Do-it-yourself soldering station with a hairdryer. Soldering iron or blow dryer? We make with our own hands

Modern, more advanced technology, alas, fails no less than old models. And if earlier the question of improving what was familiar to us was not raised, today it is almost impossible to unsolder or solder a part in the old fashioned way without “hitting” neighboring chips. That is why craftsmen assemble more modern hot air and infrared soldering stations with their own hands. In this review, we will tell you what soldering systems are, how the control unit works and how to connect it, what is included in the structural elements. Only in our review you will find recommendations illustrating the features of assembly and adjustment of modern soldering stations.

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What is a soldering station for?

A soldering station, unlike a simple soldering iron, is a more advanced system. It allows you to solder small parts, such as SMD components, control heating on the display, program buttons. In addition, thanks to the non-contact soldering system, overheating of neighboring elements is excluded here.

The non-contact type soldering station belongs to modern soldering systems. For example, heating with a hot air gun helps craftsmen repair household appliances and mobile phones. But with the help of IR systems, you can mount and dismantle (even BGA format).

General characteristics and principle of operation of the soldering station

The anatomy of a soldering station is quite simple and meets the necessary conditions as much as possible: accurate, “smart” soldering of elements. The heart of the device is, inside of which there is a transformer that produces voltage of two options - 12 or 24 Volts. Without this element, all station systems would be useless. The transformer is responsible for temperature control. The power supply is equipped with a thermostat and special buttons for starting the device.

For reference! Some devices are equipped with a special stand that heats the printed circuit board during soldering, which helps to avoid its deformation.

With the help of the control unit, the function of storing the temperature and programming the buttons can also be implemented. Masters “pump” the device using a processor, thanks to which it becomes possible to measure the temperature during soldering.

Let's analyze the features of the operation of a hot air soldering station: the air flow is heated with the help of special spiral or ceramic elements (they are located right inside the hot air gun tube), and then it is sent through special nozzles to the soldering point. Such a system allows you to heat the required surface evenly, eliminating point deformation.

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“The temperature that modern soldering dryers can provide, including those assembled by oneself, varies from 100 to 800 ° C. Moreover, these indicators can be adjusted by the operator.

A special infrared heater can act as another additional element. Its principle is similar to the operation of a hot air gun, it heats not the junction, but a certain area. However, unlike a hot air gun, there is no flow of warm air. Professional soldering stations can be equipped with special related tools, desoldering pumps and vacuum tweezers.

Varieties of soldering stations by design

There are both simple soldering stations equipped with the classic soldering iron familiar to us, and more advanced ones. Moreover, there can be a great variety of variations in the combination of components and systems. You can easily combine a contact soldering iron and a hair dryer, vacuum or thermal tweezers and a desoldering pump in one station. For convenience, here is a table of the main types of soldering stations.

Contact PS - this is an ordinary soldering iron that has direct contact with the surface when soldering, equipped with an electronic control unit and temperature control.		Contactless PS - at the heart of work control unit and special system control elements.
Lead	Lead free Require high melting temperature.	Hot Air They provide effective soldering in hard-to-reach areas with simultaneous heating of several surfaces at once. Allows soldering of any type, both with and without lead.	infrared Here there is a heating element in the form of an infrared emitter made of ceramic or quartz.	Combined They combine several types of equipment in their design: a hairdryer or a classic soldering iron, or, as we have already said, an IR heater and a desoldering pump, for example, a soldering iron and a hairdryer.

According to the temperature stabilization mechanism and the principle of operation of the control units, soldering stations can also be divided into analog and digital. In the first case, the heating element is turned on until the soldering iron warms up to the desired temperature, the closest analogy is heating an ordinary iron. But the second type of soldering iron is distinguished by a complex temperature control and regulation system. The PID controller is located here, which obeys the microcontroller program. This method of temperature stabilization is much more efficient than analog. Another classification allows you to divide all PS into assembly and dismantling. The former carry out soldering of devices, however, they do not have a desoldering pump and other elements that allow cleaning and replacing parts.

Such soldering systems are equipped with a special container for removing solder, which, in turn, is sucked off by a special nozzle equipped with a compressor.

For your information! There are combined stations that allow for both installation and dismantling. They are equipped with two types of soldering irons, differing in power.

How to make your own hot air soldering station

Not everyone can afford to buy a soldering station with a hairdryer, although IR stations cost even more money, so the easiest way is to assemble it yourself. However, it should be remembered that such air soldering stations have certain disadvantages:

1. Airflow can accidentally blow off small parts.
2. The surface heats up unevenly.
3. For different cases, additional nozzles are required.

Do-it-yourself soldering dryer: a universal scheme

A hot air gun is a special device that heats the place of soldering with a stream of hot air.

The easiest way is to assemble the device with a hairdryer on a fan, and use a spiral as a heater.

If you buy a mechanical heater, then it is quite expensive. And with sudden changes in temperature, it can simply crack. Not everyone can design a compressor on their own. As a blower, you can use a regular small-sized fan. A cooler from a home PC is suitable. To get acquainted with the device of such a device, we will study the scheme of the soldering station with our own hands.

