OK to rest PCB on hot plate mesh?

[Faringdon]

Hi, supposing you want to heat a single sided PCB on this hot plate, is it ok to rest the pcb down on the metal mesh (instead of holding  it above the mesh with those metal "arms"?
https://www.pcb-soldering.co.uk/aoyue-863-infrared-preheater-with-variable-temperature-for-reworking-pcb-s

[Psi]

If it was me, and I owned one, I would give it a try.

One risk is that you don't know how the heating element works, it might have hot spots on the plate and require that gap to even things out.

But I guess you can turn the temp down until any hot spots are an acceptable temp.
It's only a preheater, so isn't all that critical.

You could mount your own metal mesh on top using those arms, then you can put your PCB anywhere on the new mesh.

[pisoiu]

This is how I reflow small batches of single side designs, usually with GC10 paste. PCB is directly on the mesh, but I make sure it is clean, to avoid sticking something on the other side.
Above there is a sheet of borosilicate glass (from 3d printer), to keep heat inside, otherwise, convection currents will cool your board and keep it with uneven temperature.
Playing with the heater control allows you to follow a good approximation of the soldering profile, it takes a little practice.

[Faringdon]

Thanks, it looks indeed like the PCB can be rested on the mesh. And as  kindly described, one can always put a sheet of aluminium on there and rest the PCB on that.