I finally think that not every lifted pad needs a trace repair

While fixing a game console, I found a lifted pad on a power line. I just bridged it with a wire instead of doing a full trace repair, and it's been fine for months. Most guides say to repair the trace right, but I think that's too much work for simple connections. Has anyone else tried skipping trace repairs in some cases?

2 comments

2 Comments

kevinh484h ago

Honestly your point about most guides saying to repair the trace is so true. I fixed an old radio last year where a tiny pad for a ground wire lifted clean off. I just scraped a little of the nearby trace clean and soldered the wire straight to that. It looked messy but it still works today. Sometimes the textbook fix just adds points of failure for no real gain.

carter.john3h ago

Totally get what you mean about textbook fixes adding failure points... I see this all the time in daily stuff. Take cooking, following a recipe to the letter when tossing in what you have works fine. We overcomplicate simple tasks because we're scared to mess up. But that extra complexity just introduces new things that can go wrong. My old car runs on bodge jobs that outlasted dealer repairs. Sometimes good enough is better than perfect.