Soldering and Hot Air Station

[HK-Kid]

Hi Carbies.

Hope everyone is well.

My son has showed great interest in electronics and robotics in high school and would now like to get himself a soldering and hot air station.

I'm not too clued up and would like to get something decent that he can learn with but also won't break the bank.

I have put up a wanted advertisement, but some advice on what to buy and where to buy from would also be great if I don't get anything on the forum.

Thanks

 

[HK-Kid]

Shout out to @Sosio for this suggestion:

RS PRO Hot Air station 700W, 220 → 240V | RS

za.rs-online.com

 

[limadelta26]

@HK-Kid hey man, a cheaper option would be this https://www.adendorff.co.za/mac-afric-2in1-soldering-station-with-digital-display-tsolde750

I haven't personally owned one of these but a mate of mine does have one and I have used it and it works like a dream. I personally use a Magnum 2002, but I am currently looking at getting a proper SMD rework station set up as well. I am looking at the above Mac Afric from Adendorff.

Hope this helps

 

[HK-Kid]

@HK-Kid hey man, a cheaper option would be this https://www.adendorff.co.za/mac-afric-2in1-soldering-station-with-digital-display-tsolde750

I haven't personally owned one of these but a mate of mine does have one and I have used it and it works like a dream. I personally use a Magnum 2002, but I am currently looking at getting a proper SMD rework station set up as well. I am looking at the above Mac Afric from Adendorff.

Hope this helps

That's pretty cheap. Anyone else have some experience with this one?

 

[Confucius]

@HK-Kid hey man, a cheaper option would be this https://www.adendorff.co.za/mac-afric-2in1-soldering-station-with-digital-display-tsolde750

I haven't personally owned one of these but a mate of mine does have one and I have used it and it works like a dream. I personally use a Magnum 2002, but I am currently looking at getting a proper SMD rework station set up as well. I am looking at the above Mac Afric from Adendorff.

Hope this helps

Thanks for giving me another reason to stop at adendorf and buy stuff that I will most probably not need, it still want.

When I did look at getting one, it was 4x this amount

 

[limadelta26]

Thanks for giving me another reason to stop at adendorf and buy stuff that I will most probably not need, it still want.

When I did look at getting one, it was 4x this amount

We all have the same issue. "Oh this is nice, let me buy it" *Gets packed in a box for the next 12 months and then posted on carb for sale as never used* 🤣

 

[Confucius]

We all have the same issue. "Oh this is nice, let me buy it" *Gets packed in a box for the next 12 months and then posted on carb for sale as never used* 🤣

For me, it’s especially true for tools.

@HK-Kid in order to not hijack your tread. As an entry level station, I think this will be fine. I’ve got a dedicated solder station that I got from Communica a few years back and it works great. Has temperature control and for my general requirements, it’s worked greater.

I have on many occasions wished I had a hot air station for surface mount but as mentioned, it was too expensive to justify the buy.

I will be getting this one from adendorf though.

 

[HK-Kid]

Managed to find a review: @Confucius @limadelta26

 

[mujeeb1]

All good for entry level but remember the smaller tools makes a bigger difference. Proper rubber mat, tip cleaner, flux and solder wick. Also make sure the solder tips are right because the cheap smd stations don't always have quality tips.

He also has to work in a ventilated place cause of the fumes and his little lungs

Managed to find a review:

 

[limadelta26]

Managed to find a review: @Confucius @limadelta26

Oh nice! Didn't expect the same unit in a YT vid.

I will agree the fan us not that loud in real life, so you can still have a moderate conversation with it running in the background.

All good for entry level but remember the smaller tools makes a bigger difference. Proper rubber mat, tip cleaner, flux and solder wick. Also make sure the solder tips are right because the cheap smd stations don't always have quality tips.

He also has to work in a ventilated place cause of the fumes and his little lungs

Agreeing here with @mujeeb1 Flux / solder paste and solder wick are very important as well as the right kind of solder.

Get a small small cutting mat (using Takealot here as an example) but you can find them at any "China Stores" (of if you have the bank, PNA 🤣 ) and then one of these mats for the silicon (Takealot again)

And then the last thing is extremely important. Ventilation is key. In my little outside room at the house where I do my work I have the door and window open (workbench is right by the window) and then I also have a small 220v desk fan on oscillation to push air over the are I am working and to clear out the remaining air in the room. I know from when I was younger and stupid pulling cow boy moves of just winging it, you don't want to be breathing in lead fumes from a soldering station (or plastic if you want to cut things with the iron - just get a separate tip for that)

 

[Acidburn]

Takealot

I m using the same station. Great unit

 

[limadelta26]

Takealot

I m using the same station. Great unit

I've seen these Kada units (and similar) with some of the RC enthusiasts on YouTube (there is an Australian guy, can't remember his name though) that did a "review" on one of them and from what I can remember he didn't have issues with it.

