IR soldering stations operating principle. Simple and clear recommendations on how to make a soldering station with your own hands
Many experts on the issue which Soldering Station better, make a choice in favor of infrared soldering units. In this equipment, instead of a stream of hot air, infrared waves are used to heat parts, transmitted through harmless radiation invisible to the eye. Such soldering stations are suitable for working with any components, as they provide local heating of elements even in limited space plat. Modern infrared devices, for example, from companies Achi, Scottle And Jovy, are complex multifunctional complexes equipped with cooling systems, monitors for broadcasting operating parameters, control panels, etc. Compared to hot air soldering stations, they have the following advantages:
- the ability to work with complex-profile parts of various types;
- no need to select attachments for a specific type of work;
- uniform heating of the soldering surface.
Infrared soldering station ACHI IR-6500
The main disadvantages of infrared soldering stations are their high cost and complexity. But you should understand that this equipment is considered professional, and its functionality may remain unclaimed in everyday life.
service-gsm.ru
Often in their videos, the Sovering TVi channel talked about how they were going to assemble an infrared soldering station. This is almost the final stage before we assemble it completely.
Radio components, IR soldering stations and others in this Chinese store.
Before collecting everything, I bought related materials- thermocouple, for measuring temperature. I also bought vacuum tweezers, review later. It is already ready, it needs to be assembled, there was no time. Dimers, these 2 dimers, were also made by a reviewer, anyone interested can watch them on the channel. I also bought these stencils.
I bought universal ones, so I’m still learning to try them, that’s why they are like this. There was also one in the kit, also a review a little later, the material is already there, it needs to be processed and made.
The upper heater was made from an old power supply unit, such a small one was lying around. It unwinds to show you what's inside. I soldered, soldered, and twisted everything. We'll put a dimmer here somewhere so that you don't have to place it on the front panel, but control it directly. Separately controlled with a button with a separate power cord. The lower heater has its own power supply and then, if you don’t like something, redo it. So far everything looks like this. Also redo the box.
It will be screwed here and the rod. Such a leg. A choke, or rather a power supply for a backlight bulb. The backlight is normal, thin. A power supply for it, and additional light. He told me about dimmers, a power button for the bottom heater, one of these. The corners on which it will lie top sheet, let's remove the top sheet and see what's inside and what it was assembled from. Let's unscrew this thing.
Continuation from 4 minutes about a homemade working IR soldering station.
Second part
Infrared soldering station and how to make it yourself
With the advent of microprocessor technology, it became necessary to deal with the resoldering of BGA microcircuits during repairs, which is either extremely difficult to do using conventional methods, or, more often, impossible. Even a hairdryer will not always help cope with the task. That is why making an infrared soldering station with your own hands will be the best alternative and sometimes the only relevant solution.
IR soldering station
BGA (Ball grid array) chips are present in almost any modern “smart” device: phones, computers, TVs, printers. During operation, they may fail, which requires replacing the faulty part with a new one. But such a procedure can be carried out without special equipment- the task is extremely difficult.
The problem is that manufacturers are inventing more and more new methods for mounting electronic parts. And a regular soldering iron or hair dryer will not always be able to help solve this problem. After all, contact balls contribute to high heat transfer to the board, as a result of which they cannot melt.
If you try to raise the temperature to the level necessary for their melting, then there is a risk of overheating the microcircuit, as a result of which it may fail. Due to overheating, the possibility of damage to nearby parts cannot be ruled out. Especially if their bodies are made of fusible materials.
An infrared station can be an excellent solution. It allows you to replace even large GPU controllers. And with the widespread use of computers, laptops, motherboards, video adapters and other complex equipment, such repair work is performed quite often. And if previously it was possible to use hot air stations to replace large microcircuits, now, when manufacturers use non-contact soldering methods, the only optimal solution is an IR station that can efficiently cope with the replacement of any microprocessor part.
Operating principle
The main problems when resoldering microcircuits and controllers are either underheating of the contact material to the melting temperature, or overheating of the replaced part and its failure.
This is how the idea came to heat the board itself to a temperature of 100–150 degrees Celsius. After that, solder the parts. This allows you to qualitatively reduce the heat flow to the PCB board, which makes it possible to lower the “upper” temperatures. This means that the part itself will be less subject to overheating.
