Ebay: Steinel heat gun (a.k.a. hot air gun)

[GiskardReventlov]

There's no digital readout but it's got the variable fan control and variable heat control on the handle which makes a lot of sense.  The tip is odd, I'm thinking maybe it's for welding plastic. It's more than I'd like to pay but you can bet it's better than a chinese hot air station.

eBay auction: #141255482224

Anyone have a steinel or used one? The construction looks solid on all the models I've looked at, I may be picking up an 803.

[AndyC_772]

I have one of these, and it seems to be a very well made, reliable piece of kit.

[GiskardReventlov]

The datasheet says 940 grams but I'd guess they include the weight of the case and the gun. That's a nice model, past my budget though. They look well thought out and with good construction.

[AndyC_772]

940g sounds about right, the gun is heavy. Bear in mind, though, that the model you're looking at is quite different, and might be better suited for light electronics work.

I think mine is really aimed more at pipe soldering and paint stripping, though on minimum airflow it's perfectly capable of reflowing parts that have some size to them... TQFPs and DPAKs, that sort of thing. 0603 and smaller parts tend to go flying if you're not careful, though.

[GiskardReventlov]

@AndyC_772, Ok around 2 lbs. sounds like a lot, but for bigger jobs should not be a problem at all.  I'm going to pass on the ebay one. I'm looking at the gun-type that's around $60 (u.s.). I may make my own nozzles with some D or C cell battery casings and a hose clamp.

[wraper]

While it is nice bit of kit, I don't think that it is well suited for small electronics work. I have worked with similar Leister heat gun (which was smaller than this), and can say that cheap Chinese junk hot air station is much better for such use. I don't say that Atten is good, just big hot air gun is not suited for such use. Minimum air flow can also be a problem, so small parts will be blown away. Nozzle is weird because it is for plastic welding.

[GiskardReventlov]

Minimum air flow can also be a problem, so small parts will be blown away.

The unit on ebay has continuously variable air flow, I'd have to check to see the lowest flow rate. I may be getting the 803 and making my own nozzles. If the minimum flow rate is too high I'll make a nozzle that diverts part of the air flow away.  Not hard to do.

I won't expect to find a mutilated squirrel cage fan in the steinel like Dave found in that chinese hot air station.
That was no doubt due to poor engineering. They didn't realize that the fan was mismatched for the heat so they had to allow for more air flow. Instead of putting in the right part they mangled the existing one. That kind of poor design casts serious doubt over the entire product.

[wraper]

If you want better station just buy with normal diaphragm pump inside the station itself. Not so more expensive. As for good station which don't cost a fortune, Quick 861(DS, DE, ..) is very good for the price. I got such for 200 EUR. http://www.quick-global.com/2-lead-free-rework-2.html But might be difficult to obtain in many regions.

[GiskardReventlov]

I got such for 200 EUR.

Can you take some photos of the internals?

I'm not sure I like the air hose implementation for a hot air station, it adds some complexity to the design and some additional points of failure.

[wraper]

Blower motor is 13500 RPM BLDC driven by separate board containing 6 IRF9540 mosfets for coil switching. CPU Atmega16A, Triac BTA41-600B. All electrolytic capacitors are Jamicon which is pretty decent brand. Air flow 1-120 L/min, heater power 1kw. I measured temperature some time ago, was within 2-3^o C from shown on display.

[wraper]

I got such for 200 EUR.

Can you take some photos of the internals?

I'm not sure I like the air hose implementation for a hot air station, it adds some complexity to the design and some additional points of failure.

Most decent hot air stations (Weller, JBC) have an air pump inside the body of the station to keep the tool lightweight and handy.

[GiskardReventlov]

@wraper, that looks well built, I really like the construction. For that price range it seems like a good buy. They should send one to Dave to tear down. Very cheap advertising for them.

You mentioned a diaphragm pump before but that's not a diaphragm pump.

I'm opting for a more versatile  tool that I can use to remove paint too. The more purposes for a tool the more I like it.

Thanks for the pics.

