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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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Hot air station recommendations
I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One
that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? Thanks. |
#2
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Hot air station recommendations
On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:19:33 -0500, JW wrote:
I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? It's probably worth at least looking over at Howard Electronics for some baseline pricing http://www.howardelectronics.com/index.html. The hot air stations are under 'SMD Rework'. Several on-line sites have similar items, including MPJA, Web-Tronics, Sparkfun, and (of course) Amazon. The surface similarity is suggestive but I don't know of a site that's published a real tear-down and comparison of one or more name-brand stations and 'house'-branded models. FWIW, my home bench sports a Xytronic 850D that I've been pretty happy with. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA |
#3
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Hot air station recommendations
On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:01:46 -0500 Rich Webb
wrote in Message id: : On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:19:33 -0500, JW wrote: I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? It's probably worth at least looking over at Howard Electronics for some baseline pricing http://www.howardelectronics.com/index.html. The hot air stations are under 'SMD Rework'. Phew. $350 and up. That's a bit over my budget there. Several on-line sites have similar items, including MPJA, Web-Tronics, Sparkfun, and (of course) Amazon. The surface similarity is suggestive but I don't know of a site that's published a real tear-down and comparison of one or more name-brand stations and 'house'-branded models. FWIW, my home bench sports a Xytronic 850D that I've been pretty happy with. Thanks. |
#4
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Hot air station recommendations
On Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:19:33 -0500, JW wrote:
I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? Thanks. I have one of those. It's not bad, but you should know it's not temperature controlled. The heater control only adjusts the duty cycle of the heater. There's no thermostat, or temperature display. This means that the air temperature will vary with air flow. Andy Cuffe |
#5
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Hot air station recommendations
"JW" wrote in message ... I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? Thanks. I've been looking into this too, and a friend of mine who is a self employed professional electronics designer, has highly recommended this one, which he has had for some time. It is used daily, and he reckons that it represents exceptional value for money http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kada-850-SMT-S...1%7C240%3A1318 Arfa |
#6
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Hot air station recommendations
In article ,
JW wrote: I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? Thanks. What are you using now? I don't do a lot of rework but one of my heat guns (for shrink tubing) has some small nozzles, and it works well for removing chips. I douse the offender liberally in liquid flux first. Often there are other small components nearby so I'll make a little cardboard heat shield with a window cut out of it. I don't see the advantage of a fancy schmancy dedicated rework station. As far as digital readouts and temperature control, I'm a bah-humbug skeptic. You only have one choice anyway, and that's to get the thing hot enough to melt the solder. |
#7
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Hot air station recommendations
On Sat, 02 Jan 2010 10:22:00 -0800, Smitty Two
wrote: In article , JW wrote: I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? Thanks. What are you using now? I don't do a lot of rework but one of my heat guns (for shrink tubing) has some small nozzles, and it works well for removing chips. I douse the offender liberally in liquid flux first. Often there are other small components nearby so I'll make a little cardboard heat shield with a window cut out of it. I don't see the advantage of a fancy schmancy dedicated rework station. As far as digital readouts and temperature control, I'm a bah-humbug skeptic. You only have one choice anyway, and that's to get the thing hot enough to melt the solder. Separating the heater from the blower permits a bit more agility, rather on the order of using a pencil iron versus a two-pound soldering gun. The closed-loop temperature control is useful to allow varying the air flow rate without also affecting the air temp. I guess it comes down to convenience. For folks who only do onsie-twosie surface mount reworks, it may make more sense to skip the hot air altogether and use the ChipQuik technique http://www.chipquik.com/. The stuff really works, but it gets pricey for large quantity use. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA |
#8
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Hot air station recommendations
In article ,
Rich Webb wrote: I guess it comes down to convenience. For folks who only do onsie-twosie surface mount reworks, it may make more sense to skip the hot air altogether and use the ChipQuik technique http://www.chipquik.com/. The stuff really works, but it gets pricey for large quantity use. I've seen that stuff before, but never tried it. I think I'll get some though, and have it on hand for the next time I need it. Thanks for the reminder. |
#9
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Hot air station recommendations
JW wrote:
I'm currently looking for an affordable hot air station for the bench. One that came up often in my searches was this one: http://www.atomicfireballs.com/stati...oyue/index.php Can anyone recommend this one, or perhaps have a better alternative? Thanks. Stan Rubenstein are a very good source for all solder related items, fast shipping USA http://store.sra-solder.com/product.php/6264/26 I have the Aoyue station, I wish I had bought the one with temp readout but I just wanted to see if they were any good, no problems so far, does its job. JC |
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