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HP Laserjet P2015d - Logic Board

Tesla

May 10, 2010
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HP Laserjet P2015d - Logic Board - BGA failure

This printer is only a couple of years old. It complains of a paper jam when there isn't one.

Turns out to be a common problem with these after a couple of years. This Formatter Board is the problem. Forum posts talk about baking it (to re-flow the solder ... but they say this fix doesn't last) and other speculate about HP using new (or bad) unleaded solder.

There is a special hidden switch that (when pressed) bypasses the Formatter board. This works and the test pattern prints fine ... so it's definitely this board.

If I hold pressure on the main U1 chip with my finger the printer powers up fine and works. Even continues to work for a while after I let go. But, eventually it starts complaining about a jam, low toner, or other random errors.

Looks to me like a bad solder job on the main CPU. I figured I would just hold the chip down and blow the hot air solder pencil on it. However, I'm looking at this U1 chip and can't figure out how they got it on there or where to blow the air. No solder pads on top. There's a few under it with solder but not many. I'm afraid if I blow hot air on the bottom (enough to resolder the front) all those SMT parts right there under U1 are going to come off.

So, if you needed to resolder this U1 chip, how would you do it?
 

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Mitchekj

Jan 24, 2010
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Gah, ball grid array. Just toss it in the dumpster. Seriously though, only way to do it is to reflow, or with a heatgun. I see the problem you're talking about with the components on the other side. Afraid I can't think of any good method for that.
 

rob_croxford

Aug 3, 2010
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The problem is not only the SMT components on the other side but also the BGA itself as too much heat will damage or even destroy it. Also as it will have un-leaded solder pads it will require more heat. I would suggest using an infra-red heat Gun to gauge temperature and take as much time as possible. Also if you have an old board containing a BGA practice with that first.
 

Tesla

May 10, 2010
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Gah, ball grid array. Just toss it in the dumpster. Seriously though, only way to do it is to reflow, or with a heatgun. I see the problem you're talking about with the components on the other side. Afraid I can't think of any good method for that.

Glad you can make out the pics. The originals were higher res. I wish the forum software allowed max. pics around 1.5 mb and/or didn't down-sample so much.

BGA with a socket makes sense. This is just crazy.
 
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Tesla

May 10, 2010
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The problem is not only the SMT components on the other side but also the BGA itself as too much heat will damage or even destroy it. Also as it will have un-leaded solder pads it will require more heat. I would suggest using an infra-red heat Gun to gauge temperature and take as much time as possible. Also if you have an old board containing a BGA practice with that first.

The board level techs suggest that also:

http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/57341#6

http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/48992#219

Everyone else is baking for 8 mins at 350 F.
http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/laser/48992

Not sure why it works but it seems to about 90% of the time. It should be 430 F or 480 F (for lead free), but at those temp for that long time, the plastic/nylon parts start to melt.

Still not sure which way I will try. The oven-bake-reflow goes against my training because you never heat more of the board than necessary. I think the real repair machines use directed infrared heat at only the BGA ... I guess they can take it.
 

Tesla

May 10, 2010
168
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BGA Resolder Fixed it.

Hot air re-soldering fixed it.

Using Solder Reworking Station, Hot Air Gun attachment:
Temp: 280 C (536 F)
Air Power: 72%
Air Nozzle: BGA 16mm x 16mm (largest one I have)

Board and BGA chip face up. Used small screws as stand-offs (to keep board level and stable). With nozzle perpendicular and about 1/4" (5 mm) away from board, rotated around total chip area (BGA is about 25mm x 25mm) ... never stopping in one place for more than a few seconds. Did this for 3 minutes. Left alone and let cool for about 5-10 minutes.

Board and printer seem to working fine now.

@Rob - Ya, I've used the soldering iron and de-soldering gun but haven't really used the Hot Air Gun much until now. I took your advice and practiced on some old SMT boards first. Not just technique, but finding a good temp and air pressure. With the above settings, placed over a smaller multi-leg SMT IC ... after about 20 seconds the chip can be slid off the board and the board traces and chip appear fine ... so I used that technique and settings for the BGA attempted fix.
 
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