Hot Air Soldering For The First Time: 858D Hot Air Station 

Just some tips to add to the other great comments: 1. Don't worry too much about getting the paste in the right spot, that's the whole point of soldermask and flux. It'll sort itself out! 2. Always use less paste than you think and don't be scared to add a dollop of flux from a pen or whatever you preferred dispenser is. 3. Blow the hot air, straight down and constantly, try not to wobble it about and aim from the side. Keep the height constant. 4. Have your settings such that is the maximum air without sending the part flying (keeping height constant, just crank up the flow from lowest until it is about to go). Have the temperature set low, such that the flux becomes liquid but not the solder. Then keep mashing the temperature up button (2-3deg/presses per second) until the solder melts. Hold at that temperature, height and angle for 3-4 seconds, then move away. Do that for each component, full process. 5. When you get the hang of it, and know the temperature to use on that day for your paste and the right airflow. Rather than pressing the buttons, keep the settings constant and just alter height. High (far away) for low air and cool, close in for high flow and heat. Hope some of that helps! It is a bit of an art but like anything, practice is the only way to get good at a skill

Fantastic job for anyone much less for your first. From my experience: Surface prep - IPA wash, very light film of flux. Alignment - Keep the tweezers lined up exactly with the angle of the part. Look at your video. You’ll see what I mean. Flow angle: Keep it straight down. Hard to do on video. Pre heat - Warm board. It helps place paste. This also helps the surface prep. Use a tub - I hate the applicator. Little open jars and a tiny pick or toothpick work better for me. Slow motion - Slow down your movement. You’ll find a little dwell tome on each component helps. Build order - Do the huge heat sucking parts first. You risk over heating board. Size - For those of us less brave, 1206 is a good place to start. Experiment - Try at least three different pastes. You will have a preference. Really great work.

Cool at 6:45 how the holes acted as an array of apertures allowing us to see through the board.

Great result for a first time. A couple of ideas: 1) Use a cork mat or tile under the board. You can still get cup / kettle stands made of cork if you cannot find placemats. 2) Squirt the solder onto a spare piece of board and use a plastic toothpick to pick a little up from the lump rather than trying to squeeze a lot out. Works great for superglue / epoxy resin as well. You will waste a fair but but it’s lot less frustrating so worth the cost! Sorry forgot to say - watch Louis Rossmann Mac board repairs for hot air work and the use of flux.

"finger up the end technique"... that's not a phrase I was expecting to hear today.

I've just purchased one of these guns and have yet to try it, you video has given me a lot of confidence and I enjoyed watching almost as much as you did making it, thanks for not editing out the mistakes

Try a higher temp but less air flow. It's not the amount of air that heats things up, it's the temperature. So less airflow will prevent your parts from moving around too much, and a higher temp will get the solderpaste melted quicker. Speaking of solderpaste, you're going to have to find a way to put less, much less. Squirting some amount on a scrap piece of material, then using a toothpick or something equally small to then put the paste on where you need it might work better. Other than that, great job.

Very good results on your first try! Having to do little bit of cleaning afterwards is OK. I often use AA battery as a plunger with those solder paste or flux syringes, works like a charm.

Pocket Seon says “bang up job mate” - especially the finger up the end technique!

Cutting mats are not heat resistant and will bubble and warp permanently. Ask me how I know ? ( other than it saying it on the actual mat )

I was surprised the solder paste was still good. I’ve recently bought some new and it’s completely different to the stuff I had before - less viscous and much easier to apply. The old had had it. I found I’ve left my hot air gun at the lowest fan speed and pointed it straight down for best results. Enjoyed the video David.

That's a successful first attempt! The paste should be at room temperature. As another suggested, use a smaller needle or create a puddle of paste and use a toothpick to apply it. That's what I did in the beginning. You really don't need much paste to get a good bond. I have ended up using a compressed air powered dispenser that shoots out tiny blobs and then sucks the plunger back up to avoid drips.

Try a silicone baking sheet from the Pound store (Dollar store here). Cut in half to double it up two layers. Pop rivets to hold together (glue not possible).

I've had this 858D Hot Air Station for about a year. I use it all the time especially for heat shrink tubing. I don't know how I ever got along without it. It's just a great item to have in my shop!

