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In the market for my first hot air rework setup

VERAULT

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Joined
Jan 30, 2012
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Location
Connecticut, USA
You guys have always steered me straight when it comes to tools and helpful things.Like the Hakko FR-300 desoldering gun [damn shame the FR-301 came out 3 months later though.... I can no longer use my hot air gun (paint remover general purpose type) for SMD repair. It causes too much damage. I need a real hot air rework station. Not looking to break the bank. Just a good setup with heat control for smd rework. What do you guys think?
 
I use one of those Chinese hot air units from eBay and it works pretty well for the use I've had for it. I think a big thing when it comes to hot air is a preheater. If you can preheat the entire board to a safe temperature and then just use the hot air to get the components you are reworking above the melting point, that is a lot less stress on the board that taking one area up to the melting point. If I did a lot of hot air rework, I'd get a pcb preheader as well. Good luck!
 
Preheater, got it. Any link to your cheap ebay system though Alan?
Hojopo, That looks to be a good setup but since I already spent basically the same amount on my Hakko FR-300 I cant budget that much again for this thing. I need to go cheaper.
 
The price is good. It has temp control and multiple tips. Might be a good jumping off point. Anyone out there familiar with this exact rework gun?
 
The one I have is an 852D - I remember paying $120 for it, but it looks like they are about half the price. It could have a little more control over the quantity of hot air, but I think it has good regulation of the air temperature. I've never used the soldering iron on it - I've probably used it a dozen times, but it did what I needed. There may be better units - you might ask over at the eevblog where they breath this stuff!

Here is an example - probably not the place I ordered from:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/382685375278
 
The one I have is an 852D - I remember paying $120 for it, but it looks like they are about half the price. It could have a little more control over the quantity of hot air, but I think it has good regulation of the air temperature. I've never used the soldering iron on it - I've probably used it a dozen times, but it did what I needed. There may be better units - you might ask over at the eevblog where they breath this stuff!

Here is an example - probably not the place I ordered from:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/382685375278

Alank2, I bought one some dozen years ago and paid a lot more than $120, but I got it with a bunch of tips, a stand for the hot air, a pre-heater and a circuit board holder. I used the soldering iron maybe once?
 
I own a Gaoyue model 850 which is a direct clone of the Hakko 850. Any of the stations in this style where the compressor is in the control enclosure and the wand only has the heating element are great, quiet and are completely compatible with all the nozzles that fit the official 850.
 
Despite being fairly inexpensive and made of Chinesium, I have been very pleased with my Yihua 862BD+
 
I hear you Lee but the chineseum was really the determining factor. I bought a Chinese desoldering gun before my hakko fr300.. lasted 2 weeks. sometimes its just not worth the agrivation.
 
I hear you Lee but the chineseum was really the determining factor. I bought a Chinese desoldering gun before my hakko fr300.. lasted 2 weeks. sometimes its just not worth the agrivation.

Same thing happened to me with desoldering guns, actually, and I ended up with a hakko too. This soldering/hot air station has been good though. Although I haven't used the hot air side nearly as much as the soldering side.
 
My next question is what should I use as a heat shiled (to protect nearby components and focus the heat on the IC I am removing). I have some thin gauge alluminum and stainless sheet metal squares. Should I just make a few custom shields for reuse? Would alluminum be more beneficial or less than stainless?
 
Not sure what the proper method is, but I use aluminum foil with a cutout for the chip I plan on heating.

Lead free solder really needs a lot of heat to remove a chip and that heat will boil off a capacitor if you don't protect it.
 
Not sure what the proper method is, but I use aluminum foil with a cutout for the chip I plan on heating.

Lead free solder really needs a lot of heat to remove a chip and that heat will boil off a capacitor if you don't protect it.

Yet another reason to avoid that junk at all costs. I absolutely *despise* working on anything that's had that ROHS crap applied.

g.
 
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