Hi,
W.E.P. is the company who makes the rework station, and other stuff like stand alone hot air guns for SMD rework.
I suppose they are based in China.
When you go to buy a hot air tool, it states either:
1. Brushless motor fan
2. Diaphragm pump
and they do not go into detail about either one. The so called "brushless fan" type has a little fan in the HANDLE of the hot air gun, and the hot air gun only has an electrical wire connected to it (powers the heat element) that comes from the control box with the knob to change the air flow and heat temperature. The "diaphragm type" has a diaphragm pump built into the BASE UNIT and has an air tube running to it with wires inside to power the heat element.
So the "brushless fan" type has a small fan built into the handle, while the diaphragm type has a pump external to the handle which needs an air hose to blow the air into the handle which then shoots out the hot air after it is heated.
Despite the fact that they both blow hot air, there is a difference. The diaphragm type can push air with more pressure, while the fan type gives a more gentle breeze. My question is about how it might affect the soldering process, such as the type of tips that can be used with it. There is a chance that the diaphragm pump type works better with small diameter nozzels like 3mm. So there may only be a difference when soldering very small things like say a single pin on a DIP package or something like that, but this is one reason why i asked this question.