Even if high temperatures are not dangerous for the PCB itself, it meant the components would not be evenly heated, and that’s not good. However, the heating elements were then so close to the PCB that they made it overheat, leaving a burned trace on the PCB just under the element (see picture below).

I then tried to reduce thermal inertia by removing the hotplates and the results were much better. Reflow soldering There are various types of reflow soldering, but the discussion here is limited to oven-type reflow soldering. I quickly put together an Arduino with a MAX6675 and K-type thermocouple to monitor the temperature in different conditions, but it was clear that with the hotplates, its inertia was too high, taking around 5 minutes to reach 150☌ while most reflow profiles require around 1 or 2 minutes for that ramp.

It has removable hotplates and is limited to 700 Watt, which is not much but I thought it was worth a try. The toaster in question is a “Croq’Gaufres Express” by Moulinex. the reflow process provides a high yield, high reliability, and low cost. Plus, it has both top and bottom heating elements, and the small volume limits energy losses. ycnayoub gnitteW S 0.632 F f F Reflow solder paste is the primary method of. The whole soldering process can be completed automatically and it is very easy to use. Of course large PCBs would not fit, but the relatively small size of that toaster would also make it easy to put it away in my small lab. Early Order Discount: Pre-order now to secure your device at a 40 DISCOUNT The infrared IC heater T-962 is a microprocessor-controlled reflow oven that you can use for effectively soldering various SMD and BGA components. And coincidentally, my wife had just decided to replace our old waffle toaster because its closing clip was broken, so I wondered if I could transform it into a reflow oven. Read on for more…Īlthough Belgium’s national dish is fries (mistakenly called “French fries” in English), we are best known abroad for our waffles. So this is a project I’ve been pursuing on and off for nearly 4 years:Ī small, portable, and dirt cheap (less than $25) reflow oven.Īfter a few tests with a traditional electric oven recovered from the trash, I concluded its thermal inertia was so high it would require massive modifications to achieve anything close to a decent reflow profile, and as I didn’t feel like spending much money on a large oven, I looked for a better way.Īnd I think I found it. “Though I don’t do many PCBs, I guess every hacker must have a reflow oven. Date Category Project Tags Arduino Nano / PCB / Perfboard / TFT Display / Thermocoupler

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