I will start this thread to have pertinent information about getting involved with reworking ie; reflow reball
The company i work for has been in reworking for 3 yrs now, it is the bulk of our business
The benefit of reworking is fixing things that would otherwise be unfixable or too expensive to replace
Some examples:
CPU socket is faulty ie; wont detect CPU you can replace that with a fresh socket or put fresh balls on the socket
Laptops without power, many laptops have the SB chip which is the main chip on the board that controls i/o functions that will have the solder joints go faulty and by performing reworking on it power is restored
Note: some power issues are related to QFN chips, resistors, regulators, mosfets etc and in this case a reflow or reball will do nothing
Mainboard needs to be replaced and it is expensive and will take time to order but the customer needs it now, so simply rework the GPU and not have to worry about ordering parts
Cell phones have bga related issues as do tablets
Game consoles, TVs, GPS units, Motor Vehicle Gauges etc;
-----------------------------------------------
Is it worth it:
That depends on may factors such as cost, time, space etc;
You HAVE to spend at minimum a grand to get started
If you wish to talk about griddles, heat guns, ovens, etc; i simply will not offer help or support on that as its an improper repair
It WILL probably work sometimes but if it does the repair will not last and this is why bga reworking has a bad name
Those devices above are PERFECTLY fine for small components but NOT for bga components, using larger nozzles etc; is not suitable at all
-------
Depending on which boards you are going to rework will depend on the machine that you use, if you are going to work on cell phones then a small $300 system will work just fine and i would recommend not going bigger as the boards are very small and you want a small machine
If you are going to work on laptops and Xbox 360, then a machine with about 3 240 x 60 heaters on the bottom will be suitable i prefer 4 but 3 will do the job since those boards are not as picky
For PS3 you MUST have at minimum 4 240 x 60 heaters for the bottom as those boards have several layers in the pcb and contain large bga chips plus the board is just huge
The reason you need proper bottom heating is because of board flex or warpage, if the board is not heated evenly it will bend in certain areas or may not heat the bga chip evenly causing solder ball bridges or shorts
So with that in mind you can get a decent machine for around $700 that will support 3 heaters or maybe 4
This is a machine that will work on laptops and Xbox 360s
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT
For PS3s this will do
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT
These are the cheapest machine that you should buy anything smaller or cheaper will not be sufficient and will cost you more in the end
Now if you buy the smaller machine due to a lack of funds, you are not totally lost because you can upgrade the heaters later and then work on larger boards without issue
These are german made heaters, you know the guys that make beamers
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT
If you do upgrade the heaters i recommend new relays or SSR, i bought mine from amazon that were made in USA opto22, relays control the heaters basically without relays the heat will always be on
IR heaters in most machines are made in china thus they dont last as long as others and they will not provide even heating
Also these machines are made in china so they do not pass safety inspections and some have reported the wiring catching fire etc;
Now this is not often but it DOES happen, it hasnt happened to me so maybe i am just lucky
I personally rewired my machine with thicker gauge so that way it was more efficient and safer
----------
Next is power issues, UK have no problem you guys have 220 and is best for those in the USA you have a few options buy a 110v machine which i do not recommend it will be a huge power hog, buy a 220v machine with transformer, personally i would not do it since a transformer is another piece of equipment that could go bad and if it does you have to order another, have a 220v line installed in your place
I did it myself and no i am not a certified electrician so dont take my advice as such i simply used common sense and research
Basically all buildings have 220 in the breaker box with 3 wires going to an outlet a live, ground and neutral
The neutral is basically another ground or vice versa
So get a double pole breaker and connect 2 lives and a ground thus eliminating the extra neutral
So with 2 lives meaning 110 x 2 = 220 or 120 x 2 = 240 which is still no problem as machines are rated up to work on 240 and that is the power that aussies use
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdZFXNd2qN8
I am not responsible if you die, this video is made by a regular guy without a electricians license
If you hire an electrician, it should cost no more than $200
Many people use dryer plugs, but check google for that
---
You will need some tools and accessories as well
Flux is a MUST, and there are tons ie; Amtech, Kester, Kingbo, Magic, Super bla bla
Amtech is SUPPOSED to be the best but there are SOOOOOOOO many fakes out there and if you do get original it will cost quite a bit
I use Kingbo, but i have all of the above fluxes and that was to do some testing in the end Kingbo was overall the best mainly because it lasted up to 240c in temperature where as most would burn out at 200c which is essentially useless for reworking BUT for soldering is fine
Alcohol, Acetone, Mek are cleaning chemicals
I use denatured alcohol most of the time it removes thermal compound pretty easy and cleans residue flux without issue
Acetone is stronger so i use that if needed and finally MEK is basically Acetone but doesnt dry as quick