 

[HK-Kid]

Takealot

I m using the same station. Great unit

A review please. Has a nice metal case as compared to the Ardendorf one...

 

[Confucius]

breathing in lead fumes

I think most of the solder these days should be lead free, but point remains. The fumes are not good.

 

[limadelta26]

I think most of the solder these days should be lead free, but point remains. The fumes are not good.

Some of the cheap solder from chinese lighting shops have lead (regardless of what the sticker says) I needed some the other day for a quick job and wasn't around to getting my normal Nasco solder and found out the hard way "Don't buy cheap"

 

[P1000]

I think most of the solder these days should be lead free, but point remains. The fumes are not good.

If you are getting the lead to boil, your temperature is set a bit high. The fumes are usually just the flux, which is not as bad for your health as you would think. (well it's not on the same scale as lead is). Absorbing the lead through your skin is probably a bigger risk. Most repairers will still use leaded solder where legal, because it's better and the lower temperature also increases your chances of success.

 

[limadelta26]

A review please. Has a nice metal case as compared to the Ardendorf one...

Only one in English I can find

 

[Keenen]

If you feel like going for something that will last him his lifetime, I have a Weller WMD-3 station however it doesn’t have any accessories. So just the station which I could do at an amazing price!

I also have quite a few WD-1 units as well. Just the station once again. No accessories.

 

[HK-Kid]

Only one in English I can find

This unit seems way better than the Adendorff one....

 

[limadelta26]

This unit seems way better than the Adendorff one....

Cost wise not much difference between the two at least. Like I said though I do use Magnum so I cannot personally vouch for long time usage on the Adendorff unit, only based on my one time using one and a friend of mine owning and using it regularly (he used to work for an electronics company that built custom PCBS and such)

 

[shifttymike]

All good for entry level but remember the smaller tools makes a bigger difference. Proper rubber mat, tip cleaner, flux and solder wick. Also make sure the solder tips are right because the cheap smd stations don't always have quality tips.

He also has to work in a ventilated place cause of the fumes and his little lungs

On the smaller tools, absolutely. Issue is you often can't get decent tips for cheaper irons.
I've had a Magnum 1220 for 14 years. I didn't get a soldering station for over a decade because this thing just worked so well, and even then it was only because a friend gave it to me. Temp control built in and it takes decent Plato tips. I've done 0.5mm TQFP64 by hand with this thing with a EW-304 tip.
I'd 100% recommend the 1220 over the Adendorff one, I got one for the office and have hated the few minutes I've spent trying to use it. This might have been due to crappy tips and solder, which reiterates @mujeeb1's point
I have that RS station as well, it's pretty good but quite pricey and I struggled to find alternative tips for it, which is another reason I always recommend Magnum.

I think most of the solder these days should be lead free, but point remains. The fumes are not good.

Leaded solder is much easier to use and it's all I have, I bought some quality stuff from Mantech not so long ago. For fumes, a ventilated area is key, but I also have one of those desktop evaporative coolers that I turn away from me and it works like a charm. Vacuum is enough to draw away fumes without cooling down the iron like a fan does.

 

[HK-Kid]

Thanks for your input via DM @Drav3n_ZA

 

[dhirennaidoo]

This probably won't fit your needs exactly, but it's worth mentioning. Maybe more for hobby use.

Miniware TS101

Pros:

• Really portable. I've used it powered off a cigarette lighter adapter (12V) to fix an RC quad.
• This newer version (Ihave the older TS100) can use USB-C PD.
• Nice selection of tips (fine, cutting, etc)
• Temperature-controlled with some nice software features.

Cons:

• Compared to older brands like Weller and Magnum, definitely not as good quality.
• That nice selection of tips above can also be a problem sometimes. The tips are not just tips. They have some of the temperature-control components inside, so they're pricy compared to regular old tips that slide into the heater element of an old-school iron.
• I don't have proof of this yet, but I feel it won't generate enough heat to tackle serious soldering like heatsinks or multi-layer PCB's. Although I haven't had a need for that yet.