You can also heat it with a hot air gun, but it is preferable to use an infrared soldering iron. After all, the IR station allows you to do this in a controlled manner, that is, monitor and maintain the “bottom” and “top” temperatures or use the recommended soldering thermal profile.
Design features
Any IR soldering stations consist of three main parts. Everything looks quite simple, although each of them is an independent complex mechanism, combined with general installation. So, any station includes:
Depending on the model and manufacturer, IR soldering irons may differ only technical characteristics. Some make the job easier, while others, on the contrary, require additional attention and labor from the user.
This also affects the cost of equipment. Therefore, when choosing a station, you need to pay attention not only to the price, but also to the technical data, so as not to overpay for unnecessary functionality.
DIY making
For industries or individuals involved in the repair of complex electronic equipment, it is quite possible to purchase a factory-made IR soldering station for work. But for amateurs or those who need such an installation occasionally, you can create it yourself. And the price speaks in favor of this, first of all. Even appliances made in China have a cost of 1 thousand dollars. High-quality models of European brands cost from 2 thousand dollars and above. Allow yourself so much expensive pleasure Not everyone can.
Regarding the homemade infrared soldering station, everything looks much more optimistic. According to average calculations, such an analogue of an IR soldering iron will cost around $80, which looks incomparably more reasonable than the prices of factory devices.
Any person involved in the repair of complex equipment has enough knowledge to invent and construct an IR station on their own. Due to this, the electronic part, appearance and some features may differ. And here the basic design will remain the same in any model. That is why there is no single ideal scheme that can be cited as the only correct solution. But in order to understand the very principle of creating an IR soldering iron, any model will do. And based on personal knowledge and preferences, you can remove or add certain parts.
First option
This option will use a two-channel controller.
- The first channel is used for a Pt 100 platinum thermistor or a conventional thermocouple.
- The second channel will be used exclusively by the thermocouple. The controller channels can operate in automatic or manual mode.
The temperature can be maintained between 10 and 255 degrees Celsius. Thermocouple or sensor and thermocouple via feedback control these parameters automatically. In manual mode, the power on each channel will be adjusted from 0 to 99 percent.
Controller memory will contain 14 different thermal profiles for working with BGA chips. Seven of them are for lead-containing alloys, and the other seven are for lead-free solder.
In the case of weak heaters, the upper one may not keep up with the thermal profile. In this case, the controller will pause execution and wait until the required temperature is reached.
The controller also very conveniently performs a thermal profile based on the preheating temperature of the entire board. If for one reason or another it was not possible to remove the chip, then you can restart it at a higher temperature.
The power unit shown in the diagram has a transistor switch for upper heating and a seven-storage switch for lower heating. Although it is acceptable to use two transistor or triac ones. The area marked with a red dotted line may not be collected if the use of two thermocouples is calculated.
To remove heat from the keys, you can use a radiator with active cooling from any equipment. The main thing is that it fits the design of the modeled apparatus. The bottom heater will consist of nine halogen lamps with a rating of 1500 W 220–240 V R7S 254 mm. You should get three parts of three lamps connected in series. It is better to use high-temperature silicone wires for 220 volts.
The body is assembled from fiberglass or any other similar material and is reinforced with aluminum corners. You will also have to buy a vacuum pump. For a more aesthetic appearance, you can use IR glass on the bottom panel. But there are several negative points: Heating and cooling are too slow, and the entire structure becomes too hot during operation. Although the presence of glass not only makes the device more attractive, but also convenient, since the boards can be placed directly on it.
The stand is made of aluminum channel for stands. Vacuum tweezers and a tube for it, a thermocouple and stands are prepared. It is recommended to make the upper heater from ELSTEIN SHTS/100 800W. When all the parts are ready, they need to be placed in the case and you can proceed to configuration.
Heaters are installed at a distance of 5–6 centimeters from the boards. If the temperature run-out more than three degrees, then it is worth reducing the power of the upper heater.
Second solution
As a second option, we can propose a design that differs only in internal components. And first you should prepare everything required components:
The main thing is to immediately decide on the type of case. Naturally, a lot depends on availability suitable material. Therefore, this is what you should start from when it comes time to place the components inside.
