IC chip removal

Has anyone used one of these to cut chips off of circuit boards. I work in apple devices and they use under fill. I want to use one of these to remove the chips.

1 Like

I guess you do not have privileges to post a link, maybe you could put in a description of the product you want comments on.

Should be able to. The big challenge will be clamping the board well enough to do so without damaging it though.

1 Like

I am going to use this to fix apple boards

Shapeoko or Nomad? Both could handle it, but would probably be more machine than you’d need (especially the SO3).

Dont see any reason why not on the Nomad. Getting the PCB absolutely flat and held securely will be key.

Warning one - get ALOT of practice on some scrap boards before attempting a repair - no doubt some mistakes will be made where you cut too deep, too fast, pads will be torn off etc.

Warning two - resulting dust will be toxic - take appropriate precautions

3 Likes

I’ve done a lot of BGA work and a decent portion had underfill. Most times heating it with the rework air gun and using a hook to remove all of it from the outside edges of the chip was enough. Once that was done, came up pretty easily as long as the board is preheated properly and the temps are correct. Just be sure the chip is ready to come off when you pull it, replacing trace pads is no fun.

The parts I’m working on have underfill extending out past the chip into the SMD components surrounding. Clearance to the SMD parts is often 0.2mm. And not particle to remove the fill

I have done these by hand but it takes 10-30 minutes and mistakes are often made. At the production quantities I am working with hand rework is not a option.

I understand, yah that’s tough. I remember days of reballing 100 chips at a time or reballing by hand when chips were so new that stencils weren’t available.

I’d expect you could get the job done with a nomad, just need a good flat jig.

I have removed under fill by hand. It’s no fun. True the under-fill lets go when it get’s hot enough but I want to remove the heating from the puzzle. Will re-flow replacements with lower temp solder.

I am about to order my aluminum stock to make the table with. should I go with material the same size as the existing table or can I go larger.

Nomad 883 Pro

I want to be able to use one jig for as many boards as possible. I am sending the boards off to be laser scanned and exported into auto-desk 360

I am enjoying the experimentation going on here.

I know you can get away with a slightly larger table as the x/y axis extents go over the edge of the stock table. Haven’t done it but I imagine a litlle jogging around until you hit limit switches will give you an idea of what the extents can be.

Whats the accuracy like on the laser scanning?

“0.00002”
It’s pretty tight.

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.