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XBox 360 Ring of Death Repair: Your Solution for BGA, SMT & CSP Rework, Reflow, Repair & Reballing Made Easy for You
XBOX 360 Repair Station
ZEPHYRTRONICS ZT-7 PROFESSIONAL HOT AIR REFLOW CENTER
Soldering and De-Soldering the GPU, CPU & the Samsung "Memory Chip"
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Red rings? Error codes? Ring of Death?
Repairing the popular Microsoft® Xbox
360 printed circuit board (PCB) is now
easier than ever with the
Zephyrtronics ZT-7 Hot Air Soldering
Benchtop System.
The ZT-7 System makes either 1.) just
reflowing the chips; or 2.) de-soldering
and removing the GPU, CPU and Memory
Chips and then replacing and
re-soldering them back to the printed
circuit boards (PCB's) to correct the
error codes a breeze. And best of all,
the ZT-7 System is also very affordable
and is manufactured by Zephyrtronics in
the U.S. and has a two year limited
warranty.
First, don't be fooled by IR systems that might
repair the PCB temporarily, but can do more harm
than good to the board and chips. You want complete
reflow of the entire ball of solder (inside and
outside) on every connection, and not what is called
"tangential reflow" that will later open up again if
the board flexes, especially when the XBox® is later
being used.
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Learn
more about the many pitfalls, drawback and
limitations with IR systems at the
Video Comparisons &
Demonstrations: 4 Methods of Preheating & Solder
Reflow which illustrates
the advantages of heated air (forced convection) and
why it has long been the "industry standard" in PCB
work worldwide.Second,
make sure that the PCB holding fixture is
independent
from both the lower pre-heater and from the upper
reflow heater.
If one
is trying to repair or reflow a large quantity of
PCB's, then speed is important. So having to wait
for a large PCB (like the XBox 360) to first
preheat, and then later to cool down for a long time
before moving on to the next PCB wastes a lot of
time and money and profit. Check out this short
video so you will understand why this is so
important. You'll be glad you did:
Video: The ABC's of PCB
Holding Fixtures. By the way, the
ZT-7 System is equally effective for repairing the
PlayStation® which you can learn about at this
direct link:
PlayStation Rework Station.
But for now, let's get back to the XBox360. |
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Understanding the GPU, CPU, Memory Chips
and Ball Grid Arrays (BGA's):
Q: What are these chip packages that
Microsoft® and Sony® call the GPU, the
CPU, and the Memory Chips? And why do
they look so different from other
components?
A: These are electronic chips that are
packaged in what are called Ball Grid
Array formats (BGA's). They are a
relatively new form of Surface Mount
Devices (SMD) and are similar to other
components in that they have an
integrated circuit (die) within the
package and that they have connections
to be soldered. However, instead of
leads at the side of the chip, the
connections are balls underneath the
chip (See Below):
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Above Left: Bottom Side of a QFP Surface
Mount Chip with the leads at the side
for soldering to the PCB.
Above Right: Bottom Side of a Ball Grid
Array (BGA) Chip with solder spheres
(balls) at the bottom for soldering to
the PCB.
Many of the chips on the XBOX 360® and
PlayStation® Printed Circuit Boards are
packaged in the BGA format shown above
including the GPU, CPU and Memory Chips.
Indeed, most consumer electronic PCB's
today incorporate more and more BGA
style chips as they are more robust in
construction and have faster gate speed
for processing.
Once the BGA is placed and soldered onto
the PCB, you can no longer "see" the
connections (balls) as they are
underneath the chip and no longer
visible to the eye.
Finally, the XBOX and PlayStation® PCB's
components are all soldered to the pads
with lead-free solder, not the
traditional solder that everyone is
familiar with. Lead-free solder requires
higher than traditional temperatures
which makes preheating the PCB
imperative.
Good News! Believe it or not, BGA's are
surprisingly easy to remove and replace
with the right equipment, the proper
procedures. And Zephyrtronics has built
into the popular ZT-7 System so many
great features including effective
preheating of those lead-free solder
joints so as to make your job now much
easier to perform.
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At the left, you can see
the XBOX 360 printed circuit board populated with
its components including the critical GPU, CPU and
Memory Chip chips. And shown below is the XBOX CPU
component which is Ball Grid Array (BGA) styled
package (see the yellow highlighted sidebar for
further explanation). |
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XBox 360 GPU BGA
Shown Above |
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Effective PCB pre-heating is
critically important for success and
quality soldering and rework of XBox
360 chips and boards. And this is
where many systems "repair stations"
fail miserably because of their
ineffective IR preheating under the
PCB thus requiring unacceptable
higher final soldering temperatures
above which permanently damage the
chips. And once a chip is damaged,
it then has to be completely
removed, replaced and re-soldered. |
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Beware! Some
"repair stations" have such ineffective upper heaters that they
require the entire PCB to be pre-heated underneath to over 200°C for
over twenty minutes! Worse, the manufacturers of these
"machines" advise users to cover chips with foil during the process.