I purchased this model from Amazon on 17 March 2021 with free delivery for only £13.59. I have been thinking about buying one for a few months but was reluctant due to the average price including shipping being a few pence under £30 and I couldn’t really justify spending that amount. But the Amazon price of less than half that changed my mind quickly. After using it a few times it is definitely worth paying even £30 - soldering small items is now quick and easy.

I have given up on applying solder paste by hand. Whenever possible I spend a little extra for a proper stencil. Saves so much time an nerves. Anyhow: It works, what more can you ask for.

Well done… I suspect I will have to do this before my coffee. Just got a yihua 862bd station..time to start melting stuff!

It turned out great (my threshold for "great" is that it works)! I found that this method is pretty forgiving when it comes to too much solder paste. Also, where would we be without soldermask :) Besides it being a handy way of soldering SMD components I agree with you that it is really fun to do!

Just Got the 8582D the other week. Really Like it.

Well done David. I'll say your main issue was just way too much solder paste. I use a much finer syringe needle, which requires a bit more plunger pressure, but you then get nice even little dots on each pad. Of course, it would help if the plunger would actually fit in the syringe! :) I also drop one of those thin silicone "baking" mats on my desk when using the heat gun. Yeah, gun is also great for heatshrink tubing, and perfect for SMD rework. You also want to go a bit slower, to first pre-heat the PCB a bit more, before going in for the final reflow. Enjoy!

like the exhaust bandage idea, add that to the oven bottom sheets and you have a sealed heat pad, re the plunger put the orange cap back on the tip and push the black tip of the plunger into the white bit inside, enough pressure the should snap together, pull back to relieve the pressure before removing the cap

Came out nice, good first time job ! Only thing I do (same station) is work the whole board over for about a minute before moving in, and keep the air a little lower. The hotter the board the faster the reflow is, and you are not working on 1 component for more than a few seconds.

Awesome. You got twice better from the first side to the second. You are probably expert level now. In case it helps, I have a squeezer adapter (trigger/gun I 3D printed) for the tube which works amazingly well. Before that, I would be shaking trying to squeeze some out and it was just a mess. Also, I lost some parts the first time so I have the blower on like 3 when soldering. Desoldering, I crank it up unless I'm sure I don't want to lose the part I'm taking off.

very honest to show your very first time hot air soldering. I have still to walk that bridge.

Remove black rubbery part from the plunger.

Wow, you said £30 and my first thought was - wow my replacement elements cost me ten times that! I use the JBC JTSE for about 8 hours a day for iPhone board repair.

I think you did a great job, for the first time! About to try this myself for the first time. Thanks for the video.

I actually laughed out loud when you put the battery in and the case fell off 😂 great job, I've just bought same model so hope it performs just as good as you made it look 👍

That was an impressive first attempt.

Loved watching your first attempt. I've had a soldering iron with a heat gun for a year now but never yet used the heat gun for anything other than heat shrink tubing. I would be pleased if I got as good a result on my first try at hot flow soldering as you did.

6:52 Oh no, the resistors are upside down. As Dave Jones would say.. "All the electrons will fall off"

That's one hot wand. Your get better results with some newer solder paste. I find the older it gets the less it likes to wet on to the pcb and the more it clings to the tip.

You could just throw it in a frying pan and put it on a stove, so long as you use a lid. The trapped air acts like an oven, so the PCB doesn't even need to touch the metal pan. All you need is a cheap temp display thing from ebay. With heavy parts like that IC I just put tiny blobs of silicon on the ends so it can hang up-side-down without falling off.

Well done. Your amusing adventure encouraged me to give it a go. Hmm, I thought 1206 bits were small but 0603 is just ridiculous, that make your result all the more impressive.

I`m exactly the same as you David...I`ve been meaning to grab myself one of these for quite some time. And for £30 i think it`s great value

Very helpful

Thanks! That was fun to watch and instructive. I have a hot air station and some solder paste just waiting to be used for the first time as well. I'm looking forward to it.

I literally just bought one on amazon a week ago! Haven't had time to set it up as I still have my dissertation to write!

