> I've got a Samsung TV and a Gateway laptop with problems.
> Googling around various forums I find most of the time it's a loose
> BGA and can't be fixed with normal lab tools.
>=20
> What's the life span of boards with BGA chips?
> Is it poor mechanical design of the board or bad assembly procedures?

Could be neither. One of the problems with BGA is getting all the balls sol=
dered properly, and the norm is 100% x-ray of assembled parts.

My pick would be that one or more balls has got the equivalent of a dry sol=
dered joint through temperature cycling. I would be tempted to use a hot ai=
r gun (of the soldering kind, not the paint stripper) to reheat under the c=
hip and see if that changes the symptom.
--=20
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--=20
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