Hot Air Solder & Rework Station....

[Sumner]

I had seen a couple videos on using a Hot Air solder & rework station and was impressed but felt it was probably something I wouldn't use. Then saw the video ( HERE ) and that really got my interest up as it looked like using one wasn't that big of a deal and also found out that they weren't that expensive.



I ordered the one above on Amazon (google YIHUA 959D-Digital Hot Air Rework Station ). It was $63.00 and I'm really impressed with it.



I haven't used it enough to comment about longevity but I'm really impressed with this unit. Any time you put the gun back in the side holster it automatically starts cooling down. Not to worry about as it will come up to any temp in less than 15 seconds.

 

One reason I bought the unit is the 3 presets. I'm starting with 138C and 183C solder paste. I have one of the presets set for the suggested temperature to use for the 138C solder paste and another for the 183C paste. The third is used for a lower temp that works well to shrink wire shrink wrap tubes. You can also use the up/down buttons on the side to go to any temp and to set the presets.

 

The 138C paste should be good for most of my projects. I the 183C is suppose to be stronger for projects that might have more shock loads. I'd probably use this paste if I build another throttle.



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The syringes are used to apply very small dots of the solder paste to the PCB (which I had already pre-tinned with an iron). You use very little of the solder paste so I expect the syringes I bought to maybe outlast me.



I had already tried the solder paste/gun on the resistor to the left and then decided to take pictures when I did the other two. When finished I checked the resistance and for any shorts between the pads. I found that the left resistor was barely touching the pad with the motor wire on it just above it in the picture. I reheated that resistor and solder joint and moved the resistor just a touch with the end of an X-Acto knife blade. What would of been a difficult fix with an iron took about 30 seconds.

If I end up wanting to change the resistor values for the LED lights in the rotary snowplow I can heat the PCB .... pluck one off....and solder another on in less than a minute.



I can see using this on any future electronics projects I do.



This project will go into ( HERE ) the rotary snowplow to control the motor and lighting.

Sumner

[sizemore]

Wonder if this would be beneficial for track laying, specifically switches. Would hope it leaves less "blobs" when attaching the rail to PCB ties.

The S.

[Sumner]

Wonder if this would be beneficial for track laying, specifically switches. Would hope it leaves less "blobs" when attaching the rail to PCB ties.

The S.

I've given that some thought myself.  If I tried I'd use the 183C solder paste as it is stronger.  Also wonder about the heat with a larger mass that would need to be heated.  Ed has a turnout in the Fast Tracks fixture now.  I might give it a try when he is done.  I build a lot of turnouts on paper templates and think that would be a major problem,  looks like it will burst into flames about 400+F and the 183C needs the hot air gun to be putting out over 600F to solder it.

First though I'll check to see if it can make the solder joint with a PCB tie and my ME code 55 rail.

Sumner

[Simon D.]

Solder paste has a limited shelf life, but can be revived with a ‘no clean’ liquid flux. It is also possible to dilute the paste with the liquid flux and effectively paint it on the joint. In this way jobs can be done with very little actual solder. Good for track work.

[Sumner]

Tried....



.... soldering code 55 rails to PCB ties. Went really nice but need to see if it works in my Fast Tracks fixture also.  The 183C paste was quite strong, the 132C might work just fine.

Sumner

[robert3985]

Wonder if this would be beneficial for track laying, specifically switches. Would hope it leaves less "blobs" when attaching the rail to PCB ties.

The S.

Hmmm...it might leave fewer blobs than with an iron, although after I starting using silver-bearing (96/4) solder and Superior Supersafe No.30 soldering flux, my blob problems went away.  And, that was just using my ancient 35W Realistic iron that I inherited from my dad.

My anti-blob problem was also partially mitigated by flattening my solder then splitting it at the end so I was only using a very fine strip.  This was more forgiving than using the entire un-squashed solder wire...and I'm using solid core wire.

I also made sure that I cleaned my iron's tip and tinning it for every solder joint.

Now, for 90+ percent of my turnout and track soldering, I'm using my 250W American Beauty Resistance Soldering Station using the tweezer tool.  The main advantage I've found is that I can hold the rail in precise position with my tweezer tool, step on my power pedal, apply solder, back off the power pedal, continuing to hold with the tweezer while the solder freezes.  This is much more precise than using an iron.  I'd have to have a third arm to do the same quality of holding, heating, removing heat, holding, releasing that I can do so easily with my resistance soldering station.