Now you need to take a halogen heater. It may be possible to find an old one, since it needs to be disassembled and reflectors and halogen lamps removed. There is no need to disassemble the lamps themselves. Now all this will need to be placed in the prepared housing. Only 4 lamps of 450 watts are used, connected in parallel. It is preferable to use the same wires with which they were already connected. If for some reason you cannot use them, you will have to buy additional heat-resistant ones.
You will immediately have to think about the fee retention system. It is difficult to give specific recommendations here. After all, it all depends on the body. But it would be good to use aluminum profiles, into which bolts and nuts are not rigidly inserted so that they can subsequently be used to clamp printed circuit boards and, at the same time, be able to be adjusted to suit different sizes of boards. It is better to pass thermocouples that control the set temperature circuit in the lower heater into the shower hose. This will provide mobility and convenience during operation and installation.
The role of the upper heater will perform ceramic power 450 watts. This can be purchased as a spare part for IR stations. Here you also need to take care of the housing, since it is this that ensures correct and high-quality heating. It can be made from thin sheet iron, bent as needed, depending on the shape and size of the heater.
Now you need to think about mounting the top heater. Since it must be movable, and move not only up or down, but also under different angles. The stand from table lamp. You can secure it in any convenient way.
It's time to tackle the controller. It will also require a separate housing. If there is a suitable ready-made one, then you can use it. Otherwise, you will have to make it yourself, all from the same thin metal. Solid state relays need cooling, so it is worth installing a radiator and fan for them.
Since there is no automatic setting in the controller, the values of P, I and D will have to be entered manually. There are four profiles, for each the number of steps, the rate of temperature rise, the time and the waiting step are separately set, lower threshold, target temperature and values for the upper and lower heater.
Sooner or later, a radio mechanic involved in the repair of modern electronic equipment is faced with the question of purchasing an infrared soldering station. The need has arisen due to the fact that modern elements In short, manufacturers of both small things and large integrated circuits are abandoning flexible leads in favor of snouts. This process has been going on for quite some time.
Such chip packages are called BGA - Ball grid array, in other words - an array of balls. Such microcircuits are mounted and dismantled using non-contact soldering.
Previously, for not very large microcircuits it was possible to get by with a hot-air soldering station. But large GPU graphics controllers cannot be removed and installed with a thermal air blower. Maybe just warm it up, but warming it up doesn’t give long-term results.
In general, closer to the topic.. Ready-made professional infrared stations have exorbitant prices, and inexpensive 1000 - 2000 green ones do not have enough functionality, in short, you still have to add them. Personally, for me, an infrared soldering station is a tool that you can assemble yourself and to suit your needs. Yes, I don’t argue, there are time costs. But if you approach the assembly of the IR station methodically, you will get the desired result and creative satisfaction. So, I have planned for myself that I will work with boards measuring 250x250 mm. For soldering TV Main and computer video adapters, possibly tablet PCs.
So, I started with a blank slate and a door from an old mezzanine, screwing 4 legs from an ancient typewriter to this future base.
Using approximate calculations, the base turned out to be 400x390 mm. Next, it was necessary to roughly calculate the layout based on the sizes of the heaters and PID controllers. Using this simple “felt-tip pen” method, I determined the height of my future infrared soldering station and the bevel angle of the front panel:
Next, let's take on the skeleton. Everything is simple here - we bend the aluminum corners according to the design of our future soldering station, secure it, and tie it together. We go to the garage and bury our heads in DVD and VCR cases. I do a good job of not throwing it away - I know it will come in handy. Look, I’ll build a house out of them :) Look, they build from beer cans, from corks and even from ice cream sticks!
In short, you can’t imagine a better cladding than equipment covers. Sheet metal is not cheap.
We run to the shops in search of a non-stick baking sheet. The baking tray must be selected according to the size of the IR emitters and their number. I went shopping with a small tape measure and measured the sides of the bottom and the depth. To questions from sellers like: “Why do you need pies of strictly specified sizes?” He answered that the inappropriate size of the pie violates the overall harmony of perception, which does not correspond to my moral and ethical principles.
Hurray! The first parcel, and it contains especially important spare parts: PIDs (what a scary word) The decoding is also not simple: Proportional-Integral-Differential controller. In general, let’s understand their setup and operation.
