Reflow Systems

[johnny diaz]

So I'm getting tired of ordering a board just cause one chip is bad and I don't have the machine to change it.  Looking for a reflow system. Which system should I get?  I'm an electronic hobbyist.  Can you share your experience with the reflow systems you have?

Thanks,
Johnny

[ablacon64]

What type of board, size of the chip or soldering tecnology (SMD, BGA?) you're talking about?

[johnny diaz]

Primarily smd but would be good if it could do bga also but not necessary.

[David_AVD]

Maybe a simple hot air iron is what you want?

[Corporate666]

What do you  mean by "reflow system"?  Normally I would take that to mean an oven for reflowing boards which have been solder pasted and assembled.  But when you talk about "one chip being bad", it sounds like you are talking about rework.  In that case - rework - I agree with David, you want a hot air station.  Depending on the type of parts you are trying to remove, you can make life a lot easier by buying a cheap hot plate/griddle from Walmart (or equivalent).  These can be had for under $20 and allow you to preheat the board, which makes a big difference.

[ddavidebor]

hot air is the cheapest solution (50-250€) and infrared the best one (expecially for bga) starting from 500€

[kaz911]

So I'm getting tired of ordering a board just cause one chip is bad and I don't have the machine to change it.  Looking for a reflow system. Which system should I get?  I'm an electronic hobbyist.  Can you share your experience with the reflow systems you have?

Dependent on the size of your boards - and how they are soldered originally - your requirements are slightly different. If you want a "do it all" for SMD Rework - you would likely need a board preheater, Hot air system of some sort - and the more fancy systems has vacuum with chip lifters - so when the solder is "liquid" the SMD chip will be lifted up automatically.

Right now Toplooser has some Weller gear for sale in for sale forum. While Weller is not as popular as it used to be - it is still fine.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/buysellwanted/fs-weller-soldering-equipment-(gt50-off-list-price)-all-new/ - The WR2 or WR3M are "all in one" products - so solder station and multi tool rework station with vacuum and air pressure. They model range is "oldish" from 2006 - but if you are in 220-240 volt country - then it is "cheap" compared to other offerings at the moment.

Alternative are JBC RMST stations ($4000) - or the JBC Hot Air series (About $2000).  JBC makes great products.

The bare-bones alternative is a $50-$250 hot air iron as mentioned before in the thread - and it will work fine - but might require you to be more careful and do more of the work yourself.  Dave uses an Atten Hot Air thing in that price range.

The high end systems like JBC RMST or Weller WR3M hardly ever pops up as 2nd hand on eBay and other places. But there are plenty of MICKY (Made In China Kills You)    hot air systems on eBay.

[wraper]

Hi, what is your budget? Decent BGA IR reflow equipment is quiet expensive. There are many cheap stations with halogen heaters but they are useless crap. Hot air will not work for big chips, biggest BGA they can do satisfactory are such as in mobile phones and preheater is highly recommended. I also want to warn you that ebay and other places are full with faulty (revived with heat) and remarked BGA chips, especially Nvidia. Actually getting good chip is 10 time harder that bad one. There are also plenty of remarks which sometimes work, depends on what it was earlier. Good Nvidia is 09+ date code BTW, before that they had very serious reliability problems. But even that is not 100% guarantee that it will not die after a week. Chinese quiet often remark not only paint but also laser engraving on silicon. If you go for BGA repairs it's very serious theme to study or you can loose your money and get frustrated customers.

[johnny diaz]

My budget is $1500.  I would rather go with something more automated.  What kind of kits are available which includes everything I'd need.  I actually have the Weller WRS3000 and I use it to solder and desolder and it works great.  MY main focus for a reflow system is to change 100 pin smd and such with good quality results.  I have seen some videos with people using hot plates and its a but more involved and results don't appear to be good.

[kaz911]

My budget is $1500.  I would rather go with something more automated.  What kind of kits are available which includes everything I'd need.  I actually have the Weller WRS3000 and I use it to solder and desolder and it works great.  MY main focus for a reflow system is to change 100 pin smd and such with good quality results.  I have seen some videos with people using hot plates and its a but more involved and results don't appear to be good.

If you have the WRS3000 - then I think your tools are compatible with the WR3M (the 3 channel version of WRS3000 with air). To that you can attach the WRK SMD desolder set.

So you can "just" upgrade your base to the WR3M unit - and buy the WRK Set. With the WRK set you can desolder up to 30mm X 30 mm - and a 100 pin square is usually about 15mm X 15 mm plus/minus. If you buy at retail in the US - I think you might land just above $1500 if you reuse your old tools and not buy the "kit model" of the WR3M

[kaz911]

eBay - a couple of WR3M's for $1200-1260. Amazon - Weller WRK - $355,-

[johnny diaz]

Has anybody worked with Zephyrtronics airbath system?

http://www.zeph.com/zt1-dpu.html