Wow! That's a little smaller than my comfort zone allows for. You'd need a pretty quality hot air setup to get that properly (not to mention some tiny tweezers for the solder balls!). I may see if there are any local electronics repair places that can do the repair quickly and locally. Worth spending a little more money to save time in my opinion, considering the current value of BTC.

Do you have any updates on the parts needed for replacement? Do we need a different regulator there or is this simply a bad batch of chips? I'd be curious to know the chip information, as my magnifying glass is still packed and I can't quite see what it says. I'd love to look up the chips myself and do some research.


Thanks for the update Barntech!

EDIT: I wonder if unclean power could be causing issues with the regulator? I had very inconsistent behavior until switching to a very nice new powersupply (which is way overkill at 750w, made by CWT). This could certainly cause an issue with a regulator chip or an inductor chip. I am considering putting the boards on a true sine wave UPS. If those chips are weak, any fluctuations in line voltage could cause issues. Including some very dramatic ones, such as we have seen.

Just a few thoughts on the subject. I'd be curious to see if your engineers agree.

EDIT2: I'm thinking about giving it shot, with a lot of practice. Either that or take it to a local repair shop. Seems like it could be fairly easy with a steady hand and some luck.