XBox 360 Repair, Ring of Death, Reflow, GPU
XBOX 360® PCB
Rework & Repair

 


All Zephyrtronics Equipment is Engineered and Manufactured in the United States of America.













Fume, Smoke, Extract

Solder Paste, 63 Sn / 37 Pb

 

XBox 360 Ring of Death Repair: Your Solution for BGA, SMT & CSP Rework, Reflow, Repair & Reballing Made Easy for You

XBOX 360 REPAIR SYSTEMS

ZEPHYRTRONICS ZT-7 PROFESSIONAL HOT AIR REFLOW CENTER

Soldering and De-Soldering the GPU, CPU & the Samsung "Memory Chip"

Red rings? Error codes? Ring of Death? Repairing the wildly 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 that can actually 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 being used again. To learn more about the many pitfalls, drawback and limitations with IR systems, please you will want to watch the Video Comparisons & Demonstrations: 4 Methods of Preheating & Solder Reflow which illustrates the advantages of heated air or 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.

  XBox Repair System
 

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):

XBox 360, BGA, GPU, CPU, Memory Chip

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 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 a BGA is placed and soldered to the PCB, you can no longer "see" any connections (balls): they are underneath the chip and not visible to the eye.

Finally, the XBOX and PlayStation® PCB's chips are all soldered with lead-free solder, not the more traditional solder. Lead-free solder requires higher than traditional temperatures so PCB preheat  imperative.

Good News! Believe it or not, BGA's are surprisingly easy to remove and replace with the right equipment and 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.

XBox 360, XBox 360 Repair, Ring of Death, Error Code, XBox 360 Rework, Reflow, PCB, BGA, GPU, CPU,  Error, Codes, Hot Air, Rework, Repair, Code

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).

 

Because BGA's such as the chip shown below have less metal content than the old traditional components with leads, these chips are far more sensitive to high temperatures requiring that the PCB be preheated before any rework can be performed so as not to damage them during your rework or repair.

 

GPU, XBox, 360, BGA, Chip, Reflow
XBox 360 GPU BGA

 

Effective, PCB pre-heating is a critical requirement for success and quality soldering during rework of the XBox 360 chips and boards. And this is where many systems "repair stations" fail miserably because they have ineffective IR preheating below the PCB and therefore require unacceptable higher final solder reflow temperatures from above which permanently damage the chip itself. And if the chip is damaged, it then will have to be completely removed, replaced and re-soldered.

Even worse, there are still other "repair stations" where the upper heat is so ineffective, that the machines require that the entire PCB be heated underneath to over 200°C for over twenty minutes! Worse, the manufacturers of these "machines" advise the user to cover the chips with foil during the process. Are they crazy? Of course, this nonsense would never be permitted in any reputable PCB manufacturing or repair company. Never.

zt7_bgs_small_copy
 ZT-7 Benchtop System

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, 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.

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.

The ZT-7 is easy to operate with digital, closed-loop, programmable temperature control and digital countdown timing, bottom-side preheat and thermal profiling for quality work. The ZT-7 is not limited to just the XBox PCB's, but is ideal for reworking smart-phones, laptops, plasma television PCB's, prototype and small production runs. 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 PCB Center. Or call us at our factory in Los Angeles County Monday-Friday 8-6PM (Pacific Time) at (909) 865-2595 or e-mail us at david@zeph.com. We're here and happy to help.

 
 

ZT-7-XBOX REWORK COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM

Description

Item

Price

zt7_bgs_small_copy

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

ZT-7-MIL
ZT-1-BGS-DPU
ABC-1
ZLK-XBOX

 


$6,010

LIMITED
TIME
OFFER!


$4,995

XBOX Rework, XBOX 360 Repair

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-XYZ 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

ZT-7-MIL
ZT-1-BGS-DPU
ABC-XYZ
ZLK-XBOX
 


$6,510

LIMITED
TIME
OFFER!


$5,495

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)
 

ZT-7-ZF-XB

$125
   

   
 

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Updated May 21, 2013