DIY smd hot air soldering gun

[Uitgeslapen]

anybody ever used this?? seems a verry nice tool to have on your workbench.

[Uitgeslapen]

the URL is an essential part to this post

http://www.dansworkshop.com/SMT%20Hot%20Air%20Pencil.shtml

[AndyOne]

I regularly use a Weller hot air pencil which I find essential for removing SM components. I sometimes use it for soldering components onto a PCB but I generally find that using a soldering iron works better. The hot air pencil I use is normally set to 500°C with enough airflow to heat large SM components fast enough not to cook everything up. They are very expensive to buy so I considered making one a while ago. I'm not sure how you would make your own but this is how I imagined it would have to be...

A high wattage soldering iron wouild be a good start. You will need a type of iron that will run without the actual bit attached. For the air supply a fish-tank aerator may be enough. The air will have to be circulated around the element over a long enough path to pick up enough heat. Some kind of machined copper heat exchanger that goes on instead of the bit will be needed. A nozzle of about 3mm diameter will then direct the air.

Andy.

[Mr.RC-CAM]

Nothing beats a good SMT rework station. The commercial models that I prefer to use cost about $5K each.

At home, things are different. For my hobby bench, a few years ago I bought a small SMT rework station that cost about $300. It includes an air pump with digital controls, hot air wand, and suction pickup tool.

Frankly, it is the world's best heat shrink gun (really). But for hobby SMT soldering, I prefer to use a standard temp controlled Weller iron with .015" solder (good solder paste is expensive and does not keep long without refrigeration). For typical parts removal I usually skip the hot air wand and go straigt for the Weller. For difficult parts that I don't want to harm I will hot air them, but that is a rare event.

If I had to do it all over again, I would rather have spent the money on a used stereo microscope and boom mount (oldies but goodies are about $700 on eBay). That would be much more convenient than my eye squinting and cheap bench lens techniques. Those SMT parts are small! :)

I guess what I am saying is that a home made hot air wand might be OK if it was safe to you and the components, and you don't have high expectations. But, accurate temperature control is a must if you ask me.

[Uitgeslapen]

thx

[beer-man]

I've tried reworking my r-shock solder sucker ion (like the link above) But haven't had much luck, I was just starting to get good heat out of it with the some stainless steal dish scrubber stuffed in the barel and using an old vacum/pump from a wax printer. Then my wife comes home from with a mini hot air gun from the local scrap booking store, said it was on sale for 6 bucks. It puts out 650 deg's. I grab it and it work prity good at taking smd off.

[AndyOne]

beer-man,

Could you show us a picture of this "mini hot air gun" so we all know what to look out for.

Andy.