New to reballing Need help

[grss429]

Been buying a few xbox's off ebay pretty cheap (20ish bucks) and 95 percent of them work with just cleaning out dust/new thermal paste then sell them. I've only done the heatgun treatment once to reflow the chips.

is it worth starting up such a business?


but I'd like to start doing them the proper way, with a rework station/reball.

I need suggestions on a starter setup that's not going to kill the pocket. I've been watching alot of you tube videos/guides on here and there.... i'd like to start and learn.


I'll be starting from scratch.. so I think I have a list of tools I'll need if you would also list YOUR tools.

I've done alot of computer repairs as well as similar repairs. I'm a fast learner, I enjoy doing this type of stuff, I like to take advice and also learn from mistakes

 

[gazcoigne]

your current method hasnt fixed anything and is merely a band aid fix and youve been ripping people off with consoles that will RROD within weeks/days.

not cool man.

proper equipment for reballing can run into hundreds if not a thousand £.

and it also takes skill and experience to do correctly, its not exactly a thing you can pick up easily.

 

[Neoglicher]

There is an interesting starter kit at bgamods store , am planning to use it too.

 

[GeekHeat]

I cant see there being lots of money made anymore in reball/reflow as u can pickup consoles only up very cheap nowadays.

 

[grss429]

your current method hasnt fixed anything and is merely a band aid fix and youve been ripping people off with consoles that will RROD within weeks/days.

not cool man.

proper equipment for reballing can run into hundreds if not a thousand £.

and it also takes skill and experience to do correctly, its not exactly a thing you can pick up easily.

I know it's not cheap. I was thinking like 100-350ish.. for proper equipment.

I understand it takes skill, the only way to gain skill is by practicing.. trust me if you have the want and means you can learn fast.


I'm not doing band aid fixing by reapplying thermal paste/cleaning dust as there is hardly no thermal paste and thats the cause for the overheating.. NOW if i used the heat gun yes it's a band aid fix. I always test the xbox's for atleast 3 weeks. before i sell them

 

[CptKlink]

Well in your first post you said you even used the heatgun method and now your saying you have never used that method?

 

[grss429]

Well in your first post you said you even used the heatgun method and now your saying you have never used that method?

out of the 3 i've done I've only used heat gun on my main system i use daily. other 2 were just RROD, cause was never opened/dust/hardly no thermal paste on the GPU/CPU

I do my best to always do proper fixes. and i believe after i fix them and 3 weeks of testing should be worthy enough to sell it.

is there any other way to "stress" test a xbox besides playing games like dead space 3, or really high GFX games?

I've been trying to look at http://bgareworkstation.co.uk but hes based in the uk? is there any US resellers?

also his page is down

 

[gazcoigne]

dust would never make a system RROD only loss of BGA connection does that.

heatgun does not reflow a system correctly either.

its not a stress test that determines if a system will RROD again, its the constant cycle of heating and cooling causing hairline fractures in the BGA balls that makes a system RROD again.

you could reflow a system and turn it on and it would run constantly for a year and wouldnt RROD because the BGA isnt being stressed.

only time tells with a bodge repair. some ive done before have lasted a year others have lasted 48 hours, hence why i dont do them anymore.

 

[grss429]

dust would never make a system RROD only loss of BGA connection does that.

heatgun does not reflow a system correctly either.

its not a stress test that determines if a system will RROD again, its the constant cycle of heating and cooling causing hairline fractures in the BGA balls that makes a system RROD again.

you could reflow a system and turn it on and it would run constantly for a year and wouldnt RROD because the BGA isnt being stressed.

only time tells with a bodge repair. some ive done before have lasted a year others have lasted 48 hours, hence why i dont do them anymore.

Yah seems on/off is there any workstations you recommend for reballing?/good starter kit?

