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Comment by ComputerGuru | Hacker News Reader

I'm surprised FireWire port repair is that difficult/expensive. Can't be that much to it, you just need to source the same/similar controller from another (much cheaper!) device, no?

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I doubt you'd even need to get a new controller. If the wording in the article about what breaks -- just the port itself -- is accurate, the ports themselves cost a few bucks on a site like DigiKey, and even if you have no experience soldering, you could fix it, working very slowly, carefully, and methodically, over a few hours. (Someone with experience could do it much faster, of course).

Sure, I get that you might be squeamish about opening up a $16,000 device yourself and taking a soldering iron to it, but a port/connector is about as low risk as it gets when you need to repair electronics.

If you don't have a decent soldering iron or any of the related accessories, this "$3k" repair will cost under $100. If you do have one, it will cost you under $10.

I was being charitable and assuming absolute worst case scenario. But I agree.

Another fun thing (that I or someone I know might have done) is when you do a great job replacing the port with an exact replica but in the process somehow manage to desolder a resistor that's about the size of a small shard of a grain of rice from the board AND simultaneously knock the board so that the resistor goes flying into your carpet so now even though everything else is good the system won't work because you don't have the tools or know-how to locate a replacement.

Heh heh been there, done that. Was reflashing the eeprom on a $800 raid card and sheared off two surface mount resistors while pushing the card back in the slot. That horrible sinking feeling when you already know without checking that you’ve screwed up big time!

I wouldn't suggest a simple fix on an expensive device as a first soldering project. It is not that you need much experience, but it is risky and a little experience removes virtually all of the risk. Either practice on a few throw away boards with a similar part first, or ask someone you know who has relevant experience to do it for you.

I've had mixed results -- occasionally lifting traces/pads. Does that mean my iron is too hot? Seems like some boards are more delicate than others.

So, it's probably not the phyiscal port, but the controller and/or the interfacing. If you read the article fully, it mentions that the only known way to really fix the issue is to completely replace the main board... which would tell me that the "firewire port breaks" is a red-herring and something deeper in the electronics fails over time.

I'd imagine more of it has to do with trying to beat every penny of those desperate to get more use of their $15k+ scanner, and less to do with it being a technically complex task. That's assuming it truly just being a port issue is correct.

It's a niche market, and they're just taking advantage of such niche market, however morally gray it may be.

I think the suggestion was more, why doesn’t the blogger undertake this repair himself if he’s getting such a great deal on a rare item?

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