Hot air accessory, what for?

[zapta]

Got this hot air station http://amzn.com/B0055B6NGE and it arrived with something that looks like a handle and thin fork to attach to it (left side in the image below).

What is it used for?  Could not find anything the the manual.

[olewales]

My initial guess will be that it's a tool for positioning/lifting ICs during hot air (de)soldering. But at this point I wont be surprised if this is what Chinese manufacturer thinks should be used to change nozzles.

[pickle9000]

Chip lifter, screw the handle to the wire.

A little suction cup lifter is way better.

[zapta]

My initial guess will be that it's a tool for positioning/lifting ICs during hot air (de)soldering. But at this point I wont be surprised if this is what Chinese manufacturer thinks should be used to change nozzles.

I think you are right. Found this description "1 IC Extractor for ease using an extraction operation" for another inexpensive hot air station 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2in1-SMD-Soldering-Rework-Station-Hot-Air-Iron-852D-5Tips-ESD-PLCC-BGA-/301064784496?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4618dc0a70

I guess you hold it with one hand, and press the two wires to pickup the IC, hopefully without burning the fingers from the hot air. Will give it a try. So far I used tweezers.

[andtfoot]

I think it's meant to be used like a fork to scoop under chips that are too big for tweezers. (my wild guess of the day )

[ivaylo]

It's to lift these I believe http://0.tqn.com/d/hometheater/1/0/S/d/siliconimageprocessor2-500.jpg
And since it's flexible it should diff sizes I guess...

[zapta]

A little suction cup lifter is way better.

Does it tolerate the hot air?

[JuKu]

A little suction cup lifter is way better.

Does it tolerate the hot air?

The hot air makes the cup attach better to the chip.

[Skimask]

Got this hot air station http://amzn.com/B0055B6NGE and it arrived with something that looks like a handle and thin fork to attach to it (left side in the image below).

I got the same thing.  Use the 'fork' for flipping hot chips/pieces/parts off PCBs.

Do yourself a favor if you haven't already...crack the case and clean up crap soldering on the PCB, tie up the wiring a bit better, etc, before you use it.
Mine came basically looking like somebody puked solder on the PCB...usable, but garbage, and I'm thinking potentially unsafe.
1/2 an hour of clean up work inside and I've got no worries about using it anymore.

[pickle9000]

To find the suction lift tool search for

vacuum pen

The tips are very heat tolerant. It helps to have solder paste in the chip to make a better seal.

If you are pulling chips a preheater is highly recommended.

As the other poster said, pop the cover off your controller, check your screws are tight and the soldering is OK, Maybe even swap out the electrolytics if they are questionable. It will save you grief in the future. Make it a habit if the gear has traveled a long way and or is "low end".

[BravoV]

Pickup wire, a picture worth ....

[zapta]

Do yourself a favor if you haven't already...crack the case and clean up crap soldering on the PCB, tie up the wiring a bit better, etc, before you use it.
Mine came basically looking like somebody puked solder on the PCB...usable, but garbage, and I'm thinking potentially unsafe.
1/2 an hour of clean up work inside and I've got no worries about using it anymore.

I opened mine. Workmanship looks reasonable to me (I am not an expert). The thing that worries me is the ground path from  the power plug to the metal tube of the hand piece.  It depends on the contact between the front panel and the body but the front panel is painted. Could not figure out how they designed the ground path from the body to the front panel.

[zapta]

To find the suction lift tool search for

vacuum pen

The tips are very heat tolerant. It helps to have solder paste in the chip to make a better seal.

I searched google and ebay and found a ton of them. How do you select a good one? What should I look for?

Years ago I tried one and it did not work at all. I want to find a keeper this time.

[pickle9000]

There are two basic styles, they both work. I prefer the one with the thin rigid body but the other soft body one provides more suction and has more tips. They are under 2 dollars each CDN so very cheap. I'd suggest getting both and experimenting. I actually do buy the soft body one from time to time to get the suction cups. They do not wear but are a bugger to find if you drop one.

Here are a few tips for removal.

- If you can pull a component with tweezers use them. Before you start see if you can get a grip on the part with tweezers. Parts need to be lifted and not dropped. Have a place to put the part once removed it will be hot.
- Protect nearby parts with foil tape or Kapton tape. I like foil tape because it can be shaped.
- Don't use suction cups that are less than 6mm, the bigger the better.
- Don't let the mounting post come through the front of the suction cup.
- Use a preheater if you can. Preheating allows you to work on larger chips and reduce the stress on the chip while removing.
- Use a bit of paste flux on the suction cup to help maintain the seal.

[ConKbot]

A little suction cup lifter is way better.

Does it tolerate the hot air?

Silicone suction cups do

A weller reflow station I used had a kit for doing larger chips that was pretty slick.



The boxy items are heat shouds that would go onto the spring-loaded barrels you see on either end.  They have a low-tension spring which just provides a gentle lifting force to the suction cup hidden inside. You'd hook the barrel upto the vacuum suction tool port on the station, and stick it to the top of the chip.  It would lift lightly, and you'd use the hot-air pen to heat inside the shroud, (concentrated the heat, and kept it from heating adjacent devices on the board) Once the pads all reflowed, the chip would lift up off the board, and you removed the heat.