The story didn’t start on the build day, instead a few weeks ago the Bill Of Materials, or BoM, was exported from the CAD package, and the task of sourcing all the components began. So there we were, setting out to make a batch of eight prototype PCBs. Setting up a pick-and-place for a very large job is a performance in itself, and for a very small run of boards there is a hard financial decision to make over whether it is justified. The answer to that isn’t really mine to give as the boards weren’t commissioned by me, but in reality it’s a nuanced decision based on a combination of cost, number of boards, and the eventual customer’s deadline for a trade show. Would we be insane to use a pick-and-place machine for this job, or are we insane not to have used one? Peripitus, via Wikimedia Commons.Some of you reading this will now be asking “What on earth are you doing making this run of boards by hand, you should be doing it with a pick-and-place machine, or you should be hiring a specialist company!”. Apologies then, any pictures will be rather generic. I can’t describe the board in question because it is a commercially sensitive prototype for the industrial customer of the friend I was putting in the day’s work for, but it’s worth going through the minutiae of successfully assembling a small batch of prototypes at this level. I was hand-stuffing a row of large high-density boards with components ranging from 0402 passives to large QFPs and everything else in between. This is being written the morning after a marathon session encompassing all of the working day and half of the night.
Reflow soldering at home professional#
It’s a process that requires care and attention, but it’s fairly straightforward once mastered and we can create small runs of high quality boards.īut what about the same process at a professional level, what do you do when your board isn’t a matchbox-sized panel from OSH Park with less than 50 or so parts but a densely-packed multilayer board about the size of a small tablet computer and with many hundreds of parts? In theory the same process of screen print and pick and place applies, but in practice to achieve a succesful result a lot more care and planning has to go into the process. We take one or two boards, screen print a layer of solder paste on the pads by using a stencil, and place our surface-mount components with a pair of tweezers before putting them in the oven. Make sure your work area is well ventilated, avoid exposure to toxins and be aware of the symptoms of lead poisoning.We’re used to reflow soldering of our PCBs at the hacker level, for quite a few years people have been reflowing with toaster ovens, skillets, and similar pieces of domestic equipment and equipping them with temperature controllers and timers. Remember, some solder contains lead that can produce extremely toxic fumes and vapors when heated to extreme temperatures - such as during reflow soldering. The first precaution to take is making sure you have the right safety equipment using a heat gun may seem simple, but it can be very dangerous! Before you start your project, make sure you have protective glasses and gloves and tweezers or another heat-resistant tool to hold the components you'll be working on.
Most heat guns work at 1,000 watts, but only some of them have temperature control gauges.
Reflow soldering at home how to#
Undertaking reflow soldering with a heat gun may not seem like a very complicated task however, understanding how to conduct the project and taking the necessary precautions will help keep you safe and make your task a success. While a regular hot-air solder rework station could cost more than $100, a common heat gun available from most home improvement stores should cost no more than $50. A common heat gun is an inexpensive way to reflow, or reattach, electronic components that have been soldered together.
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