Next is the tin. This is where we had to work hard with the DVD covers so that everything would turn out smoothly and solidly, we do it for ourselves. After adjusting all the walls, it is necessary to cut the necessary holes for PIDs on the front, for the cooler on back wall and painting - in the garage. As a result, the intermediate version of our IR soldering station began to look like this:
After testing the REX C-100 regulator designed for preheating (bottom heater), it turned out that it is not entirely suitable for my soldering station design, because it is not designed to work with solid-state relays, which it is supposed to control. I had to modify it to fit my concept.
Hurray! A parcel has arrived from China. Now it already contained the most basic wealth for building our infrared soldering station. Namely, these are 3 lower IR emitters 60x240 mm, the top 80x80 mm. and a pair of 40A solid-state relays. It was possible to take 25 amps, but I always try to do everything with a reserve, and the price was not much different..
The eyes are afraid, but the hands are doing. I try not to forget this old truth, just like about chicken, one grain at a time... What we have in the end - After installing the emitters in a baking tray, installing the solids on the radiator, blown by the cooler and connecting everything, we got something more or less similar to infrared soldering station.
When the preheating thing started to come to an end and the first tests on heating, temperature retention and hysteresis were done, we could safely proceed to the upper infrared emitter. It turned out to be more work than I initially expected. Several were considered constructive solutions, but still the last option turned out to be more successful in practice, which I implemented.
Making a table to hold the board is another task that requires heating the skull. It is necessary that several conditions be met - uniform retention printed circuit board so that the board does not sag when heated. In addition, it was possible to move an already clamped board left or right. The board clamp should be both strong and give a little slack, since the board expands when heated. Well, the table should also have the ability to secure the boards different sizes. Not yet fully finished table: (no clothespins for the board)
Now the time has come for testing, debugging, adjusting thermal profiles to different types microcircuits and soldering alloys. During the fall of 2014, a decent number of computer video cards and television Main-boards were restored
Despite the fact that the soldering station seems complete and has proven itself to be excellent, in fact, several more important things are missing: Firstly, a lamp, or a flashlight on a flexible leg, Secondly, blowing the board after soldering, Thirdly, I initially wanted to make a selector for the lower heaters..
Of course, I didn’t write everything I wanted, because during assembly there were a lot of little things, problems and dead ends. But I recorded the entire construction process on video and now this is a full-fledged training video course:
A soldering iron is good. Good for DIP parts, well, for those for which holes are drilled in boards. No doubt, the soldering iron is great for SMD components, but for this you need to have a black belt in this discipline. But how, once a year, desolder and then solder a multi-legged SMD chip without special skills and equipment? Well then, read on...
I have always been frightened by multi-legged SMD microcircuits, in terms of installation, and not in appearance, in QFP packages and various SO-shki, I won’t even mention BGA. I once had a bad experience, did it, and included a controller in the SO housing in the design. During the debugging process something went wrong and I had to resolder it. The board and controller conditionally withstood the first dismantling, but after the second, the board and controller went into the trash. As a result, I installed the chip in a dip package and my torment ended. That's all there is to it, while somehow browsing the Internet, I accidentally ended up in a forum thread forum.easyelectronics.ru, from where I was redirected to radiokot.ru. After visiting Radiokot, I got the idea to make “Prikuyalnik” (® by radiokot.ru). It is the cigarette lighter as a soldering iron that will be the source infrared radiation.
After rummaging through the bins I found a transformer from an uninterruptible power supply, which I had once been given as a gift. This transformer worked in the conversion mode 12 - 220 V, which means it will work in the opposite direction.
There is a power source! And this is already half the battle. All that was left was to find a cigarette lighter, and it was found at the local market for a symbolic price. Any cigarette lighter will do, be it a Mercedes or a Lada. By the way, the Cossack didn’t have this very important device. I decided to connect the emitter to the transformer via a PWM regulator, which later turned out to be not in vain. I chose a circuit based on the common NE555 chip. According to the experience of other users, it is less capricious.
The NE555 chip, according to the datasheet, is powered by a constant voltage in the range of 4.5 - 16V. You can also consider a slightly more capricious circuit on the UC384x. They are quite often found in switching power supplies, computer ones are no exception.
I decided not to make a printed circuit board, it was too much honor for three wires. Assembled on a breadboard.
I had to come up with a rectifier. The diode bridge is assembled using Schottky diodes, which were torn out of a burnt computer power supply. Just in case, everything is placed on the radiator, we are not Chinese, we don’t mind. Burnt-out computer power supplies are simply an excellent thing, a source of cases and all sorts of parts with radiators!
