Help with gone wrong recapping attempt.

[JDW]

I've actually never used a preheater, mainly because of cost and the fact you need to have a rather large one to better ensure you can preheat just about any motherboard you will need to work on.

I actually saw a "hot plate" in a video by @Branchus, and bought one, but it came crushed (from the factory!), so I filed a claim, got my money back, and didn't risk buying another. Sad too because Bruce showed how the hot plate can be made hot enough to even remove components!

But I would agree that preheating a PCB and then using hot air would be the best approach. That's perhaps most important on vintage boards like the SE/30 where too much heat can cause delamination (bubbling where the layers start to come apart). Not sure if preheating prior to using hot air would prevent that in light of the age of the board, but it very well could prevent it.

Just checked out the JBC website and my eyes glazed over when I saw their larger sized pre-heater units were over $3,000. Yikes!

 

[Elemenoh]

Just checked out the JBC website and my eyes glazed over when I saw their larger sized pre-heater units were over $3,000. Yikes!

Preheaters are another thing I've found great used deals on. I got a Metcal PCT-1000 which links up with my HCT-1000 hot air station from eBay for $200. it retails for $2,000! It's been nice to have, and it's cool that it links with the hot air station to not overheat the board. They have both internal and external thermocouples so you can avoid overheating the board with good precision.

 

[JDW]

Preheaters are another thing I've found great used deals on. I got a Metcal PCT-1000 which links up with my HCT-1000 hot air station from eBay for $200. it retails for $2,000! It's been nice to have, and it's cool that it links with the hot air station to not overheat the board. They have both internal and external thermocouples so you can avoid overheating the board with good precision.

I don’t doubt your word, but I would love to see an eBay link to such a deal.

Even so, $200 is really pushing the upper limits for the average hobbyist. And based on what you said that doesn’t appear to include both the heater and the hot air station. So I believe this is really why most people are going for the Chinese made 959D hot air station alone, that cost about $70. It may not be ideal without the preheater, but realistically speaking, it’s what your average vintage computing hobbyist can afford. That’s an important consideration because many people are just getting into this hobby and also have to pay for a regular soldering station as well.

 

[This Does Not Compute]

I don’t doubt your word, but I would love to see an eBay link to such a deal.

Even so, $200 is really pushing the upper limits for the average hobbyist. And based on what you said that doesn’t appear to include both the heater and the hot air station. So I believe this is really why most people are going for the Chinese made 959D hot air station alone, that cost about $70. It may not be ideal without the preheater, but realistically speaking, it’s what your average vintage computing hobbyist can afford. That’s an important consideration because many people are just getting into this hobby and also have to pay for a regular soldering station as well.

I absolutely agree with this, and it's why I generally recommend using hot air for desoldering SMD parts. Yes, hot tweezers are the superior method -- and hopefully one day I'll be able to justify buying a set -- but a generic hot air station is an easy purchase given its price. I'd rather see someone buy a "good enough" tool and get satisfactory results, than have someone get turned off by the high price of the "best" tool and end up with a bad experience when they try to hack their way through a repair with a cheap regular iron. Perfect is the enemy of the good.

 

[Elemenoh]

I don’t doubt your word, but I would love to see an eBay link to such a deal.

The page is expired, but here's a screen shot from my purchase history. It's not an every day kind of deal, but I've had great luck just by keeping saved searches across eBay, Craigslist and FB marketplace

Agree this is all overkill for most hobbyists. I waited until I was frequently doing rework before getting most of my nicer lab gear and still consider it a luxury. But they're luxuries that make the hobby more enjoyable to me. The tweezers are maybe the exception. There's a Hakko set on eBay now that's under $100. If I was starting over, I think might get that before an 858 hot air station if I was mostly doing recaps.

 

[This Does Not Compute]

There's a Hakko set on eBay now that's under $100.

You got me excited until I saw that they're the Japanese 100V version -- not sure I want to risk it on American 120V mains.

 

[Nixontheknight]

You got me excited until I saw that they're the Japanese 100V version -- not sure I want to risk it on American 120V mains.

it would probably be the same as plugging a Famicom into 120V instead of 100V, it would work, and the voltage would be slightly higher, but hopefully not enough to overload (take this with a grain of salt, I don't know a lot about high voltage so)

 

[JDW]

You got me excited until I saw that they're the Japanese 100V version -- not sure I want to risk it on American 120V mains.

I have no idea what that $100 Hakko model is, but if it is a FX-888D, I see in the manual that there are 3 transformer versions, which mean 3 different product versions:

 

[This Does Not Compute]

All the ones I'm seeing around that $100 mark are the FX-8804. Looks like they also have multiple versions, since they're meant to be used with the FX-888 series. FX880401 is the Japanese 100V part, FX880402 is the North American 120V part, etc. There's also a seller with used FM2202's going for $110, but they don't specify which version they are and, perhaps coincidentally, the silkscreen with the voltage rating is worn off in the photos.