22 May
2003
22 May
'03
8:54 a.m.
Was it here that I was reading about turning a RadioShack Desoldering
Iron into an SMT hot air tool? The basic gist is that you remove the
rubber bulb, plug in an aquarium pump on a long-enough air hose, and
pack some (stainless) steel wool inside the de-soldering nozzle. The
pump provides continuous air over the steel wool which facilitates
heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful. I have
used $800 commercial versions of this at work with great effect.
I have done some initial digging and have come up with the following:
RS De-soldering Tool - $10 new
Weller De-soldering Attachment - in junk box
Aquarium Pump - $7 - $70 new
So... I can use one of my Wellers as the heat source, or I can drop $10
for a dedicated (non-temp-controlled) unit. What I'm hung up on is that
I have no idea what capacity pump to buy. The $70 pump is somewhat large,
but is adjustable. The $7 pump is too small to enclose a golf ball.
There are numerous models in-between, including several with dual taps.
So... has anyone here had any experience building such things? If I
didn't read about it here, I'm baffled where else I would have run
across the info.
Thanks,
-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
22 May
22 May
11:10 a.m.
In message <20030522135338.86817.qmail(a)web10305.mail.yahoo.com>
Ethan Dicks <erd_6502(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
Was it here that I was reading about turning a
RadioShack Desoldering
Iron into an SMT hot air tool?
I have no idea, but there was a thread on the
PICList along those lines. The
original idea was somewhere on www.usbmicro.com ISTR.
The basic gist is that you remove the
rubber bulb, plug in an aquarium pump on a long-enough air hose, and
pack some (stainless) steel wool inside the de-soldering nozzle. The
pump provides continuous air over the steel wool which facilitates
heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful.
Theoretically it should
work... See below for my - ahem - "test results"...
I have done some initial digging and have come up with
the following:
RS De-soldering Tool - $10 new
Weller De-soldering Attachment - in junk box
Aquarium Pump - $7 - $70 new
So... I can use one of my Wellers as the heat source, or I can drop $10
for a dedicated (non-temp-controlled) unit.
I spent $10 on a dedicated unit, then
bought a cheapo 30W soldering iron and
bolted the desoldering attachment onto it.
What I'm hung up on is that
I have no idea what capacity pump to buy. The $70 pump is somewhat large,
but is adjustable. The $7 pump is too small to enclose a golf ball.
There are numerous models in-between, including several with dual taps.
I tried
using a 20-something PSI (allegedly) air compressor. Made by Aerosol
Products (Colchester), 87 Eccleston Sq., London, S.W.1. $DEITY knows if they
still exist - there's a phone number (?) on there - "Victoria 1676". The
model number on it is "SCI" (may be "SC1", "5C1" or
"5CI"), serial number
1/6290. Painted red with a metal toggle switch on one side (power) and a
7mm-ish pipe on one side for the output.
I guess the air pressure is too high for the steel wool to heat the air up
enough...
So... has anyone here had any experience building such
things? If I
didn't read about it here, I'm baffled where else I would have run
across the info.
PICList? Google Search?
BTW, if you do find a pump that works, post the specs of it somewhere!
IME, the wire wool tends to go black (oxidise?) pretty quickly, I don't have
a clue what metal it's made out of, though.
Later.
--
Phil.
philpem(a)dsl.pipex.com
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/
2:47 p.m.
IME, the wire wool tends to go black (oxidise?) pretty
quickly, I don't have
a clue what metal it's made out of, though.
Could you stuff part of a stainless steel dish scrubber in there instead?
Might not stainless steel hold up better than the steel wool?
At 05:05 PM 5/22/03 +0100, you wrote:
In message
<20030522135338.86817.qmail(a)web10305.mail.yahoo.com>
Ethan Dicks <erd_6502(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
Was it here that I was reading about turning a
RadioShack Desoldering
Iron into an SMT hot air tool?
I have no idea, but there was a thread on the
PICList along those lines. The
original idea was somewhere on www.usbmicro.com ISTR.