 

[Beaver_Buffcoat]

X-TRONIC 5000 SERIES - MODEL #5040-XTS Hot Air Rework Station & Preheater

A good starter setup. This is about as basic as it gets for $220, and would require slight modifications to use with Xbox360 mobo's (larger hot air nozzle, frame to secure board to workstation).

A professional setup (several thousand $$$) uses IR and thermal imaging to follow the reflow profile as closely as possible, not to mention the work area is larger.

A cheap pick and place device would be a good addition to the above, along with the stencils and lead solder balls for the chips you'll be working on. Kapton tape, a reballing jig and some quality liquid flux and you're all set.

 

[grss429]

X-TRONIC 5000 SERIES - MODEL #5040-XTS Hot Air Rework Station & Preheater

A good starter setup. This is about as basic as it gets for $220, and would require slight modifications to use with Xbox360 mobo's (larger hot air nozzle, frame to secure board to workstation).

A professional setup (several thousand $$$) uses IR and thermal imaging to follow the reflow profile as closely as possible, not to mention the work area is larger.

A cheap pick and place device would be a good addition to the above, along with the stencils and lead solder balls for the chips you'll be working on. Kapton tape, a reballing jig and some quality liquid flux and you're all set.

so with that basic setup I'll have to get http://www.amazon.com/LarcoLais-Sta...qid=1407363520&sr=1-1&keywords=xbox360+reball

anything else? i might need besides some good flux

 

[Beaver_Buffcoat]

That looks okay to me. You also need a pickup tool. I can't vouch for the effectiveness of this ---> http://www.amazon.com/Black-Vacuum-Sucking-Suction-Headers/dp/B00AOB0LAY, but it's cheap and you need a way to safely lift the hot chip from the board.

You'll also need thermocouplers. It's important to keep track of the reflow profile, and to do it effictively you need multiple probes placed around the chip being worked on. You could also use an infrared thermometer in the mix to take temp readings directly from the chip while heating.

Good luck on your quest! :smile:

 

[grss429]

That looks okay to me. You also need a pickup tool. I can't vouch for the effectiveness of this ---> http://www.amazon.com/Black-Vacuum-Sucking-Suction-Headers/dp/B00AOB0LAY, but it's cheap and you need a way to safely lift the hot chip from the board.

You'll also need thermocouplers. It's important to keep track of the reflow profile, and to do it effictively you need multiple probes placed around the chip being worked on. You could also use an infrared thermometer in the mix to take temp readings directly from the chip while heating.

Good luck on your quest! :smile:

thank you, do you suggest a different jig or anything?

also what hot air nozzle do I need? along with frame to secure board to workstation. (how would i go about that one)

and with all this i should be able to reball xbox's correctly?

 

[Beaver_Buffcoat]

Check out these videos for a better idea.

43mm nozzle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1I-wYH3eV4

Quick reball summary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3I0NNzc7tg

Take note of the way the board is clamped from either side on the rework station (second video). This is important! Securing the board in place while heating and cooling will prevent the board from bowing and warping. There are a couple of different ways that I've seen people do this, so you have options if the board is too big for whatever preheater/rework station you decide to use.

 

[xboxmoddz]

X-TRONIC 5000 SERIES - MODEL #5040-XTS Hot Air Rework Station & Preheater

A good starter setup. This is about as basic as it gets for $220, and would require slight modifications to use with Xbox360 mobo's (larger hot air nozzle, frame to secure board to workstation).

A professional setup (several thousand $$$) uses IR and thermal imaging to follow the reflow profile as closely as possible, not to mention the work area is larger.

A cheap pick and place device would be a good addition to the above, along with the stencils and lead solder balls for the chips you'll be working on. Kapton tape, a reballing jig and some quality liquid flux and you're all set.

i know its a bit old but i didnt want somebody looking at this and thinking it was the right way to go

SMT and BGA are 2 very different things as per http://www.thebgareworkmachine.com/bga-repair-smt-repair/

a real machine is going to be at least a grand unless you go used