IPA = Alcohol but you need 99% and its either hard to find or expensive, Denatured can be found at a hardware store sooooooooo i use that
If you get a board in that was previously repaired, which we do often they probably used some weird flux or other goo and it looks so awful so you must clean it off and that is where those chemicals come into play
Cleaning the heatsinks is also needed
-------------------------
Supporting the board is CRUCIAL as you could have a million dollar machine if you dont support the board it will bend and flex
For game consoles there are pre made supports that fit the specific models
Other boards mainly laptops you can use the included support system that comes with machine since they are not as large or thick as game console boards but that may change
---------
That is all that is needed for reflow, if you want to reball you will need the following:
Solder balls
Rework jig
Vacuum pen
Stencils
Braid
Buy it pre made, piece it together however you want to do it you need those items
This is a pre made kit
---------------------------------------
Using the machine is not super easy but not super hard and the machines above come with pre programmed profiles
A profile is basically the heating instructions you give the machine which include the temperature, time and speed
Speed is easy i just set it to 2 and its safe
Time is something you need to figure out by how long it takes to get to set point and how long you want it heated at that point
Temperature is the amount of heat generated at that time, your not going to go from 0 to 280 right away it has to be gradual or you will cause thermal shock
The pre programmed files should be used as a starting point and you will adjust the values based upon your environment, board type, flux used, machine type etc;
Most common way to control a machine is with a PID controller, they are also used in cooking and are relatively simple to use by following the manual closely
The controllers contain advanced features for fine tuning, but its best to leave them be and leave the default values set
There are then the touch screen controllers which are usually even easier to use but arent required, some of them have built in graphs to view the profile in action, the non touch models tend to offer PC control via serial or usb to start and stop the profile and watch the graph
YES its cool, but after a mth i stopped using the pc and controlled it from the controller since using a PC was just not needed
The profile is definitely a very important part of reworking as without proper instructions the machine can not do its job, and a properly set profile decides if you win or loose with repair
Many people borrow, trade, purchase profiles and this will go on for a while the fact is Joe can not use Bobs profile even if he has the same machine
His environment is different he may rework in a basement with humidity or by a lake with dry air etc;
The company i work for has been in reworking for 3 yrs now, it is the bulk of our business
The benefit of reworking is fixing things that would otherwise be unfixable or too expensive to replace
Some examples:
CPU socket is faulty ie; wont detect CPU you can replace that with a fresh socket or put fresh balls on the socket
Laptops without power, many laptops have the SB chip which is the main chip on the board that controls i/o functions that will have the solder joints go faulty and by performing reworking on it power is restored
Note: some power issues are related to QFN chips, resistors, regulators, mosfets etc and in this case a reflow or reball will do nothing
Mainboard needs to be replaced and it is expensive and will take time to order but the customer needs it now, so simply rework the GPU and not have to worry about ordering parts
Cell phones have bga related issues as do tablets
Game consoles, TVs, GPS units, Motor Vehicle Gauges etc;
-----------------------------------------------
Is it worth it:
That depends on may factors such as cost, time, space etc;
You HAVE to spend at minimum a grand to get started
If you wish to talk about griddles, heat guns, ovens, etc; i simply will not offer help or support on that as its an improper repair
It WILL probably work sometimes but if it does the repair will not last and this is why bga reworking has a bad name
Those devices above are PERFECTLY fine for small components but NOT for bga components, using larger nozzles etc; is not suitable at all
-------
Depending on which boards you are going to rework will depend on the machine that you use, if you are going to work on cell phones then a small $300 system will work just fine and i would recommend not going bigger as the boards are very small and you want a small machine
If you are going to work on laptops and Xbox 360, then a machine with about 3 240 x 60 heaters on the bottom will be suitable i prefer 4 but 3 will do the job since those boards are not as picky
For PS3 you MUST have at minimum 4 240 x 60 heaters for the bottom as those boards have several layers in the pcb and contain large bga chips plus the board is just huge
The reason you need proper bottom heating is because of board flex or warpage, if the board is not heated evenly it will bend in certain areas or may not heat the bga chip evenly causing solder ball bridges or shorts
So with that in mind you can get a decent machine for around $700 that will support 3 heaters or maybe 4
This is a machine that will work on laptops and Xbox 360s
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT
For PS3s this will do
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT
These are the cheapest machine that you should buy anything smaller or cheaper will not be sufficient and will cost you more in the end
Now if you buy the smaller machine due to a lack of funds, you are not totally lost because you can upgrade the heaters later and then work on larger boards without issue
