Hot air station - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: scrat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2010, 11:37:50 am
content: Hi all,at my lab we are considering some cheap hot air station models to buy. We plan to use them about, let's say, once a month, to desolder high pin count chips or to try soldering exposed pads (the ones which are on the bottom of chips).There are many models in the range of about 200€, but we don't know how they are, if they are quite reliable or if we must move to a higher budget range.Does anyone have used, for example, Aoyue products? Aoyue Sirocco or 2738?Thanks,Sandro

author: TopherTheME
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2010, 01:12:08 pm
content: I just picked up one of these:http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/9752I was thinking about getting one of the Aoyues but they looked pretty shotty and were more expensive than the above unit. So far its an ok station for the price. It tends to vibrate a bit when the hot air is and the first time I turned it on it smelled awful but its done everything I've asked of it so far.

author: Time
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2010, 02:13:08 pm
content: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=76I plan to order this one. At work we use the high end weller stations. I hope I am just not accustomed to those and think that one is a piece of junk when I get it :/

author: TopherTheME
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2010, 04:32:30 pm
content: Quote from: Time on October 08, 2010, 02:13:08 pmI'm accustomed to the high end weller's as well, most notably the WAD101, and yes the cheap chinese stations are pieces of crap compared to them. They are loud, have shit temperature control, and don't have any kind of on/off button for the airflow. But, what do you expect for 1/5 of the price?

author: scrat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 08, 2010, 11:06:04 pm
content: Thanks fot sharing .I notice that in the low end market there isn't a brand which justifies a higher price. Only from indirect considerations, we went on the Aoyue, because it seems a company which designs its own models, while many others do only copy the most popular ones.Quote from: TopherTheME on October 08, 2010, 04:32:30 pmA switch on the gun would be useful, although the high end (JBC) hot air gun I've used sometimes didn't cut the flow eventually, but lowered it waiting for air to cool down (even if I don't know why it was really necessary).But price is a big concern, even for a University lab (we're not going to use it every day)

author: d0ss
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2010, 01:34:37 pm
content: Just want to say I love the Aoyue stuff, I've been very impressed with the quality of stations, especially considering the price. We have a Aoyue 968 at work, which is a combo soldering station + hot air rework. It's been well over a year and works brilliantly. It's used every other day for about 2-4 hours.I also bought a standalone soldering station for myself which is used every day Aoyue 936 and again very impressed. I unfortunately haven't used a Weller or Hakko so I can't compare.

author: scrat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 11, 2010, 01:50:21 pm
content: Very good! so the impression had seeing specs, Aoyue site and photos of their devices were right, this isn't the usual cheap junk brand.Thanks

author: scrat
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 08, 2010, 01:33:05 pm
content: I add a link to a thread opened on this same topic:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1534.0I will post some photos and my impressions on the hot air station + hot plate, as soon as they arrive.