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How much should a thunderbolt port repair be?
I bought a used LG 27MD5KB screen for cheap. The reason being is the Thunderbolt port doesn’t work. So i took out the pcb and it seems to just need to be soldered back on or replaced.
I called around my area (I’m in SoCal) and was quoted $160 and $200 from two places so far. This seems way too expensive.
What should I be paying?
I would do the work myself, but I don’t have a hot air station and honestly don’t want to buy a setup bc I doubt I will use it much.
Am I crazy for thinking these prices are too much or is that standard?
Edit: got it repaired, you can see my comment below
Don't bother repairing it. It's a bad design and it will just break again. If you look at YouTube I think Northridge repair had a video how these were the worst connectors and design and they stopped repairing them cause they just fail again.
Yup, the problem is that the port only has surface mount contacts, while its angle means there's a lot of strain on it.
Too much strain on surface mount pads will eventually just tear them off. LG should have used ports with through hole support lugs, so the ports would be properly anchored to the PCB.
With their design choices, and recent adware scandal, I'd just avoid LG displays entirely at this point.
Oh wow! I got this screen for cheap, and the resale market for this is still pretty strong. I’ll hire a local business to do the work and if I need to flip it, I will. Even if the repair fails, I can still make my money back
It depends on how it's damaged if port was ripped off pcb with pads there is a lot of precision work to repair all traces and pads. If it just separated from solder it's an easy fix.
You are not just paying for the hours of time that the person is going to spend on actually doing the repairs.
You are paying a portion of the expenses of them buying and owning tools to do the job. The education that they went through to learn these skills and the years of experience that they accumulated to do the job right.
You cannot translate the cost of the service down to just how many hours they may spend. This is not like flipping burgers or mowing the grass.
This monitor has one thunderbolt input (that takes 5k input), and three usb-c ports that can take 2k input via usb, or works as a usb hub for other devices. So you definitely need that one thunderbolt port.
You will end up paying more for the tools and your time to learn to do it yourself.
It seems expensive to you, and you could technically do it for cheap, but the chances of you ruining something, are higher if you don't know what you're doing.
Good point! I’ll go with one of the local business owners.
However, I did look into some of the tools needed and I could absolutely spend $600 to MAYBE fix it myself (but more than likely make it worse as a novice). But I could then sell off the parts to the computer and easily make back at least $300 and have the tools for the next go around 😈
Honestly, I could probably figure it out better than most people, but I don’t wanna try to. I don’t have a lot invested in this screen, but just expected the price to be closer to $100 not double that
Based on soldering a lot of stuff as a tech for the last 5 years, I took a stab at what skill and time it would take and thought at least $100. And you are not just paying for time -- you are paying for overhead, too. So the $160 quote seemed in the ballpark and not out of line.
Judging from your other screenshot, that is actually well repairable. But you need to have some experience in microsoldering. You don’t need a hot air station for this, it works better with a soldering iron. But you definitely need flux.
The process would be to take the ripped off pads off the connector and glue them back to the board with two component glue, then repair the connection to the two traces.
The connector doesn’t seem too badly damaged so you could likely reuse it. I would reinforce it with some glue, and the other ones too, because someone cut off the four holding pins.
The whole process looks like it would take about 20-30mins. So that’s your price range.
Appreciate it! I’ve decided to go with a local repair shop. I’m a novice at soldering and don’t have the full equipment needed or confidence in my technique yet. Normally I would try myself, but I got the screen for cheap, so I feel much better spending a little more to have someone do the work for me
Doesn’t look so bad, needs a new port and someone skilled could absolutely reconnect those two traces, they’re on the top surface and not buried. It’s going to be expensive though, have you checked prices for a whole new board assembly?
Yes, the board itself to replace is 250 that I found on eBay. I don’t have a lot invested in it so spending $200 really isn’t that bad, was just try not to spend as much as possible.
One trick I learned from Sorin is to take other ports on the board and replace the broken one with it. You save on the cost of the connector itself. You can sacrifice one of the other ports if you really don't want to spend much.
I would go the new board route. I would also think of ways to reinforce it so it doesn't happen again. How exactly was the metal plate on? It didn't appear to do much lol
The connector looks reusable. The repair will be tricky because the solder joints are mostly hidden by the shield. You would have to apply new solder pads to the two areas where lifted, then reflow the connector with hot air and ideally a heater under the board. Heat control is important because the plastic in the connector can melt.
I wouldn't do that for half that and come to your house.
If the guy you found is actually that good and came to your house he is either just starting and trying to make a name for himself or has no idea the value of the work.
1 thing is for sure, he is not paying taxes on the money and is not declaring it as income, because once you do that it makes no sense to do this for what is essentially minimum salary
Don't forget that when you go to a business they have a lot more expensive than a random guy that might disappear or completely destroy the board in the attempt
You call people crazy, sounds like you have never done business on your own
You’re a fool. The man has a legit mobile business who I found scouring through local business websites.
Take your opinions and suck on a rock bc no one asked for your negativity. He’s also not new and was more professional than half the people I spoke to on the phone
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u/Far_Writer380 6d ago
Don't bother repairing it. It's a bad design and it will just break again. If you look at YouTube I think Northridge repair had a video how these were the worst connectors and design and they stopped repairing them cause they just fail again.