I think hot air rework is overrated for most board repairs

After trying both hot air and a cheap soldering iron on a bad capacitor in a 10-year-old TV from a neighbor in Cleveland, I went back to the iron and fixed it in 5 minutes. Has anyone else found hot air more trouble than it's worth for simple jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

martinez.karen3d ago

Totally get where you're coming from. I had the exact same experience swapping out some leaky caps on an old monitor I found at a garage sale. The hot air just seemed to blow all the nearby tiny parts out of place, so I grabbed my trusty Weller and had it done in a few minutes. Sometimes the simple tools really are the best for the job, no need to overcomplicate things.

wren_jackson3d ago

Feeling you @martinez.karen, especially on the Weller thing. I still have my old pencil iron from like twenty years ago and it's just perfect for the kind of work where you need to be careful not to cook the board. The hot air station is great for bigger stuff, but for caps on an old CRT or something a little more delicate, the direct heat and control of a soldering iron (no chance of blowing things around) is just way more comfortable. It's funny how sometimes the basic, no-frills tool ends up being the one you trust the most for the tricky stuff.