We place the fan near the hot air gun. We carefully attach a tube to supply warm air to it. At the end of the cooler we grind a hole for the nozzle. On the opposite side, the cooler must be closed to provide the necessary traction.

Now it's time to assemble the heating element. To do this, it is necessary to wind the nichrome wire with a spiral on the base of the heater. Moreover, the coils must not touch each other. The coils are wound taking into account the fact that the resistance should be 70-90 ohms. The base is chosen with poor thermal conductivity and good resistance to high temperatures.

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“Some of the details can be borrowed from a regular hair dryer. In particular, a mica plate is suitable as a base for a spiral with low thermal conductivity.

Let's start looking for parts for the nozzle. A ceramic or porcelain pipe is best suited for this. We leave a small gap between the walls of the nozzle and the spiral. We wrap the surface with insulating materials from above. Asbestos layer, fiberglass, etc. can be used. This will increase the high efficiency of the hair dryer, and also allow you to take it with your hands without getting burned. We fix the heating element so that air is supplied to the tube, and the heater is exactly in the middle inside the nozzle.

Soldering Station Control System

To assemble the control system of a home-made soldering station such as a hair dryer with your own hands, you need to place two rheostats in it: one regulates the incoming flow, the other controls the power of the heating element. But usually one is made for both the heater and the supercharger.

Options for connecting the control system to a hot air gun.

Here it is very important to correctly connect the wires so that they correspond with the rheostats.

Then we connect the hot air gun so that the wires correspond to the necessary rheostats and the switch.

Assembling and configuring the soldering station

The power of a soldering station, as we noted above, is usually in the range from 24 to 40 watts. However, if you plan to solder the power rails and, then the power of the device should be increased from 40 to 80 watts.

For more information on how to solder with a hairdryer from a soldering station, see this video.

DIY infrared soldering station

An infrared soldering station is the easiest tool to make with your own hands. The price of soldering stations of this type is simply sky-high. Buying something simpler is not an option, as there will still be limited functionality.

That is why we will tell you step by step how to assemble an infrared soldering iron with your own hands. Let's analyze the stages of assembling a PS for soldering boards with a size of 250 × 250 mm. Our soldering station is suitable for working with TV boards, video adapters for PCs, as well as tablets.

Manufacture of housing and heating elements

For the basis of a self-made IR soldering station, assembled with your own hands, you can take the door from the mezzanine or 10-12 mm, fasten the legs to it. At this stage, it is important to roughly estimate the layout based on the dimensions of the heaters and PID controllers. The height of the "sidewalls" and bevels of the front panel will depend on this.

Aluminum corners are used to form the "skeleton" of the structure. Take care of the "stuffing" in advance, old VCRs, DVD players and the like will come in handy. You can bypass specialized street hawkers.

Another case option, this time made of aluminum

Now we are looking for a non-stick pan. Yes, exactly the one that you can buy in a regular home appliance store. Here you can also look after a high-quality soldering iron for a soldering station.

Important! Take a tape measure with you. Your task is to find a baking sheet of optimal width and depth. Dimensions depend on the height of the IR emitters and their number.

Soldering control system

Let's get to the most interesting. On the trading floor, we pre-order PIDs (or proportional-integral-differential controllers), as well as IR - 3 lower IR emitters 60 × 240 mm, and one upper - 80 × 80 mm, do not forget to stock up on two solid-state 40A. At this stage, it is already possible to move on to tin work, namely, to fit the entire structure to the dimensions of our main elements. After fitting the sidewalls and the cover, we cut out the technological holes for the FIDs on the front, for the cooler on the back wall.

Assembly and adjustment of the soldering station

So, after installing the emitters, the cooler and connecting all the wires, the appearance of our soldering station is already taking on an almost finished look. At this stage, it is necessary to test the equipment for heating, temperature holding and hysteresis. We proceed to the installation of the main IR emitter. It's easy to do.

The infrared soldering station is a device for soldering chips in a BGA package. If what you read does not tell you anything, it is unlikely that you should go under the cat. There are arduins, graphics, programming, ammeters, self-tapping screws and blue electrical tape.

Background first.

My professional activity is in some way connected with electronics. Therefore, relatives and friends constantly strive to bring me some not quite serviceable electronic thing with the words “well, look, maybe some wiring has soldered off here.”
At that time, the eMachines G630 17" laptop turned out to be such a thing. When the power button was pressed, the indicator lit up, the fan made noise, but the display was lifeless, there were no beeps and no hard drive activity. An autopsy showed that the laptop was built on the AMD platform, and the northbridge is marked 216-0752001. A quick google showed that the chip has a very bad reputation in terms of reliability, but problems with it are easily diagnosed. You just need to warm it up. I set it on a blow dryer to 400 degrees and blew on the chip for about 20 seconds. The laptop started up and showed a picture .
The diagnosis is made. It would seem that the matter is small - to solder the chip. This is where my first revelation awaited me. After calling the service centers, it turned out that the minimum amount for which you can change the chip in Minsk is $ 80. $40 for the chip and $40 for labor. For a laptop with a total cost, it's good if $ 150 was not very budget. A friendly acquaintance service offered to solder the chip at cost - for $ 20. The final price tag dropped to $60. The upper limit of the psychologically acceptable price. The chip was successfully soldered, the laptop was assembled, given away, and I safely forgot about it.

