What Is Reballing?
The process of replacing all solder balls on a BGA chip before reinstalling it on the board.
Definition: Reballing is the microsoldering process of removing all solder balls from the underside of a BGA chip, cleaning the chip’s contact pads, applying a stencil, and reflowing fresh solder balls in their place — ready for reinstallation on the logic board. Required when original solder balls are cracked, corroded, or missing.
When reballing is needed
After water damage: Corrosion destroys BGA solder balls — the chip must be reballed before it can be reinstalled after ultrasonic cleaning.
Cracked joints from impact: Hard drops crack solder balls under chips. Reballing restores solid electrical connections.
Failed chip removal: If a chip is removed and its balls are damaged in the process, reballing allows it to be reused rather than replaced with a new chip.
Reballing vs chip replacement
If the chip itself is functional but the solder balls are damaged, reballing saves the chip. If the chip is internally failed (e.g. a dead NAND storage chip), reballing won’t help — the chip needs replacing. Diagnosing which is the case requires board-level testing with specialised equipment.
Related terms
→ BGA — the chip packaging reballing works on
→ Microsoldering — the broader skill set reballing is part of
→ Corrosion — the main cause of BGA ball damage requiring reballing
→ Logic Board — the board the reballed chip is returned to
Board-level chip fault?
PhoneDoctor performs reballing and chip-level board repair. Free diagnostics — no fix no fee.