getting into repairs.

weeder

so first, a little backround on myself, ive been taking apart consoles and such for years, fixing things for friends and modding and whatnot. i never really got into the whole ylod/rrod repair thing because i hadnt gear to do it, so really im looking for tips.tricks, resources and so on for doing this,

I sort of got out of the whole console scene for a few years then too so im fairly rusty, so id be looking at buying a few broken consoles and fixing them to cover the costs of everything.

what will i need to buy and where can i learn to do the repairs, I want to learn how to do everything properly, ie no heat guns or the like,
advice much appreciated

thanks.

Jimbobjoeyman

right where to begin

Well its definatly not as easy as the videos make it look

get a respirator before you start - I messed up my lungs before I got a respirator and Im only recovering now since I'm using one now

Rework station wise how much are you looking to spend many different options based on your price range,
The general feeling is avoid aoyue and jovy like the plague.

once you get the equipment then the hard part starts - making profiles,
this is the hardest part and nearly made me give up and sell my equipment I found it that hard.
What you do is get a board and find you melting point and work from there.

Good flux is a must - this flux is the best I have ever used http://www.insatinternational.com/product.php?category_id=13&product_id=84
But make sure to USE A RESPIRATOR this flux is what really messed my lungs up.
At the moment I'm using amtech 559-v2 its not as good but easier on the chest.

Google everything you can about the topic
And read as much as you can.
But first hand experience counts for everything, you cant just copy someones profile and expect it to work.
You have to create your own.

EDIT-
Dont go on youtube looking at these repairs 9/10 of the people on youtube might have the equipment but still aren't doing it right

EDIT-2
The respiator I use http://www.wickes.co.uk/wickes-master-respirator-with-cartridges/invt/200277/

weeder

well what sort of dosh would i be looking at for the basics to do a good job?

also what are profiles, like i said im 100% green on this whole thing, is there anywhere i can go online with a guide for everything needing to be done that is reliable? had a look on xbox scene but couldnt see much


edit: they say all the x clamp kits and heatgun repairs suck, fair enough, i see xecuter sell there own special x clamp kit that is somehow different, they failed to let me down on the original xbox but do these work atall or are they just as bad as any other xclamp?

Jimbobjoeyman

there is no reliable guide anywhere because rework station settings depend on the machine you have and the enviroment your working in.
You need to figure this out for your own work enviroment.

basics are there aee only two good fixes for ylod and rrod.
reballing and reflowing on a rework station.
google cvx repair forum.
xbox scene is full of idiots.

the x clamp fix and all those other diy fixes do more damage than good and make it harder to repair properly.

to do a good job your looking to spend a few hundered.

weeder

seems like just the forum i was after actually, cheers

docentore

yeah, cvx and maye llama are good

weeder

so in a nutshell, from a very basic standpoint, i need a pre heater and a reflow station,

when i get the board set up correctly in the pre heaterI flux the bga and then I warm it up according to the profile of the gear and when its upto temp i focus the reflow nozzle over the chip and again heat it as according to the profile

this seems to be basically it to me, maybe more steps but like i say im a total noob so is this more a less correct? If so its just to decide on some equipment and get buyin. of course things never tend to be this simple so please enlighten me if ive got anything wrong.

thanks.

Jimbobjoeyman

your flux goes on before it goes anywherere near your rework equipment.

And You should use some way of drawing moisture out of the BGA chips,
If not they have a tendency to delaminate or popcorn.
Especially xenons, the gpu chips on them are made of thinner matierial than hdmi consoles.

You will need a rework station. preheater, external k type thermocouples, flux, kapton and alluminium tape, hot air nozzles,acetone or mek.
thermal paste remover, thermal paste.
Oh yeah and a respirator remember to get a good respirator

I think thats everything
I'll have a look at my work area tommorow to see if I forgot anything

weeder

finally getting the hang of whats needed so, just one question,i see places saying that they do a reflow and then a hybrid fix ontop of this for the best results, which from what i can see is a variation of the x clamp fix, is it any use?

Jimbobjoeyman

original x clamps all the way

Those fixes do more harm than good, if you actually stack two washers beside the xbox gpu you will see that the gpu is taller than the two washers,
So doing the x clamp fix just crushes the chip.

Although if you were to buy the washers from the xbox experts store they tend to be more or less the right size.
But I dont see anything to gain from it.
If the x clamps really were flawed why would microsoft be using them in every xbox from launch to now.

Reamer Fanny

weeder wrote: »

finally getting the hang of whats needed so, just one question,i see places saying that they do a reflow and then a hybrid fix ontop of this for the best results, which from what i can see is a variation of the x clamp fix, is it any use?

Always leave the x clamps back on, if you going to buy a kit your looking at more overheads and besides its not the clamping thats the problem its the bad solder.

Jimbobjoeyman

justryan wrote: »

Always leave the x clamps back on, if you going to buy a kit your looking at more overheads and besides its not the clamping thats the problem its the bad solder.

exactly this

Anyway if your repair is good what do you need the kits for :cool:

weeder

fair enough so, time to price some gear.