Are they crazy? This nonsense is prohibited by reputable PCB labs
and repair companies. |
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BGA's have less metal
content than old traditional chips and components with leads.
These chips are far more
sensitive to high temperatures. A low temperature (150°C) preheat
around 3 minutes is required before any rework, soldering or desoldering is
to be made. BGA's have technical data sheets with strict temperature
limitations to prevent damaging them while soldering. |
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ZT-7
Benchtop System |
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The
ZT-7 is the
very same soldering system that was used by
NASA to place and solder the critical,
high-reliability I.C.'s on the two Mars
Rovers whose mission was so successful in
2003 and 2004.
Good enough for NASA and, yet easy enough to
repair an XBox 360 PCB! And at a great
price! Click here to learn more detail about
the
ZT-7 Hot Air Station. |
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Helpful Rework Guide:
Zephyrtronics ships every ZT-7 with a
detailed and helpful owners manual along
with the 39-page report by NASA for its
employees which features approximately 300
photographs filled with technical tips and
techniques. In addition, for those reworking
and repairing XBox360® modules,
Zephyrtronics also includes a step-by-step
illustrated guide for removing and replacing
the components and even practice printed
circuit boards and chips!
A Word of Warning from NASA About IR Rework
Systems:
"Hot
plates and infrared pre-heaters are not
recommended...The reason that they
should not be used is that the thermal
reaction times, energy transfer rates and
efficiency are never consistent."
The Zephyrtronics ZT-7 System uses no IR
whatsoever, but the decades-long proven
industry standard of forced convection hot
air. |
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The
ZT-7 is
easy to operate and includes
closed-loop and digital,
programmable temperature control,
plus digital countdown timing,
bottom-side pre-heating and thermal
ramping to enhance the quality of
your work. Of course, the ZT-7 is
not limited to just working on XBox
PCB's, but is ideal for reworking
laptops, plasma television PCB's,
prototyping tasks, small production
runs and rework/repair of your SMT
and BGA tasks.
For more specifications, technical
information and product details
regarding our popular XBox or
PlayStation repair stations, click
here to see the full, webpage on the
ZT-7 Hot Air BGA & SMT
Rework Center.
Also, feel free to call us at our
factory in Los Angeles County
between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM (Pacific
Standard Time) Monday through Friday
at (909) 865-2595 or e-mail us at
sales@ameritronics.com.
We are here and happy to help. |
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ZT-7-XBOX REWORK COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM
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Description
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Item |
Price |
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The ZT-7-XBOX Comprehensive System
BGA & SMT Hot Air Bench Top Reflow System
Includes:
The ZT-7-MIL BGA & SMD Hot Air Repair Center (shown above)
Plus
The ZT-1-BGS-DPU BigGrid™ AirBath Preheating System
The ABC-1 Adjustable Board Cradle
The ZLK-XBOX Benchtop Supply Kit
Note: The ZLK-XBOX Kit Includes the ZeroFlex™ PC Board Brace
Plus All of the Following XBox Hot Air Nozzles:
ZT-7-3021 (31 X 31MM), ZT-7-3007 (35 X 35MM),
ZT-7-3082 (11 X 14MM) and ZT-7-3005 (23 X 23MM)
Plus All the Essential XBox Repair Supplies & Tools
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ZT-7-MIL
ZT-1-BGS-DPU
ABC-1
ZLK-XBOX
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$6,010
LIMITED
TIME
OFFER!
$4,995
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The ZT-7-XBOX-ZF Comprehensive System BGA & SMT
Hot Air Bench Top Reflow System
Includes:
The ZT-7-MIL BGA & SMD Hot Air Repair Center (shown above)
Plus
The ZT-1-BGS-DPU BigGrid™ AirBath Preheating System
The ABC-1 Adjustable Board Cradle
The ZLK-XBOX Benchtop Supply Kit
Note: The ZLK-XBOX Kit Includes the ZeroFlex™ PC Board Template
Plus All of the Following XBox Hot Air Nozzles:
ZT-7-3021 (31 X 31MM), ZT-7-3007 (35 X 35MM),
ZT-7-3082 (11 X 14MM) and ZT-7-3005 (23 X 23MM)
Plus All the Essential XBox Repair Supplies & Tools
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ZT-7-MIL
ZT-1-BGS-DPU
ABC-XYZ
ZLK-XBOX
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$6,510
LIMITED
TIME
OFFER!
$5,495
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XBOX Zero Flex Template
Thick, Machined Metal Plate With Reciprocal Studs for PCB Holes
Thick Metal Plate Prevents PC Board Flexing During Rework
Openings Permit PCB Quicker & More Uniform Preheat From Below
Works With ABC-XYZ Board Cradle
(Note: ZeroFlex™ Template is Included In ZLK-XBOX Kit)
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ZT-7-ZF-XB |
$125
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©1996 - 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 Ameritronics®. All rights
reserved. The information and all images you receive online from
Ameritronics® is protected by the copyright laws of the United
States. The copyright laws prohibit any copying, redistributing,
retransmitting, or repurposing of any copyright-protected material.