The basic gist is that you remove the
rubber bulb, plug in an aquarium pump on a long-enough air hose, and
pack some (stainless) steel wool inside the de-soldering nozzle. The
pump provides continuous air over the steel wool which facilitates
heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful.
Theoretically it should
work... See below for my - ahem - "test results"...
I have done some initial digging and have come up
with the following:
RS De-soldering Tool - $10 new
Weller De-soldering Attachment - in junk box
Aquarium Pump - $7 - $70 new
So... I can use one of my Wellers as the heat source, or I can drop $10
for a dedicated (non-temp-controlled) unit.
I spent $10 on a dedicated unit, then
bought a cheapo 30W soldering iron and
bolted the desoldering attachment onto it.
What I'm hung up on is that
I have no idea what capacity pump to buy. The $70 pump is somewhat large,
but is adjustable. The $7 pump is too small to enclose a golf ball.
There are numerous models in-between, including several with dual taps.
I tried
using a 20-something PSI (allegedly) air compressor. Made by Aerosol
Products (Colchester), 87 Eccleston Sq., London, S.W.1. $DEITY knows if they
still exist - there's a phone number (?) on there - "Victoria 1676". The
model number on it is "SCI" (may be "SC1", "5C1" or
"5CI"), serial number
1/6290. Painted red with a metal toggle switch on one side (power) and a
7mm-ish pipe on one side for the output.
I guess the air pressure is too high for the steel wool to heat the air up
enough...
So... has anyone here had any experience building
such things? If I
didn't read about it here, I'm baffled where else I would have run
across the info.
PICList? Google Search?
BTW, if you do find a pump that works, post the specs of it somewhere!
IME, the wire wool tends to go black (oxidise?) pretty quickly, I don't have
a clue what metal it's made out of, though.
Later.
--
Phil.
philpem(a)dsl.pipex.com
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/
3:28 p.m.
--- Mail List <mail.list(a)analog-and-digital-solutions.com> wrote:
The instructions I dimly remember do suggest stainless steel wool.
I'll have to get one at the grocery store and give it a go. OTOH, the
Weller butane unit is around $100 and apparently does the job nicely.
Now that I've opened my mouth, people are pointing out all sorts of
tools well under the $800 I feared. The better the tool and the lower
the price, the less likely I am to bother with a kludge.
-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
IME, the wire
wool tends to go black (oxidise?) pretty quickly, I
don't have
a clue what metal it's made out of, though.
Could you stuff part of a stainless steel dish scrubber in there instead?
Might not stainless steel hold up better than the steel wool?
4:15 p.m.
Hello Ethan,
stainless steel dish scrubber
Pot scrubber would have been a better description. I think I've
seen them in stainless, in addition to bronze.
Even if you don't end up making one, someone else might, so the
discussion may not be for naught.
Seems that most of these sold on eBay toward the lower end of
the price range are missing the accessories, very old, or have
seen some hard use. Not surprising.
Best Regards
At 01:26 PM 5/22/03 -0700, you wrote:
--- Mail List
<mail.list(a)analog-and-digital-solutions.com> wrote:
The instructions I dimly remember do suggest stainless steel wool.
I'll have to get one at the grocery store and give it a go. OTOH, the
Weller butane unit is around $100 and apparently does the job nicely.
Now that I've opened my mouth, people are pointing out all sorts of
tools well under the $800 I feared. The better the tool and the lower
the price, the less likely I am to bother with a kludge.
-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
IME, the
wire wool tends to go black (oxidise?) pretty quickly, I
don't have
a clue what metal it's made out of, though.
Could you stuff part of a stainless steel dish scrubber in there instead?
Might not stainless steel hold up better than the steel wool? 
11:21 a.m.
