Rework Station

[WaynesWorld]

I am looking for an affordable rework station. I am unlikely to ever do repairs full time but am trying to get more into it as a hobby business. I watched a TRX Lab video and seemed he had some very useful attachments which I would like...

- Obligatory iron of course
- Desolder gun with suction
- Tweezers for SMD
- Hot Air
Digital displays and knob adjustments I think are the way to go.

I just can't justify the thousands for some name bands, but am hoping for something that is effective and as a bonus - repairable.

Am I asking too much?

[thm_w]

Use the search function, you'll find many threads here.
SDG has recent good review videos for irons and hot air stations: https://www.youtube.com/c/Sdgelectronics/videos
But you'll likely be fine with an 858D clone.

[Shock]

Don't get a Chinese all in one, if something dies or you upgrade you will regret it. Most of them are also knockoffs of Hakkos 907 iron. Cartridge based soldering handpieces are faster heating and easier to swap tips for rework.

A Vacuum desoldering station isn't entirely necessary, but it saves a bunch of time. You don't need tweezers (also a desoldering tool) unless you are doing very repetitive work. In many cases repairs are only a few components. Tweezers mostly save time removing multi leg packages, they are not cheap to setup either.

[richmit]

[..SNIP..] You don't need tweezers (also a desoldering tool) unless you are doing very repetitive work. In many cases repairs are only a few components. Tweezers mostly save time removing multi leg packages, they are not cheap to setup either.

I agree.  I only purchased soldering tweezers after I decided to recap my scope, and realized how many caps were in the thing!  I'm still not sure it was worth $200, but it made the project much less frustrating. 

[WaynesWorld]

Use the search function, you'll find many threads here.
SDG has recent good review videos for irons and hot air stations: https://www.youtube.com/c/Sdgelectronics/videos
But you'll likely be fine with an 858D clone.

First thing I did was spend about an hour reading some posts but didn't find what I thought I  was looking for. The 858D seems to be just hot air so only a small part of what I want.

I can see your points Shock.  I might leave the tweezers and just get separate hot air and vacuum de-soldering gun/station. Altronics has a decent looking de-soldering station but I don't like their all-in-handle hot air gun.

I am surprised I haven't come across a 2 in 1 hot air and de-solder iron with vacuum. Seems an obvious pairing to me.

[Shock]

Cheap all in one tools just amplify the chances of a failure. Once you upgrade or break one of the tools the "wtf was I thinking" sets in.

Quality brands are designed for simultaneous users and have independent channels. They are heavy and expensive to ship so tend to be built to last. Personally though, expensive tools with custom displays and micros are like going from one extreme to the other it can make them expensive to fix as well.

If you want a better hot air station than the 858D fan/heater in handle style get a Quick 161DW, it has a larger heater and a full blower in the station. It's more competent at doing larger bga rework, still made in china but you will find them (and the 858D) on many repairers bench.

Vacuum desoldering stations need regular maintenance (mostly emptying and changing filters) ensure the one you decide on has a decent track record and has affordable spare tips or even different size tips if you are doing larger pins like headers or supports.

[narkeleptk]

Speaking of SDG he just did a video on a "AiXun T3A" that looked pretty good, just go with the JBC handle and get some JBC tips to go with it. For hot air you could probably pair with something like a BEST BST-863. I'd skip tweezers and and desoldering gun. I repair daily and rarely have the desire to use either of those so I cant imagine you'd really see much benefit from them just starting out.

[Shock]

Has a nice display but better to buy the pcbs and build a Unisolder. Then you can tweak the firmware to your hearts content and run most of the JBC handpieces (if that's your goal).