Title: Cheapydog Rework Station
Post by: schazamp on January 25, 2012, 02:47:43 am
Post by: schazamp on January 25, 2012, 02:47:43 am
I've been looking for a cheap hot air rework station for some time, and found this bad boy on Amazon ($85 shipped) a few weeks ago:
[attachment=2]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZB9D4O (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZB9D4O)
It's a "Kendal" brand, whatever that means, and the ever popular 852D+ model number, like so many cheap knockoffs of its ilk. It arrived the other day, and my first thought was, "don't turn it on, take it apart!", so I did. Here are some shots:
First, everything laid out on the table.
[attachment=1]
I tried taking the cover off, and the production quality showed through immediately, for there was a stripped screw I could not remove, and I had to kind of shove the cover out of the way to get at the insides.
[attachment=0]
More to come.
[attachment=2]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZB9D4O (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZB9D4O)
It's a "Kendal" brand, whatever that means, and the ever popular 852D+ model number, like so many cheap knockoffs of its ilk. It arrived the other day, and my first thought was, "don't turn it on, take it apart!", so I did. Here are some shots:
First, everything laid out on the table.
[attachment=1]
I tried taking the cover off, and the production quality showed through immediately, for there was a stripped screw I could not remove, and I had to kind of shove the cover out of the way to get at the insides.
[attachment=0]
More to come.
Title: Re: Cheapydog Rework Station
Post by: schazamp on January 25, 2012, 05:24:58 am
Post by: schazamp on January 25, 2012, 05:24:58 am
Here's a shot of what looks like the power supply, or controller, or something. Note the amazing component quality, layout, and soldering:
[attachment=2]
Here's the back of the control panel, more top quality work:
[attachment=1]
And finally, a little other board, which I think is the "controller" for the hot air, or the soldering part.
[attachment=0]
The controls appear to just be op-amp/comparators that trigger the heating elements on and off when the temperature is below or above the set point. This appears borne out in the operation of the "heater active" LED on the soldering iron driver portion. Maybe I can replace the soldering controller with an open-source PID-based one. Now, wherever would I find such a thing?
As far as operation goes, it does seem to work. I removed a number of SMD ICs and passives with the hot-air tool, and I used it on some heat-shrink, too, and the temperature control doesn't seem too bad. The soldering iron is a Hakko-style 5-pin lightweight jobby, which seems to heat up just fine and maintain its temp. The tip selection that came with the kit isn't great, I'll have to order a small chisel-style tip. And the fine-point tip that came with it bent under a rather small amount of pressure. The reported temperature appears to fluctuate +-5 C from what I thought I set it to.
All in all, it does the job. I'm not too impressed with the quality of the iron tips. Overall, the cheap-o quality doesn't tend to get much in the way, but in the iron tips, it shows through. I'm under no illusions about getting any better than I paid for, so we'll see how long it lasts before I'm forced to repair it (by replacing the controller with a better one) or replace it with a respected brand.
But seriously, for $85 shipped, I'm pretty satisfied that it can do what I expected.
[attachment=2]
Here's the back of the control panel, more top quality work:
[attachment=1]
And finally, a little other board, which I think is the "controller" for the hot air, or the soldering part.
[attachment=0]
The controls appear to just be op-amp/comparators that trigger the heating elements on and off when the temperature is below or above the set point. This appears borne out in the operation of the "heater active" LED on the soldering iron driver portion. Maybe I can replace the soldering controller with an open-source PID-based one. Now, wherever would I find such a thing?
As far as operation goes, it does seem to work. I removed a number of SMD ICs and passives with the hot-air tool, and I used it on some heat-shrink, too, and the temperature control doesn't seem too bad. The soldering iron is a Hakko-style 5-pin lightweight jobby, which seems to heat up just fine and maintain its temp. The tip selection that came with the kit isn't great, I'll have to order a small chisel-style tip. And the fine-point tip that came with it bent under a rather small amount of pressure. The reported temperature appears to fluctuate +-5 C from what I thought I set it to.
All in all, it does the job. I'm not too impressed with the quality of the iron tips. Overall, the cheap-o quality doesn't tend to get much in the way, but in the iron tips, it shows through. I'm under no illusions about getting any better than I paid for, so we'll see how long it lasts before I'm forced to repair it (by replacing the controller with a better one) or replace it with a respected brand.
But seriously, for $85 shipped, I'm pretty satisfied that it can do what I expected.