Sounds like you're in the same boat as me. Just can't seem to justify the expense of a hot air rework station, they're not cheap. I threw my board in a frying pan with a temperature probe to remove the damaged chip. Not something I could do more than once I think, but it allowed me to salvage that particular build. The failed chip was in a DFN package which is solderable by hand, but impossible to unsolder by hand because of the heat sink pad underneath. I've also got my various screwy methods of removing ICs. The magnet wire trick sounds like a good one. Have to try that next time.
Capacitors What They Do In A Circuit
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I tried reflowing a board in an electric frying pan like I saw others do flawlessly on youtube, but the board substrate turned a nice toasty brown before the solder melted. Maybe I should have tried it with something other than a cheap RS board.
I haven't had any luck getting solder to flow reliably on those under chip thermals.
Sorry I'm hijacking your thread OP.
I haven't had any luck getting solder to flow reliably on those under chip thermals.
Sorry I'm hijacking your thread OP.
Hehe, I'm guilty of that way too often myself, so yea, hope that's okay OP.
I don't think I'm ever going to attempt reflow in a frying pan, too hard to control temperature. I'm thinking in terms of a high end hot plate used in laboratories or at least a hot plate with really good temperature control.
Thermal pads are a real pain, but when you need them, you need them. Haven't tried reflowing anything yet. I just design my boards with vias under them large enough to hand solder the pad.
Great info in this thread. Thanks, guys.
For anyone who, like me, just wants to see the cap explode, skip to 3:35.
For anyone who, like me, just wants to see the cap explode, skip to 3:35.
Yeah, that's an awesome cap exposion I've blown a few but nothing as spectacular as that last electrolytic.
Re: reflow- I wonder if anyone has ever tried one of the readily available microwave/convection ovens to reflow. I have a cheap unit made by Sharp that I use to heat resins. It will easily get to flow temp but I'm wondering if the fan flow will blow the components around. Looks like I may have to do some experimenting.
I've blown a few but nothing as spectacular as that last electrolytic. Re: reflow- I wonder if anyone has ever tried one of the readily available microwave/convection ovens to reflow. I have a cheap unit made by Sharp that I use to heat resins. It will easily get to flow temp but I'm wondering if the fan flow will blow the components around. Looks like I may have to do some experimenting.
Not sure how 'high end' they've been, Craig; but all the hot plates I've used in the lab tend to have the heat source just in the center. There can be a fairly steep gradient from center to the edges.
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That's a bummer, but I was thinking I could use a thick aluminum plate to act as a heat spreader. I can get an 8" x 8" piece of 1/2" aluminum plate from OnlineMetals for $20. I was also looking around at regular kitchen hot plates and found a single burner one with a variable control here. That might work well with a temperature probe.
The laboratory hot plates are really expensive, especially if they have digital control. That woud be ideal, but it may not be worth several hundred dollars if I can put something together cheaply that does the job. On the other hand, if I can find a digital hot plate for a say a couple hundred, it might be worth it. I mean I paid almost that much for my soldering station.
The laboratory hot plates are really expensive, especially if they have digital control. That woud be ideal, but it may not be worth several hundred dollars if I can put something together cheaply that does the job. On the other hand, if I can find a digital hot plate for a say a couple hundred, it might be worth it. I mean I paid almost that much for my soldering station.
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