Having connected the diode bridge to the transformer and measured the open circuit voltage, I became a little sad. No, the voltage was sufficient, even too much, 20 V at idle. Too much for my PWM controller. If I had known, I would have made a board based on UC3842, it starts working at 16V and above. But I was sad and okay, I added KREN8A (KR142EN8A, analogue of L7808...) to the power supply, and also hung a cooling fan on it.
As always, I have the minimum, but I want the maximum. I'll probably do the bottom heating too. We'll make do on a budget. The bottom heating will be based on a halogen spotlight; the station is not for constant use. A halogen lamp needs a power regulator, otherwise it will burn everything in the world, checked. I was thinking about ordering a thyristor regulator from China, but it’s time. Buying in the city means overpaying. On occasion I went to a local grocery store, they have a lot of nonsense there. And I noticed a lighting dimer on the counter. Compared to all other electrical installation products, it was distinguished by its inconspicuous appearance and price. The declared power of 600 W pleased me. I bought it for only 35 UAH ($1.3).
Let's see what's inside. A simple design, assembled on two BT136 thyristors connected in parallel. Excellent redundancy and power reserve. But why with such details and only 600 W?
But now you can see why. I look and think... The potential in our country is enormous, but our hands...
I had to wash the board, solder everything again, strengthen the power traces and change the radiator. In the photo below, visible under the orange toggle switch, visible new radiator dimer.
A couple of photos of how it was placed in my computer power supply case. Of course there are too many radiators, they are somewhat redundant.
The front panel is made of a piece of polycarbonate (plexiglass). White protective film I didn’t take it off, it gives the feeling that the plexiglass is white and not transparent. And the giblets are not translucent.
And in this photo the top cover is already installed. And here for the first time the hero of the occasion himself appears - the chandelier himself.
The cigarette lighter is screwed to a burnt-out soldering iron. All the insides of the soldering iron have been dismantled.
Fastenings heating element to the base is made through annealed steel wire, wound in the form of a spiral to improve heat dissipation. It gets hot and melts the insulation of the wire, so screw it on copper wire It’s not even worth trying directly.
Bottom heating. There are special ones here design features No. A halogen spotlight acts as bottom heating. The spotlight is stabilized by three legs with a rubber base. As you know, a structure on three legs will never swing; it has been proven in geometry that only one plane can be constructed through three points. The glass on top is covered with copper foil with the remains of PCB, once torn off from the old board. A 150 W lamp is installed.
Now the soldering station is ready.
After playing around a bit I can come to some conclusions. You can solder microcircuits with the buoy itself without bottom heating, but it takes a little longer. You can remove small SMDs (resistors, capacitors) using only bottom heating, if you no longer need the board itself. The fact is that there is no thermal stabilization and over time the board begins to overheat; dismantling a large number of elements can take a long time. During experiments, when dismantling on the lower heating, I overheated the board and it swelled. This swelling was accompanied by a good pop; as they say, I almost “peeed” from surprise. For one-time jobs, you can't imagine anything better.
And in order to show that it still works, I suggest looking at the following photographs.
An old motherboard was chosen as a victim. A chip is selected on it, around which there is a large number of small components, which makes it difficult to work with a familiar tool. In the next photo the chip is sealed off.
I would like to draw a line under what has been said above. The custodian has the right to be. Of course, it does not claim to be a “professional” tool, but it copes with its tasks. And with today's board architecture, it is simply necessary for an amateur.
Radio amateurs sooner or later have to deal with soldering elements using an array of balls. BGA soldering method is widely used in mass production various equipment. For installation, an infrared soldering iron is used, which connects parts in a non-contact manner. Ready-made modifications are expensive, and cheaper analogues do not have sufficient functionality, so it is possible to make a soldering iron at home.
Description of the IR soldering process
The operating principle of an infrared soldering station is to influence the element with strong waves of 2-7 microns in length. A device for soldering with homemade IR soldering stations, both homemade and purchased, consists of several elements:
- Bottom heater.
- The upper heater is responsible for the main effect on materials.
- Board holder design placed on the table.
- Temperature controller consisting of a programmable element and a thermocouple.
