I did not see that this was yet posted on the forum or in the Wiki but I did check it over for a while. I have seen people use toaster ovens to solder small SMD parts but I had not yet seen this one. A friend at work sent me the link. Could be nice for those tiny op amps etc. It is a modification to a de-soldering station to make it into a localized hot air reflow station. No.. I have not tried making one because we have a reflow oven at work but I am designing 0603 parts and seriously considering it for single part assembly.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/07/how-to-make-a-surface-mount-soldering-iron/
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/07/how-to-make-a-surface-mount-soldering-iron/
I have used 0603 resistors quit a bit and have figured out how to solder them in acuratly, but it takes a steady hand and a low wattage soldering iron with a small tip though. I use a small 1/8" flat head screw driver that I have stuck to a magnet for a while. It retains enough magnetic flux to pic up these tiny components so that they are flush with the end of the screw driver as they are about the same thickness, 0.5mm I think. Anyway, I melt solder onto one side of the connection, then place one side of the resistor into the molten solder. The surface tension sticks it to the solder and then I use the screwdriver to move and hold it into place. When the solder cools, I solder the other side and wallaaahh! tiny smd circuits. This technique is certainly low tech but it works. A magnifying glass is helpfull. I can assemble fairly quickly this way...but I not a robot.
If it were only that easy to desolder these things out when I mess up and use the wrong one
. That is the real challenge...without making a complete mess out of the whole thing.
I actually prefer these to the 0803 which are a little larger, you can almost see them
. The 0803's are just big enough not to stick to my screwdriver and become actually harder to use. go figure...
If it were only that easy to desolder these things out when I mess up and use the wrong one . That is the real challenge...without making a complete mess out of the whole thing. I actually prefer these to the 0803 which are a little larger, you can almost see them
. The 0803's are just big enough not to stick to my screwdriver and become actually harder to use. go figure...
Thats a really slick solution. I work at fast proto service, we use alot of tools, but generally I solder SMD by hand with a pretty normal tip, just takes some practise.
I really like this one http://www.dansworkshop.com/SMT Hot Air Pencil.shtml
This comes very very close to commercial designs, maybe I'll build one some time in the future.
I really like this one http://www.dansworkshop.com/SMT Hot Air Pencil.shtml
This comes very very close to commercial designs, maybe I'll build one some time in the future.
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