Try using an instrument screwdriver to apply the solder paste, I find it easier to regulate by dipping the screwdriver tip in the paste then applying it 🙂 Also, airflow speed was a little too high.. But great job though 👍

So satisfying to watch. My hot air device is in the mail, and anxious to try. I bet future vids will show that you've mastered the technique. Chelsea Blue!!

I'm sure that's not the correct plunger for that type of syringe, since the syringe has an integrated seal. The plunger should just have a flat plastic end.

Rolled up on the floor laughing 😂😂😂

The number 1 to 8 air if i chose 3 or 4 is it not crash capacitor or smd compont

Applied solder paste in true Jackson Pollock spirit :D

Use a smaller needle: it helps putting less at a time. You might have to push harder to squeeze it out... Good first try!

the good thing about those clones is, when the tool self destructs, parts are easy to find.

Very fun and informative to watch! Thank You!

jeez David, want to ice my muffins? (does that sound dodgy? bahahah probably)

Haha awesome! Your solder paste dispending around 11:00 ... I feel that! I guess I've been able to progress, just a little bit past that.. but trust me, my first time solder pasting is really not that far away.. actually this year.. it was so difficult and I shake so much too! I've got myself a solder paste dispenser, that connects to an air compressor.. have yet to hook it up and test it, but other than that.. I think I won't try this too much in the future, I rather use stencils.. So fun to see, especially when I'm so new to solder paste myself and been through the same "struggles" =D

Awesome first go! Why shouldn't i pick on of these up!

watched the whole video and damn, that’s an impressive piece of kit for hobby use, I’d recommend using it with a cheap laser thermometer to make sure the temperature doesn’t over shoot and kill anything or melt anything!

I was like yelling at the screen at 12 mins in that you had the IC the wrong way round, or did you rotate the board after placing all the components on.

enjoyed the vid. i usually drag solder all my ic’s.

I have the same device. Check the case is earthed. I 3d printed a plunger.

Bloody good show old chap!

Great first attempt.......through hole design is now a thing of the past for you...:-)

Good score at first trail you trainee !....

That did make me chuckle!! 😂

First time I heard you say "fuck" David lol

Not done watching, but at 12:00 I would have oriented the chip 180 degrees based on the screenprint. Not sure I would have been right though.

It's fun, and also very helpful for de-soldering. Pushing the syringe by hand is really not so enjoyable and it lacks control. Two cheap options are either 3d printed parts that go on top of the syringe so you have a wheel you can turn with your thumb, or another common thing seems to be a second syringe with a short tube that gets attached to the solder paste syringe. This way you can push with one hand and exactly position the solder one with the other. Due to the construction, it also sucks the paste a bit back in when you release the other syringe. I think the guy from Voltlog reviewed them a while back. There are also little desk units with a pump and vacuum system (and a foot pedal) especially made for this which is probably the most comfortable way (okay, having a stencil might be even better), but they're like 60€ or so. Maker Moekoe uses one in his videos ru-vid.com Something that works well for me with plastic parts is to heat the pcb from the bottom.

It's a hot air gun, and it's good for using for heatshrink tubing like dr25, rnf or atum 👍

Can't believe that worked! Well impressed. Move over Louis! (more flux, more flux)

I think your syringe would benefit from a 'rotary' style plunger. You can find them for probably £5-6 (guesstimate) from the online stores... Here is a video someone made of a DIY 3D printed model: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hfTjtFlY8ZA.html Also, did you give the paste time to warm up before you began to use it? Maybe that's why it was so hard to push? I have read that solder paste actually has some IPA in it, which can evaporate, and you're left with dry gluggy paste. It can apparently be refreshed by mixing some IPA back in. I believe later in the video you say it's a bit runny... I get the feeling that is how it's meant to be... at the usable temperature.

Read my extensive test of the 858D hot air station: chinese-electronics-products-tested.blogspot.com/p/858d-hot-air-station-tested.html

Which ITA brand are you using?

Thanks for fucking up so we don't have to! :-D

Uses the f- word. Gets demonized immediately. But besides that: I could not have done it better. I already have this hot air station since 2 years or so and until now only used it for shrinking heat shrink. Maybe it’s time to try some smd stuff.

WHY on earth are you moving your hand in circles or back and forth?

turn the air down !!!!!