FAQ

FAQ for Reballing BGAs

1. Volume. The more BGAs that need to be reballed, the less the cost per BGA. eTech will reball a single BGA or 10,000+.
2. BGA characteristics.  A datasheet is the best tool for this. The page relevant is the package/mechanical page which normally has the pitch, sphere size and array layout. Also, High temperature BGAs tend to take more resources to reball then SnPb or Pb Free BGAs
3. Turn time/throughput. Normal turn time for small volume quantities is 3 days. We can offer a quick turn option for a premium. For high quantity projects, throughput comes into play and is heavily dependent on the BGA characteristics.

Give us a call and we’ll put a plan together for you.

Question: I need SnPb 63/37 solder on my BGAs, but I can only find Pb Free BGAs. Can you convert them for me?
Answer: Yes. This is something we do on a regular basis. SnPb spheres reflow at a lower temperature than Pb Free, so there are very few, if any caveats to do this. Many customers have tried this with excellent results. Some customers will do a first article run to make sure everything wroks as planned before going into production.

Question: I need Pb Free solder on my BGAs, but I have a stock of SnPb 63/37 BGAs. Can you convert them for me?
Answer: Yes. This is something we do on a regular basis. However, since SnPb spheres reflow at a lower temperature than Pb Free spheres, the package will see higher temperatures than they would with old school solder - especially when the chips are placed onto the PCB. Even so, many customers have tried this with excellent results. Some customers will do a first article run to make sure everything works as planned before going into production. eTech highly recommends this for this type of conversion

Question: Can you salvage BGA from my old boards?
Answer: Yes. eTech has BGA rework capabilities as well as reballing. We can remove BGAs from your PCB and reball them for use in another application. We recommend baking the PCB assembly per JDEC standards before removing the BGAs, however.

Question: Why do you need to bake them?
Does it cost extra? All BGAs have a moisture rating. When they are purchased new from the supplier, they are vacuum sealed to prevent the chips themselves from absorbing this moisture. The longer they are out in the environment, the more susceptible they are to moisture. When a BGA goes through the reflow process, whether removing or placing or reballing, the temperatures are far above the evaporation temperature for water. When that water turns to steam it can “popcorn” the inside of the BGA and damage it. eTech has the equipment to bake either BGAs or PCBs and there is no extra charge to do that.

Question: How long do you need to bake PCBs or BGAs?
Answer: The shortest recommended time from JDEC is 24 hours at 125 deg C. They can be baked at lower temperatures for a longer period, if there are concerns about PCBs components not standing up to 125 deg C temperatures.

Question: Do you test the BGA before and after you reball them?
Answer: Normally no. We have no way of testing BGAs. However, we have the capability to run a test provided by the customer. Most testing is done by the customers in their facility and we are happy to do a first article run and work with them to make sure all BGAs are working as expected. We have done this many times with excellent results.