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Building the mouse Logitech won't make

(samwilkinson.io)
450 points sammycdubs | 1 comments | 25 Aug 25 15:34 UTC | HN request time: 0.201s | source
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stn8188 ◴[25 Aug 25 16:06 UTC] No.45015355[source]▶
"Balking at the $50+ charge for turnkey assembly, I opted to take the financially responsible route and pay $200+ for a hot-air rework station to solder it myself."

Yeah, I feel this :)

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frankus ◴[25 Aug 25 16:40 UTC] No.45015764[source]▶
For just straight up assembly of one-sided SMT boards (i.e. not reclaiming components from a donor board), a $30 plug-in electric skillet and a solder paste stencil from the PCB manufacturer (or patience and a solder paste syringe) works far better than it has any right to. https://www.instructables.com/Simple-Skillet-Surface-mount-S...
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Aurornis ◴[25 Aug 25 16:49 UTC] No.45015867[source]▶
The hot air station is called a "rework station" because it's very helpful for rework, too.

Using a hot plate to reflow boards is fine if you already know everything is correct. Having a real hot air station is very important if you need to change any parts or even fix reflow problems.

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throw-qqqqq ◴[25 Aug 25 17:03 UTC] No.45016044[source]▶
I prefer a regular soldering iron for SMD. Below 0603 I tend to blow off unrelated components if I’m not very very careful!

So for me, a loupe/microscope and a fine SMD iron is the best option. I have some China-model that uses Hakko tips.

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1. oasisaimlessly ◴[25 Aug 25 19:23 UTC] No.45017856[source]▶
If you're blowing off stuff, your pressure setting is too high. I usually start at the lowest setting, and only go up if I need to deliver a lot of heat to an area.