I'm considering purchasing a hot-air soldering station to help solder SMC boards. The Madell 8502 (for example) is a fraction of the cost of some of the other 'big name' hot air soldering stations. Does anyone have any experience with this brand?
The same unit may be marketed under the Sunkko label, the units look very similar on the Web.
Any comments appreciated.
Peter
No comments on this unit, but IMHO you will greatly benefit from a pre-heater when using an air pencil. It will make the air pencil much faster / easier to use, and completely eases the struggle with (de-)soldering to large copper pours. See
Richard
I have an 850B. Quite happy with it.
Mostly it is used during prototype stage to remove a chip or two. With a little practice I am getting 144 pin TQFPs off boards without seriously damaging the pads. That is to say, all the pads are still on the board! But mostly it is used to remove smaller parts like op-amps when somebody wants to try a different part.
Rob Young
I don't know the Madell. I recently bought an Atten 850D hot air station from Acifica
No relationship with Atten or Acifica other than "satisfied customer."
I just bought the 850D. The reason why was that the 850D has more power then the 9802, 850B etc. I am not sure if it makes the difference but I talked with a number or people who reccomend the D model. Check out Howardelectronic.com they have a lot of info on SMD stuff.
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