Background second.

A few months after the end of the first backstory, a relative called me and said, “You love different electronics. Get your laptop for parts. For free. Or just throw it in the trash. They said it was the motherboard. Chip break. Repair is not economically feasible. So I became the owner of a Lenovo G555 laptop without a hard drive, but with everything else, including the power supply. Turning it on showed the same symptoms as in the first prehistory: the cooler is spinning, the lights are on, there are no more signs of life. An autopsy showed an old acquaintance 216-0752001 with traces of manipulation.

After the chip warmed up, the laptop started up as if nothing had happened, as in the first case.

Reflections.

So I turned out to be the owner of a laptop with a faulty northbridge. Take it apart for parts or try to fix it? If the latter, then again solder it on the side, even if for $60, and not for $80? Or buy your own infrared soldering station? Or can you assemble it yourself? Do I have enough strength and knowledge?
After some thought, it was decided to try to fix it, and fix it yourself. Even if the attempt fails, it will not hurt to disassemble it for parts. And the infrared station will be a useful tool in many jobs that require preheating.

Technical task.

Having studied the prices for ready-made industrial infrared stations (from $ 1000 to plus infinity), having shoveled a bunch of topics on specialized forums and videos on Youtube, I finally formed the terms of reference:

1. I will make my own soldering station.

2. Construction budget - no more than 80 dollars (two solderings in the service center without materials).

Additionally, offline were bought:

Linear halogen lamps R7S J254 1500W - 9 pcs.

Linear halogen lamps R7S J118 500W - 3 pcs.

Cartridges R7S - 12 pcs.

From the rubbish in the garage, the following were extracted into the light of day:

Docking station from some antediluvian Compaq laptop - 1 pc.

Tripod from a Soviet photographic enlarger - 1 pc.

Power and signal wires, Arduino Nano, WAGO terminal blocks were found in a home warehouse.

Bottom heater.

We arm ourselves with a grinder and cut off everything superfluous from the docking station.

We attach cartridges to a sheet of metal.

We connect the cartridges of three pieces in series, the resulting three chains in parallel. We install the lamps, hide in the case.

The search for material for the reflector took a long time. I did not want to use the foil because of the suspicion of its fragility. It was not possible to use thicker sheet metal due to the difficulties with its processing. A survey of familiar employees of industrial enterprises and a visit to non-ferrous metal buying points did not give any results.

In the end, I managed to find aluminum sheet a little thicker than foil, perfect for me.

Now I know exactly where to look for such sheets - from printers. They attach them to the drums in their machines, either to transfer paint, or for something else. If anyone knows, tell me in the comments.

Bottom heater with installed reflector and grate. Instead of a grate, it’s more correct to use it, but it costs absolutely no budget, like everything with a “Professional” sticker.

Shines a beautiful orange light. At the same time, it does not burn out the eyes, you can look at the light quite calmly.

Consumes about 2.3 kW.

Top heater

The design idea is the same. The cartridges are screwed with self-tapping screws to the cover from the computer power supply. A reflector bent from an aluminum sheet is also attached to it. Three 500-watt halogens are connected in series.

It also glows orange.

Consumes about 250 watts.

Control scheme

An infrared station is an automaton with two sensors (board thermocouple and chip thermocouple) and two actuators (lower heater relay and upper heater relay).

It was decided that the entire heating power control logic would be implemented on a PC. The Arduino will only be a bridge between the station and the PC. I received from the PC the parameters of the PWM control of the heaters - set them - gave the temperature of the thermocouples to the PC, and so on in a circle.

The Arduino is waiting on the serial port for a message like SETxxx*yyy*, where xxx is the top heater power in percent and yyy is the bottom heater power in percent. If the received message matches the pattern, the PWM coefficients for the heaters are set and the message OKaaabbbcccddd is returned, where aaa and bbb are the installed power of the upper and lower heaters, ccc and ddd are the temperature received from the upper and lower thermocouples.

A “real” hardware PWM microcontroller with a sampling rate of several kilohertz is not applicable in our case, since a solid-state relay cannot turn off at an arbitrary moment in time, but only when an alternating voltage passes through 0. It was decided to implement our own PWM algorithm with a frequency of about 5 hertz. At the same time, the lamps do not have time to completely go out, although they flicker noticeably. At the same time, the minimum duty cycle, at which there is still a chance to capture one period of the mains voltage, is 10%, which is quite enough.

When writing the sketch, the task was to refuse to set delays with the delay () function, since there is a suspicion that data loss from the serial port is possible at the time of delays. The algorithm turned out as follows: in an infinite loop, the presence of data from the serial port and the value of the software PWM time counters are checked. If there is data from the serial port, we process it, if the time counter has reached the PWM switching values, we perform actions to turn the heaters on and off.

