[New video microscope in action] pictures and footage from driver making

Flashlight Modding and DIY Parts
1

I forgot a board that was prepped with solder paste and parts
So I took some picture


Later I tried to reflow this on my hotplate but it turned out I had to strip the board as the solder paste did not melt properly

So I put the parts again on new board with fresh solder paste, as I can only film on hotplate this was only option I may try to do again with hot air station to get better result
Reflow captured on hotplate, the usual issues like one component side not soldered
I may also have not prepped the board enough cleaning and rubbing the surface so that the solder sticks to the metal, in reflow oven this is far better

Solder paste applied to 3535 MCPCB

LED Placement not so good, but check after reflow turned out LED perfectly centered and aligned

Reflow turned out great, I moved the LED a bit to see if the solder spread all along the thermal pad and it did
the LED did not bounce back in position so the thickness is small

Some work on a buck driver

2

Neat footage. What microscope are you using?

3

my YouTube is not nice

I uploaded in 2560×1440 and in Firefox only 360P

Ok seems in Firefox you got to enable some secret Media options to get full quality

I use one of those normal 21MP All in One bundles you can buy for about $180

The only mod I did to it was putting a plate of steel glued with hot melt glue in the foot to make it about 1.6 kg heavier

I had a look on some old days leaded reflowed PCBs in the recycle bin to see if the industrial result is better

My reflowed boards, the one with 5 caps is a bit worse, likely to often refreshed the paste with IPA

4

reflow 15mm driver with hot air

5

Do you use this for placing the components or just inspecting?

6

Would you give us a picture/link to info about the microscope camera you’re using, please?

7

I place the components without any optical help, just a good amount of light to see better
It’s for inspection

I use this Microscope
you can get from 5-25cm distance to the lens changing the zoom factor

the description is a bit odd the HDMI is Full HD 30Hz, only 60Hz to record full HD or use 2560/1440 max resolution

8

is that one of mine?! Very cool

9

great videos!

Your video helped me see a workflow that answers a lot of questions for me:
including how to use flux, copper braid, IPA, Hot air

super helpful visuals for a solder newbie like me
Thanks!

10

I’m new to hot air reflowing, could you tell me what temperature setting you were using?

11

The temperature is not so important you can control it with the distance and air flow

I usually use only 280°C