It used to be you could crack open a TV or radio and really work on the components inside. The smallest thing in there was maybe a disc capacitor a little smaller than your pinky’s nail. Nowadays, consumer electronic boards are full of tiny SMD components. Luckily [StezStix Fix?] has a microscope and the other tools you need. Someone sent him an Amazon Echo Show with a bad touchscreen. Can it be fixed?

The video below shows that it can, but there’s a twist. The bad capacitor was mounted on one of those flexible PCB cables that are so hard to work with. It is hard enough not to damage these when you aren’t trying to remove and replace a component from the surface of the cable.

[StezStix] didn’t have schematics, so he had to use the “Columbus method” (you know, hunt until you find it), but that worked in this case. Turns out a burned finger broke the case. We liked that he showed his hot air mess-ups, where he blew a handful of components off the board. You may, however, want to hover over the mute button for the fast-forward dance party music.

We envy [StezStix] the feeling you get when a repair like this works. SMD fixes can be rewarding. We’ll remind you of the utility of covering parts you don’t want to heat with hot air using tape.

Thanks [Jim] for the tip!