Just realized a hot air station beats a soldering iron for most repairs

I used to stick with my regular soldering iron for everything, but last month I had to fix a laptop with a busted charging port. The pads were all covered in glue and I couldn't get the iron to heat them evenly. Picked up a cheap hot air station for $60 and had the old port off in under two minutes. Now I'm wondering if I should just use hot air for all SMD work from here on out. Has anyone else made the switch and regretted it?

2 comments

2 Comments

adam1866d agoTop Commenter

Picked up a cheap hot air station for $60 and had the old port off in under two minutes." Yeah that's always how it starts. Next thing you know you're trying to hot air off a big ground plane connector and the whole board starts smoking. I keep both on the bench. Iron for through hole and big joints. Hot air for the tiny stuff. The only thing I regret is my cheap station sounds like a dying vacuum cleaner.

colegarcia5d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you're actually telling me @adam186 tried to hot air a ground plane connector? Man, that's like using a blowtorch to toast a marshmallow. You can't blame the tool for that one, that's just user error. I keep both on the bench too, but once you figure out the right temperature and airflow for your station, hot air becomes a total lifesaver for SMD stuff. Still, I gotta respect your honesty, that's a wild way to kill a board.