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| "Soldering" with a heat gun |
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| IanB:
--- Quote from: anvoice on August 23, 2018, 12:30:51 am ---No, I did design this board. Moreover I just went back to it and noticed that there are very few signal traces running across the center pads of the ICs from the back. So I could remove some of that solder mask and solder from the back with an iron. Do you think that would be preferable to a heat gun? --- End quote --- In Mike's video, he specifically designed a hole through the board under the central pad of the IC so that the iron was in direct contact with the IC and did not have the FR4 in the way. That way the heat path was iron -> solder -> IC. The conclusion to draw is that the board should be designed from the outset with assembly in mind. If that is not the case for you, maybe you can borrow a hot air station from someone, or take your board to someone with a hot air station? |
| anvoice:
--- Quote from: KL27x on August 23, 2018, 12:36:22 am ---In case it helps, the 858D hot air station is a fairly popular and "known quantity" on the forum. It has enough power for most any 2 layer board, I think. And it is something like $30.00 on eBay. You can do a lot better, if you think you will need more power/features in the future. But you could do a lot worse. That second hand should perhaps be your own for the more immediate feedback! If both parts are near the edge of the board or on a small board, it does look to be doable with a regular heat gun. If it were in the middle of a large board, you'd have a hard time flowing the part first, without burning your hand on the one side or the board on the other. Being at the edge should be a huge help in successfully using a huge heat gun without a reducer. You should want to put the board to the edge of the bench, I imagine, so most of the hot air would not be deflected over to your other hand! --- End quote --- Good call! I'd never let someone get burned over my board. Well, these components are pretty close to the edge so I should be good that way. I'll look into the hot air station, if it's cheap enough maybe I could get it instead of the heat gun. --- Quote from: IanB on August 23, 2018, 12:36:51 am ---In Mike's video, he specifically designed a hole through the board under the central pad of the IC so that the iron was in direct contact with the IC and did not have the FR4 in the way. That way the heat path was iron -> solder -> IC. The conclusion to draw is that the board should be designed from the outset with assembly in mind. If that is not the case for you, maybe you can borrow a hot air station from someone, or take your board to someone with a hot air station? --- End quote --- I can still make a hole there to be honest. Even if it's not large enough for the iron to pass through, it would get filled with solder and I would probably be able to solder those ICs on. I'll definitely give it some thought. No, I don't have anyone I know with a hot air station. I'm a chem major so all my acquaintances, few as they are, are chemists. All alone in this vast sea of electronics. |
| Brumby:
A hot air gun is a bit like using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut. A variable temperature one just means you can have different weight in the head. Is is possible? - Yes. Is it advisable? - I would have to say "No", but I will qualify that with a big emphasis on this: --- Quote from: tautech on August 23, 2018, 12:31:34 am ---.... but don't try until you've practiced a bit on a junk PCB. --- End quote --- Even then, I would not be doing it, personally. --- Quote from: anvoice on August 23, 2018, 12:16:28 am ---Don't get me wrong, I will get the right tools if necessary, but I don't know when I'll be using the hot air station again. --- End quote --- Do you do any heat shrink? Absolutely magic with a hot air station and, if set properly, it is really hard to do damage to wiring. Also, with adjustable temperature and flow, you can use it for all manner of things where gentle, controlled heating is required. I've used mine several times for warming up labels so that they can be more easily peeled off. |
| JustMeHere:
FWIW I have soldered center gnd pads from the top with ease. I was using my hot air station. I was successful with a central ground plane. I tap them down gently when the solder is reflowing*. A very gentle nudge will confirm if the part is down. If it moves back after you nudge it, you got it. You will want a jewler's loupe or one of those USB microscopes for pin inspection. * not sure if "reflowing" is the right word. |
| tautech:
--- Quote from: Brumby on August 23, 2018, 01:00:39 am ---A hot air gun is a bit like using a sledge hammer to crack a walnut. A variable temperature one just means you can have different weight in the head. Is is possible? - Yes. Is it advisable? - I would have to say "No", but I will qualify that with a big emphasis on this: --- Quote from: tautech on August 23, 2018, 12:31:34 am ---.... but don't try until you've practiced a bit on a junk PCB. --- End quote --- Even then, I would not be doing it, personally. --- End quote --- Yep, those of us with rework stations quickly forget the learning curve and as a result we'd probably have a go with an ordinary hot air gun. Quite right Brumby, not a good idea if you haven't done hot air reflow before. |
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