BGA Reball/Rework (please read)

[jsnepo]

I'm new so sorry if I posted it here. I'm kind of confused as to where this is supposed to be posted in. And since I saw the description of this thread, I might as well post this here first. Paki lipat na lang po kung saan ito nararapat.

So why am I here? I'm no engineer. I know little about electronics. But I need your help guys. I seriously need your help. I'm not sure if you guys are aware of this but there is a growing number of PLAYSTATION 3s that are dying because of a hardware failure better known as the yellow light of death or YLOD.

YLOD

From what I've researched so far, it is commonly due to the solders of the BGA chips (RSX and Cell) losing contact with the board. A lot of people were able to resolve it by reflowing the chips. I actually reflowed mine and like other reflowed PS3s, YLOD came back. Mine came back after one month. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was told this happens due to the solders being used are lead-free. I was told that leaded solders are better to use but since the use of lead-free has been mandated by many countries especially with gaming consoles (considered as toys), the manufacturers have no choice but to transition to it. For reference, I'll post the motherboard of the PS3.

60GB Model (CECHA)





I need your help guys. Can anyone help me reball and rework the BGA chips of my PS3? I already know how to disassemble to get a naked board. This is for educational purposes since a lot of my friends are counting on reballing to permanently fix the issue. Like I said, the numbers are growing and we need to find a solution ASAP. If reballing does work, then some of my friends could get the equipment (reball station, stencils, infrared rework station although expensive) but not right now. What I'm trying to say is I'm offering my PS3 to be the test subject of this project and we need people with experience to help us out.

Consider this as a learning experience too. So if anyone here has the skills to reball and rework BGA chips the size of a Pentium III with an IHS properly, please let me know ASAP. You can check my profile for my contact information (email/YM). I'm online almost all the time.

Thank you.

[RiDdLeR???]

And I thought only the xbox360 had its 3RLOD meron din pala ang PS3.  It's exactly the same problem as the 360 has and I guess the permanent solution was to reball the graphics and cpu chips with leaded balls.  The ultimate solution is to provide better heat dissipation and cooling on the graphics and cpu chips.  Kahit i-reball pa uli iyan, babalik at babalik pa ulit yan because it will undergo the same extreme heat conditions.

Muntik na kong bumili ng ir rework station dati to fix my 360 and probably offer repair services kaya lang the cost of the bga balls pa lang is not cost effective. 

[jsnepo]

It's not as bad as the Xbox 360's though. At madalas ang tinatamaan nito ay yung mga lumang modelo. Mahigit dalawang taon na itong unit ko bago tamaan ng YLOD. To be honest, kasalanan ko din kaya nangyari ito sa unit ko. Pinabayaan ko kasi. I placed it in a very hot location. Madali din alikabukin.

Is there anyone you know that can help us? And how did you get your Xbox 360 fixed? Thank you.

[rdpzycho]

'yung ibang cellphone technicians at PC technicians marunong at may resources sa pag-reball.

[jsnepo]

Anyone you can recommend?

[jsnepo]

Anyone?

[ahlburuto]

sa mga cp repair kasi meron kaming ginagamit na pang reball ng ic. meron liquid na lead(di naman sya liquid, parang epoxy sya). tapos meron kaming pattern ng paa ng mga different IC. bale ang procedure eh ikapit mo yung ic sa kanyang pattern tapos ipahid mo yung pang reball na paste. then hot air. medyo mahirap to pero kung makuha mo ang technique eh madali lang. In your case dapat meron kang pattern ng IC mo. yung pattern eh para syang stainless sheet siguro ang kapal nun eh nasa 0.5-1mm. tapos andun yung design ng ic.

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[jsnepo]

You mean a stencil? To be honest, meron na kami. Pero padating pa lang sa katapusan. We ordered a set from Shenzhen. Ang problema talaga namin ay ang pag-rework ng BGA chips.

[ahlburuto]

Yun nga ata tawag dun. Pag meron na kayo nun eh madali nang mag rework nyan. Sa una lang mahirap pero pag nagamay nyo na eh easing easy na lang yan.

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[RiDdLeR???]

Ibang klase yung pang reball ng mga video or graphics chip compared sa mga bga chips na gamit sa cellphone. 

1.  Kailangan mo ng reballing station at stencil
2.  You need to have the right size bga balls at hindi yung lead paste.
3.  You need to have the very sticky solder flux so that the balls will stick to the chip.

Ang di ko alam eh kung ang step 4 ay necessary.

4.  You need to reflow the balls on the chip which is usually done in a reflow oven with the correct temperature profile.
5.  Then you reflow the graphics chip to the board using an irda welder or hotair rework with a very big bga nozzle.


Meron na kayong reballing station and the right size bga balls?  I bought a 3rl 360 just for this purpose kaso nawalan ako ng budget.

[jsnepo]

Yup. Meron na kaming reballing kit with the specific stencils for the BGA chips in the picture above. Dadating pa nga lang sa katapusan. Alam na din namin yung ball size. Ang problema lang talaga ay yung pagtanggal ng BGA chips mula sa board at ang pagkabit nito muli. Anyone here can help us with that?

[RiDdLeR???]

Kailangan siguro dito yung mga rework station na gamit sa pagrepair ng mga pc m/bs.  Medyo malaki kasi yung bga footprint ng mga graphics chip.  Bumili na rin sana kayo ng stencil for the 360.  I'm sure maraming mabubuhayan ng loob na mga 360 owners tulad ko.  Tatlo nga yung 360 ko  .... isa yung original ko, isang defective but revive ko and ito ngang last eh yung beyond repair na from all the other renowned 360 doctors just waiting for the right time and budget kung magkaruon..

Meron na rin ba kayong irda workstation?  Pwede na rin siguro yung mga hot air rework stations but kailangan ng malaking bga nozzle and manual adjustment of temperature para sa temperature profile nung chip.  It was also one of the reasons kaya tuluyn ko nga inabandon yung experiment ko dahil bga nozzle palang eh 2-3K na eh bili ko lang sa defective xbox 360 eh 1.5K.

[jsnepo]

Actually my friend did buy the stencils for the Xbox 360 too and the reballing station needed for it. Regarding the infrared station, I know someone who has one and is willing to let me borrow it. Unfortunately, I don't know how to operate it. May preheater pa yun pero di ako sure kung programmable. I also got some rework profile that can be used with the Xbox 360. I just hope the same can be applied with the PS3.

Maybe you can join us in this project of ours?

[jhon1977]

Sir baka meron na kayo BGA KIT + 170 stencil for Laptop / PS3 / Xbox / MObo cp# ko 09225897373 im jhon bautista interested to buy it....