Is the Atten 858D+ still recommended?

[Pete F]

I'm after an inexpensive rework station to do occasional SMD rework on double layer boards. I see Dave used the Atten 858D+ for years until recently upgrading it. The original review gave me the impression it was pretty crap quality, nevertheless it seemed it was more than adequate for the task. I really don't want to sink a lot of money in to this, and there's no arguing about the price. That's about the budget I have, so there's no point in looking at rework stations in the hundreds of dollars range.

Dave's review is now quite old, and while that model still seems to be sold, I wondered if there was something that has been released that was around the same price range but more recommended now?

[Specmaster]

I'm after an inexpensive rework station to do occasional SMD rework on double layer boards. I see Dave used the Atten 858D+ for years until recently upgrading it. The original review gave me the impression it was pretty crap quality, nevertheless it seemed it was more than adequate for the task. I really don't want to sink a lot of money in to this, and there's no arguing about the price. That's about the budget I have, so there's no point in looking at rework stations in the hundreds of dollars range.

Dave's review is now quite old, and while that model still seems to be sold, I wondered if there was something that has been released that was around the same price range but more recommended now?

I have one and I'm happy with it.

[metrologist]

I like mine and it's done a little better than the older ones (might be specific assembly plant). I think Dave reviewed the older non-D model, and just because he had and used one.

[Pete F]

Dave reviewed and used the 858D+, a digital version.

I (and IIRC he) suspect the brand Atten is just a rebranded generic model from the cheapest tender of the week. A search on Aliexpress finds these available for under A$50 including postage from China; certainly can't complain about the price!

If you guys find it works acceptably, then I may as well give it a go. I just didn't want to sponsor something that will simply immediately end up in landfill. They're not exactly complicated pieces of equipment, really just a DC controlled cage blower and electronically regulated heating element. It is still extraordinary how cheap they can make/sell them for, but by the same token I feel the hundreds of dollars asked for a "brand name" is a bit of a con.

[GreyWoolfe]

I have a Yihua 858D that I used for a while but SWMBO got me a Quick 957DW.  Much nicer to use though the tubing is a bit stiff. 

[NYKing]

I have been reading this forum for more info about cheap hot air stations and like you, became intrigued with the ubiquitous 858D clones out there and the numerous issues associated with them. I could not deny the incredible price to performance ratio of these machines if they are properly fixed/modded so I decided to order a 110V 858D clone from Amazon for just 39$US shipped. The one I ordered was branded “Newalacox” and came with a bunch of extra accessories like tweezers, solder sucker and extra heating element.

This particular model seemed to be slightly better designed and constructed than the others when I had a chance to examine it up close. The wand cable and power cord were detachable unlike the more popular Atten. After opening up the chassis, I tested the wiring and they were properly connected although the color coding was nonsensical. Live wire from main went directly to the switch and the neutral went to PCB. Fuse was inline with live via a removable box under the IEC power socket. Ground wire from main was linked to the ESD socket and to the hind transformer mounting screw. Another separate ground wire was linked to the PCB from the front transformer mounting screw. Tip of wand and screws were grounded. Soldering seemed adequate and no cold joints were detected. I was pleased to see a mounting screw next to the two button switches on the PCB. This will help minimize PCB flexing when the buttons are pushed. Now to the negatives...

Plastic front and back panels. I would have preferred that they used metal but plastic does provide some insulation from a safety standpoint. Still, metal is more durable and dissipates heat better.

Uncrimped wire connectors. They soldered the ground wires to the connectors but forgot to crimp them. I corrected this easily with an electrician tool.

The metal socket on the front panel was ungrounded. I fixed this by looping bare wire around the socket on the interior side and twisting the ends together to form a soldering point for one end of a jumper wire. The other end of the jumper went to the grounding pad on the PCB. During my soldering, the edge of the plastic panel melted a little from the heat coming from the iron tip. Luckily, it was minor damage and not noticiable from the outside. Be careful not to get very close to the cheap plastic when soldering.

Wand was glued together. Even though there was four screws holding the two halves together, the upper portion was glued with a mastic type adhesive probably to make the top air tight. There was no plastic collar that screws on top like the older wands. The collar was molded as part of the two halves. No doubt this was a cost saving measure. I was unable to check the wiring and PCB inside without risking damage to the wand. Kind of defeats the purpose of providing an extra heating element.

Performance of the hot air wand was quite good. I was able to remove SMD components easily. The heat seemed very stable. Air velocity and temperature controls were smooth. Measuring the heat at the tip of the nozzle yielded a +/- 20 degrees C difference from the display which was not too bad. I have not tried the calibration pot yet. The unit did get very warm after an hour of operation. Hopefully, that large heatsink on the triac will do its job. Changing the nozzles was fast and easy...just line it up with the small channel, insert and twist to lock. All in all, after tinkering with it, this purchase was worth the price. I hope it lasts more than a year...

[RobertHolcombe]

Not adding a whole lot to the discussion, but for what its worth I have used my Atten 858D+ for my day job for 5 years straight, I'd estimate about 100 hours actual use at maximum air flow rate and 350 degrees celcius. Apart from moving it to clean my bench I've never had to touch it. Even if I had a reason to upgrade it I would still keep it and recommend people buy one.

[Pete F]

Thanks for all the input. I'm quite happy with mine and not much to wish for.

I left the industry before SMD was as widespread as it is now, so never needed to do much rework in this area. So far I've managed to destroy one board with some over-enthusiastic temperature and an older board that wasn't up to such abuse. Is 350 C the typical value those with stations like these starting at?

It's been great for heat-shinking too I must say. If I was doing a lot of that it would be worth the price of admission just for that use alone.

[RobertHolcombe]

Ideal temperature will be application specific and require experimentation. 300-350 is a good starting point, if you're reworking plastic connectors I'd start low and work up, the plastics tend to discolour and deform at fairly specific temperatures.

[Pete F]

Thanks. Yes I appreciate the temperature will depend on the work, but I think I was going in too hot. Especially for an older board that is, well, old and probably not as heat tolerant as the newer boards. Luckily it didn't matter but was a heads-up if it did. It took me back to the old days where the same thing would happen to board tracks if one got a bit carried away when soldering.

[KL27x]

Every board and component are different. But you don't necessarily have to change settings and nozzles. There's a lot of guesswork involved. Most people will find the setting that is hot enough to do most anything they will need, and use dwell time and distance to compensate.

In most cases, you will want to nudge the component, frequently, to know when it has flowed in order to avoid overheating the part/board. Depending on the situation, this might be pushing on the edge of a component with tweezers, knocking the entire pcb against your bench, or even using the inside edge of the nozzle to push the part off.

[Fleetz]

What is the difference between the 858D and 858D+ models?

Is it just a marketing ploy?

[CCB]

+1 for the Quick 957DW - it's great.

[Peppered]

I have a yihua 858d.  I managed to do some SMD rework on laptop motherboards, sometimes it did struggle when there alot of ground planes nearby.

If you can, go for a quick station, my 861DE walks all over the yihua.