Why does “reflowing” a gpu or similar electronic return its functionality?

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I work at an arcade as a mechanic, I know mostly general electronics information, so I don’t know a lot of the more advanced architectural side of computers. My boss told me to reflow a dead GPU to see if it would work, so as per the instruction of the Youtube video, I waved a heat gun over it for 8 minutes. Plugged it back in, and what do you know, it worked.

Why does this work though, from my understanding, all this does is soften the solder for a few moments before letting it cool again.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Well, have you ever felt the heat that comes from a wire that carries electricity? Or any electronic for that mater

This heat is the main reason electronics fail, after many cycles of powering on and off, this constant expansion and contraction of the metal creates fisures (often invisible the naked eye, but more than capable to stop electricity from flowing). Elevating the temperature above the melting point (which is never reached under normal operating temperatures) allows the metal to flow and “repair” itself

Extra: this constant expansion and contraction (in this case due to heating and cooling) is better known as fatigue.

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