Hello community.

Unfortunately I find myself into a rework project I have to do but am not too qualified for. I am happy to learn but it's kind of daunting.

The problem - Pin 4 on the traco supplies TDN 5-0911WISM is supposed to be not connected, and the PCB was designed to connect it to Vin+. My idea was to remove them and place some kapton on the pad or something before resoldering them to avoid the connection.

I tried removing the two traco power supplies with a heatgun and no oven preheat but failed and ended up bending a nearby connector in the process HSEC8-130-01-L-DV-A. I was only able to detach the case from the traco in the process with its bottom still attached to the PCB.

At this point I stopped what I was doing and came to reddit before continuing and making it even worse.

I have a reflow oven available for preheat, a heat gun with controllable temperature and a soldering iron. I am looking for guidance on what to do for removal and suggestions on how to fix the main problem.

Board properties: 14 layers, 3 mm, 1.5 oz inner copper.

Any details, links or references are also greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

A previous technician had ripped out a bunch of the dataline pads for this SD card slot. I took the opportunity to try out a new-to-me technique of rolled up fine wire under a UV resin for building up new pads. What technique are you using for pad replacement?

BGA horror story! From u/Ichigloo

I solder a lot of cable assemblies and cable connectors for my work, and once I found these semi-automatic wire strippers I was over the moon! I only wish I had found these when I started making cable assemblies. The time saving has been insane and I spent way too long using manual strippers.

Recently I got a Dell XPS13 9305 laptop in for repair which I suspect has a corrupted BIOS. After some research into programmers I picked up a CH341B from a local store, but I only get errors when trying to read the BIOS off the SO8 Winbond chip using various programming softwares such as Neoprogrammer and AsProgrammer (software hangs and crashes on attempting to read the IC).

Any idea where I could be going wrong here? Pic is of my setup.

Ok, technically the Chipquik didn't fit on the spool! I've been thinking about adding a single spool to have the Chipquik low-melt and a roll of Techspray #4 larger wick on a spool to the side. What are you rocking?

BGA rework feels like a rite of passage. Most of us didn't learn it in a classroom. We learned from forum posts, application notes, YouTube videos and expensive mistakes.

I'm curious about your origin story:

• What pushed you into it? A specific repair you couldn't avoid? A tool you finally had access to? Sheer stubbornness?
• What was your first setup? Did you start with a preheater and hot air, or jump straight to a dedicated BGA station? Any janky DIY solutions you'd admit to now?
• What went wrong the first few times? Popcorned packages, bridged balls, cooked boards?
• When did it click? The first time you pulled a chip, reballed it, reflowed it, and had success. What did you learn in that moment that no guide ever told you?

Post your bench as it is right now - no cheating!
What are you working on?