Anyone tried using a hotplate for SMD soldering? (clearly, single sided only..)
I've seen reasonable reviews of a hotplate, with a chunk of aluminium or similar as a heat spreader. David On Thu, 31 Dec 2020 at 08:35, Mark Moulding <[email protected]> wrote: > If you're far enough along that you've got more than a couple of > surface-mount parts (or even one IC), I highly recommend the use of a > surface-mount oven. You can cobble one together using a toaster oven and > an Arduino-based controller, but personally I wanted to make circuits, not > learn how to make a surface-mount oven, so I purchased a T-962 oven off > Amazon (there are many sellers of this item). It ranges from $300 to $500. > > There are many modifications available on-line, including a complete > firmware replacement that appears to fix a number of shortcomings in the > original product. However, the only one I really felt was necessary was > replacing the tape that holds the insulation together internally; from the > factory, it's basically masking tape (paper), but it's very easy to replace > it with aluminum duct-sealing tape, to avoid the campfire experience the > first time you use it. > > Once you've done this, it seems to work quite well. I've used mine on > several boards now, of sizes as large as 8 " x 5", and it's done a great > job. I use only 63/37 tin/lead solder, and for this the built-in program > #2 is perfect. Just as @gregebert described, either a paste mask or just a > conservative drop of solder-paste-with-flux on each pad is all that's > needed, and everything sort of self-centers when the solder mounts, due to > the surface tension. > ~~ > Mark Moulding > > On Wednesday, December 30, 2020 at 10:35:10 AM UTC-8 gregebert wrote: > >> Reviving this thread... >> >> I've spent some of the holiday season using hot-air soldering for >> surface-mount devices, and the results are far superior to hand-soldering. >> With good solder paste (I'm using ChipQuick 63/37; there are several other >> brands) and placing small dabs on solder pads with the included syringe. >> You dont need to use a stencil; you probably will want one if you are doing >> several builds of the same board AND you are going to mount all components >> at the same time. >> >> If the PCB has good solder-masking, the solder paste will flow from the >> masked area towards the pad when heated, so shorts are unlikely to occur >> unless you used way too much paste. I've also seen some self-centering of >> SMT parts while the solder is molten, so you dont need to hold the part >> in-place while soldering as long as the airflow velocity from your hot-air >> machine is low enough. >> >> BTW, I'm using a cheap (40 USD on Amazon) reflow device that holds >> temperature quite well; adjustable airflow is a MUST-have feature. >> >> If you are fearful of doing SMT work because it looks too small, I >> suggest you give it a try. Find a PCB from a discarded device and test it >> out yourself. >> >> Thru-hole parts should still be soldered with a traditional hand iron. >> >> On Saturday, June 13, 2020 at 1:03:48 PM UTC-7 Bill Notfaded wrote: >> >>> Metcal 100% I'll never go back again. We use them at work to solder for >>> space applications under scopes... Well I don't but they do in the >>> factories. Since they turned me on and I bought a 5k series I'm totally >>> sold. It's the bomb period! >>> >>> Bill >>> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "neonixie-l" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/98971898-0cac-4d06-9555-a36ed3e1b079n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/98971898-0cac-4d06-9555-a36ed3e1b079n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/neonixie-l/CAOQ6x0GSMhpNMW2%3D5UhE3H0L_F8jM2o2J5TUDJQRU6cQKhe5%2BQ%40mail.gmail.com.