Jimbobjoeyman

Whats your price range ?
I can reccomend some good equipment for you if you want

weeder

I dont really have one, dont mind me asking, what do you use?

weeder

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/NEW-2IN1-SMD-HOT-AIR-REWORK-SOLDERING-IRON-STATION-UK-/150650245077?pt=UK_Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item2313744fd5 what about the like of this and an 8280 preheater? the soldering iron is a nice bonus an aoyue 968 does tempt me along with the 8280 and theres a few profiles on cvx but you said avoid that brand?

Jimbobjoeyman

Those machines are copys of aoyue ...complete crap
One side of the chip will be 10-15 degrees hotter than the other - you dont want that.
Aoyue and its copys suffer from uneven heating

Get this instead along with the t-8280
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Saike-898D-Rework-Hot-Air-Soldering-Desoldering-Station-/260873575060?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cbd46da94#ht_4014wt_1110

Much better value for money and the heat distribution is just as good as the big infared stations.
2-3 degree difference either side of the chip,
Meaning if you want at some stage the machine I linked to will allow you to reball.
I use a similar one and its brilliant,

But if I was doing things over this is the one I'd buy http://www.aliexpress.com/product-fm/506618589-ATTEN-AT8502D-Advanced-Hot-Air-Soldering-Station-SMD-Rework-Station-900W-2-in-1-030056-wholesalers.html
Its got a bit more power to it

weeder

ATTEN one is nice, the whole built in soldering iron thing appeals to me, ive only got a lidl one at the moment. and although its modded a few consoles its not the right tool for the job.

Jimbobjoeyman

weeder wrote: »

ATTEN one is nice, the whole built in soldering iron thing appeals to me, ive only got a lidl one at the moment. and although its modded a few consoles its not the right tool for the job.

Atten one is nice
The Saike one has a built in soldering iron too
Your also going to need something to hold the air wand
I wouldn't buy it from the aliexpress seller I linked to though he has no feedback,
Find a more reputable seller.

weeder

alibaba and express can be dodgy as fook at the best of times, i once bought a pile of dongles off a seller, didnt realise the saike had an iron too, it would probabaly do me for a while then until i decide if i was going to seriously get into reflowing or not, i was looking at a few reballing videos on youtube, i can see myself doing that when i get some skills built up.

Jimbobjoeyman

weeder wrote: »

alibaba and express can be dodgy as fook at the best of times, i once bought a pile of dongles off a seller

Thats why you get a reputable seller and use paypal
Aliexpress does have buyer protection.
Payment is held untill the buyer says the item is recieved and everything is as it should be.
Well thats what happened when I bought my t-8280 :cool:

weeder

not too bad so, between this thread and the flashing one i should be able to kit out a nice decent 360 setup. where did you get your 8280 from?

Jimbobjoeyman

weeder wrote: »

not too bad so, between this thread and the flashing one i should be able to kit out a nice decent 360 setup. where did you get your 8280 from?

Scotle on aliexpress
Great support if anything goes wrong.
Mine arrived with a broken ir plate But I had a free one shipped to my door within a week.

weeder

nice, does he do the saike station aswell? and thermocouple gear? i see 2 probe and a decoder setup on ebay for under 20 quid, plus the one that is built into the preheater would that be enough? all they all accurate enough or should i be looking at somthing a bit heftier?

Jimbobjoeyman

no thats all I have as well.
Youll have to buy that stuff seperatly.
You Know you will need nozzles aswell ?

Myrddin

weeder wrote: »

alibaba and express can be dodgy as fook at the best of times

Lads can we just watch the wordage with the likes of the above, I can appreciate some of you may/may not have had bad experiences but just bear in mind this is a public forum & certain things when worded in certain ways could be construed as defamation etc.

I'm not singling anyone out, just bear it in mind cheers

weeder

Jimbobjoeyman wrote: »

no thats all I have as well.
Youll have to buy that stuff seperatly.
You Know you will need nozzles aswell ?

yep, and a respirator im trying to put a fairly comprehensive list together here of my whole setup, nearly there now.

Jimbobjoeyman

weeder wrote: »

yep, and a respirator im trying to put a fairly comprehensive list together here of my whole setup, nearly there now.

When getting nozzles make sure to get netted nozzles.
There an awful lot better than the nozzles without nets.
You can get them on ebay from the chinese sellers

4141 xbox gpu nozzle-http://www.ebay.ie/itm/BGA-Nozzle-41x41mm-850D-Hot-Air-Rework-Stations-Gun-/250873183863?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6934fe77#ht_4314wt_1344

4545 ps3 rsx gpu nozzle-http://www.ebay.ie/itm/BGA-Nozzle-45-45mm-Mesh-850-Hot-Air-Rework-Station-/280744377726?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item415dab3d7e#ht_944wt_1110