Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[orin]

Hot air is also useful for blasting those huge ground planes when replacing dead electrolytic capacitors so you don't wait five minutes for the solder to melt (slight exaggeration).

But mostly my SMD hot air gun gets used for heat shrink tubing...

[tggzzz]

For SOIC you only need a small hot air nozzle, in fact that's all I've ever used for SMD inline packages.
Passives with normal ends can be removed with Hakko 900 K shaped tips so to span across the component to melt the solder on both pads simultaneously, then gently wipe it to one side where it can be recovered with tweezers.

Gull and J wing packages need hot tweezers or air.

I've got a pair of excessively cheap USB soldering irons with very small tips. I haven't had to use them, yet. A quick and dirty test indicated they would work but might be too hot. If anybody has practical experiences of using them in anger, I'd be curious to hear them.

[Kilo Tango]

For SMD rework, I have used my Aoyue 852 hot air gun for quite a while, it has better heat output than the Weller WMD system we had at work. Sometime it will struggle; I tried to remove a thro hole connector from a multi layer board, Garmin GPS probably, and it took for ever and still didn't get hot enough. Trouble is if its a multi layer board with internal ground planes, you will struggle to get it hot enough to melt the solder cause the ground planes suck the heat away.

A pair of self closing tweezers, a scalpel and some flux and I'm good to go. ( not forgetting "proper" solder !)

for storage of new components still in bags, I use folders with clear sleeves. For loose, random, no provenance stuff, I got some of these SMD component starter kits plus plastic clip together boxes from China. You can get around 300 in a box file.

Ken

[Mr. Scram]

What would you guys say is the advantage of a rework station over just a hot air station?

The trick of SMD components is properly labelling storing them. I've bought a supply of ESD bags, which get labelled and put in a box card-index style, organised by type first and capacity second. You can check every component, but that's a bit tedious, but checking a few upon receiving them surely is a good idea. Never trust the supplier, even the reputable ones make mistakes.

[Mr. Scram]

Of course there is, theres the perpetual chasing the latest thing (in most of our cases, a few years after it was released) otherwise this thread and group of thoroughly nice people would be dieing would not exist and we all either to sit and watch prime time TV or put up with SWMBO wagging tongue all the time, why did you ask 

I meant the equipment in a cal lab They have other things to worry about than the tendency to hoard, and are probably better off with well aged references.

[tautech]

What would you guys say is the advantage of a rework station over just a hot air station?

If your soldering station meets your needs there's no need to get a rework station if just a hot air will complete you setup. Some recommend you split your SMD setup as if one fails there's only one to replace.
There's some small space saving with having a single unit.

When I started SMD I was previously using a light dimmer controlled fire stick iron and needed to get something way better so I killed two birds with one stone/purchase and got a rework station. It's nothing flash, no readouts but it works fine for me.

[bitseeker]

In case your GAS is in need of a DS1054Z scope, they're on sale.

[Mr. Scram]

You’ll all laugh if you see my SMD rework tools.

I have some mid range non-magnetic ESD tweezers, flux pen, weller TCP iron and an xacto knife. That’s it!

I bullt an RF power meter with those and some Poundland slug tape and some 1.27mm pitch matrix board from Roth Elektronik.

After having a huge fight with some cheap tools while building some electronics a while back, I vowed to get myself proper tools from then on. Plus, I need to compensate for my own inabilities

Of course, I simply like good tools too. Good tools make me happy. I've never had a single project that made me wish I'd bought a cheaper tool for the job. I've had plenty of projects where the cheap tools were the bane of my existence, though. A good workman doesn't blame his tools, it was obviously the idiot buying them.

I've noticed I'm growing ever more fond of the professional style tools. They do what they do and do it regardless, while taking a beating. They generally lack the blinkenlights designed to attract customers, and are better for it.

[bd139]

Agree entirely with tools.

Combining the last two posts, my ds1054z is annoying the shit out of me this week. A few niggles with the UI and encoders, a crappy noise floor, fan, probes. Thinking about an upgrade, but to what?

[Mr. Scram]

Agree entirely with tools.

Combining the last two posts, my ds1054z is annoying the shit out of me this week. A few niggles with the UI and encoders, a crappy noise floor, fan, probes. Thinking about an upgrade, but to what?

There's a new Siglent oscilloscope being released next week. I'm not sure that'll cure your woes, though.

[bitseeker]

Oh, yeah, that new Siglent is supposed to be a four-channel, right? That'll be interesting. But even if it's "better," it may be some time to get the kinks out.

Combining the last two posts, my ds1054z is annoying the shit out of me this week. A few niggles with the UI and encoders, a crappy noise floor, fan, probes. Thinking about an upgrade, but to what?

bd139, how far do you intend to upgrade? In general, the "good" stuff looks to start around $1000-2000.

