Pace ST325 Hot Air Station - Any reviews? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: salvagedcircuitry
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2020, 03:58:43 am
content: Hi. I'm looking at getting a hot air station for my lab to replace my inadequate 858 hot air station. It had a good run helping me heat up stubborn parts, but it really struggles with any modern mid to large BGA packages.I am familiar with recent Quick 861DW and Atten ST-862D reviews, but both stations are not in stock from many sources and I'd rather not wait 2 months to slowboat one from china.While I am pretty thrilled with the performance of both units, teardowns tell another story. The revealed internal build quality leaves very much to be desired. Both units feature clearly cherry picked parts from the Shenzhen market with component cost kept to an all time low. An unbranded blower fan, sanded off controllers, thin uncoated sheetmetal and cheaply integrated lines filtering are not qualities I desire for my bench equipment.Quick station teardown:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/hot-air-teardown-what-is-important-what-do-you-want-to-see/Atten station teardown:https://www.mydigit.cn/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=123382Best station teardownhttps://www.voltlog.com/voltlog-256-best-bst-863-hot-air-rework-station-alternative-to-quick-861dw/I'm after something with more thought put into the design for long term reliability. I really admire the internal design of the Weller WHA900. The teardown from Mahi is fantastic!https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/weller-wha-900-hot-air-station-teardown/I am curious how the Pace ST325 compares to the Weller wha900. Has anyone used a ST325? If so, how do you like the performance? Does it hold up well to 50+pin BGAs?I have repaired many Pace soldering stations and the build quality is nearly always top notch. Yes, some of their internal designs may be on the older side, but the overall fit and finish is leaps and bounds over the Quick / best / atten / clone stations. I understand there is a cost difference, and their should be. It would just kill me to pick up a pace st325 to only find out it doesn't perform as well as a one-hung-low stationThanks for any input guys!

author: smart0187
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 05, 2020, 06:34:58 am
content: Pace st 325 is the best hot air stantion. I use it wh8s pace stand for pisitioning and reflo bga. Just nozzles have very b8g price, but i have Chinese analog.

author: salvagedcircuitry
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2020, 05:50:54 pm
content: Thanks for the input. It looks like tips for the pace and weller are absurdly expensive. I was literally just going to take a sheet of copper or thin aluminum and a benchtop press and make my own. ~$180 usd for one tip is kinda nuts!

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2020, 04:39:02 am
content: I've been thinking about a Pace ST325. For small jobs I use a Pace TT-70 ThermoJet handpiece (see below photo) on my rework station. My other hot air is a Yihua 858D+, the transformer in the Pace ST325 probably is worth more than that alone.The Pace ST325 is more aimed at commercial/industrial environment with proper reflow profiles (using a preheater if required) and thermocouple feedback. Other differences are a vaccum pik in the nozzle and port to run an external pik tool. It stores 20/40 profiles and has 80 optional nozzles, Z axis mount and heating platform. So aside from price and quality not even the same class of product in my opinion.The Chinese ones on the other hand from what I've seen on youtube are being used mainly by cranking the temp and going straight to reflow, which is a bit contentious so each to their own.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2020, 01:45:03 pm
content: Forgot to add with reflow profiles and the closed loop/thermocouple feedback you can use box and vented air nozzles which allow you to almost enclose the component and minimize reflowing other parts of the board. There is PC software that ties the Pace ST325 and the ST450 preheater in together as well, unfortunately it's a paid option but it does potentially open the door for further automation to be setup.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2020, 09:40:13 pm
content: The Pace is listed as 575W, not much more than the 858.Tons of Quick are in stock:https://www.tequipment.net/Quick/861DW/Desoldering-Equipment/Rework-Stations/so not sure how hard you looked.What you want as well is a preheater.

author: salvagedcircuitry
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 07, 2020, 12:52:15 am
content: Quote from: thm_w on November 06, 2020, 09:40:13 pmYou know, I didn't think to check the equipment vendors. Thanks. I usually get my gear used from ebay, amazon or some discount vendor on google shopping.I have been looking into preheaters as well. I'm between a weller whp and a pace ST1600.