Teardown cheap 16€ preheater on Aliexpress - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ha_embedded
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2023, 09:44:54 pm
content: I am using the Miniware MHP30 preheater for about 2 years now and I love it for several tasks. I wanted another one for a 2nd work location but the price for the MHP30 is fairly high. So I looked for alternatives. I know there are plenty of larger preheaters for rework for less bucks, but I really would like to stay with the size of the MHP30.A few weeks ago I spotted a new preheater on Aliexpress with no specific name for about 16€ delivered. It looks a bit strange but for the price what could go wrong.https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005549776263.htmlI don’t know the origin of this product since the above link appears to be a dealer only. Anyone knows more details?There is also another version on Aliexpress, slightly lower than the one I bought.https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005835602214.htmlWell, it arrived today and I think it is not too bad for the price. The construction looks like a small batch thing, 3D printed housing, stacked PCBs, metal core PCB as heating element, no stickers, no name, no certificates (of course). Connected to a 65W USB-C power source, pressed both buttons and heated up quickly to the 200° C preset. Some disgusting smoke on the first start but never again on further trials.User interface is straight forward and not as fiddly as on the MHP30 - much more thought put into this product. There are two different main screens available, namely „Info“ and „Curve“. „Info“ shows temperature, set-point, USB-C voltage and PID controller activity. „Curve“ shows the temperature as history log, display length last for a minute or so. Other options are language (Chinese, English). The two buttons are used for temperature up/down, both buttons short press heat on/off, both buttons long press menu - that’s it.The dimension of the main heating plate is 56x56mm and larger compared to the MHP30, advantage or disadvantage - it depends.In the attachment some pictures of the setup, of course I took it apart - in comparison to Dave even AFTER the first power-up. The heating plate is simply a metal core PCB with one long track, about 6Ω cold. It is connected to the main board via two pogo pins (spring loaded connector). Nice detail! The temperature sensor is glued with some heat resistant stuff, don’t know if this will last forever. The sandwich is continued with some simple square PCBs, obviously the heat barrier to the main body.The PCB in the housing contains an 8051 CPU, CH224K PD-controller, a 3.3V buck, a MOSFET for the heat plate and an OLED display. This display is exactly the display you will find if you look for „0.91 oled“ on Aliexpress. Seems to be a 128x32 I2C display for about 1€. Reading angle is very good, the designer put some thought into making the most important information visible with the limited size. As mentioned before it all looks a bit like a small series product but I think the unit could do the job. The materials used for the MHP30 materials are probably better but the price point is much higher as well. For my 2nd work location this preheater should do a good job.

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 11, 2023, 10:11:02 pm
content: Possible question for the vendor:Are you using your product to actually solder the control board?

author: DavidAlfa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 05:34:54 pm
content: Cheaper, for $10 (Isn't it the same?)https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005838871217.htmlBut looks a bit... small??

author: ha_embedded
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 18, 2023, 11:18:10 pm
content: Looks identical to the 2nd unit from my links above. Yes, this is weird, despite the fact is has one less heat barrier it seems to be the same unit. Don’t know why they created two different versions.