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DerSpatz / PCB-reflow-solder-heat-plate

hardware design for a PCB reflow solder heat plate
MIT License
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How many heating cycles does the PCB survive? #12

Closed manuel-rw closed 1 year ago

manuel-rw commented 1 year ago

Hello everyone, I want to get into SMD soldering. Can anyone tell me, how many cycles / thermal stress this PCB usually survives, until it deteriorates? I know that many factors will influence this, but it would be useful to get a general idea what to expect.

Thank you! Best regards

bwack commented 1 year ago

Learning SMD soldering is fun ! With the current solution, and its huge temperature swings, the longevity is pretty poor. If you can modify the board with an NTC thermistor (see the other issuehere), you can get more life out of it. Then you can get better control of the temps. I experimented with an IR Thermal sensor. It worked too.

manuel-rw commented 1 year ago

Hi, thanks for the reply. Since the heating PCB is not replaceable, what endurance are you getting with the IR? It shocked me seeing people mentioning only 5 cycles, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.

bwack commented 1 year ago

I think the 5 cycles is due to the huge temperature swings causing it to overheat.

I haven't used mine more than maybe 10 times, but the pcb is still holding up. no warping.

bwack commented 1 year ago

Here is a video of my experimentation with IR sensor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8zI6PzrAY8

manuel-rw commented 1 year ago

Thanks @bwack for answering. I think I will stick with my hot air gun for now. Closing this issue since it's resolved :)