Hi All,
I find myself wanting to do more surface mount work.
While a toaster oven works pretty good for the whole board, I would like to try a hot air station.
After looking at a Weller station at over $700 US, then looking at $50 stations on E-bay,
I would like to hear from some actual users and their experiences and recommendations.
So what is a reasonable brand of hot air station that will last for several years and not break the bank.
(I.e. under $200US would be nice.)
Thanks,
Al
I have the Weller WXR 3000 workstation that includes Hot Air rework and it is awesome, but as you say, it is very expensive WXR3003 - WELLER - Rework Station, Multifunctional, 450 °C, 120 V | Newark element14 , you can get the various parts separately and that will be way less money, for instance, just the Hot Air.
I produced a few videos on it (Sorry but mine was sponsored to me by Weller themselves along with RS-Components, so RS Logos are in the video) but you can also get this from Element 14 using the link above.
What I think is important to look out for is the following
The FAN for the hot air is in the base, not the pencil, this makes it easier to wield and typically gives better range of Air flow. It is all too easy to simply blow away the part you're trying to re-work if the flow is too high. To go with this you also need a good range of temperature, especially if you also consider Lead Free Solder and big pads that double as heat dissipators.I have also a cheap EBAY Atten/SEIK that works but is very temperamental with the Fan and will change speed as I rotate the hot air pencil. Now that i have tried the Weller, I see why paying more for good quality German Engineering is worth it.
As a separate note. I have been using the same Weller Iron for close to 40 years and it is still going strong, paid more for it of course but never needed to buy another for all this time. Lets hope the new one will last as long.
I have the Weller WXR 3000 workstation that includes Hot Air rework and it is awesome, but as you say, it is very expensive WXR3003 - WELLER - Rework Station, Multifunctional, 450 °C, 120 V | Newark element14 , you can get the various parts separately and that will be way less money, for instance, just the Hot Air.
I produced a few videos on it (Sorry but mine was sponsored to me by Weller themselves along with RS-Components, so RS Logos are in the video) but you can also get this from Element 14 using the link above.
What I think is important to look out for is the following
The FAN for the hot air is in the base, not the pencil, this makes it easier to wield and typically gives better range of Air flow. It is all too easy to simply blow away the part you're trying to re-work if the flow is too high. To go with this you also need a good range of temperature, especially if you also consider Lead Free Solder and big pads that double as heat dissipators.I have also a cheap EBAY Atten/SEIK that works but is very temperamental with the Fan and will change speed as I rotate the hot air pencil. Now that i have tried the Weller, I see why paying more for good quality German Engineering is worth it.
As a separate note. I have been using the same Weller Iron for close to 40 years and it is still going strong, paid more for it of course but never needed to buy another for all this time. Lets hope the new one will last as long.
