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Need Cheap Engineering SMT Solder/De-Solder Station

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wuchy143

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Hi All,

I've been working with a lot of SMT chips/parts recently and would like to get a cheap engineering smt solder/de-solder station where I can do most of my own re-works without having to bring my hack jobs into work and have the soldering gods make fun of my work/mess :) I'm getting better though....

Does anyone know:

1. What are some critical items to have in the kit which I should not live without.
2. Where are some cheap stores online where I could purchase these items.
3. I don't do any really fine pitch stuff. Pretty sure the finest pitch I'd be working with is a 44 pin QFP w/ a pitch of .8mm. Which I'm capable of soldering now...with some patience.

Thanks!!
 
you're in NH, take a day and check out the companies around MIT (Cambridge MA) that do equipment surplus/buyouts. there was a big store off Kendall square that always had tons of stuff, very inexpensive.
 
TQFP44 - 0.8mm pitch doesn't require hotair rework for soldering, but does for desoldering. If you're after super cheap gear then ebay has some chinese stores which sell hotair reworks for $100 ish:

**broken link removed**

Not professional, but will easily handle TQFP44.

As for a station, I can recommmend any Xytronic temp controlled station. Along with plenty of liquid flux, desoldering braid, and cored solder. With all the above, after some practice, I've never had negative comments about my soldering at work (where I have to use cheap lead-free solder, melting temps 230C). And I've managed a few BGA reworks with it too - although I don't think they would stand up to strict strandards...

So my two cents is, the two important things are: temperature control, and flux. Temp control always helps to keep the solder melting perfectly, without over heating joints/boards/parts, and flux makes surface tension a friend.
 
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