#include int b1=0; int b2=0; int b3=0; int p_top, p_bottom; int t_top, t_bottom; int state_top, state_bottom; charbuf; unsigned long prev_top, prev_bottom; int pin_bottom = 11; int pin_top = 13; int tick = 200; unsigned long prev_t; int thermoDO = 4; int thermoCLK = 5; int thermoCS_b = 6; int thermoCS_t = 7; MAX6675 thermocouple_b(thermoCLK, thermoCS_b, thermoDO); MAX6675 thermocouple_t(thermoCLK, thermoCS_t, thermoDO); void setup() ( Serial.begin(9600); pinMode(pin_top, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(pin_top, 0); pinMode(pin_bottom, OUTPUT); digitalWrite(pin_bottom, 0); t_top = 10; t_bottom = 10; p_top = 0; p_bottom = 0; state_top = LOW; state_bottom = LOW; prev_top = millis(); prev_bottom = millis(); ) void loop() ( if (Serial.available() > 0) ( b3 = b2; b2 = b1 ;b1 = Serial.read();if ((b1 == "T") && (b2 == "E") && (b3 == "S")) ( p_top = Serial.parseInt(); if (p_top< 0) p_top = 0; if (p_top >100) p_top = 100; p_bottom = Serial.parseInt(); if (p_bottom< 0) p_bottom = 0; if (p_bottom >100) p_bottom = 100; t_bottom = thermocouple_b.readCelsius(); t_top = thermocouple_t.readCelsius(); sprintf(buf, "OK%03d%03d%03d%03d\r\n", p_top, p_bottom, t_top, t_bottom); Serial print(buf); ) ) if ((state_top == LOW) && ((millis()-prev_top) >= tick * (100-p_top) / 100)) ( state_top = HIGH; prev_top = millis(); ) if ((state_top == HIGH) && ((millis()-prev_top) >= tick * p_top / 100)) ( state_top = LOW; prev_top = millis(); ) digitalWrite(pin_top, state_top); if ((state_bottom == LOW) && ((millis()-prev_bottom) >= tick * (100-p_bottom) / 100)) ( state_bottom = HIGH; prev_bottom = millis(); ) if ((state_bottom == HIGH) && ((millis()-prev_bottom) >= tick * p_bottom / 100)) ( state_bottom = LOW; prev_bottom = millis(); ) digitalWrite(pin_bottom, state_bottom); )

Application for computer.

Written in Object Pascal in Delphi environment. It displays the state of the heaters, draws a temperature graph and has a built-in primitive modeling language, more in philosophy reminiscent of some kind of Verilog than, for example, Pascal. "Program" consists of a set of pairs "condition - action". For example, "when the lower thermocouple reaches a temperature of 120 degrees, set the power of the lower heater to 10%, and the upper one to 80%." Such a set of conditions implements the required thermal profile - heating rate, retention temperature, etc.

In the application, a timer ticks once per second. By the tick of the timer, the function sends the current power settings to the controller, gets back the current temperature values, draws them in the parameters window and on the graph, calls the procedure for checking logical states, and then falls asleep until the next tick.

Assembly and trial run.

I assembled the control circuit on a breadboard. Not aesthetically pleasing, but cheap, fast and practical.

Completely assembled and ready to run device.

A run on the test board revealed the following observations:

1. The power of the bottom heater is incredible. The temperature graph of a thin laptop board flies up like a candle. Even at 10% power, the board heats up to the required 140-160 degrees.

2. The power of the upper heater is worse. To warm up the chip even to a temperature of "bottom + 50 degrees" is obtained only at 100% power. Either it will have to be redone later, or let it remain as a protection against the temptation to underheat the bottom.

Buying a chip on Aliexpress.

There are two types of bridges on sale 216-0752001. Some are advertised as new and start at $20 each. Others are listed as "used" and cost $5-10 each.
There are many opinions among repairmen regarding used chips. From categorically negative (“bugaga, come to me, just under my table a hill of used bridges gathered after soldering, I’ll sell them to you inexpensively”) to cautiously neutral (“I plant sometimes, they seem to work normally, returns, if they happen, then they don’t much more often than new ones.
Since my repair is ultra-budgetary, it was decided to plant a used chip. And in order to be safe in case of a trembling hand or a faulty copy, a lot was found "2 pieces for 14 dollars."

Chip removal

We install the board on the bottom heating, fasten one thermocouple to the chip, the second to the board away from the chip. To reduce heat loss, we cover the board with foil, except for the window for the chip. We put the top heater over the chip. Since the chip has already been transplanted, we load our own profile for lead solder (heating the board to 150 degrees, heating the chip to 190 degrees).

Everything is ready to start.

After the board reached a temperature of 150 degrees, the upper heater automatically turned on. At the bottom, under the board, a heated filament of the lower halogen is visible.

Around 190 degrees, the chip "floated". Since the vacuum tweezers did not fit into the budget, we hook it with a thin screwdriver and turn it over.

Temperature chart during dismantling:

The graph clearly shows the moment when the top heater is turned on, the quality of stabilization of the board temperature (largely wavy yellow line) and the chip temperature (small red ripples). Red long "prong" down - falling thermocouple from the chip after it is turned over.

Soldering a new chip

Due to the responsibility of the process, there was no time for taking photographs and making screenshots. In principle, everything is the same: we go through the nickels with a soldering iron, smear with flux, install the chip, install thermocouples, work out the soldering profile, make sure that the chip “floated” with a slight stagger.

Chip after installation:

It can be seen that he sat down more or less evenly, the color has not changed, the textolite has not bent. The prognosis for life is favorable.

