Do you use a Hot Air Rework Station?

[gazza]

When I do power jack repairs I always find it difficult to desolder the pole points at the same time and get the jack out. I would think that using a hot air station would allow you to melt the solder points all at once and make the jack easier to remove. I was wonder how many techs have used the these hot air rework station like this one on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SMD-Hot-Air-...Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item3f02610a55

 

[morr]

I'm sure you'll find plenty of forum members using them.

I recently bought a similar machine, and whilst I've not had a dc jack repair come in recently, I expect it will make the job so much easier than those I've done in the past.
Meanwhile I've been using it to practice on a few scrap M/B's and it certainly makes removing capacitors & port headers etc very easy.

 

[MobileTechie]

Yes they make it a lot easier once you've learned how to use them.

 

[Martyn]

I've been thinking about getting one, look at this video about using one. Damn sight easier than an iron.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOEHstgaVLM

 

[carlitos31]

nice!

any similar models that could be ordered on the US ebay? I have never done that kind of repair, but I have plenty of dead laptops around that I could use for practice purposes until I feel confident about doing it on a client's computer

 

[KompuKare]

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SMD-Hot-Air-...Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item3f02610a55

Totally unrelated, but I'm going to nominate that as one of the worse spelled / written Ebay listings I have seen...

Back to topic: I've never had much luck soldering and by the look of them (and comments here and elsewhere) a hot air station seems worth buying if only to earnestly practice soldering. I'd have to organize a separate area for it though since I don't want solder / lead fumes near my main desk / office.

 

[Martyn]

I've done quite a lot of soldering over the years mainly back in the 70s and 80s when you did a lot of component replacement rather than board. Soldering< or de-soldering more than 3 legs is a pain so I think I'm going to get one of these. The video certainly makes it look easy even if it needs a lot of practice to get there. You would justify the cost of it with one power jack replacement providing your don't trash the motherboard in the process

 

[MobileTechie]

I don't use it for soldering but for desoldering they are great. However some laptops have annoying things like a diode or LED surface mounted slap bang in the middle of the pins and then you can't really use it.

 

[Martyn]

I'm also looking at doing Iphone glass replacements. I did one recently and used a hairdryer, it was a pain although it worked eventually.

 

[Skyhooker]

I don't want solder / lead fumes near my main desk / office.

It's not the solder fumes, since you'd have to get the solder pretty much to its boiling point to get vapor (and no rework station will get you there), but the flux smoke, so your concern is still valid. Since soldering flux is acidic, inhaling the smoke can lead to things like emphysema or (I think) asthma after long or repeated exposure.

 

[stevenamills]

I've been thinking about getting one, look at this video about using one. Damn sight easier than an iron.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOEHstgaVLM

Anyone use the gloves like the person in the video? Generally, I despise gloves in most any working environment, but theses look somewhat usable.

Also, what about the 390/52 setting - everyone using similar settings?

Thanks....

 

[Martyn]

Just looking at a couple of other demos. Here is one for people like me who haven't used one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNOPQhcNzEM