Bugger. Good luck with that then. Not keen on smd stuff. I did request we purchase an smd rework station, but they are a bit too skinflint here.
Could you not put a thermomenter on each chip and if one is hotter, bingo?
With hot air rework stations use of the correct nozzle, temperature and air flow settings makes removing smd parts painless.
If only they had some valuable spectrum analysers they could turn into ready cash. 
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They did have. God knows where they went. Canāt find owt around here.
Now if anybody fancies a scanning electron microscope to check their cartridges there might be one in the back of my car going cheap.
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Me me me.
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But, would it be as good as one of these
This is the nature of craft. Being a craftsman is for other people to tell you, because the more you know the more you are humbled by what you donāt know and the more you know you need to improve. If you think you know it all, you are fucked.
I am always reminded of a story about the great Australian spin bowler Clarrie Grimmett who invented the flipper (a backward spinning delivery delivered from a leg-break grip, later used by Shane Warne to devastating effect) amongst other subtleties. He had a practice net set up in his back garden, trained his dog to fetch the ball after he bowled it and to the day he died (I think in his eighties), years after heād retired from the professional game, practiced daily to try and perfect his craft, always believing he could improve. He wasnāt short of vanity either, he used to bowl in a cap to hide his bald head! When it came to his craft though, he always felt he was nowhere. 
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Iām sure I could fettle something up
Precision electrical soldering is easy enough after all, just as long as you have the right kit
VB
I might well try that (see above). At the moment the overcurrent is causing the 5V supply to shut down. But if I can find one with āadequateā current capacity then maybe all I have to do is to turn the unit upside down, connect the supply and the defective chip will get hot enough to desolder itself and fall out. Diagnosis and cure in one easy step !
VB
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I can do a bit over 100,000 mag but just a few thou is good enough for a cartridge. I did take some of an old Shure elliptical and posted them on a forum I used to post on years ago.
I fancy trying it with the Koetsu, but the magnet will probably fuck the beam up. And it will probably attract itself to the focussing magnet causing shitloads of damage. That would make for a difficult chat with the MD.
How much current do you need?
I might have summat.
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And probably another chat with Tesco insuranceā¦
Amex now. Tesco put the premium up too much.
I wonder why?
The other claim I made for legal services came to a lot more than the Koetsu.
No loyalty these days.
Iāve got a 4A one, which would probably be enough if I could persuade the chip to swallow it. I donāt think I can though. At 3.2V itās drawing about 120mA. Although the 5V reg is a TO220 itās supplied from a 23V rail (!) so at that current itās trying to dissipate a couple of watts, which is really too much for a free-stander without a heatsink. So it goes into thermal shutdown.
VB
I shall see what I have, if you want to have a borrow. Will be at Harwell Monday if you are in that sort of area.
Got service manuals for your analyser if they are any use too.
Excellent thread, fantastic stuff and as others have said itās nice to see such craftsmanship. All looks far more complicated than tree bashing thatās for sure.
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I have to agree, an impressive thing to be sure.