With bated breath, turn on:

Yes! Motherboard started up. I soldered the first BGA in my life. Moreover, it was successful the first time.

Approximate cost estimate:

Bulb J254: $1.5*9=$13.5
Bulb J118: $1.5*3=$4.5
Cartridge r7s: $1.0*12=$12.0
Thermocouple: $1.5*2=$3.0
MAX6675: $2.5*2=5.0
Relay: $4*2=$8.0
Chips: $7*2=$14.0

Total: $60 minus the remaining spare chip.

The laptop was assembled, a 40 gigabyte hard drive found in the table was added to it, and an operating system was installed. To prevent similar incidents in the future, k10stat lowered the processor core voltage to 0.9V. Now, during the most severe use, the temperature of the processor does not rise above 55 degrees.

The laptop was set up in the dining room as a movie library for the youngest member of the family who refuses to eat without his favorite cartoons.

In Soviet times, the radio components of microcircuits were quite large. Therefore, the hardware repairmen used an ordinary soldering iron for installation. Today, with the advent of SMD elements, printed circuit boards have become compact, which has reduced the size of equipment. However, this coin also has a downside - overheating of SMD elements leads to their failure, and special equipment is expensive. A good solution can be a do-it-yourself soldering station, the manufacture of which does not require large expenses. Today we’ll talk about such a device, we’ll figure out how difficult it is to make it yourself and what is required for this.

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What is a soldering station for: applications

A conventional soldering iron can heat up to 400°C. This temperature is quite suitable for soldering wires or repairing microcircuits from the times of the USSR. But if you need to work with new SMD printed circuit boards, you need a completely different temperature regime - 260-280 ° C. Otherwise, the place of replacing one radio component will ruin several elements around. This is where the soldering station comes to the rescue, which allows you to set the optimum temperature.

Helpful information! Working with a soldering station (PS) requires some skills. Therefore, before choosing a soldering station and using it to repair expensive and complex equipment, it is worth practicing on unnecessary printed circuit boards. Otherwise, there is a risk of permanently ruining the equipment.

The principle of operation of the PS, the general characteristics of the equipment

If you exaggerate, then the principle of operation of the PS can be compared with a conventional soldering iron connected through a rheostat. However, a modern soldering station is a more complex electronic device with many additional functions. In addition, PS can be non-contact (air).

The main functions of modern soldering stations are:

• the ability to adjust the heating of the sting. The more accurate and smoother the adjustment is, the easier it is for the master to work;
• mandatory presence of protection against overheating;
• tip temperature is controlled automatically, as it cools down, the power increases.

Each model has its own additional features. With self-production, you can stop at the simplest option. Especially if there is no experience in creating such devices. But the above parameters are required. In the absence of even one of the items in the characteristics, it will be impossible to call the assembled equipment a station.

Division of PS into types according to design features

The soldering station can be air (hot air), contact, combined or infrared. Each of these types has its own scope. To begin with, we will consider general information on each of the types, and then we will figure out how to independently produce the most popular of them - hot air and infrared.

Contact soldering station: device features

Contact PS is a conventional soldering iron equipped with a thermostat. The temperature controller can be mechanical or electronic. The price of such a soldering station is much lower than the cost of other types. Such equipment can be purchased for 900-1000 rubles. The cost of a contact PS with the function of stabilizing heating when touching surfaces is slightly higher. When the tip touches an unheated printed circuit board, the automation increases power.

Non-contact infrared PS: what is it

The most modern of all. Thanks to infrared radiation, the device heats up the surface of the printed circuit board. At the same time, the heating of the radio components located on its surface is minimal. The cost of such equipment is higher than that of other types. For example, the infrared PS "TornadoInfra Pro" can be purchased at a price of 22,000 rubles.

Hot air soldering equipment

A compressor is included in the design of the device. The air supplied by it passes through the soldering iron, heating up from the sting. It is this heated air flow that heats the printed circuit board and solder.

Interesting to know! There are specialized desoldering hot air soldering stations. Their compressor works in the opposite direction - for suction, which allows you to immediately remove solder particles from the surface.

The cost of the dismantling station is much higher. If the usual hot-air PS "Lukey 852D + with a soldering iron" can be purchased for 5300 rubles, then the dismantling "AOYUE 701A ++" will cost 13,000 rubles.

Combined PS and their features

In these stations there are two types - contact and hot air. With the help of a hot air gun, the printed circuit board is heated, after which the elements are quite easily soldered with a sting.

Expert opinion

Tool selection consultant LLC "VseInstrumenty.ru"

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“The most common operating temperature range is +120 to +420°C. This is enough to work with all kinds of radio equipment that exists today.”

Examples of soldering stations of various types:

Hot air soldering station: do-it-yourself manufacturing nuances

Work on the manufacture of a home-made soldering station with a hair dryer with your own hands is carried out in several stages. First, a hot air gun is designed, then a control unit, and then the station is assembled and configured. At the same time, the hot air gun itself can be purchased in a store or on Internet resources. Its cost is low, and such an acquisition will greatly simplify the work of manufacturing PS. However, it is best to make your own soldering dryer, which does not require an electronic control unit. In operation, it is quite convenient, and the cost of parts for its assembly tends to zero. We will need:

• glass tube from electric fireplace;
• nichrome spiral from the same place;
• silicone hose;
• thin glass tube;
• old, maybe a non-working soldering iron.

