The biggest question I get is, “why did my Xbox 360 fail?” The second biggest question I get is “what is involved in repairing the Xbox 360?” This article will go over steps in repairing the Xbox 360 for the Red Rings of Death (RRoD). If you read my previous post on the “why” question, then you have an understanding of how the Xbox 360 gets the dreaded Red Rings to begin with, which will help you in understanding how to repair the problem.
What we are trying to repair are all the solder balls under the graphics chip (GPU) and under the central processing chip (CPU) as the solder balls have developed cold solder joints. Most people that explain the failure of the Xbox 360 state that the solder under the GPU has melted… this is not the case. Lead Free solder cannot get hot enough in the Xbox 360 case to melt. The hottest it will get in the case is about 200 degrees and it takes a much higher degree of heat to melt solder. The solder balls under the GPU will, however, begin to breakdown and oxidize causing cold solder joints. There are about 900 solder balls under the GPU (called Ball Grid Array or BGA), so there are many potential points of failure. To actually melt the lead free solder you would have to get to 220 degrees Celsius (°C) or about 428 degrees Fahrenheit (°F), which is the specifications for melting lead free solder. It is also recommended that you stay about 20 degrees below this level since we are only trying to get to the point of melt and not have it start flowing. The process of getting the lead free solder to the point of melt is called “Reflow”. Once the lead free solder gets to the point of melt it will reform and correct the cold solder joints that are like micro fractures.
There is different equipment types that can be used to take lead free solder to the point of melt during the reflow process such as a heat gun (although not recommended), the hot air solution and the infrared system. The heat gun is the cheapest way to perform the reflow but is also the most damaging if it isn’t done properly. To use a heat gun you would need to cover the area surrounding the GPU and the CPU so as to not damage other electronic components. All the nearby components are held to the motherboard by the same type of lead free solder and if you get these components as hot as the GPU, you will melt the solder and the components may slide away from where they belong. As with the heat gun, the hot air solutions have similar potential to damage the surrounding electronic components except that most of the hot air solutions come with a nozzle that fits over the chip you are heating. Hot air solutions normally come with a temperature gauge and a timer, but since they do not built up the heat slowly enough the heat can do damage to the chip.
Most of the infrared systems will come with an option to set up profiles for heating. With these profiles, you can tell the infrared system how to heat the board based on the chip size. That gives you the ability to set up profiles for the Xbox 360, PS3, and other board types that you are reflowing on a regular basis. The infrared systems use a heat wave as opposed to blowing hot air and that gives a better ability to correct the cold solder joints. When you set up a profile you are telling the system how to perform; you are giving the system instructions on how long to Preheat and at what temperature, how long to Soak and how rapidly to increase the heat, how long to perform the Reflow and at what temperature and then finally, how rapidly you want the system to Cool the motherboard down. The other great benefit of most infrared systems is that they will come with some type of cooling system. The infrared systems that come with the ability to set up profiles are the best way to eliminate errors to repairing the Xbox 360 for the RROD. The best BGA Rework Station on the market today is the PACE IR 1000 from PACE Inc., out of North Carolina. This system provides everything you need to repair the Xbox 360 and the PS3 motherboards and even repair industrial type boards if you need that.
You may contact me for more information on PACE infrared equipment as Gameday handles their US sales and distribution for game console repair.
