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Good buy on Hot Air Rework station and Multimeter — Parallax Forums

Good buy on Hot Air Rework station and Multimeter

HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
edited 2010-09-22 21:17 in General Discussion
I was reading some blogs and there was a link to a
bargain I just had to pass along.

I used to buy switching pwr supplies from this place and
always got good service from them.

These cost 99.00 and you also get a really nice multimeter.
They only ship in the USA and shipping is probably about
15-20 dollars. Be sure to add the code for the free meter!

They have a wide selection of extra nozzles , parts and solder tips
available.

The adjustable holder for the hot air wand is nice!

9752.jpg



8883.jpg

The meter also has capacitance, temp and freq functions.

circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/9752

www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/8883

Comments

  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-05-27 06:57
    Holly,

    The soldering iron tips look like they might be compatible with those from Weller. Can you confirm this?

    -Phil
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2010-05-27 07:03
    I cannot as I don't have one of these units.
    But a quick email to the site will probably
    get you an answer smile.gif

    post any answer you get here as it might be useful to others
    looking for a cheap hot air station.
  • BradCBradC Posts: 2,601
    edited 2010-05-27 08:52
    They (both the blower and the iron) look like standard Hakko (knockoff) tips.

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  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2010-05-27 12:26
    Thank you, Holly.· I'm glad I waited.
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2010-05-27 13:13
    So Chuckz are you going to order one of these?

    If you do, let everyone here know how it goes smile.gif

    These look really nice and the free meter looks great too.
    I have 2 of the meters they offered as free gifts before this model.
    The older meters are NICE, these look even better!
    This has an LED back-light which is something I insist on in a meter.
    They have other gifts to choose from but the meter is the best
    of the bunch.

    They have a super nice 80.00 bench pwr supply too. 0-30v
    digital readouts and adjustable V and current. These people
    always did have the best pwr supply deals.
  • lardomlardom Posts: 1,659
    edited 2010-05-27 13:42
    Isn't hot air used for surface mount? I just bought several Q44 prop chips and when I saw how small they were I realized I'm not ready for surface mount yet. I ended up modifying one of Rayman's miniboard designs that uses the DIP prop.

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  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2010-05-27 13:57
    Yes, it's the right way to do surface mount.

    If you are careful you can solder a sm prop
    without even using solder paste.

    And to remove a multi pin sm chip hot air is
    wonderful and really beats solder wick.

    Get a bunch of junk boards covered with sm parts
    and practice getting the parts off and soldering them back
    on.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2010-05-27 14:00
    lardom said...
    Isn't hot air used for surface mount? I just bought several Q44 prop chips and when I saw how small they were I realized I'm not ready for surface mount yet. I ended up modifying one of Rayman's miniboard designs that uses the DIP prop.


    Lardom, Surface Mount Soldering looks easy in this video.· Once they explain how it is done, I believe anyone can do it.· The hard part is just being unfamiliar with the parts needed and how to operate.· I believe you or almost anyone can do it.

    Surface Mount Soldering 101

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NN7UGWYmBY&feature=player_embedded
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2010-05-27 14:04
    HollyMinkowski said...
    So Chuckz are you going to order one of these?

    If you do, let everyone here know how it goes smile.gif

    I would like to buy it but it is always something I discuss with my wife first even though she says she knows nothing about electronics which means it is always up to me.· I will probably get one though it won't be immediately.· This is by far the best deal I've seen so far.

    ·
  • lardomlardom Posts: 1,659
    edited 2010-05-27 14:06
    I bought solder paste too... I would never have thought about using junk boards to practice on. Life is good again. What kind of flux is used?

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  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,935
    edited 2010-05-27 15:15
    That is a good find!

    Keep in mind however, that the biggest problem with lower cost hot air rework stations is temperature stability. I have tried several units over the years in attempts to find lower cost units, but Hakko still takes the cake as far as temperature stability. Experienced rework operators who use them daily can easily see the difference between units and my current process tech (that can solder anything) will only trust her Hakko 851B for hot air rework.

    For those looking to take advantage of this lower pricing for home use, I would recommend their digital version with the solder removal attachment for $199. The digital controls would more than likely have better temperature stability.

    You can also try this method shocked.gif

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    My Prop projects: Reverse Geo-Cache Box, Custom Metronome, Micro Plunge Logger
  • Nick McClickNick McClick Posts: 1,003
    edited 2010-05-27 15:53
    @lardom - solder paste has integral flux.

    @chuck - it looks like a good price. While it won't be as good as the Hakko, (and it won't look as nice after re-working) I bet it will be just fine if you're using lead solder.

    You can solder a QFP with any iron (I've done it with my cheapo $30 elenco), but removing it is a pain without hot air. I've used regular hot air gun, which works for removal, but there's too much air volume (and too little temperature control) to do any re-work.

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  • bambinobambino Posts: 789
    edited 2010-05-28 01:36
    Thanks Holly,

    Ordered one this morning! A heat gun is nice but it's time I stepped up to a re-work unit.
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2010-05-28 01:41
    Just ordered one, will see how it goes. Thanks for the link, I needed one of these.
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2010-06-02 19:45
    Got this in just now. I plugged it in and put it on high, grabbed and old junk board to test. It lifts all kinds of parts in 10-15 seconds, seems like a nice product, for the price you can't beat it if it lasts for a little while.
  • HollyMinkowskiHollyMinkowski Posts: 1,398
    edited 2010-06-03 09:45
    @Todd

    So, how much did they charge you for shipping?

    What is your opinion of the free multimeter?
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2010-06-03 12:28
    HI the total was $99 + $23.46, I don't know anything about the free meter, didn't get it and was aware that there was anything free when I bought it.

    I got it really fast though, I am in LA and they are in AZ.
  • FireHopperFireHopper Posts: 180
    edited 2010-06-03 12:51
    I cant access the urls.. they both come up with blank pages. even going to the root website comes up blank. on both firefox and ie.
  • T ChapT Chap Posts: 4,223
    edited 2010-06-03 16:47
    Oh, I just looked at the site and you have to put in your choice of "free gifts", I didn't choose anything and got nothing free.
  • hover1hover1 Posts: 1,929
    edited 2010-06-03 17:10
    Bummer [noparse]:([/noparse]
  • bambinobambino Posts: 789
    edited 2010-06-04 01:11
    14.44 shipping to Georgia
    Meter is great, tests out good.
    Soldering iron uses the same plug as my Radio Shack Digital Station. Hmmm. No must resist urge to experiment. Ain't broke don't fix!
    Hot Air lifted a 64 pin conexant chip off and old modem in about 40 seconds at half throttle.
  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2010-09-22 21:17
    I had picked up one of these so I could try out using a hot air station and also use it to help remove some surface mount parts. I'm still learning how to handle it but so far it is working well. A friend of mine just asked if I could look at his PS3 which suffered the YLOD so the console was dead. After tearing down the whole thing I used the hot air station to go over the two large chips that everyone says has problems. I warmed the back of the board a bit first then spent a couple minutes on the two chips on top of the board. After letting it all cool back down, some fresh heat sink grease, and re-assembly I was pleasantly surprised that it worked!

    I never expected to use it for fixing a game console but this tool has proven to be helpful in that regard too.

    Robert
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