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Options Analysis
Rework / Hot Air Station
https://www.tequipment.net/Quick/861DW/Desoldering-Equipment/Rework-Stations/
RECOMMENDED BY JOE
$275
It looks really clean and I’m sure it’s great, but this price point makes it tough to justify when there are other options are a third the price.
We do have some funding currently though so maybe?
https://www.sra-solder.com/aoyue-866-all-in-1-digital-hot-air-rework-station-with-pre-heater
Solder iron, hot air station, & hot plate AOI
200$s from website, not on amazon hmm
seems scuffed idk
hot air station and some tools for it
decent reviews tho something with power coord being wierd? (not a big deal as we have generic power coords we can use and this worked for reviewers)
76$s
strong option imo for a bare bones item that will get the job done
“hot air gun” jank name but looks good
70$s
bare bones, less pieces then option b
Hot Plate
I can’t find one for less then 100$s, reeeeee
106$s
200mm x 200mm
13 mostly positive amazon reviews idk lol
150$s
200mm x 200mm
no reviews
seems identical to the other one imo, just more expensive
Solder wick
$9
2.5mm wide, 10ft long
3 spools of 0.1inch wide, 10 ft long
$17
Buy in bulk it’s a lil cheaper
5 spools of 0.1inch wide, 10 ft long
$19
Buy in bulk it’s a lot cheaper wtf
good reviews as well
Soldering Clamps
All of these are overpriced in my opinion, but we need one and they’re not getting any cheaper 😔
30$s
4 arms
free standing
less arms, but a more structurally sound base in my opinion
36$s
6 arms
free standing
24$s
3 arms desk clamp
slightly lower amazon reviews makes this a tough pick
the desk clamp mounting also makes it harder to use
Wide Heatshrink
3:1
16$s
270 pcs total
70 pcs 1.6 mm*45 mm Black/Red
80 pcs 2.4 mm*45 mm Black/Red
80 pcs 3.2 mm*45 mm Black/Red
20 pcs 4.8 mm*90 mm Black/Red
12 pcs 6.4 mm*90 mm Black/Red
8 pcs 9.5 mm*90 mm Black/Red
1 Plastic Box for Storage
Disappointed by lack of colors, all else seems good
2:1
18$s
800 pcs total
180X1.0*45mm Black --------150X1.5*45mm Red
100X2.0*45mm Yellow --------70X 2.5*45mm Green
60X 3.0*45mm Black --------50X 3.5*45mm Blue
40X 4.0*45mm Red --------30X 5.0*45mm Blue
30X 6.0*45mm Blue -------- 30X 7.0*45mm Red
30X10.0*45mm Black--------30X 13.0*45mm Black
Plastic storage box
2:1 shrink ratio might be a deal breaker here
2:1
18$s
150Pcs
50 x φ1.5mm x 100mm Clear
30 x φ2.5mm x 100mm Clear
30 x φ3.0mm x 100mm Clear
20 x φ5.0mm x 100mm Clear
10 x φ6.0mm x 100mm Clear
10 x φ10.0mm x 100mm Clear
This stuff Clear heatshrink is really cool, the clear might it not look as clean, but I used some clear stuff in my marine days and it was great cuz you could see right away if a solder had gotten corroded or not. Probably won’t be useful for our application and just be ugly. Also, the
2:1 shrinking ratio again is rough.
Decisions
Reflow Station
It pains me to pass up something we were recommended by Joe, but the price is hard to justify on his selection though I’m sure the quality is there.
Maybe we discuss this as a team? The hot air station is a critical piece of EE equipment we will need for a long time, it may be worth splurging on it.
76$s
Budget pricing but has plenty of tools with it that we’ll need
Hot plate
If we were to drop any item from our purchase this time around I vote this one
it is very expensive for what it is
it seems pretty scuffed and has very few amazon reviews
Kevin has final decision, I don’t care either way
106$s
200mm x 200mm heated surface area
Solder wick
5 spools of 0.1inch wide, 10 ft long
$19
Buying in bulk is very cheap
it’s not like this stuff goes bad
we might as well go for it
Soldering Clamps
30$s
expensive for what it is, but will come in handy
Wide Heatshrink
16$s
3:1 shrink ratio makes this the best option by far, nothing worse then heat shrink that doesn’t shrink enough
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