Madell Reflow ovens

[Pack34]

I'm currently in the market for a better reflow oven. I'll be upgrading from the Chinese T-962A. I've done some firmware and hardware upgrades on it but I just keep having the issue of having cold spots that I would end up needing to touch stuff up with an iron afterwards.

I found this guy on ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SMT-Reflow-Soldering-Oven-Madell-QHL320A-for-PCB-Motherboards-Xbox-360-PS3-/231531424993?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35e8592ce1

I'm curious if anyone has any experience with the brand and/or the specific model. I noticed that they also sell a re-branded version of the T-962A, which doesn't instill confidence. But this model using a combination of convection and reflow so it might suit me well.

[rx8pilot]

I am not specifically familiar with that model but it appears to be an IR design with fans. In general, I have not seen one of those able to heat evenly. It is also limited to 260C which is not quite enough for lead-free solder. Every time I look a Maddell, I get the feeling the quality is barely passable. Just an opinion based on what I see and read on the internet - never actually owning one. The oven is such a critical part of the process - I decided to get one that was able to give me predicable and perfect results.

Keep in mind, the oven can kill a PCB at the very end of the process when you 'think' you are done. For hobby purposes, you can get away with a fiddly oven - not sure what you are doing.

I have a convection batch oven (JEM-310) that goes to 300c and that is just enough to get it done for lead-free. In a convection oven, the heat is generated outside of the PCB chamber and blown in with fans. It is rather nice in terms of heat distribution and controls. The display allows very easy programming and monitoring. The best feature is the big insulated window on top allows a continuous view of the PCB as is goes through a cycle. You can see what flows first and last which allows you to get a profile worked out very quickly for different paste and PCB's.

[IconicPCB]

I have a conveyorised Automation production systems GF12 leadfree oven.  Ok for small product, low thermal load and low component mix. Conveyor width 300 mm.

I had a 180 x 400mm low component count low component thermal load board going through it. Did discover that despite it being a convection ( fan forced ) oven it gig have a cool spot on the board.
Cranking up the setpoint a tad  cleared that issue.


I am in the process of putting together a vapor phase oven which I expect will provide better performance.
Hope to have it completed in a fortnight.

Do consider vapor phase process, a fellow in the vapor phase oven thread has done it using a vegetable steamer with what looks like excellent results.