Let's take a look at how this work is done step by step using examples.

DIY soldering station: step by step instructions

Illustration	Action to take
	Inside the glass tube from the electric fireplace we insert a nichrome spiral from it. One side will have to be stretched so that the contacts come out to one end of the tube.
	We fix a nichrome thread stretched outside along the glass tube with a simple electrical tape. Now you need to put on the body of the soldering iron from the side of the ends of the spiral so that there are contacts on the edge to which we will connect the power. It is better to protect the contacts themselves with insulators from the same old soldering iron left after disassembling it.
	We connect the silicone and thin glass tube. We place the glass inside the body of the soldering iron. It is through these tubes that air will flow.
	We wrap the assembled structure with a layer of varnished cloth. This is done so that you can freely hold the nashtermofen in your hands. Similar material is sold in any store of household goods.
	That's almost all, the air soldering station is ready. It remains to supply air (yellow arrow) and 220V power (red arrow). Air can be supplied with a conventional aquarium compressor.

As you can see, the manufacturing process of such a hot air gun is quite simple at minimal cost. If we talk about factory-made equipment, you can buy a soldering station with a hairdryer at a cost of about 5,000 rubles. Agree, good savings. If, nevertheless, it is decided to purchase such a device, before doing this, you should figure out how to solder with a hairdryer from a soldering station. Our video tutorial will help you with this.

How to use a soldering station with a hot air gun: video instruction

We hope that after watching the video tutorial, our readers have no questions left on using the hot air PS. Summing up this section, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with several soldering iron circuits that you can assemble yourself.

Simple DIY soldering iron circuits

Here, the editors of the site present to your attention diagrams of the simplest hot air guns, as well as an example of how to make a case for it.

Do-it-yourself budget infrared soldering station - is it possible

Not everyone can easily pay 20,000 rubles. and more for similar equipment. And if, moreover, soldering is required infrequently, then it makes no sense to purchase a factory PS at all. Let's try to consider the option in which you will have a budget infrared soldering iron made by yourself in your hands.

Illustration	Action Description
	We need a regular car cigarette lighter. We disassemble it, leaving only the spiral on the hairpin. It will become the basis of our IR soldering iron.
	We disassemble a soldering iron bought in a store for 100 rubles. Such a product cannot be used for its intended purpose, but for our purpose it fits perfectly. We leave the insulators and, having attached the cigarette lighter coil, we install the resulting structure inside the soldering iron body.
	It is necessary to weld the cigarette lighter coil to the body of the soldering iron. If it is not possible to use such an apparatus, you can use "cold welding".
	This is how our infrared soldering station works. Many may say that a voltage regulator is needed, however, this is a delusion. The editors of the site came to the conclusion that it is easier and more convenient to adjust the heating intensity to move the spiral closer or further. But…
	... if it seems to you that adjustment is necessary, you can include such a dimmer in the circuit. It is also not forbidden to install the power button on the soldering iron handle, but in this case, the relay will have to be included in the circuit. Otherwise, the button will instantly burn out.

A homemade IR soldering station with your own hands is very simple, as you can see.

Do-it-yourself soldering station on Arduino: manufacturing features

To make such a PS, we need a soldering iron for a soldering station. Such a pen can be purchased online, just like the Arduino chip. We will not go into details because for a person who is far from radio engineering and digital technologies, the manufacture of such a PS is almost impossible, and for those who are knowledgeable in this topic, it makes no sense to explain the programming and assembly technology. Let's just say that on the basis of such a microcontroller, you can assemble a full-fledged soldering station that is not inferior in performance to a factory-made device.

Features of do-it-yourself soldering stations on Atmega8

A do-it-yourself soldering station based on the Atmega 8 microcontroller is in no way inferior to the previous version, however, there is one difference that can be decisive for someone. The Arduino microcontroller costs about $3, while the Atmega 8 costs only $1. Otherwise, such PS will be almost identical. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the diagrams of such equipment based on Atmega 8 and Arduino microcontrollers.

Summarize

Of course, if such equipment is used at a professional level (and at the same time constantly), then it is better to purchase a factory-assembled PS. But for one-time electronics repairs, making a soldering station with your own hands can be an ideal solution. We hope that the information provided in today's article was useful to our readers. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask them in the discussions below.. Perhaps you have experience in assembling soldering stations yourself? Then we kindly ask you to share your thoughts on this topic with less experienced home craftsmen. This will help them learn something new. Write, ask, communicate. And finally, we suggest watching another short video on today's topic.

I thought about buying a soldering station for myself. A thing, of course, necessary in work. Looked a little on the internet, I realized that they are, to put it mildly, not very cheap. So I decided to make my own. I bought a soldering iron with temperature control even earlier. Well, it was necessary to make a hot air gun. Well, I decided not to bother with the design of the gun itself, and purchased a ready-made gun from some soldering station on Aliexpress. It cost me around $8. Plus it has 4 attachments.

As soon as it arrived, I took it apart and found inside the turbine, heating element, thermocouple, and reed switch (to turn off the flow of hot air when installed on the original stand, which has a magnet). Instead of a reed switch, I installed a button, as it is more convenient for me.

