I remember reading a thread that I can not find for the life of me.. Not long ago

To send out the HFL to some guy is Florida who bakes the HFL in some massive oven and charges $45

anyone know anything about this?

If you can provide info so others can see it too..

Thanks!!!

 

search: https://www.google.com/search?q=site...sm=93&ie=UTF-8

 

thanks but thats not what i was looking for. I already tried these methods..

There was a thread about the HFL not working. If i remember correctly people were sending the HFL to some guy in Florida who would bake the HFL in this massive industrial oven of some sort.

THis is the info im looking for.

 

2nd google link...had a post

 

perfect!!!!

 

i don't know if a mod sees this but the godin technologies info (where to send and how much) for fixing the HFL link should be stickied. it's one of the most common failures of the 3rd gen and this guy fixes the problem for cheap.

 

I threw mine in a conventional oven for about 5 minutes @ 350°F...

and it worked perfect.

 

How long has it worked so far?
.
.

 

It's been like 3 weeks.

 

Give it time, more than likely will fail again. Most people have not had long term success with baking. GL

I'm on three months working after repair from guy in Florida.

 

thats a good while.. I baked my hfl but only last a few weeks.. THis is why i will be sending it to the florida guy

 

So this begs a question from an engineer, baking basically melts solder. That means there were some cold solder joints. Has anyone ever opened up a HFL and checked for broken solder joints or exactly what causes these to fail?

Mine just today got the dreaded "Booting Up" failure, so I'm in the same boat.

 

Yes, several posters in the main "bad bluetooth" thread mentioned looking at the joints, replacing capacitors, and one owner tried soldering over apparent fissures rather than baking, IIRC.

You might try sending the HFL to Godin Technologies (mentioned in another thread) for a $45 fix rather than replacing the unit or doing without it.

 

I get the "booting up" failure on and off for over a year now.
It never affected my battery, but I'm considering sending it in to get fixed just so it works 100%.

 

I'm going to disconnect the unit tonight so my battery doesn't die. I will also start to solder some points to see if that helps.

 

Baked it for nine minutes at 385 degrees. HFL now works!

 

i did the same a while back worked for a good solid week then, nothing

 

Its interesting how the HFL dies on some cars and it drains the battery and on others it doesn't..

Mine died about 3 months ago and have had no issues with the battery draining..

 

It's been about four days since I baked mine with no issues. I don't expect it to hold up based on what others have said.

 

Same here, baked with no issues for 3 weeks now. Fingers crossed

 

So I have noticed that mine only works in the morning and not the afternoon. In the morning I park in my garage (where temps can be about 50-60 degrees), and in afternoon, they can reach 65-70 degrees. The heck!?

 

it basically works the same as an oven, but much much more controlled as it's got different phases in the machine to control the temp at each stage. there are sensors at each stage that provide feedback at each stage. All the BGA's under the processors are melted back to liquid form for a better connection.
my friend has an electronics shop here in Alhambra that can do the exact same thing. I got mine fixed from him and it's been working great so far. Here are some pics of the solder reflow machine it went through. He also added some flux to the pcb to help with the connections overall. I definitely recommend this method.

 

Dont wait... mine died 6 months ago... battery died last week

 

Yup, mine only used to work when its very cold outside (-20)... after a while it just stopped all together

 

Yeah, mine stopped working. So now I have to determine if I want to try to send this in to get fixed...

 

send it in! it's only 45 bucks round trip and he said he's only had 1 out of about 60 not work after he fixed it...i think it's worth the shot. i can't live without HFL especially with them giving out tickets for cell phone stuff in california

 

About 4 months now, still working fine

 

So is this the address to send the HFL unit?

Postal address
795 Commerce Dr Ste 3
Venice, FL, 34292 USA

Along with a check for $45?

 

Shit, my new TL had the same booting issue...I tried swapping but my 04 is a totally different connection.

Looking like I'll be sending mine in.

 

Check Godin Tachnologies' website for other contact info: Godin Technologies

 

Address is confirmed.

 

I'd wager those BGA packages could be reflowed with a heat gun.

 

for $45 bucks I wouldn't bother.

 

I had mine done from the same company for $45 and mine lasted a year before having the same problem.

 

My repair crapped out finally after a little more than 6 months. Disappointing, guess there is no way around it but buying a new one.

 

for as infrequently as I take a call in the car...especially AFTER I replaced it on the black TL and never used it...

I'll probably leave it alone.

 

Yep. Disconnected. It's a shame, really.

 

Yep...because it was one of the things I was REALLY proud of in the car...one of the first with BT.


That doesn't work.

but I won't bother this time around.

 

I actually used it. I hate talking on the phone. So I'd save all my calls for when I was in the car.

 

My HFL has been intermittent since I got the car used 2.5 years ago. Luckily it hasn't drained my battery yet but i'm thinking I should probably just up and disconnect it so as not to tempt faith..


Plus disconnecting it probably adds at least 6.9 hpees... so it's a win -win really