[psxpetey]

hey there fellow psx'ers im attempting my first reball (not on my personal ps3 lol on ylod test units. My soldering iron shorted out last night and i tryed using my backup which is 120v needless to say pads were lifted beyond the atmoshpere lol. Since I have no gun now this go me to thinking what if I used a solder vacuum to deball? found this

on ebay but i cant find any reviews on it or anything anybody ever use this before? oh and for your veiwing pleasure heres a youtube vid of how well solder vacuums work Pace Inc. (6) Flow Desoldering Surface Solder - YouTube

if you know anything about that ebay item let me know because its nice and cheap I bought a hot air station from hong kong before and its awesome!!

(UPDATE) emailed a guy who bought one from ebay a while ago, he said they are pretty good if your using it for an hour or two at a time but if your using it all day or for ure job it'd be better to get a more expensive one i'm really excited to get mine now lol.

[psxpetey]

huh zero replys

[japsander]

last time i saw a guy reball he simply used desolder braid and plenty of flux with an average rework station to soak up the old solder and he used his IR station to reball it

as for replies, you need to wait until someone with knowledge/experience reads it.
DIY reballing isnt a common thing after all

[baileyscream]

Originally Posted by psxpetey huh zero replys

there not bad if you find a decent one.
but good ones cost loads.
cheep ones blow really quickly
also you should NEVER scratch the end of it as pads will then stick to it (the motion of air scucking into it cool's the tip slightly. a clean tip will cope fine a scratched tip will cool and stick to the pad untill it heats up again.
as you wont know if this has happened then you move it slightly and pop the pad has gone.

i'd say stick to good flux and wide braid

[TizzyT]

interesting, i had a spring loaded pump but never used it much.

[haz367]

those big ass "spring loaded" pumps, its way to big..hehe funny tool

this guy here also make a good reball show >>
Reballing PS3 por SustituirConsolas.com - YouTube

[psxpetey]

Originally Posted by baileyscream there not bad if you find a decent one. but good ones cost loads. cheep ones blow really quickly also you should NEVER scratch the end of it as pads will then stick to it (the motion of air scucking into it cool's the tip slightly. a clean tip will cope fine a scratched tip will cool and stick to the pad untill it heats up again. as you wont know if this has happened then you move it slightly and pop the pad has gone. i'd say stick to good flux and wide braid

ya ive used flux and braid i wish i could find a spatula tip lol great reply!!
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Originally Posted by TizzyT interesting, i had a spring loaded pump but never used it much.

ya the springloaded ones are crap theres a weller one with a red squeezeball that sucks it up but i kinda want constant air flow
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Originally Posted by baileyscream there not bad if you find a decent one. but good ones cost loads. cheep ones blow really quickly also you should NEVER scratch the end of it as pads will then stick to it (the motion of air scucking into it cool's the tip slightly. a clean tip will cope fine a scratched tip will cool and stick to the pad untill it heats up again. as you wont know if this has happened then you move it slightly and pop the pad has gone. i'd say stick to good flux and wide braid

ure post actually clears up alot of questions iv had lol
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how does he get the solder to stick to the tip like that instead of reapplying itself back on the contacts

[baileyscream]

Originally Posted by psxpetey ya ive used flux and braid i wish i could find a spatula tip lol great reply!!

here you go


LF-1404

LF-1403

LF-1402

LF-1401

just remember the wider the tip the hotter the iron (watt's)

*************below is from one of the above links***********

The item is compatible with the following soldering iron handles and soldering stations that we stock:

- B010
- B012
- CSI 2900
- CSI 2901
- BK 3000LF
- BK 6000
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Originally Posted by psxpetey how does he get the solder to stick to the tip like that instead of reapplying itself back on the contacts

flux on the chip
and a bit of lead solder on the iron to remove the lead free solder and also "tint" the pads at the same time

[psxpetey]

what is tinting

[baileyscream]

Originally Posted by psxpetey what is tinting

the pads are copper
so as soon as copper is open to the atmosphere it starts to corrode (turns orange)
on circuit boards there is a "skin" put onto it to prevent this.

on solder pads its the solder that prevents this.

so the "tint" is the thin skin of solder on the pad.

by using flux to help remove the old solder its also cleaning the pad.
by also using leaded solder to remove the lead free solder then the leaded solder should attach to the pad as the lead free is removed

so the pad never touches the atmosphere and is cleaned then coated by leaded solder (tint)