The next step was to create a control box. It required an ATMega8 type MK, a 7-segment 4-character display, 3 buttons, an op-amp (Any with a 5V supply), a BT136 triac, with an MOC3021 driver, and strapping components (resistors, capacitors). Schematic and firmware with source codes are below. The firmware is not yet very well developed, but it works, someday I'll redo it.

After assembly, firmware, the soldering iron needs to be calibrated. We install the thermocouple from the multimeter as close as possible to the hot air outlet nozzle, turn on the soldering iron, hold down all three buttons until the inscription CALL appears. Next, eight-point calibration begins (50,100,150,200,250,300,350,400 degrees). Buttons + - turn on / off the heating element. As soon as the multimeter readings correspond to the calibrated temperature, press the Enter button, and also calibrate the next point. After calibration, all values ​​are stored in the Eeprom memory of the controller. Using a hair dryer is easy: turn it on, press Enter, set the desired temperature, Enter again and wait for the soldering iron to pick up temperature. When this happens, the display will show Ok. The button on the handle can turn the soldering iron on and off.

Radio masters and amateurs often encounter various breakdowns of radio equipment. A common soldering iron with a copper tip can be used for repairs, but with the advancement of technology, very small parts are installed in some devices. It is inconvenient or completely impossible to work with a conventional soldering iron with such devices, for example, SMD elements must be soldered by heating the common soldering area. To carry out such processes, there are various soldering stations and hair dryers.

Features and purpose

To heat up metal bends and a special soldering agent, special equipment is required, which is a soldering dryer. The device is able to heat up to the desired temperature very quickly, even with a simple design. Due to the simple structure, both a novice electrician and a professional can work with the device. To simplify work with small parts, additional equipment is also used in conjunction with hair dryers, but since the price of devices is considerable, the best option would be a do-it-yourself soldering station with a hair dryer. This equipment will allow you to cope with most complex tasks without much effort.

By design, the device is arranged in the same way as a building hair dryer, but it has less power and more compact nozzles. Most often, a soldering station comes with a regular soldering iron and a hot air gun. In this case, the devices are equipped with temperature regulators.

For a professional workshop, a hot air gun is easier to buy, as it will quickly justify its cost, and it will be more convenient to use such equipment. And if the microcircuits need to be soldered at home and not every day, then a do-it-yourself home-made hot air soldering station is suitable for this.

The difference between soldering irons

Very often, radio amateurs think about how to make a soldering iron with their own hands, but before starting the assembly, you need to know the principles and differences between the soldering station and the soldering iron itself. The device diagram consists of the main and additional parts. The main part is the block to which the soldering irons are connected. Depending on the method of air supply, the stations are of two types:

1. Turbine - the air flow is formed thanks to the built-in cooler in the hot air gun.
2. Compressor - the air flow is formed by means of a compressor installed in the main building of the station.

When buying a soldering station, such features are of great importance, since compressors create a strong air flow, and they can be used to work in hard-to-reach places even with narrow nozzles, while turbines are not able to push air with the necessary power through a narrow nozzle opening.

The operation of the device consists in heating a ceramic or spiral-like element, which is installed in a hot air gun, and heating the air passing through this element. A soldering hot air gun can heat the air to a temperature in the range of 100-180 degrees, and in modern models it is possible to adjust the temperature threshold.

Compared to infrared counterparts, hot air stations have the following disadvantages:

1. The air flow blows away small parts.
2. Uneven heating of the surface.
3. Change nozzles for different types of work.

However, for amateurs, such disadvantages are insignificant in comparison with the advantage in price.

A hot air soldering iron for the station can be made at home from a regular household hair dryer. At the same time, in terms of technical characteristics, it will not be inferior to the factory counterpart. The main characteristics of such a soldering iron are:

• tip diameter;
• Power;
• Turbine performance;
• Maximum temperature threshold.

Such parameters directly affect the quality and performance of the device, so they must be treated very carefully when assembling.

Features of the design of the hot air gun

Using a soldering device, you can melt plastic parts and metal, which has a low melting point. A special nichrome spiral heats the air, after which hot air is supplied to the desired point. When designing a home-made apparatus, it is necessary to be guided by the main parameter - the air heating temperature. In professional devices, the parameter reaches 800 degrees, but if aluminum is not required, then it can be made with a temperature threshold of up to 600℃.

When assembling a device at home, you also need to focus on cost savings, and for this you need to find parts for assembly. The design of the equipment includes:

• Frame;
• heating part;
• A device through which air will be supplied;
• Holder;
• Power button.

To improve the device, it is possible to foresee the use of a sensor and a temperature controller, as well as the installation of various nozzles.

Making a hot air gun

For the manufacture of an air thermal soldering iron, a hair dryer with a fan and a nichrome spiral with a thickness of 0.4 mm or more are well suited on their own. Since it is supposed to assemble a home-made device of a compact size, a spiral with a diameter of more than 0.5 mm will not work. A larger cross section will require more current. First you need to choose a power source, and then choose the number of turns, since the resistance of the spiral and the heating of the air will depend on this. In order to assemble a powerful hot air gun, a power source with a voltage of up to 36 V is enough.

