This is what I use, less than 1 minute and it is done. I also use it to warm bullet moulds and melt pewter when I do not fire up the 100 pound lead pot.
I just Googled that, I like it. Basically the same as the soldering iron in the Al block, but without the handle and such - looks like the most compact option for the workbench/toolbox so far.
I’m glad I asked this question, lots of good options I had not considered!
Those ones from Banggood look pretty cool. Do they work well? I just use a soldering iron but wouldn’t mind a more controlled device. Especially for triples and some other more difficult tasks.
Since we are all brainstorming here I just wanted to highlight another option, albeit not a very compact one:
I understand that this not the hot plate/skillet option, but with a reflow oven you woud have good control over the temperate profile, can reflow multiple boards/pcbs at once and even larger projects, and the costs would be reasonable if you have an older oven somewhere. Also, this can be a fun build project. IMO, this should also be a better reflow option for boards with both sides populated.
I reflowed several tripple xp-g boards in the past days and solder pot is a very good option. Once you find good temperature setting reflowing is a breeze. I’m not going back to solder iron or heat gun.
I have been using cheap hot air reflow gun for reflowing LED and changing MCU on a driver board with success, never tried a large board but a small board is easy. Set to 250c, proper airflow and the solder flows nicely.
i have that on my 3d printer, without insulation it could reach 80c with insulation 100c. never tried higher than that as there is no need to go that high on 3d printer. in standar config it runs on 12v but can be modified to run 24v for lower amps. I dont think this would be enough to melt solder as the total power is only 144watts. There are other Heatbeds that run on main voltage which can go as high as 700watts i have no experience with that though but then again it is not design for high temperature operation where the solder will melt so probably not worth it.
Not too expensive, only ~$150 which is cheaper than all the other models but still goes up to 300C which is more than enough for the 220C that low temp solder melts at.
Also has a cooling function which is useful when holding the LED in position waiting for solder to cool down.
If you remove the nozzle there is a hole for thread to screw in a long screw to mount it on a bent bolt, the 40w heater element with 12vdc can get REAALY hot really fast and should be able to reach 300+°C
You could get one of those PID modules…attach the heat sensor on the back of the plate…set temp…and have the relay turn off/on the heat plate for more precise heating
I did see the one that you have in your driver thread. Seems really nice. I cannot seem to find one similar other than this line of cell phone repair things that work with 110V. Was the one you bought not powerful enough? Chinese watts
The key for me was to get close to 1°C per second heat up speed
The plate has its original power with 3 heat elements
I used a normal upper router and belt grinder to get the 15mm plate down to 12mm taking a lot off the lower side to reduce its thermal mass
then adding 6 heat elements I had laying around that get screwed on the plate bottom
the original power was more like 0.4°C per second heat up
That makes a lot of sense. I have never been that precise with any of my reflows. This would be my first way into semi “correct” way to do it with temperature control. I am also not making drivers so I wonder if I need to be so spot on with ramp times.