The wavelength directly depends on the temperature indicators of the energy source. Materials in various forms are soldered using a do-it-yourself IR station, there are basic parameters for energy transfer, opacity, reflection, translucency and transparency. Before making an IR soldering station with your own hands, you need to understand that there are some disadvantages of these systems:
- Different degrees of energy absorption by components lead to uneven heating.
- Each board, due to its different characteristics, requires the selection of temperatures, otherwise the components will overheat and fail.
- The presence of a “dead zone” where infrared energy does not reach the desired object.
- A prerequisite for protecting the surfaces of other elements from evaporation of fluxes.
Heating occurs due to heat transfer to the circuit board. Thermal impact infrared station occurs on top of the part, the temperature is not enough, so the design involves heating the lower part. Bottom part consists of a heat table, the soldering process can be carried out using calm infrared radiation or air flow.
Professional equipment is quite expensive; cheaper analogues do not have sufficient functionality. To save money and perform the necessary operations with BGA controllers, it is possible to make an infrared soldering station with your own hands. Assembly is possible from materials available on the market and scrap materials. The design is a thermotable made from an old lamp, equipped with halogen lamps. The controller and upper heater are purchased on the market or assembled from old spare parts.
The heating table will require reflectors, halogen lamps placed in a casing made of profile or sheet metal. When making an infrared soldering station with your own hands, you should stick to drawings that you can develop yourself or borrow from other artists. The housing must be equipped with a place for a thermocouple, which transmits information to the controller to prevent sharp changes temperature, excessive heating of the material.
Assembling an IR soldering station involves homemade designs in the form of a tripod mount. The temperature of the heating unit is controlled by a second thermocouple. It is installed in parallel with the heater, the tripod is fixed to the panel in such a way that the IR element can be moved above the surface of the heating table. The board is located 2-3 cm above the halogen lamps, in the body of the thermal table. Fastening is done with brackets; for manufacturing it is possible to use an unnecessary aluminum profile.
Manufacturing blowtorch with your own hands, first of all you will need a body. To cool the system, the installation of one powerful or several coolers is required; it is advisable to choose the material from galvanized steel. After complete assembly The system is adjusted by launching the circuit and debugging the device.
Bottom heating can be made in several ways, but much the best option is the use of halogen lamps. Rational decision is to install lamps with a total power of 1 kW yourself. Thresholds are installed on the sides of the structure to secure the board. The materials for soldering are installed on the channel; for smaller parts, substrates or clothespins are used.
It is known that it is impossible to make an upper heater of suitable quality with your own hands. To achieve the best results in the IR soldering process, it is necessary to use ceramic heating elements. For And DIY infrared soldering station the best option is to use an ELSTEIN heater. The manufacturer shows the best results; the emission spectrum is ideal for replacing BGA boards and other parts. It is not recommended to save on purchasing an upper heater when assembling a soldering station with your own hands, because When working with a low-quality tool, damage to the board or the assembled structure may occur.
The design for top heating is possible from homemade bed. It is enough to have height and width adjustment for comfortable work on a home-made infrared soldering station. A thermocouple is attached to the tripod to control the temperature.
The controller housing is sized according to the parts being installed. A suitable option There may be a piece of sheet metal that can be easily cut with metal scissors. The control unit also houses fans, various buttons, as well as a display and the controller itself. The Arduino acts as a controller; the functionality is quite sufficient for soldering BGA circuits with your own hands.
Parts for a homemade device
Before assembling any equipment with your own hands, you need to prepare materials and tools. For an infrared soldering iron you will need:
- A set of halogen lamps, the number of which depends on the shape of the future lower heater of the soldering station, the optimal number is selected in the range from 4 to 6 pieces.
- Ceramic infrared head with a power of at least 400 watts for the top heater.
- Shower head hose for wires, aluminum corners.
- steel wire, fastener from an old camera or table lamp to make a tripod.
- Arduino controller, 2 relays and thermocouples, as well as a power supply with a 5 volt output, which can be made from a mobile phone charger.
- Screws, connectors and additional peripherals.
During the assembly process, you will need drawings, which will help you understand with basic knowledge of electronics.
Application and device
An infrared soldering iron is used mainly when there is no access to replaceable components. It is used when replacing small parts; the main advantage is the absence of carbon deposits and other deposits, as when working with a conventional soldering iron, as well as the low possibility of damaging neighboring elements. For home use It is possible to make a soldering iron with your own hands using a car cigarette lighter.
