Hot air soldering recommendation for light use - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: willmore
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 12:15:58 am
content: Hello, all. I read the advice for newbies and searched and found a lot of posts about specific stations, but nothing like a "master hot air soldering station <definitive guide>" type of post. If I missed it, please point me in the right direction and I will be very grateful.If there isn't one, what kind of device would someone who will do a few small boards from time to time want to use? I'm not doing huge BGAs. I'm not doing a lot of rework. I'm not doing it day in and day out for a living. I'm just at the "it's a bit of a pain to do some of these TSSOP20 packages with a small soldering iron even with a good drag technique" stage. There seems to be a lot of whitelabel variants of the same device in the $40 to $60 (USD) range everywhere I look. Barring something significant, it would seem one of them should be sufficient for my needs. I'm very unlikely to change my needs in the future--I'm not going to change careers to cell phone repairman, etc.I know that many say "buy cheap, buy many times", but I believe "buy cheap the first time and see what features are important and if you use it enough to break it or wear it out you'll know what is important to have when you buy it again and you'll be able to make a better informed decision". It's a little long winded.Thanks for your time.

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 01:30:50 am
content: 858D or equivalent is what you want. As you said, $40 to 60.Check that its properly earthed when you receive it.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/is-the-atten-858d-still-recommended/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/atten-858d-hot-air-station-any-good/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/hot-air-858d-or-d/

author: Electro Fan
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 06:47:20 am
content: Might be worth the extra budget:https://www.tequipment.net/Quick/957DW+/Desoldering-Equipment/Rework-Stations/?v=0

author: bookaboo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 06:56:35 am
content: Its way over budget but if you are in the SMD game for the long haul I really recommend the Quick 861 (we have the 861DA) It's night and day compared to the cheaper stations.

author: Traceless
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 08:54:48 am
content: Quote from: willmore on April 13, 2023, 12:15:58 amFor what you plan to do the 858D is absolutely fine. I have one and even successfully used it to remove mosfets and integrated powerstages from multilayer PCBs with large ground planes. While the Quick stations are indeed a lot nicer, will work faster and make your life easier especially with larger chips the 858D does the job. If you get one of the 858Ds make sure you get one with a pluggable heat gun. Like the one onthis picture. If you get one likethisinstead you'll need to open the case and unsolder/resolder the heat gun for replacement. Also following thm_w's advice to check if the station is properly earthed is a good idea - mine was but I've seen videos from people whose stations weren't earthed properly.

author: Solder_Junkie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 01:39:09 pm
content: Another vote for the humble 858D, today I replaced an SMD TCXO and SMD 8MHz ceramic resonator using mine, really easy.A PCB holder and curved tweezers complete the tool set.

author: dobsonr741
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 01:50:58 pm
content: I feel much less drama after getting a Mechanic ET-10 hot plate. I also own a 850D for a long time. The ET-10 is small, so it’s a win on desk space.

author: willmore
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 02:27:24 pm
content: Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply. I appreciate your thoughtful answers. I'm going to go with the 858D with the detachable hotend. The one I picked up comes with an extra heating element and some other desoldering tools that I used to have but have misplaced over the decades--they're surely in a box around here somewhere......When it arrives, I'll open it up and make sure the wiring is safe. In my searching I did find a lot of comments about that set of problems.Regarding the heating plate, I did consider that as an option and it's still on the table, because my understanding is now that it helps to preheat boards even if using hot air. So, I'm going to look into how easy it is to build a small board heater. It looks pretty much like the bed heater from a 3D printer, but with a different temperature range. That should be pretty easy to build from common parts that I already have on hand.Thanks again for taking my question seriously and for the very helpful responses. I truely appreciate the time and effort all of you spent addressing my question.

author: dobsonr741
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 04:36:37 pm
content: Heating plate: I considered building my own. However, quick calculation showed PCB order + my time can not beat the ET-10 shipped: $43 total. I did the first job only on the plate. Considered touch up with the 850 or bringin over the peak profile temp, there was no need for that.

author: touchatout
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 13, 2023, 05:22:51 pm
content: I'm using a Chinese Yihua852D+, that helped me for many jobs.You can also fin this model from other manufacturers.Pros:- adustable temperature- adjustable air speed- budget friendlyCons:- The supply hose is a somewhat too short for real comfort.Many times, I would truly appreciate at least 30cm or even 50 cm more length,so that I don't have to keep the station very close to the repair area.This is the type of detail I would pay attention when purchasing a rework station.- The pump is somewhat noisy, especially when air speed is 5 and up on a scale of 8. (More or less like a coffee machine.)- I'm not sure the temperature is correct. I assume it is the temperature within the station.The air flow appears to me cooler, but this is not too important, as knowing how your station behaves matters more.- The solder iron was crap. (For the weldering, I'm using two much better stations/irons from Ersa and Weller.)It is much more important to choose a soldering station/iron from a reputable brand.As for the hot air, even a relatively "budget" station will help a lot.I use the station more for desoldering than for soldering, but it can be useful to preheat boards when soldering.