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0 pointsrta55y ago0 comments

I've been building a Controleo3 reflow oven kit (https://www.whizoo.com/controleo3). It had all been going well until yesterday when I broke one of the heating elements. Now I'll have to get another toaster oven and do a transplant.

The end goal is to generally improve my ability to prototype PCBAs in my home lab, starting with a CAN gateway module that I've been designing. I'm hoping to be done with quarantine before I get to actually use the reflow oven.

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malexw5y ago

Neat! Do you get paste stencils made as part of the PCBA manufacturing process? How many components a year were you hand soldering or reflowing before you decided to try and automate the process a bit more?

rta5OP5y ago

I've done stencils from OSH stencils before, but its not something I usually do. Typically I solder only a few hundred SMD components per year. The oven is less for reducing soldering time and more for increasing part selection; Too many parts come in leadless packages like QFNs that are painful to solder well by hand.

malexw5y ago

Got it. I have a project that I want to do based on a TI CC-1125 to connect 303 MHz devices in my home to a smart home system, but of course all the interesting parts these days come in QFNs. I was trying to decide whether I wanted to go through the trouble of reflowing it with hot air or if it was just worth the $100 for the booster pack development board. It's unfortunate that the economics of low-volume prototype manufacturing don't work out for the home designer.

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malexw5y ago

rta5OP5y ago

malexw5y ago

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