Image: a close-up side view of a printed circuit board where a large cylindrical component covered in black shrink wrap can be seen. One of its legs has been pushed too far and has lifted the contact pad off of the board, damaging it.

Wife wanted a portable fridge/freezer combo for when we go camping, so I bought this 2-door 40L one on sale for a really good price. However, when we opened the box it was DOA, wouldn’t beep or do anything at all.

I contacted the seller who was happy to refund me once I sent it back, but it was refund only, no option to get a replacement, and by now the price has increased a good £60.

Sending it back felt like too much hassle, and I didn’t want to buy it again for more money, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Opening the cover to where the compressor and electronics are, I tested continuity in a bunch of spots (all good), then I had a closer look at the little PCB that interconnects everything and spotted the problem shown in the photo. What I presume is an inductor had been pressed down too hard during assembly, and one of its legs went through the PCB, lifting the pad on the other side.

I fully removed that board, had a quick look at where each trace was going and what connected to what, and luckily that lifted pad ended there, it didn’t connect to anywhere else on that side of the board. Its only connection was through the via to the upper side.

So I cleaned that lifted blob of solder and the ripped pad off of the leg, backed it a little until I had enough room to stick the soldering iron in between the inductor and the board, and soldered it on the top side of the board (and also reinforced the other leg).

I gave it a couple of hours for the oil in the compressor to settle before powering it on, et voilà! It works!

I might even be able to get a partial refund anyway. 😎