Re: [amsat-bb] Re: BGA soldering

[Tim N9PUZ <n9puz@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, 11 Jan 2005 04:10:05 EST, G0MRF@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 11/01/2005 08:20:56 GMT Standard Time, owner-
> AMSAT-BB-digest@amsat.org writes:
> 
> I'm fine  hand soldering the 0.4 and 0.5mm QFP's, but I'm not sure
> how to go about  dealing with BGA packages.
> 
> 73, Howard G6LVB
> 
> 
> Hi Howard.
> 
> The 1mm pitch is very close to the 25 thou pitch used on the DDS  
> chips.
> 
> It's not a problem to solder these provided you have some solder
> wick to remove the bridges which will occur when you hand solder.
> 
> There is a very good guide in the Rad Com article on the N2PK
> network analyser. I think it was Nov or Oct 2004.
> 
> Basically, position the chip very carefully and solder the 4 corner
> pins. Use a magnifier to check the position.
> 
> Then solder the rest..............OK, a small iron bit is essential
> (I have a 2mm one butyou can buy 1mm or 1.5mm and even then you
> will have bridges...but  these can be removed with the solder wick.

The original poster is asking about BGA - Ball Grid Array devices. 
Very different from fine pitch SMT parts. You cannot get to the 
connections with a normal soldering iron. Here's a representative 
picture:

<http://www.analog.com/processors/productsDatasheets/packagingNumberin
g/bgaIndex/>

Some sort of an oven is typically used to reflow the solder in a 
production environment. At a company I used to work for we had 
reasonable success using a toaster oven to reflow the solder on 
prototype BGA boards. You need to apply a small amount of solder paste 
to each pad before hand placing the part.

Tim,  N9PUZ
EM59ft
----
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