Swapped out my old solder station for a cheap hot air rework station last month

I used to fight with through-hole components on old motherboards using just a chisel tip iron and a solder sucker. Took me 45 minutes to desolder a 40-pin IDE connector in a Dell OptiPlex from 2004. Bought a $60 hot air station on Amazon just to try it and now I can clear those same joints in maybe 10 minutes with some flux and low heat. The trick was keeping the air speed low so I didn't blow tiny components across the bench like confetti. Has anyone else found a specific tool that changed how they repair older gear like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylor92918d ago

Oh man, I gotta gently push back on one thing here. Those cheap hot air stations for $60 are usually fine for basic work, but they can run way hotter than what they show on the display. I had a similar one and it was like 50 degrees off in some cases. If you're using low heat and slow air, you're probably okay, but you might want to double check the temp with a thermocouple if you ever work near plastic connectors. Just a heads up so you don't accidentally melt something sensitive.

wren_smith4418d ago

Oh totally, I had almost the exact same experience with a cheap station I picked up a few years ago. I was trying to remove a tiny capacitor near a plastic header and the thing just started bubbling the plastic before the solder even looked melted. Found out later with a multimeter thermocouple that it was running like 80 degrees hot at the lower settings. What finally worked for me was just getting one of those little plug-in temp probes you can get on amazon for like 15 bucks. I'd set the station, let it stabilize for a minute, then check the tip temp before every job near anything sensitive. It's a pain but it saved me from ruining a couple of boards. Plus once you know how far off it is you can just adjust your set temp to compensate.