[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index]

Re: gEDA-user: Anybody have any experience with cheap chinese reflow ovens?

 I got a T-962A from these guys:
http://www.ownta.com/t962a-reflow-soldering-machine.html
This is a heavy unit so shipping was expensive, though I cannot remember exactly how much right now. It came DHL and I had it in about a week. I paid through paypal. Got a order confirmation, shipping confirmation, tracking number. All the normal stuff. So far I'm pretty happy with it. I use it for prototype and kind of a mini production line. I've probably run over 150 boards through it so far.
1: I got the 962A for the larger area. For a half height PCI card, basically 2.5" x 7", I can do 3 at a time. I can fit four but I find the quality of the joints are better with 3 max. For smaller boards I've loaded up a dozen at a time. Max area for the 962A is 300mm x 320mm
2: The font panel keypad is not very good. Their membrane switch debounce software needs a tweak in the timing. It seems to jump back a menu more than it should. This is not a big issue though.
3: The built in heat profiles work well. I've done both leaded and LF. You can also program your own profile. It's easy to do but takes a little planning with a pencil and paper. You program in 10 second intervals.
4: If you are ramping the temp up rather fast it will overshoot by 20C or a little more if the unit has not done a cycle yet. The best thing is to run a empty cycle first to get some heat into the unit.
5: It does a good job of staying on the heat profile once it's warmed up. Nothing like a big production line system will do but still good enough for what I do. 

You might also look at a hot air gun.  I got one of those before the oven.


On 02/28/2011 12:24 PM, yamazakir2 wrote:

Does that company ship to the US? Plus for some reason I have had VERY
bad shipping experience from europe. I live in CA and things always
take at least 3 weeks to get here. One time I ordered a cable from
ebay from the uk and it took 1.5 months to get here.

So one one has any experience with the chinese reflow ovens? Are they
junk or something?

On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 4:22 PM, Kai-Martin Knaak<kmk@xxxxxxxxxxxx>  wrote:

David Smith wrote:


It seems like $320 shipped is pretty cheap for a reflow oven... to the
point where I question the quality/reliability. Getting one of these
would make assembling my boards 2-3x faster,so it's tempting.

We successfully use the pizza oven reflow kit sold by beta-layout:
(same company as pcb pool)
        http://www.reflow-kit.com/rkuk/order_products_list.html?wg=1
The controller is 159 EUR and the oven 59 EUR. The controller goes
between the plug and the wall. So you can use a cheaper oven from the
local grocerie if you wish.

Results are fine by default for small boards. For large boards,
components near the door receive less heat than necessary. This
could be rectified with aluminum foil on the inside of the window.



There's an article on the SparkFun website where they claim that you're
better off buying a domestic hot-plate (!)

We tried the hot plate method, too. Results were mixed and depend
on timing and various other factors.

---<)kaimartin(>---
--
Kai-Martin Knaak
Email: kmk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Öffentlicher PGP-Schlüssel:
http://pool.sks-keyservers.net:11371/pks/lookup?search=0x6C0B9F53



_______________________________________________
geda-user mailing list
geda-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user



_______________________________________________
geda-user mailing list
geda-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user



--
Joe Chisolm
Marble Falls, Tx.



_______________________________________________
geda-user mailing list
geda-user@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.seul.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/geda-user