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Released September 16, 2016. Model 1660, 1778 Available as GSM or CDMA / 32, 128 or 256 GB / Rose gold, gold, silver, black, and jet black.

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Chip solder ball sizes

Hi,

So as the title says, I’m a micro soldering hobbyist and I wanted to purchase some solder balls for chips such as the audio IC repairs etc. what size balls do they take? I ask this question generically for all the chips, I just selected iPhone 7, because this one to my knowledge has this as a common issue.

If someone had some information on a generic size to purchase or what size is required for specific chips, that would be incredibly helpful for me and everyone else whose looking to get the correct materials for the jobs. eBay sell all different diameters, so I assume they all fluctuate in sizes for a reason.

This or is it best to just buy solder paste and smear it onto a stencil for reballing? However, I could imagine balls to be best due to the fact they’re all evenly displaced... any information greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Craig.

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@worldsend2020 0.5mm seems to be the most used size. Hopefully the microsoldering experts on here like @imicrosoldering or @refectio can help you out with a definite answer

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Hey @oldturkey03 , hope all is well!!

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Hey @refectio all is well and can’t keep the craziness continue to mess with us. Everything okay in your world?

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Hey @oldturkey03, things are slowly getting back to a semblance of normalcy...whatever this new normal will turn out to be. Hang tough and keep up the good work on the front lines!

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When it comes to reballing IC’s in iPhones/iPads or other smartphones, a solder paste and appropriate stencil is the best way forward. There are plenty of Youtube videos on how to reball IC’s using this technique.

I do have an assortment of solder balls, ranging from 0.2mm up to 0.8mm that I use occasionally if only one ball is muffed up. IC’s have different pitches and sizes so you need to have a wide assortment.

Those reballing large CPU’s, for example on gaming consoles, will prefer to use solder balls.

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Yes I agree with Minho. Solder paste and a good quality stencil. I only use solder balls on some MacBook IC, s like the RAM and SMC’s.

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Hi,

Thanks for the info. I'll just find myself some stencils and buy some paste and try to do things that way. You have any recommendations for decent paste to use by any chance? As I can see there's many different variations. I'm based in the UK if that makes any difference, thanks again @refectio

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I cant say that I’ve tried a lot of different pastes. You’ll want some 63:37 leaded solder paste for regular IC work (melting point of 183C) and some low-melting point paste (melting point of <150C) if you plan on doing sandwiched boards (although some techs use regular paste for that as well). Brands don't mean much in this space.

IMHO, solder paste is kinda like flux, everyone has a different opinion on it. If you peruse YT videos, you will eventually notice that some of the most skilled techs use really low-cost consumables and tools while some very mediocre techs have access to the best quality tools and consumables. Of course there are also highly skilled techs using high quality tools and consumables...I don't want to generalize too much. My point is that you have to experiment and see what works for you and you will need to adapt as you do more and more challenging work.

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@refectio I need your help sir. I can see that you are very knowledgeable. Can you please help me with my phone? It is overheating and the charging time goes on for hours but the usage just goes for a min or two then the battery dies.

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Craig Nichols crwdns2934231:0crwdne2934231:0
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