I have been using commercial hot gas soldering equipment professionally
for many years. One of my machines, which I recently sold, cost over
$8000 new! Of all my experience with hot gas soldering, my favorite tool
by far is a butane powered Weller soldering iron with a hot air tip; a
PyroPen mini hot air/soldering iron, WST2. (Google search found:
http://www.lashen.com/vendors/CooperTools/Weller_cordless_solder.asp#wst2
looks like the PSI100K might even be better than the one I have, and
cheaper too.) Although you may not want to use it to replace a large BGA
chip (even though it can be done if you are careful), it is great for
the smaller components like resistors, caps, and small chips. It's main
advantages are that it is low cost, lightweight, has ample heat, and
adjustable output. I have used mine to do nearly everything I bought the
expensive Ungar machine for, which is one reason I sold it.
Although it MIGHT work, what you have described sounds clumsy and under
powered, but then I'm used to my 2 oz. tool! For the small cost of the
cordless hot air/irons, to me, it wouldn't even be worth the time to
fiddle with a homemade kludge.
-Bryan
Ethan Dicks wrote:
Was it here that I was reading about turning a
RadioShack Desoldering
Iron into an SMT hot air tool? The basic gist is that you remove the
rubber bulb, plug in an aquarium pump on a long-enough air hose, and
pack some (stainless) steel wool inside the de-soldering nozzle. The
pump provides continuous air over the steel wool which facilitates
heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful. I have
<snip>
12:09 p.m.
On Thu, 22 May 2003, Bryan Blackburn wrote:
I have been using commercial hot gas soldering
equipment professionally
for many years. One of my machines, which I recently sold, cost over
$8000 new! Of all my experience with hot gas soldering, my favorite tool
by far is a butane powered Weller soldering iron with a hot air tip; a
PyroPen mini hot air/soldering iron, WST2. (Google search found:
http://www.lashen.com/vendors/CooperTools/Weller_cordless_solder.asp#wst2
looks like the PSI100K might even be better than the one I have, and
cheaper too.) Although you may not want to use it to replace a large BGA
chip (even though it can be done if you are careful), it is great for
the smaller components like resistors, caps, and small chips. It's main
advantages are that it is low cost, lightweight, has ample heat, and
adjustable output. I have used mine to do nearly everything I bought the
expensive Ungar machine for, which is one reason I sold it.
Although it MIGHT work, what you have described sounds clumsy and under
powered, but then I'm used to my 2 oz. tool! For the small cost of the
cordless hot air/irons, to me, it wouldn't even be worth the time to
fiddle with a homemade kludge.
-Bryan
Ethan Dicks wrote:
A regular hot air gun (perhaps a little clumsy and overpowered) works very
well for larger SM soldering/desoldering. I think you will have trouble
getting a useful amount of heat from the desolderer. If I were to do that I
would just wind a nichrome coil to fit inside a small ceramic tube, powered by
a low voltage transformer/variac. I have used the aquarium pumps for another
SM soldering use: powering a vacuum collet (really nothing more than a bent
brass tube with a finger hole for controlling the vacuum) for easy handling of
small resistors and capacitors...
Another SM related trick I have used is making solder stencils by
laserprinting the stencil artwork onto 6 mil mylar, cutting out the printed
stencil areas out with an X-Acto knife, and stencil printing the solder paste.
Peter Wallace
Was it here that I was reading about turning a
RadioShack Desoldering
Iron into an SMT hot air tool? The basic gist is that you remove the
rubber bulb, plug in an aquarium pump on a long-enough air hose, and
pack some (stainless) steel wool inside the de-soldering nozzle. The
pump provides continuous air over the steel wool which facilitates
heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful. I have
<snip>
2:13 p.m.
--- "Peter C. Wallace" <pcw(a)mesanet.com> wrote:
On Thu, 22 May 2003, Bryan Blackburn wrote:
> I have been using commercial hot gas soldering equipment professionally
> for many years. One of my machines, which I recently sold, cost over
> $8000 new!
No doubt!
Of all my experience with hot gas soldering, my
favorite tool
> by far is a butane powered Weller soldering iron with a hot air tip; a
> PyroPen mini hot air/soldering iron, WST2. (Google search found:
I had no idea such things existed. I've only seen electric-resistive
thermal blowers. The one I used for rework at Lucent was a little
heavy, but it was self-contained. They also hung them from retractable
overhead cables to reduce operator strain.