Ameritronics® is the registered trademark property of JTI, Inc. "Zephyrtronics"
and "Zephlux" and "ZeroLead" and "Zero Balling" and "Zero
Residue" and "Post Cooling" and "PostCooler" and "AirBath" and "Quatro"
and "Full Metal Jacket" are the protected trademark property of JTI,
Inc.
Revised for
November 21, 2016 |
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PCB,
SMD, BGA Rework & Prototyping
AirBath,
SMD Rework
Stations,
Hot Air
Pencil Soldering,
BGA Rework
Stations,
CSP Rework
Stations,
Preheating
Systems,
PCB
Preheaters,
Pre-Heat
SMT / SMD,
Low Temp Rework,
SMT
DeSoldering Tools,
Vacuum
Pickup Tools,
Circuit
Board Holders,
PCB
Fixtures,
Board
Cradles,
Rework
Solder Paste,
No-Clean
Solder Paste,
Low Melt®
De-Solder Wire,
DeSolder
Wire,
Hot Air
Rework Stations,
Fume
Extractors,
SMT Dental
Probes,
SMT-SMD
Rework Kit,
BGA Rework
Kit,
LMK Kit,
BGA
Re-Balling Kit,
SMD
Tweezers,
Power Palm
Plunger
How To Work With SMD's, CSP's, BGA's &
QFN's
How To -
BGA Alignment:
How To -
SMT Rework:
How To - PCB Preheating,
How To -
BGA & CSP Rework:
How To -
Quickly Solder SMD Packages Effectively:
How To -
CSP Alignment;
How To -
Lead-Free Rework;
How To -
SMD Removal Economical;
How To -
SMD Removal Professional:
How To -
Hot Air Pencil / AirPencil Soldering;
How To -
SMD Quick Chip Removal;
How To -
BGA Re-Balling;
How To -
Rework PLCC - QFP, QFN, LCC, SOIC, Sub Shielded SMD, TSOP:
How To -
Solder & Rework Ceramic Capacitors:
How To -
Solder & Rework Glass Diodes
PCB
Soldering,
De-Soldering
Soldering
Accessories,
Solder
Wire,
No-Clean
Solder Wire,
Soldering Wire
Dispenser,
Solder
Paste,
Lead-Free
Solder Paste,
Flux,
Solder
Paste Dispensers,
LowMelt®
DeSolder Wire,
De-Solder
Wire,
Soldering
Irons,
Digital
De-Soldering,
Soldering
Tips,
Thru-Hole
DeSoldering Tools,
Desoldering
Tip,
Tips for
Desoldering,
De-Solder
Wick,
Smoke
Extractors,
Fume
Extractor Filters,
Carbon
Activated Filters,
SolderMill™,
Pre-Heating Systems,
Preheat
Thru-Hole,
PCB
Pre-Heating,
Flux
Solvent,
How To - Connector Rework;
How To -
PC/104 Soldering and Rework;
How To -
Thru-Hole / Through Hole Desolder / De-Solder;
How To -
Low Melt® Desolder Wire;
How To-
Stop Lifting Pads;
How To-
Desolder / De-Solder Heavy Ground Planes;
How To -
Lead-Free Soldering and De-Soldering;
Preheaters
for Lead-Free Rework and Soldering
Dispensing, Solder Paste, Liquids & Fluids
Dispensing
Systems,
Dispensing
Syringes,
Dispensing
Barrels,
Tapered
Tips,
Blunt
Needles,
Stainless
Steel Needles,
Dispensing
Needles,
Industrial
Needles,
Dispensing
Tips,
Dispensing
Accessories,
Solder
Paste in Syringe,
Lead-Free
Solder Paste in Syringe,
Paste Rack™
Solder Paste Holder,
Dispensing
Supplies,
Power Palm
Plunger,
Manual
Dispensing,
Automatic
Dispensing
Laboratory &
Bench Supplies & Tools
SMD Solder
Paste,
Lead-Free
Solder Paste,
Solder
Wire,
LowMelt®,
No-Clean
Flux,
BGA Flux,
Rework Tack
Flux,
Non-Flammable Flux Remover,
Inspection
Equipment,
Magnification Equipment,
Magnifying
Work Light,
ESD
Magnifier,
Pen Vac,
SMT
Tweezers,
Fume
Extraction,
SMD
Tweezers,
PC Board
Fixtures,
Hot Air
Tips,
AirTips,
Replacement
Soldering Sponges,
Iron Plated
Soldering Tips,
Art
Conservation Hot Air Tools,
Foam Swabs,
Anti-Static
Foam Swabs,
Thru-Hole
Brushes,
LMK Rework
Kits |
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