Hi !

I am finally going to update my lab to being able to work with SMD components, and I am mainly interested for the items:

• Microscope USB Camera.
  
• Hot air and soldering rework station.
• Flux and solder past.

Searching around the web I can find a wide range of prices for each of them and I am quiet unsure about the qualities of the product vs prices.

I would like to have some suggestions / review based on the equipments you own and your experiences, if possible.

Thank you in advance.
Regards,
s.

 

Go higher end for solder station and optics if you have the budget. This lets your talent limit what's possible, not the equipment.

Job workstation example:
Elmo 1353 Model LX-1
Metcal MX-5251 Soldering, Desoldering and Rework System
The Hot air station is a SparkFun unit.
Hot-Air Rework Station - 303D

 

The Elmo is a good choice. I use an older version..

The model nsaspook shows is better I think as you then work on your bench, not the device. Having the camera high up so there is room to work under it is a great boon. Also, the Elmo Video Presenter allows photos to be taken onto an SD card. Handy for documentation. And it can zoom in to a couple of IC pins. Then you can see just how much you shake your soldering iron
I purchased mine on Ebay a few years ago, and it has allowed me to continue to design and build many SMT board.

Then the hot air gun! Very good tool as well. I would say, indispensable. Being able to easily remove many legged SMT micros is a must.

 

I bought a stereo scope on craigslist for ~$100. I've been doing SMD work for several years with that and a HAKKO FX888-D.

The smaller the parts, the more helpful a heat gun can be. When I was doing a lot of soldering at work we had a cheep Hakko heat gun. Only time I ever used it was when I was using a part with a "EP" (Exposed Pad). I'd just put a small amount of solder on the pad with my iron like normal, put a little bit of flux down, and used the heat gun until the part would suck down into place. The surface tension would keep the part in place. Then I'd solder the leads by hand with adequate flux. When you get good at it you can just sweep along all of the pins with a loaded tip, and all the pins will solder down.

The Elmo looks cool. Does it take a while to get the hand/eye coordination?

 

The Elmo looks cool. Does it take a while to get the hand/eye coordination?

It becomes quite natural if you orient the piece video view to align with normal hand/finger motion and move the monitor for good central eye alignment. It's hard to see but the monitor is mounted on a Neo-Flex LCD Arm to make that possible from just about any angle.

https://www.ergodirect.com/14352-ergotron-45-174-300-neo-flex-monitor-arm.html

 

I have a uhm350-11 usb/hdmi scope. The lag on usb is horrendous but hdmi works pretty good. I got it for its excellent working range. Don't use it that often and only recommended it if your not that concerned with burning money.

xtronic makes good soldering stations. I have s couple from them. They have one now that has hot air, iron, dc meter & dc power supply all in one. Bit excessive but might not be a bad idea if you have small work space.
https://xtronicusa.com/4-IN-1-X-TRO...RING-IRON-STATION-&-DC-POWER-SUPPLY-p15959845

Solder I like a pretty cheap brand named "mudder" with small size 0.6mm.
NTE makes good solder wick. I've only used the green label but its excellent so I am sure the other colored labels are as well. Not real sure what the difference is since I'm happy with the green one.

 

I have bought an Hakko Fx-888D with some tips as well, since I received a few good opinions from qualified people.

Then I will buy also the hot air gun, probably the same as @nsaspook suggested from Sparkfun.

Regarding the USB camera, right now I think that the Elmo is too much expensive. I am still doing some research for something fine but cheeper.

 

I think that the Elmo is too much expensive.

I found mine second hand on Ebay. If you look occasionally, they come up at a pretty good price.

 

I have a uhm350-11 usb/hdmi scope. The lag on usb is horrendous

This is probably a problem of the drivers and user application, unless the camera sensor has very low fps rate and it seems to lag.

I don't see how USB hardware itself would be slow.

 

No idea about those things, Its possibly just the application I was using. I never bothered troubleshooting it since HDMI works good and with a better picture.

 

I finally bougth an Amscope SE400Z (10x and 20x) after looking for many reviews also from Louis Rossman on his Youtube channel.

 

I think you will enjoy the optical microscope versus a camera. I find it easier to use.

What eyepieces (oculars) did your get? I am assuming the 10x to 20x listed in the ad is the objective power (I didn't read the whole ad). Total magnification is objective x ocular. In my case, my oculars are 10x and my objective is usually set at 0.9. I rarely go above 2 for the objective and never more than that for PCB work.

Also, even if you do not wear glasses a WF (wide-field) ocular is easier to use, as you don't need to keep your head centered over the smaller lens in a non-WF ocular.

 

The attached is the user manual. Objective is 1x. 10x and 20x lens are included in the package.

I am writing from my mobile phone. Tomorrow I will upload some photo if you are interested.

I think that working with a microscope is better because the eyes view points directly where your solder is. With a magnifing camera (I am not meaning an usb microscope), you have to pay more attention where you put your solder while looking at the screen.

At least this is my opinion.
s.

 

Like I said, my usual objective is 0.9 to 1.0. I think you will enjoy it as the oculars included are WF. That manual mentions a 4x objective, but maybe that is just an example. I'll bet you end up using the 10c ocular most.