos]

AYO. Steve. Hope you get much rest. The fact that you’re still repairing and making videos just shows your winning and this fight in your court. You got this brother

[Appri]

CONGRATS on complete remission, Steve! You absolutely deserve it. You've done more for the world than most, simply repairing devices and keeping devices away from the landfill. You're a legend, and you're winning this fight.

[Indiskret]

It's so heartwarming to see you continuing with your channel despite the tough treatment. Wish you the very best and a fast recovery!

[alexplayslife]

1st device: the problem is a PMIC or ceramic cap that's shorted to ground. put a bench power supply in C.V. mode set to .8V (usually low enough that it wont damage any processor the line may be shorted/connected to) and set the current to the max. if there is a shorted cap/IC, it will get hot (you can detect this without a thermal camera using 99% isopropyl alcohol, drip some on, and look for the component that starts drying off instantly). that coil specifically is hard to tell if it should appear low resistance to ground, since some components (like the CPU) can appear as a very low resistance, but others (like a charging circuit) can appear as high resistance, and since its near both a charge port, a port that can output power, and the CPU, its hard to know without a schema (though you could always check continuity to the power pins of ports)

2nd device:it seems like you're looking at the charging/battery circuitry, which wouldn't have been effected by the *USB* killer, which delivers a high voltage via the USB port. you would need to look at the USB circuitry to have any hope of finding the problem

3rd device: those two little components are TVS diodes (these ones apparently arent exactly capable of withstanding and protecting against anything as mean as a USB killer). while it is possible that the one component you removed (which looked like either a voltage regulator or possibly a package with a 2 mosfet pair) is blown since the temp dropped after you removed it, its also possible power was flowing through it and being shunted through something else that was blown. also, the reason it looked like the hot-spot was in an area without any components is because the thermal camera you're using has both a visible light sensor and an IR sensor, and in the app you need to properly align the two images. at 19:20 you can see the circular screw hole (visible light), and then above it you can see a yellow ring (IR light) caused by the semi-reflective exposed copper ring surrounding the screw-hole. if the app/camera is properly set up and calibrated every time you use it on a new device, you shouldn't have these issues. (I don't recommend getting a flir or similar, I found mine to be a bit of a waste)

4th device: while it does look like the TVS diode saved the port's ass, I would be curious to see whether or not the data lines on this port are still functional, since on an earlier device, the TVS diodes on the data lines looked blown. I'm not sure what all lines the USB killer sends voltage into, but it looks like he didn't fully test the ports here

my break is over, but I might leave a comment with the rest of the devices if anyone cares.

[nanodrummer]

"Let's see what happens when..." is the best approach to fix (or break) stuff. Love it !

[jamesdriver]

I hope you make a full recovery Steve. Keep fighting! Glad to see you’re still making videos for us!

[higihups]

The fuses will not blow if you plug in a usb killer, they protect against overcurrent, not overvoltage.
In most cases USB 2.0 data (what this device attacks) is not shielded against overvoltage (especially up to several thousand volts), but wired directly into a USB chip, only some caps filtering noise from the signal.
Applying 5kV will at least fry the usb circuit and then will likely jump to the VCC lines, killing a whole lot of chips connected.

If you want to defend your USB ports from being attacked by USB killer circuits, your best chance would be isolating the data lines with an optocoupler, as only that would die and need to be replaced. Unfortunately these tend to get very pricy with increased speed and are therefore not viable for the high bandwith consumers would expect.

[thejeancarton]

I hope your recovery goes well and thank you for being there even if you have this type of problems in your life

[brunobarks]

I hope your eating healthy and getting lots of rest my brother.
Much love, God bless 🙏

[TheFuzzyne]

Steve, I see you're sporting the perfect amount of hair. I think it makes you look like a very wise guru. It also has the added bonus that it makes it easier to check for shorts and if you get too hot, you can always use "the perfect amount of thermal paste" and a big heatsink.

But in all seriousness, huge respect to you. I sincerely admire your resilience and determination and I wish you all the best for the future as well as an expedient recovery. You are a true inspiration to all of us.

[hawwin]

Hey Steve, Love the video and the fact that Austin was willing to send them over. One thing I noticed was that if I short a data line with an power line in a usb port the pc or laptop will power off and wont turn on if I leave the short there. After removing the short in the usb port it powers on fine. Maybe there is a short between the data and powerpins on the board of device #2 that prevents it from turning on.

[Trainwreck]

FYI, the reason you have such a hard time pinpointing the hot spots with your thermal camera is because of parallax. The thermal camera on the bottom of the phone captures the IR image, and the normal phone camera captures the visible light image, and then the software superimposes those two over each other. Since there's a pretty significant distance between the two camera lenses, there will be a ghosting effect similar to when you cross your eyes. You can reduce this by taking video from father away, but generally for precise work like circuit boards a thermal camera that has the lenses closer together will work better for you.

[I_am_Allan]

Steve, continuing to send good vibes/prayers.

At 37:56 when you were putting IPA onto the chip, just off to the 2 o'clock position, is a capacitor with a black spot. Probably blown up, maybe cracked.

[Josepht]

You are in my prayers Steve! Over the years your guidance has helped me fix so many things and I hope you continue to inspire people to restore and fix things for generations to come! Thank you so much for being a big part of my tech life and helping me learn and grow!

[Kenjitsuka]

Wow, what a long video! Really appreciate it, Steve!!! I hope your recovery goes super well and

[juicedup]

Crazy part is that I commented on Austin’s video suggesting he send those devices in to tronics so we can at least see a tear down 😂😂 I’m so happy rn

[charlesdebarber]

You are very correct when you said that crazy things happen when you unplug/plugin a battery. A lot of ASUS machines I have dealt with that had a short would not turn on unless I detached the battery, powered the machine on just the AC, and then plugged the battery back in. Smart batteries have their perks.

[BlueHasia]

Even if you can not fix it, i love reading the comments of people giving there input to help out.

[Amayagma]

I hadnt seen this guy in a long while so I was quite confused why he looked notably different. Seeing the comments now it makes a lot of sense.

I'm so happy that you're in complete remission and I am so grateful that you are still making vids like this! You're delightful to watch and even though I havent seen your vids in a while it feels great to see you're doing really well rn

[yumark]

I know he can do whatever he wants with his stuff but I can’t stand people who purposely break their perfectly working devices for content. I’m glad you are able to continue your hobby while going through a tough time! I hope your treatments are going great! Please continue to take care of your health and fight!