> looks like the PSI100K might even be better than
the one I have, and
> cheaper too.)
For <$100, I'm very interested.
> Although you may not want to use it to replace a
large BGA
> chip (even though it can be done if you are careful), it is great for
> the smaller components like resistors, caps, and small chips.
My target is SOTs, SOJs and passives. Sounds like several of those
will work fine.
> It's main
> advantages are that it is low cost, lightweight, has ample heat, and
> adjustable output. I have used mine to do nearly everything I bought
> the expensive Ungar machine for, which is one reason I sold it.
My only cost concern is fuel - if I can buy a tank for refilling
butane lighters, it's a win. If I have to buy vendor-filled
cartridges, that's less attractive.
> Although it MIGHT work, what you have described
sounds clumsy and under
> powered, but then I'm used to my 2 oz. tool! For the small cost of the
> cordless hot air/irons, to me, it wouldn't even be worth the time to
> fiddle with a homemade kludge.
I must admit that the cost savings is less attractive with a <$100 hot
air tool compared with what I was expecting in an $800 hot air tool. I'll
have to give some serious thought to those Weller tools.
Thanks for the tip.
-ethan
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
23 May
23 May
4:23 a.m.
looks like the PSI100K might even be better than the
one I have, and
cheaper too.)
On rechecking, it doesn't appear this model has a hot air attachment.
Make sure that's part of the package before you buy one. Probably the
best model is the WST2, for ease of use. Beware that this model uses
some plastic parts, and will not survive a good floor drop! (I'm on my
third one in five years!). I have also used the WSTA3, but although more
durable, I find it bulky and I prefer the smaller model. Avoid the P1KC.
It's crap.
My only cost concern is fuel - if I can buy a tank for
refilling
butane lighters, it's a win. If I have to buy vendor-filled
cartridges, that's less attractive.
Fear not! These are refillable from standard lighter-refill style butane
tanks. Although you MUST use a very high quality butane fuel (using
cheap consumer grade fuel from the local convenience store will
seriously shorten the iron's life span), the fuel is available in nearly
every electronic parts store I've ever been, and quite cheap. My 5 oz.
can of "Ultratane" has lasted me more than a year. I can't remember how
much it cost, but it wasn't more than $10 a can.
-Bryan
6:34 a.m.
What about the WSTA6? Any idea how it compares to the WST2?
DaveB
Christchurch, NZ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bryan Blackburn" <oldcomp(a)cox.net>
To: <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org>
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2003 9:22 PM
Subject: Re: Homemade Hot Air Soldering Tool
snip--
On rechecking, it doesn't appear this model has a
hot air attachment.
Make sure that's part of the package before you buy one. Probably the
best model is the WST2, for ease of use. Beware that this model uses
some plastic parts, and will not survive a good floor drop! (I'm on my
third one in five years!). I have also used the WSTA3, but although more
durable, I find it bulky and I prefer the smaller model. Avoid the P1KC.
It's crap.
snip--
22 May
22 May
1:28 p.m.
On Thu, 22 May 2003, Ethan Dicks wrote:
Was it here that I was reading about turning a
RadioShack Desoldering
Iron into an SMT hot air tool? The basic gist is that you remove the
rubber bulb, plug in an aquarium pump on a long-enough air hose, and
pack some (stainless) steel wool inside the de-soldering nozzle. The
pump provides continuous air over the steel wool which facilitates
heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful. I have
used $800 commercial versions of this at work with great effect.
Sounds cool. I assume at some point you need to change out the steel
wool?
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
1:50 p.m.
On Thu, 22 May 2003, Vintage Computer Festival wrote:
On Thu, 22 May 2003, Ethan Dicks wrote:
[chaste snippage]
> pack some (stainless) steel wool inside the
de-soldering nozzle. The
^^^^^^^^^^
This is the part that The Right Hon'l Mr.Pamberton is having
some problems with in his DIY device.
Switching to Stainless will solve the oxidation problems for the most
part.
Cheers
John
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days inactive
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12 comments
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