Yup, I still use my iron during turnout construction...a different one now that my old Realistic iron bit the dust...but mainly only for tinning.

I have zero experience with a hot-air solderer for trackwork (or for anything else for that matter), but, I don't see where it would be an improvement over using a resistance soldering station with the tweezer tool for soldering rail to PCB ties.

However, I would like to see what happens when Sumner experiments with it for building his turnouts. If it works well, the price is certainly much less than that of a quality resistance soldering station.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Sumner]

If it works well, the price is certainly much less than that of a quality resistance soldering station.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

I like my resistance solder station but haven't used it that much and have built a lot of turnouts with an iron only.


https://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Servo%20Control/page-7-g.html


Will have to see if this works in a fixture as I can't see it working with paper templates.  Still have probably close to 50 turnouts that have to be made (over 60 done now) and most of those are #6's so if my #6 fixture can work this would be the fastest way for me to get them made......maybe 

Sumner

[$2 Bill]

⚠⚠ First unit & similar are often made Poorly & can Burn with Little or No Warning.

Example: Many don't have Thermal Fuse(s) in the heater to Blow when the Fan stops working for any reason.

If you drop the head piece on a bench or harder, the Fan can break inside & not turning right or not @ all & control doesn't care still sending power to the heater.

The Base can have problems too like a ground wire not connected to anything inside. May have a "Fuse" but that part is Counterfeit & Fails to Blow above the Rating. Don't Trust the Tweezers types & more using 120/240VAC for same reason.

Just for Normal Use... While the head piece often have magnets to Turn Off when in the holder, is easy to very easy to pull out/off of that holder.
 
So if you get these fan in the heater units then Do Not leave it On while doing other things or worse leave the room.

I have one... Works ok but not made for real work & because is "All in One" the head piece is very bulky & tiring if you use it for a few hours.

Solder:
Get Low Temp Solder Paste. Most are "Lead Free" because RoHS rules but not good on hands or breath fumes. Paste has More Flux then Flux Core Wire Solder.
or
Find Eutectic Solder. Example: 63% Tin/37% Lead but other Formulas are/were used to make Solder switch from Liquid to Solid in a blink. Old "Mil Spec" Eutectic Solder can be found on 2nd Hand Markets but these Formulas are often Worse then simple Lead solder because of Flux &/or other metals mix in the solder.

[Sumner]

I've looked for smaller connectors to use in decoder installs and other projects and have found some. One is really small and I'm using it in my rotary snow plow build. It is almost too small to easily pull apart if needed, similar problem with the smaller JST connectors. I'd like a small connector to disconnect the speaker in the rotary plow and .....

 

.... came across the pin machined connectors above that came in one of my connector buys. They are really nice and...

 

.... smaller than using two Dupont connectors. I'd considered using them before but didn't as I didn't like the Male/Female pair as that combination gets longer. Now with the hot air soldering station I thought a female could be turned into a male by injecting solder paste into the hole on the female connector and then insert a bare wire and use the hot air gun to make the connection in the hole. Worked great ...

 

... and I'll probably see if this will work for the plow build but can also see other uses down the road. I'm liking the hot air solder/rework station a lot.

Sumner

[Maletrain]

Where did you get those connectors?

[Sumner]

Where did you get those connectors?

They were in this connector kit I got a few years ago....

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GY36RJY?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_56


About 4 rows of the male and female each along with a lot of the square ones.

Adafruit also has them along with others but still not real common.....

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3646?srsltid=AfmBOorlJs4llnsAeUZvKsSd7xXgyhMJOoOAXatcADn7grvRp4Xm_J7a

https://www.adafruit.com/product/3647

Sumner

[Sumner]

Was making a control box yesterday to control a couple turnout servos, turn track power on/off for a siding and to show if the engine on the siding is DC or DCC and needed to use a number of resistors to control the LED's on the panel.  Used the $65 hot air station for soldering small SMD resistors.


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Liked how fast it was to take care of the resistors.  Been using it on more and more projects.  Makes it easy to solder SMD devices and other components onto printed circuit boards that are also easy to make.  Makes the whole project simpler and easier to build in less space vs. wiring the components in.

Strongly recommend getting one if you are using these small components.

Sumner