Subject: Homemade Hot Air Soldering Tool

From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 08:54:01 2003

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

---

From: Philip Pemberton <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 11:10:01 2003

In message <[email-masked]>
          Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]> wrote:

> 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
> heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful.
Theoretically it should work... See below for my - ahem - "test results"...

> 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 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...

> didn't read about it here, I'm baffled where else I would have run
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.
[email-masked]
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/

---

From: Bryan Blackburn <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 11:21:01 2003

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:

><snip>

---

From: "Peter C. Wallace" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 12:09:00 2003

> >heat transfer to get the air temp up to something useful.  I have

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

---

From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 13:28:00 2003

> 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 *

---

From: John Lawson <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 13:50:01 2003

> 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

---

From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 14:13:00 2003

--- "Peter C. Wallace" <[email-masked]> wrote:
> > $8000 new!

No doubt!

> Of all my experience with hot gas soldering, my favorite tool

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.

> > cheaper too.)

For <$100, I'm very interested.

> > Although you may not want to use it to replace a large BGA
> > 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
> > 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.

> > 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

---

From: Mail List <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 14:47:01 2003

> 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?

---

From: Ethan Dicks <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 15:28:00 2003

> Might not stainless steel hold up better than the steel wool?

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

---

From: Mail List <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu May 22 16:15:01 2003

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

---

From: Peter Turnbull <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 23 03:01:00 2003

> Sounds cool.  I assume at some point you need to change out the steel

Probably not for a long time, if at all.  Commercial steel wool is
oil-coated to prevent it rusting.  Philip described his as going black,
which I expect will be the result of the oil carbonising in the hot air
stream.  The result will be a tough coating of carbon that will prevent
oxidation.  A similar idea is sometimes used for steel tools -- heat
until it develops a blue oxide layer then plunge into oil.  The
resulting blue colour is fairly pretty, and rust-resistant.

-- 
Pete						Peter Turnbull
						Network Manager
						University of York

---

From: Bryan Blackburn <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 23 04:23:00 2003

>looks like the PSI100K might even be better than the one I have, and
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.

>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

---

From: "Dave Brown" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 23 06:34:00 2003

What about the WSTA6? Any idea how it compares to the WST2?
DaveB
Christchurch, NZ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bryan Blackburn" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Friday, May 23, 2003 9:22 PM
Subject: Re: Homemade Hot Air Soldering Tool
snip--

> durable, I find it bulky and I prefer the smaller model. Avoid the P1KC. 
snip--

---

From: Bryan Blackburn <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 23 12:06:00 2003

I've never heard of it until just now, but in the catalog, it looks slick

-Bryan.

---

From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri May 23 20:41:01 2003

> resulting blue colour is fairly pretty, and rust-resistant.

Groovy!  But the question I was getting at is where does all the solder
go?

--

---

From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Jul 23 14:41:00 2003

Does anyone know of any free benchmark test software for the PC?
Preferably something that runs in DOS mode that I can boot off a floppy
(to avoid having to boot into Windows).

I have two PCs that I want to benchmark to determine which one has the
better performance for my new web server.

--

---

From: Philip Pemberton <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Jul 23 14:59:00 2003

In message <[email-masked]>

> (to avoid having to boot into Windows).
There was the "Landmark Speed Test" which gave stupid results on anything
faster than a 486 (IIRC).
There's also American Megatrends's AMIDIAG diagnostic kit - a few old
versions were given away on the cover of "PC Plus" magazine.
Finally, there's Whetstone and Dhrystone - leave them going for a good half
hour, then check the results.

Later.
-- 
Phil.                              | Acorn Risc PC600 Mk3, SA202, 64MB, 6GB,
[email-masked]              | video mods, 10BaseT (i3 EtherLAN600),
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/  | 8xCD, framegrabber, teletext
... Techs would rather pee on an electric fence for the light show

---

From: Joe <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Jul 23 15:15:01 2003

>hour, then check the results.

   I used to use the benckmark function that's part of Checkit. I can't say
how accurate it is for pentium and newer machines but it worked fine for
486 and lesser machines.  I LIKE Checkit. I installed it on every machine
that I worked on or used.

    Joe

---

From: Vintage Computer Festival <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Jul 23 16:07:00 2003

> that I worked on or used.

I need something for Pentium II and higher.  Anything that was written
pre-Pentium, such as Landmark which I used quite extensively, would give
meaningless results on anything beyond a Pentium.

--

---

From: Peter Turnbull <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed Jul 23 22:36:32 2003

> meaningless results on anything beyond a Pentium.

Well, that depends on what you're measuring, really.  But most of the
benchmarks mentioned only measure processor speed (mostly, as modified
by memory/cache speed) and if you want to know how something will
perform as web server, that's not very useful.  You want a benchmark
that will take into account I/O bandwidth, or more specifically, disk
access.

-- 
Pete						Peter Turnbull
						Network Manager
						University of York

---

From: Tad <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat Jul 26 19:28:10 2003

Try an version 6 or 7 of Norton Utilities "sysinfo.exe
The file nlib200.rtl is needed.
http://www.interlab-net.com/docs/lightworks/utilities/nu/

Tad