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I gave up on hot air rework stations for most phone board work about a year ago.
I used to reach for my big station for every single IC swap, thinking it was the only 'right' way. After a bad experience with a Samsung A51 where I cooked the surrounding caps, I switched to a low melt solder paste and a good preheater. Now I set the preheater to 120C under the board and use a simple soldering iron with a chisel tip to slide the chip off. My success rate on BGA repairs went way up, and I haven't lifted a pad since. Anyone else find the big hot air gun is overkill for modern, densely packed boards?
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maryh966mo ago
Man, that's so true about overcomplicating things. It's like when you realize you don't need a fancy food processor to chop an onion, a simple knife works better. We get sold on the "pro" tool for every job, but half the time the simpler way is safer and gets better results. Why make it harder on yourself?
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jenniferb536mo ago
Maryh96, you just described my entire kitchen gadget drawer. I bought one of those fancy choppers that does everything, and it takes longer to clean than it does to just use a good old knife. It's like we're tricked into thinking more parts equals better results. My onion tears are proof the simple way works just fine.
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