Housing and heating system

An old soldering iron or a steel tube can be used as a hot air gun body, but since the operating temperature will be high, you need to wrap the tube with heat-resistant material or attach a holder handle. Also, as an air duct, inside which the heating system will be placed, you can use a car cigarette lighter.

At the next stage, it is necessary to wind a nichrome spiral with a small distance between the turns. As an insulator, on which the spiral is wound, a ceramic tube with a diameter of 4-5 mm can be used. The length of the spiral must be wound taking into account the resistance, which is calculated in the range from 70 to 90 ohms.

The end of the tube can be equipped with a ceramic or porcelain tubular element, and it is better to wind the spiral on a flat plate, which will favorably affect heat transfer. You will get peculiar bends in the form of petals that will not touch the insulator. To increase the efficiency, you can make thermal protection with fiberglass or asbestos.

Air supply device

To supply air, you can use a small-sized cooler from the computer's power supply, which is installed near the handle of the hot air gun. A metal tube with a wound spiral is connected to the fan.

A hole is cut on the end of the fan to move air to the tube. One side of the cooler is hermetically sealed. As the base of the thermal system, you can use mica plates from an old hair dryer. A cruciform base is made from such plates, on which nichrome wire is wound.

Power regulation

In order to be able to adjust the air flow and current strength, it is necessary to assemble a block in which the rheostats will be placed. One of the rheostats is connected to the heating system, and the other to the air ventilation. The power button is set common to the entire system. A home-made soldering station with a hairdryer and regulators will replace the factory version and can be used not only for soldering conventional radio components, but also for working with more serious elements. When assembling the hot air gun, care must be taken to isolate the spiral from the metal case, otherwise a short circuit is inevitable.

Hot air gun from a conventional soldering iron

An ordinary soldering iron is perfect as a body for a soldering dryer. All internal elements must be removed. In this case, you must be extremely careful not to damage anything. For assembly, you will need a halogen lamp bulb as an insulator.

Next, the edges of the flask are cut off with a glass cutter to obtain a glass tube, and a tip with a made socket for the heater is attached to one of the sides. The heater can be a nichrome plate up to 0.7 mm thick.

In the manufacture of the device, different actions are carried out, but it is better to adhere to the following sequence:

• Winding the spiral and inserting the quartz bulb into the spiral.
• To reduce the heating of the device, the insulator is wrapped with foil.
• Installation of the heating element in the housing and its fixation.
• Connecting the compressor hose to the handle or installing a fan.

Such a simple design will not have high performance, and the heating of the air flow does not exceed 300 degrees. For do-it-yourself alteration, a soldering iron with a power of 40 W is suitable, as well as an aquarium compressor as an air blower.

Modernization of a conventional soldering iron can take place without removing the heating element, but with removing the metal part. The power wire is led out into the side hole made in the handle, and instead of the wire, a sleeve is installed in the back for further installation of the air tube. The exit point of the bushing and wire must be sealed.

Next, the metal part of the soldering iron is installed in place, and instead of the copper tip, a metal tube of a suitable diameter is installed. As a tube, a segment from the element of the indoor antenna of the telescopic version can be used.

In a home-made soldering hot air gun of this type, it is important to regulate the air flow, since at a high flow rate the air will not be able to heat up to the required temperature.

From a plastic jar

For the manufacture of this design, you will also need a nichrome spiral, a power supply and a blower fan, and the following parts are used as body elements:

• A small plastic jar of pills;
• Aluminum tube from the condenser;
• Plastic lid from a coffee can;
• Steel tube as a nozzle.

To assemble the device, you need to cut off the bottom of a plastic can with a clerical knife. A cooler is glued into the lid from the coffee can, and the case from the condenser is mounted into the lid from the jar of tablets, together with the prepared heating element. All wires are brought out, after which the lid with the cooler is put on the jar using hot glue. Such a hot air gun device is quite compact and does not require an additional holder, and not only a steel tube, but also ceramic elements from the heating system of an old iron can be used as a nozzle.

Work Safety Measures

Working with a hot air gun, especially self-assembled, requires special attention to the safety of operation. There are several rules to follow:

• Comply with fire safety regulations.
• If a temperature controller is installed, the temperature threshold cannot be changed by sharply turning the controller.
• Do not touch the heating element and attachments while the device is in operation, as this may cause serious burns and other consequences.
• You can change the nozzle only after turning off and cooling the soldering iron.
• Do not allow water or other liquids to come into contact with the device.

Without alteration, the hair dryer device for drying hair will not bring success in operation, therefore it is recommended to use only a motor with a fan and a spiral that will be wound according to the requirements for a home-made device. Strong heat, together with a decrease in fan rotation and a decrease in nozzle diameter, leads to burnout of the spiral and melting of the plastic case, and also, if the insulation is poor, a short circuit may occur.

By installing an additional power button for the fan, you can speed up the cooling process of the soldering iron. If you turn off the heating element and leave the cooler on, then the heating part of the device will be blown through with air, thereby cooling the entire system. For convenience in working with the device, it is recommended to make a stand with a metal base, as well as using magnets. Thanks to the use of a neodymium magnet, the heat gun will be securely held in position.