Hotplates, ovens, and hot air, oh my

cwsquared

cwsquared

Well-known member
So, as the VFE SMD adventures will commence shortly... what is my best bet for success, while not being overly expensive? I am sure I could probably use my iron, but some of these chips are real little.

Somewhere, I saw @Chuck D. Bones say hot air isn't the best idea for some components. So, maybe not the correct direction to go in.

I figure a hotplate would be cheapest. Hotplates on Amazon look to be about $50-60. @Mcknib has seen good results.

Reflow ovens are probably the best but more expensive. Unfortunately, hard to rationalize the cost for the amount of SMD work I see myself doing. I checked FB Marketplace for a reflow ovens and all my results were for toaster ovens, so that was a bust. However, I did see a result for a BGA/SMD IR rework station that intrigued me for $100. https://www.amazon.com/Station-Infrared-Preheating-Soldering-Replacement/dp/B07TFJYLC2?th=1

So, input from the forum would be appreciated.
 
cwsquared said:
So, as the VFE SMD adventures will commence shortly... what is my best bet for success, while not being overly expensive? I am sure I could probably use my iron, but some of these chips are real little.

Somewhere, I saw @Chuck D. Bones say hot air isn't the best idea for some components. So, maybe not the correct direction to go in.

I figure a hotplate would be cheapest. Hotplates on Amazon look to be about $50-60. @Mcknib has seen good results.

Reflow ovens are probably the best but more expensive. Unfortunately, hard to rationalize the cost for the amount of SMD work I see myself doing. I checked FB Marketplace for a reflow ovens and all my results were for toaster ovens, so that was a bust. However, I did see a result for a BGA/SMD IR rework station that intrigued me for $100. https://www.amazon.com/Station-Infrared-Preheating-Soldering-Replacement/dp/B07TFJYLC2?th=1

So, input from the forum would be appreciated.
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Your timing is impeccable. I was just about to post something along the same lines so I am super interested to see what folks have to say. 👍🏻
 
I know nothing about hot plates (apart from warming my dinner in the microwave), but would like to get into more Surface Mount Design builds.

I was thinking of getting one of these:

THD HOT PLATE.jpg


They look a lot simpler and easier to use than the unit linked in the OP.
I realised, however, that none of them are for SMD — weird font made "THD" hard to read, so I guess they're all for Through-Hole Design.
 
I was thinking about getting the Mechanic ET-10 hotplate from AliExpress, but lately I'm tempted to design my PCBs so I can order the assembly from the PCB manufacturer... I still don't know.

In the meantime, I solder everything with my soldering iron. I'm not having problems with that.
 
I've been thinking about getting rid of my reflow oven, not sure where you're located and if it would make sense to ship it, but I can look into it if you're interested. I used to do stencils/solder paste/reflow on all my production boards so the oven got lots of use, but since I've switched over to outside assembly the oven hasn't been used in a while.
 
vigilante398 said:
I've been thinking about getting rid of my reflow oven, not sure where you're located and if it would make sense to ship it, but I can look into it if you're interested. I used to do stencils/solder paste/reflow on all my production boards so the oven got lots of use, but since I've switched over to outside assembly the oven hasn't been used in a while.
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I am in Maryland. So, I am not right around the corner. But hey, never hurts to check.
 
Don't shortchange a regular iron and lots of practice. For me this also meant getting a binocular microscope to work under. The only package I couldn't get done this way was a 10-MSOP, and the legs (5 per side, 3mm total chip width) weren't the problem, it was the heatsink/ground connection on the bottom. I ended up doing this with solder paste and hot air. While I find the videos of chips positioning themselves "by magic" on a hot plate or oven delightful, going that route just doesn't appeal to me, unless its a big enough quantity to screen the paste on the board. Wiping a slightly moistened (with solder) tip past the legs, after dabbing everything with a needle applicator of flux goes incredibly fast when you get used to it, and is also quite magical to me. (I find small caps are still a bit of a challenge though). But all the chips are really fast to do.
 

Someone here had recommended this a while back and I saved it to look into later. You will apparently have to deal with holding down chips so they don't blow away into the ether, but may be an option I'm looking into. Klein Box or bust!
 
DeadAirMD said:

Someone here had recommended this a while back and I saved it to look into later. You will apparently have to deal with holding down chips so they don't blow away into the ether, but may be an option I'm looking into. Klein Box or bust!
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I have one of those as well, I mostly use it for de-soldering though. I've never had an issue with things blowing away when I try to solder them though, the surface tension of the solder paste helps them stick.
 
I'm no pro nor expert, but I've used all three and each have their strengths and weaknesses. Some are accentuated by my lack of skill, knowledge, or even interest at times. :ROFLMAO:

Remember when using the oven, it must be done prior to any TO soldering, and all surface mounts are typically placed and soldered in a single session. Mine was used in the carport to avoid the fume exhaust.

The heat gun was the least useful to me, but I attribute this to operator failure. I could never get the temp/air adjusted and it was too bulky to maneuver as a daily driver. It did well with larger footprint components as I recall.

The hotplate I have is barebones but did the job. It's not a magic plate, and I never used it for pcbs with lots of surface mount...one or two tops.

I think I have the same oven as @vigilante398 , and it's served me well....except after that mod I tried...:unsure:
 
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