Soldering Station ?

[Ami_GFX]

I use an old Ungar solder/desolder workstation. I've got lots of different tips for both the soldering iron and desolder suction gun. I've been contemplating a hot air station but the only thing I need it for is Amiga recapping and I've found I can do that with acceptable results with what I've got. Most of what I work on is older plated through hole equipment and the desolder gun works great for that. It is also handy to remove excess solder on SMD pads once the component is removed.

I have both round and chisel tips. I use a very fine point round tip for recapping Amigas. The chisel tip works better on bigger solder points like ground connections that have lots of solder.

If I was going to buy a new rework station, I would go for one that has a good selection of tips and nozzles. There are a lot of cheap Chinese knock offs of the Hakko stations out there. For the very occasional use I would make of the hot air, I wouldn't worry that much about the quality but I would go for something better if I was doing a lot of SMD work.

[jezry]

I ordered one of those kada last night it came with alot of extras and same Price as the one i linked to. A Quick google search on reviews Most People was satisfied with it.😄

[xArtx]

The one I linked to also has tips that are interchangeable on the fly.
Another reason they are ahead. The heating element is in the tip.
So for a mixture of Thru hole vintage and surface mount work, this could be avoided:



It takes time to cool them to change tips otherwise.
These particular Goot model are basically Hakko knockoffs, but still made in Japan.
I could have just got one PSU and three probes and switched them,
but the problem is you want different temperatures for different tips.

[K.C.Lee]

Originally Posted by jezry

I was thinking of this one
http://m.ebay.com/itm/160808220790?nav=SEARCH anybody tried these?

On the hands of a master, that can do insane SMT rework: [ Show youtube player ]

It is on my wish list. I tried the technique with my Weller portasol + hot air tip (butane powered). It works well for small 20-24pin DFN/QFN and other small parts on my PCB.

Silicon Lab: "Hand Soldering Tutorial for Fine Pitch QFP Devices"
http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Docu...Docs/an114.pdf

There is a tutorial in there for removing QFP parts with a soldering iron and a piece of wire.

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by K.C.Lee

On the hands of a master, that can do insane SMT rework: [ Show youtube player ]

It is on my wish list. I tried the technique with my Weller portasol + hot air tip (butane powered). It works well for small 20-24pin DFN/QFN and other small parts on my PCB.

Silicon Lab: "Hand Soldering Tutorial for Fine Pitch QFP Devices"
http://www.silabs.com/Support%20Docu...Docs/an114.pdf

There is a tutorial in there for removing QFP parts with a soldering iron and a piece of wire.

Haven't been able to compare the Hot Air part in that one with an higher-end proper-brand alternative, but I can assure you that the soldering iron is completely mediocre when compared to an Ersa

Here's my advice: never skimp on the Soldering Iron, especially if you solder a lot or work on expensive equipment (like an Amiga 4000!). Buy a branded dedicated station (around 200eur) and you'll never regret it. Hot Air is usually less used, mostly for desoldering stuff, so you can go cheap on it and grab a dedicated no-name hot air station for around 50eur to go along with your Soldering Station

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by K.C.Lee

There is a tutorial in there for removing QFP parts with a soldering iron and a piece of wire.

That is a long winded way of removing a chip. Chipqwik (or Amalloy which is what i use will take it off in 10 seconds flawlessly... seriously

[jezry]

I recieved my Kada last night and togheter with Another soldering iron that i went and bought last Week Will cover all my needs i think:-)

[K.C.Lee]

My Weller WESD51 soldering iron is good enough for what I do. I can handle 0.5mm QFP, TSOP etc. That's all I needed for for my board here http://hackaday.io/project/1347-fpga-computereval-board (that's hand placed and mostly hand soldered and/or reflow, without using solder paste, stencils)

I rarely have to rework QFP that I have learnt to do do without Chipqwik. I have seen it, but the brand named stuff was too expensive. For simple stuff like a SSOP/TSOP, I can remove one with a tinned 10 gauge copper wire and a pair of tweezers in about 20 seconds. I just want a proper hot air tool for rework and larger QFN parts.

If it is for salvaging all SMT parts off a board, can't beat a toaster oven and a spatula.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by K.C.Lee

My Weller WESD51 soldering iron is good enough for what I do. I can handle 0.5mm QFP, TSOP etc. That's all I needed for for my board here http://hackaday.io/project/1347-fpga-computereval-board (that's hand placed and mostly hand soldered and/or reflow, without using solder paste, stencils)

I rarely have to rework QFP that I have learnt to do do without Chipqwik. I have seen it, but the brand named stuff was too expensive. For simple stuff like a SSOP/TSOP, I can remove one with a tinned 10 gauge copper wire and a pair of tweezers in about 20 seconds. I just want a proper hot air tool for rework and larger QFN parts.

If it is for salvaging all SMT parts off a board, can't beat a toaster oven and a spatula.

The Amalloy is dirt cheap, buy one 15 ounce block and it will last you a lifetime and it is actually better than chipqwik because you dont feel you have to use too little due to its price

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Virgin-Amallo...item2a45fa83d6

[ajk]

Cadmium is very toxic though so be mindful of how you dispose of it.

[K.C.Lee]

Lead and Cadmium. Just need some mercury and chrome and you got the list of the 4 banned metals in RoHS.

Certainly not something you want to use in a repair shop or at home for that matters.

[kipper2k]

Originally Posted by K.C.Lee

Lead and Cadmium. Just need some mercury and chrome and you got the list of the 4 banned metals in RoHS.

Certainly not something you want to use in a repair shop or at home for that matters.

better ditch all those energy efficient light bulbs too while yer at it

[ajk]

Don't just ditch them, recycle them responsibly and then install LEDs

[kipper2k]

here is recommended way to dispose of them...

http://www2.epa.gov/cfl/cleaning-broken-cfl

i think shutting down a nuclear reactor has fewer steps

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by kipper2k

The Amalloy is dirt cheap, buy one 15 ounce block and it will last you a lifetime and it is actually better than chipqwik because you dont feel you have to use too little due to its price

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Virgin-Amallo...item2a45fa83d6

Now that's an interesting tip! Thanks a lot Kipps, I'll be getting some in the future

[Shadowfire]

I have a ~20 year old Xytronix soldering/vacuum desoldering station for my primary soldering work. I also have one of the Aouye hot air stations, and an Lin Yang IR Pro rework station (which can pull double duty as a PCB preheater).

The made-in-china stuff has the build quality to prove it, but it does work. You'll want thermocouples and a thermometer to check how far off you are from your setpoints. I'm of the opinion that the hot air rework station probably won't make it to 10 years, even though I probably only use it once a month. I've used the IR rework station 4 or 5 times (total of about 20 cycles, due to initial calibration and profile development).

Once you have the correct tools, there's no need to use the low-temp solders like Chipquik. You just need a decent paste flux. As a bonus you won't have to worry about the long term effects of what Bismuth or Indium will do to the joints on your board.
Edit: Holy crap, that stuff has cadmium in it? Honestly, I wouldn't use (i.e. apply heat to) that in a residential setting without proper PPE (gloves) and a fume hood that vents directly outside (or moving the work station outside).