[wraper]

Just most stations have diaphragm pump inside, Atten, Auyue and others make them. That is original hakko construction which was widely cloned. Their older models all were such. Blower inside the handpiece was the move to make cheaper. IIRC they started to widely appear about 4 years ago.
I don't think that BLDC in this station was to make cheaper as it requires pretty complicated electronics to drive, as there are also 3 hall sensors inside the motor according to which coils are switched. Also it allows very wide airflow regulation.
For paint removing better buy another cheap hot air. Soldering small parts with a huge hot air gun is a real pain, I have experience.

[GiskardReventlov]

@wraper, I understand now what you meant about diaphragm pumps. (they use them in aquarium air pumps)
I'm not going to be doing smd, I will use it for desoldering, heat shrinks and paint stripping. Might do some plastic welding too but it's not a reason I'm buying the 803.

I'm not sure that I'd use a hot air gun for smd anyway. The reflow ovens make the most sense for that. And there's another thread here where they are setting up a jig with how air guns with two guns, one above and below. Maybe for reballing??

[wraper]

If you make whole board then reflow oven is better. But if you want to solder some components then you need hot air. I have all of those devices: reflow oven, for Big BGA I use IR station (includes IR preheater). For smaller parts, hot air station + hot air preheater (for multilayer boards). Anyway even if you are not repairing anything, hot air is very handy for making prototypes.

[GiskardReventlov]

@wraper, sounds like you have a complete PCB factory. Did you ever repair any PS3?
I have an old one that I may try to repair. I found PS3 solder masks on ebay.

[wraper]

@wraper, sounds like you have a complete PCB factory. Did you ever repair any PS3?
I have an old one that I may try to repair. I found PS3 solder masks on ebay.

Well yeah, almost, right now assembling simple devices for selling on ebay.
No, I didn't repair PS3 but repaired quiet some notebook motherboards. It will be difficult to repair PS3 with just a hot air gun. Preheater is mandatory, also you need a really big nozzle then. IR is much better for that. Before you try any BGAs, you need some practice on scrap boards. I'm not really sure about PS3 but on xbox360 there was chip fault, reballing is useless. Just revives chip for some time. BTW, you can try just heat bga, without reflowing, if it starts to work, then it needs replacement, not reball. And remember, ebay is full of reheatet faulty BGAs, especially made by Nvidia. There are also a lot with fake date codes or rebadged similar chips.

[GiskardReventlov]

Well yeah, almost, right now assembling simple devices for selling on ebay.

So you place parts by hand?  Ebay's a tricky place, lots of fraud going on. I've done some analysis of some very questionable things that ebay allows and basically encourages by implementing the features. But now that I know I also know how to take advantage of it. Ebay don't care, either way they win.

No, I didn't repair PS3 but repaired quiet some notebook motherboards. It will be difficult to repair PS3 with just a hot air gun.

Do a lot of notebooks use BGAs?

[wraper]

Do a lot of notebooks use BGAs?

Every notebook have at least 1-3 big BGAs and some small.

[GiskardReventlov]

Every notebook have at least 1-3 big BGAs and some small.

Do you have to have the solder mask to repair a BGA?

[alexjordon27]

Hey,

I visit above link. This Ergonomic heat gun is really looking nice. Its look like too awesome. But you didn't mention here the heat produced by this Heat Gun. I need to know how much temperature heat this heat gun will produce?


Thanks & Regards
Alex

[wraper]

Hey,

I visit above link. This Ergonomic heat gun is really looking nice. Its look like too awesome. But you didn't mention here the heat produced by this Heat Gun. I need to know how much temperature heat this heat gun will produce?


Thanks & Regards
Alex

About Quick? 100 - up to, 480 or 500^o C. Can't check now, I'm abroad. Heats to target temp almost instantly as it is 1kW, there are also 1,2 kW modifications.

[wraper]

Every notebook have at least 1-3 big BGAs and some small.

Do you have to have the solder mask to repair a BGA?

You mean stencils? Yes I have, but don't use them too often as I do not reball usually. Just changing BGAs. It's more like occasional job for me now as I earn most of my money in different ways.