[Specmaster]

Oh, yeah, that new Siglent is supposed to be a four-channel, right? That'll be interesting. But even if it's "better," it may be some time to get the kinks out.

Combining the last two posts, my ds1054z is annoying the shit out of me this week. A few niggles with the UI and encoders, a crappy noise floor, fan, probes. Thinking about an upgrade, but to what?

bd139, how far do you intend to upgrade? In general, the "good" stuff looks to start around $1000-2000.

And thats the primary expense, better build in the inevitable secondary expense unless you select one that looks very similar to the first in terms of size and colour etc so that a swap over could be made without SWMBO noticing anything!

[Cerebus]

Agree entirely with tools.

Combining the last two posts, my ds1054z is annoying the shit out of me this week. A few niggles with the UI and encoders, a crappy noise floor, fan, probes. Thinking about an upgrade, but to what?

If you keep your eyes open - and we know you know how - bargains can be had on eBay for very good probes. A good probe can make a world of difference with a mediocre 'scope and a bad probe can, kind of obviously, ruin a good scope. It can be a very cheap upgrade.

[bd139]

I'm going for new stuff this time. I'm kind of getting fed up of having broken kit. I don't mind repairing it but sometimes it really screws a day if you have to stop and fix something. Time is limited. Every 9 months is ~2% of your useful life.

Looking at splurging on a Keysight 2000 X-series as number one contender at the moment. Won't be until I've moved house and cleared the credit card though so at least 6 months off.

[Specmaster]

Hmm, a very nice scope indeed.

[bd139]

Indeed it is. I want to play with one somewhere before I splurge though. Keysight are up the road from me so I might drop them an email first to see if they will let me pop in and poke one. Probably unlikely even if I go as my ltd company but worth a shot.

[tggzzz]

Indeed it is. I want to play with one somewhere before I splurge though. Keysight are up the road from me so I might drop them an email first to see if they will let me pop in and poke one. Probably unlikely even if I go as my ltd company but worth a shot.

Hewlett Packard would (have) let you.

Don't ask, don't get. Do ask, might get.

[bitseeker]

Looking at splurging on a Keysight 2000 X-series as number one contender at the moment. Won't be until I've moved house and cleared the credit card though so at least 6 months off.

That would be a very nice scope to have on the bench, indeed.

[Berni]

Yep hard to go wrong with Keysight scopes.

The ASIC technology and UI design has been incrementally updated from the old digital HP scopes with monochrome raster CRTs up until the latest X series scopes. Rock solid firmware, very fast UI and it just simply works when you need it to.

If you don't mind the larger size and omission of the wavegen you can also look at the DSO6000 or DSO7000 series. Sure they are a bit old but have most of the features of the X3000 while giving you 8Mpts sample memory and 10 second boot times. Sometimes they can be had on ebay for a good price(especially if you want 300MHz or more bandwidth).

I use a MSO6034A at home and a MSOX3034A at work. And id say i often prefer my 6000 scope, especially because it doesn't take a whole damn minute to boot.

[bd139]

I looked at some of the older units, even back to the 546xx high end models and the pricing isn’t that great traded off against the risk. Also no probes. Next thing you know you’ve got a £700 probe bill as well.

Not terribly bothered about boot times. I tend to turn everything on and go and make coffee then come back and start work.

[nfmax]

The Keysight X2000 series is indeed a fine scope - I have a fully optioned 2024 at home - and a delight to use. However, it isn't getting the same attention firmware wise that it used to. For example, it doesn't have and won't be getting the frequency response analysis function that all the other MegaZoom 4 ASIC scopes (apart from the obsolescent X3000A series) now have.

This was the first MZ4 series scope to be introduced, and my guess is it will be this product slot that the first MZ5 will be launched into, but who knows when that will be?

I got mine as a 'certiprime' refurbished unit in conjunction with a special offer option bundle for the price of a single option, and at that price it was a good deal. I wouldn't buy just now at list price.

[bd139]

Hopefully it’ll be launched before I buy

Refurb is a good option. Definitely a possibility.

[Specmaster]

Hopefully it’ll be launched before I buy

Refurb is a good option. Definitely a possibility.

Like a car, I personally wouldn't buy a new model that has just been released, you will suffer from all the niggling little bugs etc that new models have. Wait till   they have been tested in anger and problems resolved, or buy a previous model refurbished by the makers with a warranty for the same reasons, bugs have been sorted and you will have a good scope.

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[bd139]

Good points.

[Specmaster]

Good points.

It would be a different ball game if was for work, but it's for your own personal use so you want to know that it will be reliable and last a few years. I doubt that it would be as long lasting as an analogue one though but you never know.

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