Homemade Hot Air Soldering Tool

From: Philip Pemberton <philpem_at_dsl.pipex.com>
Date: Thu May 22 11:10:01 2003

In message <20030522135338.86817.qmail_at_web10305.mail.yahoo.com>
          Ethan Dicks <erd_6502_at_yahoo.com> wrote:

> Was it here that I was reading about turning a RadioShack Desoldering
> 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
> 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.
Theoretically it should work... See below for my - ahem - "test results"...

> 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.
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 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.
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...

> 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.
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.
philpem_at_dsl.pipex.com
http://www.philpem.dsl.pipex.com/
Received on Thu May 22 2003 - 11:10:01 BST

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