These are german made heaters, you know the guys that make beamers
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MESE:IT
If you do upgrade the heaters i recommend new relays or SSR, i bought mine from amazon that were made in USA opto22, relays control the heaters basically without relays the heat will always be on
IR heaters in most machines are made in china thus they dont last as long as others and they will not provide even heating
Also these machines are made in china so they do not pass safety inspections and some have reported the wiring catching fire etc;
Now this is not often but it DOES happen, it hasnt happened to me so maybe i am just lucky
I personally rewired my machine with thicker gauge so that way it was more efficient and safer
----------
Next is power issues, UK have no problem you guys have 220 and is best for those in the USA you have a few options buy a 110v machine which i do not recommend it will be a huge power hog, buy a 220v machine with transformer, personally i would not do it since a transformer is another piece of equipment that could go bad and if it does you have to order another, have a 220v line installed in your place
I did it myself and no i am not a certified electrician so dont take my advice as such i simply used common sense and research
Basically all buildings have 220 in the breaker box with 3 wires going to an outlet a live, ground and neutral
The neutral is basically another ground or vice versa
So get a double pole breaker and connect 2 lives and a ground thus eliminating the extra neutral
So with 2 lives meaning 110 x 2 = 220 or 120 x 2 = 240 which is still no problem as machines are rated up to work on 240 and that is the power that aussies use
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdZFXNd2qN8
I am not responsible if you die, this video is made by a regular guy without a electricians license
If you hire an electrician, it should cost no more than $200
Many people use dryer plugs, but check google for that
---
You will need some tools and accessories as well
Flux is a MUST, and there are tons ie; Amtech, Kester, Kingbo, Magic, Super bla bla
Amtech is SUPPOSED to be the best but there are SOOOOOOOO many fakes out there and if you do get original it will cost quite a bit
I use Kingbo, but i have all of the above fluxes and that was to do some testing in the end Kingbo was overall the best mainly because it lasted up to 240c in temperature where as most would burn out at 200c which is essentially useless for reworking BUT for soldering is fine
Alcohol, Acetone, Mek are cleaning chemicals
I use denatured alcohol most of the time it removes thermal compound pretty easy and cleans residue flux without issue
Acetone is stronger so i use that if needed and finally MEK is basically Acetone but doesnt dry as quick
IPA = Alcohol but you need 99% and its either hard to find or expensive, Denatured can be found at a hardware store sooooooooo i use that
If you get a board in that was previously repaired, which we do often they probably used some weird flux or other goo and it looks so awful so you must clean it off and that is where those chemicals come into play
Cleaning the heatsinks is also needed
-------------------------
Supporting the board is CRUCIAL as you could have a million dollar machine if you dont support the board it will bend and flex
For game consoles there are pre made supports that fit the specific models
Other boards mainly laptops you can use the included support system that comes with machine since they are not as large or thick as game console boards but that may change
---------
That is all that is needed for reflow, if you want to reball you will need the following:
Solder balls
Rework jig
Vacuum pen
Stencils
Braid
Buy it pre made, piece it together however you want to do it you need those items
This is a pre made kit
---------------------------------------
Using the machine is not super easy but not super hard and the machines above come with pre programmed profiles
A profile is basically the heating instructions you give the machine which include the temperature, time and speed
Speed is easy i just set it to 2 and its safe
Time is something you need to figure out by how long it takes to get to set point and how long you want it heated at that point
Temperature is the amount of heat generated at that time, your not going to go from 0 to 280 right away it has to be gradual or you will cause thermal shock
The pre programmed files should be used as a starting point and you will adjust the values based upon your environment, board type, flux used, machine type etc;
Most common way to control a machine is with a PID controller, they are also used in cooking and are relatively simple to use by following the manual closely
The controllers contain advanced features for fine tuning, but its best to leave them be and leave the default values set
There are then the touch screen controllers which are usually even easier to use but arent required, some of them have built in graphs to view the profile in action, the non touch models tend to offer PC control via serial or usb to start and stop the profile and watch the graph
YES its cool, but after a mth i stopped using the pc and controlled it from the controller since using a PC was just not needed
The profile is definitely a very important part of reworking as without proper instructions the machine can not do its job, and a properly set profile decides if you win or loose with repair
Many people borrow, trade, purchase profiles and this will go on for a while the fact is Joe can not use Bobs profile even if he has the same machine
His environment is different he may rework in a basement with humidity or by a lake with dry air etc;
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