RETRO TECH HOBBIES

BGA Rework & Repair

I own and operate a professional-grade BGA rework station, allowing me to carry out precision chip-level repairs on consoles, motherboards, and other electronics. This equipment lets me safely remove, replace, and reflow high-pin-count components without damaging surrounding parts — essential for restoring hardware that most would consider beyond repair.

Frankenstein PS3 Builds

One of my favourite creative outlets is building “Frankenstein” PlayStation 3 consoles — hybrid systems assembled from multiple donor units, often with custom decals and unique finishes. Each build is one-of-a-kind, blending restoration with design customisation, and often improving on Sony’s original engineering in both durability and thermal performance.

RSX Chip Reballing

Reballing is a delicate process of replacing every solder ball on a GPU or CPU to restore electrical and thermal connectivity. This RSX chip, pulled from a faulty launch-model PS3, was fully reballed and brought back to life. It’s painstaking, detail-heavy work, but nothing beats the satisfaction of powering on a console that’s been saved from the scrap heap.