Styles of hot air blowers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: artag
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 09:04:22 pm
content: Most of the cheap hot-air pencils now seem to be of the style where there is both a fan and a heater in the handpiece.Older units, and perhaps the more expensive current units, have an air pump in the base station and only the heater in the handpiece.Is the older design better ? It's probably less mass in the handpiece but then it has a lighter cord as it only carries electricity and is not an airpipe.I used to have a Weller station with lovely small handpieces that were more like soldering irons - but I replaced it because it didn't really get enough heat transfer to be useful.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 15, 2025, 09:14:21 pm
content: The best design is with BLDC driven centrifugal fan in the station. Old style diaphragm pump sucks as it provides subpar maximum airflow that is also intermittent which tends to blow away small components at relatively low (average) airflow.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2025, 10:11:28 pm
content: Depends on use case and budget.The cheap fan in handle ones are actually nice to use, the handle is not heavy and the cord is flexible. In comparison a normal blower in base style (atten st-862d or whatever) has a stiffer thicker cord so is a bit more work to orient around.But if you are working on dense parts or 4+ layer boards then you might need that, as the fan in handle units tend to top out around 500W or less.Though there are also some all in one units like the JCD 750W, fnirsi sag-55, quick TR1, can be good if you lack bench space. You can find many threads in reviews:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 18, 2025, 01:11:33 pm
content: I quite like the form factor of the cheap handhelds with a DC motor fan in the back and the heating element in the front. Having an air hose between the base and the handle would be quite cumbersome.The cheap ones also have pretty cheap replacement parts. You can replace the whole handle (with motor, heating element, all the plastic, power cord) for around EUR 20. So I see no problem in having a few of them on stock. If you use them daily, and they wear out too quick for you, then try one of the more expensive brands, but for me, the cheap one gets the job done quite well.Making a stand to hold the thing in place while you go get a cuppa coffee is a good idea. Something like the JBC RWS-Dhttps://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=RWS-D+jbc&ia=images&iax=imagesBut the price of this (>EUR 800) is absolutely bonkers. You can make something similar from an EUR 15 Ikea desk light. But please don't point it at your wooden desk when you go fetch your coffee.

author: surfaced
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 25, 2025, 07:07:06 pm
content: I've never thought of one style as older/newer than another... maybe their relative popularity has shifted in recent years though.You may get away with the fan-in-handpiece style if working on small PCBs, boards without large ground planes, and small ICs.If you're working on bigger boards, heavy copper, BGA, etc, get a station that has a centrifugal fan in the base unit. Probably something 900W or higher.I also previously had a Weller HXHAP200 (which is that third style option, the diaphragm/pump style), and even with a preheater I could never get large ICs off our boards.Also being locked into the weird ecosystem of expensive proprietary threaded nozzles and the limited selection is no fun.Using those as part of their all-in-one rework stations has some convenience, but they are very constrained by the station's overall power budget and form factor.Real talk: if space/money aren't extremely tight just go for the centrifugal fan style. Then you always have peace of mind your hot air isn't holding you back.