The device operates on a 12-volt power supply; this voltage can be obtained by using a converter or an unnecessary power supply for a computer.
Manufacturing
Before assembling the soldering station, the heating element is removed from the cigarette lighter body. Power wires are connected to the power contacts; insulated copper wire can be connected to the central wire. Making a soldering iron will not work a lot of work, it is enough to insulate the connection at a distance from the heating element; it is possible to use heat-shrinkable tubing.
The body is made of refractory material. It is possible to use a non-working soldering iron or purchase a piece of steel. It is necessary to ensure that the wires do not touch each other. It is important to understand that this type of device is used for unimportant work, since temperature thresholds and other parameters are not controlled.
It was winter and, apparently, due to a shortage sunlight I was overcome with sadness. The usual thing. But this time I decided to change something. And, as you know, The best way to unwind - to create something, preferably useful. My job is to repair all sorts of digital things. Why don't I build an IR soldering station?
Actually, I've been thinking about this for a long time. And after learning the prices, I realized that I wanted to collect it. Therefore, I slowly bought or collected necessary components. But somehow I didn’t get around to it.
This time it so happened that I had little work to do and almost all the components were in stock.
Get to work!
Formulation of the problem
I figured out the problem. I need:1. A relatively simple device.
2. With “brains” at ATMEGA
3. Bottom heater based on 1000 W halogen lamps.
4. Upper.
5. The top heater must be movable in three planes to center the heating point and height.
I already had spotlights and holders for them. I consider kilowatt lamps to be optimal in terms of heating and size. There are six of them, connected two in series.
--
Thank you for your attention!
Firmware and extras materials:
▼
🕗 07/17/16 ⚖️ 617.21 Kb ⇣ 100
Hello, reader! My name is Igor, I'm 45, I'm a Siberian and an avid amateur electronics engineer. I came up with, created and have been maintaining this wonderful site since 2006.
For more than 10 years, our magazine has existed only at my expense.
Good! The freebie is over. Do you want files and useful articles- help me!
--
Thank you for your attention!
Igor Kotov, founder of Datagor magazine
Fuses
Thank you for your attention!
Update
I wrote above that when you blow on the bottom heating thermocouple, the station “flares up” like a fire. So, it turned out that this is a very undesirable phenomenon! The thermocouple is located relatively far from the lamps and has a very small size, so it cools down very quickly.
When I tested the soldering station for the first time, I did not turn on exhaust fan, since there was no food for him. And all the soldering station modes were normal, I would even say ideal. When I started using it with a hood, it turned out that the air flow cools the thermocouple, and the station begins to “fry” the board.
If the station is used for large motherboards that completely cover the bottom heating window, then everything is fine. However, when warming up relatively small boards, such as video cards or laptop motherboards, the air flow comes into play.
How to deal with this phenomenon? I see two options. Or somehow compensate for the influence air flow, or limit it completely.
In the first case you can, for example, make a thermocouple on a lever with a counterweight, so that it touches the board from below. You can increase the sensor area, for example, by bending a copper plate and inserting a thermocouple into it. Due to the larger area, more IR rays will hit the plate. True, the cooling area is also larger. Let's hope that such a plate will have greater thermal inertia and air will not interfere.
Another option that suggests itself is to move the thermocouple closer to the lamp, but here the heated glass of the lamp will already have an effect, which will lead to distortion of the readings.
In the second case, it is ideal to close the heater window with special glass from a kitchen infrared stove. But I never found it. Well, it's not often that people break slabs like this.
Remembering the experience with a large board, when warming up small boards, you can cover the remaining window space with some kind of reflective plate. For example, aluminum or steel, wrapped in aluminum foil.
And as a last resort, you can simply turn down the heating; in my case, instead of 180 degrees, I set it to 140-150.
Maybe someone else has ideas on how to do this better, and most importantly, easier?
By the way, in an entry-level factory station, the thermocouple is located closely between the ceramic heaters. So this is where the lamps lose. But in the dynamics of warming up they are unrivaled. I saw on YouTube that the guys even installed lamps in the upper heater precisely for this reason, using a garland of ordinary 12-volt halogen lamps from spotlights.
Comrade, look at the useful things!
Reader vote
