Aoyue 852A ++ SMD Digital Hot Air Rework Station with Vacuum Pickup /fail - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: imidis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 10, 2016, 09:49:40 pm
content: I ordered a Aoyue 852A ++ SMD Digital Hot Air Rework Station with Vacuum Pickup from SRA Soldering (top notch service)The unit arrived packed well - the units box itself wasn't really held together in any way. Design was a bit disappointing. The vacuum runs off the pump that blows the hot air, which makes using the vacuum while the hot air gun is in use - well not so useful for picking up freshly desoldered chips. It requires turning off the hot air and pushing two buttons to switch to vacuum mode. Not really going to happen while the solder is molten.When the unit would work, besides the extreme light flickering when you turned it up to 340c, it worked pretty good. However a majority of the time it wouldn't really work at all! When turning on the rework switch most of the time the air flow indicator would bounce up and down, and of course the compressor action reflected this in a pulsating non consistent airflow. To SRA's credit they were really quick in getting back to me regarding my purchase and troubleshooting the device.I did try a few things to no avail (in hindsight wish I had taken that puppy apart to see what it looked like inside) but alas did not. Their service tech seemed to think by what was going on that it was a 220V version labelled as 110. Not really confidence instilling. Of course, this isn't one of the fancy units with the 110/220 switch for the PS.I have returned the unit with no real hassle from SRA (seem like really decent folks).I wish I could get the Hakko, but the price range is just to high so... Up next Yihua

author: smbaker
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2016, 04:10:12 pm
content: I've had an 852A++ since 2010. That vacuum pickup tool turned out to be pretty useless. Generally, I use tweezers. I don't recall having to press any buttons to switch between vacuum mode and hot air mode. IIRC the vacuum was active all the time. Did they change something? Maybe I'm misremembering though, as it's been six years since I last tried to use the vacuum tool.I've been temped to get a handheld vacuum pen if I ever start doing more smd work.As far as the hot air capability, the Aoyue generally served me well on the infrequent projects that I work on.

author: imidis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2016, 06:38:48 pm
content: Yeah, it is was the new design. (I am not sure the new design is better than the old one)The vacuum is always flowing because that it where it draws the air through for the hot air itself, however they do advise you do not block it while the hot air is in use because it will choke airflow and I am guessing because it could wear out/over heat the element. To activate vacuum mode hot air has to be off then you press air flow up+down to activate "vacuum mode".When it "worked" I was quite enjoying the hot air function.

author: savril
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2016, 09:08:28 pm
content: For vacuum pickup, you can modify an aquarium pump like the Tetra 100L, there are youtube videos on the modification, really easy. You will have a better result than a n-in-one chinese station.For the pen, you can either modify a manual vacuum pen available for cheap from China or modify a syringe.For the hot air station, you can either use on the chinese cheapo reviewed by Dave. But I would recommend a Quick 861 : it is a little more expensive but much better quality, more power, and the air flow is constant.There is a teardown thread in this forum, you will see that is really well made.EDIT: I haven't found the thread (my imagination perhaps) but there is photos in this message :https://www.eevblog.com/forum/beginners/beginners-hot-air-rework-stations/msg657483/#msg657483

author: imidis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 11, 2016, 09:43:51 pm
content: Hey there, thanks. Just sticking with a vacuum pen for now. Don't know how much I will really use it. Thanks on the quick, it does look quite nice. The Aoyue was 230CAD delivered. The maths on grabbing it from the states is probably around 400CAD will toss the idea around, really just a few odd smd jobs for now.On another note, just got in a few little accessories I ordered from SRA, vacuum pen, tweezer and 28mmx28mm QFP nozzle. Looking forward to testing those out. The vacuum pen works pretty good.

author: dorkshoei
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2017, 09:00:38 pm
content: I have one of these also (this exact item on Amazon) I can't say I'm incredibly impressed by it. It vibrates a lot. Oddly less so if you switch it to 50hz (@120v). Agree the pen is useless. I had to return the first one. Agree the guys at SRA are very helpful.I have a question on air output. Lately I've been (mis?)using it a lot to aid in removal of through hole components as shown in this youtube video belowAt about 50 seconds in you can watch the solder easily being blown through multiple holes using the Hakko (which is set to only 50% of max air flow). On the Aoyue I need to make an actual purposeful vaccum seal with nozzle tip against every hole to be able to blow through the solder. This is with the airflow set at max. I know the guy who made the video, he said he only has to do this with the Hakko for stubborn holes (gnd plane etc).Clearly the Hakko is a way more expensive piece of kit. Curious if anyone elses Auyue does better than mine? I suppose I should visit the guy who made the video and take my Aoyue to compare.