Geek Squad: Tanzania

Well, I guess that first picture spoils the ending...the repair worked! Part of the reason that I remained in Dar Es Salaam for so long these past couple weeks was to wait for Br. Francis Ndaga to return and help me attempt to repair my laptop. It has been having trouble charging and so I have been unable to use it for over two months now. 

About a month ago, I decided that I wanted to attempt to repair it myself (rather than wait until I got back home next spring to find a professional to do it) It is an old laptop, and it already did not work, so whats the worst that could happen?

Due to our limited power in Hanga the past two months (about 3 hours a day during the week and less on the weekends) I was unable to find a time that I could do the work because I would need power to use the soldering iron...and i didn't want to get half way done and have the lights go out!

Since I was going to be in Dar Es Salaam (where there is constant 24 hours of power!) I decided to bring my laptop along and see if Br. Francis could help repair it. He was very excited to help when I asked. So after about a week of waiting for his return and then both of us being convinced that the problem truly was internal, we decided to operate!

On Monday morning I woke up and found the work already begun! First the laptop needed to be completely disassembled, and then we could work on resoldering the loose connection on the AC power input on the Motherboard. With the help of Br. Ndaga's friend George (above) and the soldering gun and solder that i purchased in a shop in the market at Kariakoo, the repairs were completed mid-afternoon!

Of course, the work was only half done :) All of the pieces of my laptop (modem, screen, RAM, hard drive, DVD ROM, et. c.) had to find their place back in the case! It was fun watching the experts work and put the puzzle back together.

Testing to see if the repair worked...before putting the keyboard back on!

Replacing the hard drive, before the screen is secured back in place...

This was the final result. All three lights on and green! Power coming in, and battery fully charged. A welcome site.

Here is my bedroom desk at the guest house in Dar Es Salaam. It is great to have a computer again!

Thank you Br. Francis for your help. Now lets hope this repair lasts at least until the spring when i return home...

I am back in Hanga now. Everything is green! and thanks to the rain, there is enough water so our hydro-electric power station provides 24 hours of electricity! for the time being anyway...lets just hope the rain keeps up. What a luxury!

all for now.