 

[souljazk]

Awesome, I wish I had learnt to solder in school, super handy when you realise you can fix plastic and metal.

Whats the budget? If it was my kid I'd do something like this to get him started.

1. New budget pencil soldering iron.
2. Random hardware store heatgun.
3. Old motherboards.
4. Gloves, quality safety eyeware and a solid talking to about the dangers of heat , molten solder and electricity.
5. Basic cheap or 2nd hand multimeter - Uni-T is a good budget brand, but like most things, buy the model, not the brand.

Let him have fun. If he is enjoying it and wants to continue, then get the hot air station. He will appreciate it more after trying with a soldering iron / random heatgun.

 

[Jagibbe]

Just remember to get a fume extractor as well.

Here is a good flux (I tried about 8 different brands and this was the easiest to work with and clean up) Flux link.
Also a soldering iron tip that looks like this (make sure it works with the soldering iron you buy) is a great general tip to use as it can work on smaller components and larger components Soldering tip link.

Hakko is generally the standard. A bit pricey but well worth it if he is looking for a career in the field. I would suggest getting a separate soldering station and hot air station as those combo's in my experience are a bit lacking on both ends.

Also make sure to pick up some wick for removing old solder and kapton tape to help out when there are other components near the component he is trying to desolder.

 

[Adrenalin]

Ok so I used to work on Cellphones WAY back in the day when Ericsson was still a thing.

Used Magnum hot air stations and soldering irons exclusively. They just go and go and go. Never had an issue with them for like 5 years and probably bought over 20 of each. For other apprentices.

Actually using one now I found at cash converters for like R400 or something. They said it was faulty, but from what I can tell, it's fine. So using it.
Bought a cheapie soldering iron and the tip isn't the best. So might get a whole station like the 2 mentioned above. Want to be able to switch the soldering iron off at a switch.

In other advice : Can someone recommend a nice hands free kind of magnifying glass or microscope? Some of the components on the laptop boards are TINY and need to be measured using a multi meter. My eyes are shot so need something nice.
Also, a new multi meter with small prongs, because as above, the tracks are close together and small. So need to measure those individually whilst looking through the scope and measuring.

 

[HK-Kid]

@limadelta26 @Confucius @mujeeb1 @Acidburn @P1000 @shifttymike @souljazk @Jagibbe

Thanks for all the help Gents. I ordered the Kada2018+ from TAL. I want to build a small fume extractor. Anyone know where I can purchase an activated carbon filter sheet?

 

[limadelta26]

@HK-Kid awesome stuff to hear bud.

A quick google search my end on shopping

carbon filter sheet - Google Shopping

www.google.com

A carbon filter might not me necessary though. You might be able to get away with something like this instead, again, google search - shopping window extractor fan - Google Shopping

As long as there is good airflow around the area (I would suggest not to blast air over the area but rather have a tube vacuum like you attache to wood working equipment) to pull the smoke out.

 

[limadelta26]

@HK-Kid awesome stuff to hear bud.

A quick google search my end on shopping

carbon filter sheet - Google Shopping

www.google.com

A carbon filter might not me necessary though. You might be able to get away with something like this instead, again, google search - shopping window extractor fan - Google Shopping

As long as there is good airflow around the area (I would suggest not to blast air over the area but rather have a tube vacuum like you attache to wood working equipment) to pull the smoke out.

This is sort of the idea I'm talking about with a vacuum tube - https://www.amazon.com/M-T-Professional-Extractor-Soldering-Extraction/dp/B0CW18CFWY

But they can be expensive so there are ways of making a DIY build of this. A PC fan attached to a PVC pipe with the fan pulling air from the front out the back to exhaust it out the window for example.

How to Build a Solder Fume Extractor

How to Build a Solder Fume Extractor: by KOMetzler If you don't want to be inhaling nasty heavy metals while soldering, solder fume extraction is a big deal. But, if you look online or in stores for solder fume extractors, you'll find that they sell for around $40 up to thousands of do…

www.instructables.com

This one would need the sponge filter / carbon filter on it though.

 

[P1000]

You can find activated carbon at lots of places - even pet shops. If you build something like that you don't actually need a sponge, you can just pack it in a pipe with cloth holding it in place. Another option is cooker hoods have activated carbon filters, as well as some cars for cabin filters.

That said, I would just get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Extractor-Ab...ering-Fan-Extraction-Prevention/dp/B099ZN8TRJ