5 May
2010
5 May
'10
7:20 a.m.
Tony Duell wrote:
I still don't fancy the job of changing a BGA
chip. Particualarly if I am
not certain it's the problem....
I tried (emphasis: tried) to resolder a BGA on an Xbox360. Couldn't even
get the stupid thing off the PCB (no, it wasn't epoxy-underfilled).
The plan was to do a "no-tools" job of reballing it with SnPb solder
(that is: do it without a reballing kit), then resolder it. Fat chance.
I got one corner to desolder, then heard a loud BANG and realised the
PCB had started to warp. Urrgh.
Surprisingly it got further into the boot process after the
heat-treatment. Now it's throwing out an E73 error instead of a black
screen... I'd still like to fix it, though I'm not planning on buying a
?20 set of BGA nozzles (they're custom made for the '360 so not usable
for anything else), ~?60 for a BGA reballing kit, and another ?20 for
the templates. Frankly, I'm not terribly attached to that '360 (or any
'360 for that matter), and I'm willing to bet that it'll die again
shortly after I fix it... Reballing is one of those things you can do
once, but doing it a second time? I wouldn't rate my chances.
Although it would be nice to finish repairing it just so I can mark it
down as a successful repair instead of an "indefinitely suspended"
repair job.
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/