Are you using just a Heat Gun for your SMD Reflow work?
Many hobbyists use converted ovens for Reflow, but I’ve always wanted a hot-plate style Reflower.
If you have limited space, the size of an oven can be an issue. But I think there are other advantages too! (read on…)
Being on a tight budget, I thought I’d experiment with a relatively cheap Preheater from AliExpress.
If you have any interest in SMD based electronic maker projects, then join me in this 3 part journey.
In PART 1, I review some available Preheater sizes, and I get started by opening up my newly delivered UYue 946-1010 Preheater to see what makes it tick. I then dive straight into trying out a manually controlled PCB Solder Reflow.
Then, in PART 2 of my Solder Reflow using a cheap Preheater, I proceed to a full teardown and discovery of my UYue 946-1010 Preheating Station internals.
Finally in PART 3, I rebuild my UYue 946-1010 Preheating Station, adding a proper Reflow Controller to provide an easy to use automated PCB Reflow solution.
Although I now have a Reflow Oven, I still make regular use of my customised Preheater solution for SMD PCB prototyping, as well as for SMD component recovery and SMD rework / board repair. These are just two of the advantages I referred to above, being two things you can’t really do in a Reflow Oven (due to lack of accessibility).
An added advantage is that the Preheater is a small portable unit (relative to the size of a Reflow Oven!), that can be easily stashed away at the back of a shelf, and just dropped into your workspace whenever it’s needed.
You’ll note that I chose the smallest (and cheapest) Preheater, which interestingly (with it’s 10cm x 10cm hot plate), matches the largest size of cheap “prototype” PCB option typically offered by many PCB suppliers.
And finally, if you currently use a Hot Air gun for your SMD Reflow / Rework, then a Preheater can also significantly improve your Hot Air gun usage experience.
A Hot Air gun for SMD work is much easier to use if you first pre-heat the PCB to say 150c, and then use the Hot Air to quickly lift the temperature of just the selected target, to only reflow the SMD parts you are wanting to rework (or recovery) on your PCB.
ie. These are the things I can’t do in the Reflow Oven, which I tend to use exclusively for production PCB Reflow batches.
With my customised Preheater I now have the convenience of automated PCB Reflow, as well as the new controller’s Bake function retaining the original Preheater’s constant temperature setting ability (but with improved temperature stability over the original controller!).
You can find my “Solder Reflow using a cheap Preheater” 3 PART Video Playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbwpMhzwzS1ogtAh566-UTJ6vKSKHoiPD