I have one of these and it's quite useful but it heats up much too fast for reliable soldering of parts using solder paste. The temperature control is very rough and ready. If you are trying to use it for re-flowing paste then initially set the temperature quite low - (check up the paste spec) to drive off the volatile stuff. Then turn the temperature up to the reflow temperature. Using a thermocouple to monitor temperate is a really good idea if you can. I get better results with the big iron hotplates because they heat up more slowly. If you don't drive the volatile stuff out of the paste it can end up boiling away under the chip for ages and you get voids or even unsoldered pins.
I think this preheater can be used as hot plate soldering for smd parts as it support 350C temperature... With this preheater We need solder paste and stencils for different smd footprints....
It comes with two magnetic board holders, so save the looking.
I haven't used mine, but the person I suggested it to (he got tired of waiting for a cheap chinese version), said its brilliant for desoldering parts, since you preheat from the bottom, and a bit more on top, and its off.
Yes it's a very cheap tool to add to your collection at NZ $93.
Thanks for finding this. I've just ordered one, it's a good price It might need some sort of jig made to position the PCB over the hot spot, but I can manage that.
It's so low cost it's worth the attempt anyway, even if I can't get used to this method. I I have some thermocouples so I can measure the temperature as Michael mentioned,
and also ordered a few of the the cheapest QFN parts with a center pad too, to practice with.
Now I'm really looking forward to trying this out.
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