Do I need a rework station?

[Charkel]

Howdy!

I have found a deal inc. shipping on one of those 858D's for $45,5
I have seen Scotty from Strange Parts use it to all his needs but with a microscope. I won't have the money to invest in a microscope in a long while unless I would find my self in a consistent need for it.

And the question is, what could I use it for on more than shrink wires and reflow attempts?

So, is it worth it?

Thankful for any input on what you use your reflow station for and if you feel you need a microscope for those operations.

[BradC]

reflow attempts?

You don't need one. Also, turn in your "techie card".

Jibes aside (and anyone talking about "reflow" deserves plenty), mine gets mostly used for heatshrink, plastic welding, epoxy rework and pre-heating boards. Having said that, when I do need to desolder a larger SMD IC it comes in very handy. I don't use it to solder them back on though.

It's more use than I had anticipated, just not what I bought it for.

[Charkel]

reflow attempts?

You don't need one. Also, turn in your "techie card".

Jibes aside (and anyone talking about "reflow" deserves plenty), mine gets mostly used for heatshrink, plastic welding, epoxy rework and pre-heating boards. Having said that, when I do need to desolder a larger SMD IC it comes in very handy. I don't use it to solder them back on though.

It's more use than I had anticipated, just not what I bought it for.

Thx for your input.

I used to repair phones a lot and you always had to reflow those wifi chips. (heating them up again with a rework gun so fix the soldering joints)

[Spudlicious]

If I had only bought things I really need I wouldn't have a DMM, scope, soldering kit, numerous fascinating bits and bobs, in fact I wouldn't be a small-time electronics hobbyist and I would have missed much of pleasurable interest.  Dead men buy no new toys, that's my attitude to hobby purchases, especially when the sum involved is as meagre as $45.50. In other words; buy, learn, enjoy.

Everyone here knows exactly what you mean by reflow, I'm sure, so why anyone should be so sour as to pull you up on it is quite beyond me.

[Charkel]

If I had only bought things I really need I wouldn't have a DMM, scope, soldering kit, numerous fascinating bits and bobs, in fact I wouldn't be a small-time electronics hobbyist and I would have missed much of pleasurable interest.  Dead men buy no new toys, that's my attitude to hobby purchases, especially when the sum involved is as meagre as . In other words; buy, learn, enjoy.

Everyone here knows exactly what you mean by reflow, I'm sure, so why anyone should be so sour as to pull you up on it is quite beyond me.

That's all the motivation I need. Sadly I ended up with $500 after bills were paid this month so maybe next month 

[Trigger]

If it's a really cheap station. Why not? You'll at least have it when you need it. If you do any amount of SMD it's eventually something you'll need to fix something or to have a more reliable way to put the packages that are difficult, or impossible like BGAs on boards.

On the higher end, like my JBC JTSE station which has a price tag of $2200 USD. I would not recommend anyone purchase it unless they're positive about the need for it.

As someone will inevitably ask what I need it for I'm qualified for high reliability rework and describing some of the boards as heavy duty is an understatement. Not even my day job, but it pays for gear.

[CatalinaWOW]

I got along just fine without one for years.  Then decided to splurge on one of the Chinese knock-offs and am really glad I did.  So far I haven't done anything I couldn't do before, but it has simplified quite a few things.  I still don't have all the things to do this work "right".  No masks, preheaters or custom nozzles for each package, but just the basics have made working on the little stuff easier.

[hydrolisk1792]

Word of warning, before you buy make sure you already have at least a cheep soldering iron. I got one of these during a massive 6 month project for my mate to help me and when it came, he plugged it up, and smoke.  Turns out they had installed a flyback diode backwards in the power supply.  Needless to say, I had to repair it before we were able to use it.  I've since done mods to it like as a relay inside and hooked it to the soldering iron switch so it also turns on the custom solder hood and light when it is powered on. Great machine and worth the money, after the repairs, it has been a daily driver since 2014.

[exe]

IMHO yes, go buy it. I use mine quite often. What I use it for:

1) soldering / desoldering SMD. In many situations soldering iron just cannot do the job.

2) heatshrink tubing

3) various temperature experiments like measuring opamp offset drift, etc. I also have "freezer" to quickly cool parts down (when I don't care about thermalstress)

4) drying small stuff

5) soften plastic

I wouldn't call it "rework station", though. It's just a hot air gun or something.