How to Use a Hot Air Rework Station

Contributors:

Joel_E_B,

bboyho, Ell C

How to Use a Hot Air Rework Station

Warning: Do not use hot-air on surfaces you don't want ruined. Having a piece of scrap wood or something similar to work with hot-air on is highly recommended.

Third hands or other vice grips help tremendously. Remember, metal heat sinks and PCBs with ground planes can make reworking take a lot longer.

Choose Your Nozzle

Choose the appropriate tip for the job. Attach the nozzles to the wand and tighten the screw using a screw driver to hold it in place.

Plug the 303D's North American standard plug into your very favorite US outlet (~110VAC). The heating element and blower will remain off until you flip the power switch to ON.

Power On

Flip said power switch to ON. The heating element will fire up and the air will get very hot, very quickly so aim the nozzle accordingly. The red LED next to the "SET TEMP" will pulse, indicating that “Hey, I’m ready to melt some stuff.” Wait for the hot-air station to warm up before using it.

Note: It’s possible that little whimsical puffs of white smoke will emit from the nozzle. Those are just magical solder clouds and are normal. They will go away, so enjoy them while they last.

Adjust Air and Temperature

There are two control knobs – one for airflow and one for temperature. Adjust them to suit your needs.

Note: Set the temp and air-flow to the appropriate settings (slightly higher than the melting point of the solder, and not too much air to blow your parts away). We recommend setting the air flow and temperature knobs to the middle and then test reflow on a small component.

Rework

When you’ve got your settings honed in, carefully aim the nozzle at the area you are working on. Saying the magic spell (meltum, meltum, meltum), move the nozzle back and forth until the solder begins to flow (the solder should appear shiney and molten). Then carefully remove/reposition the part you want to rework using tweezers by nudging or grabbing the part. Keep in mind that hot-air is, well, hot.

A micro-B connector being removed from a Pro Micro for a Tech Prank. Be sure to rework the board on a heat resistant material!

Warning: Make sure to keep the hot-air gun moving to prevent any damage to the component or the PCB from burning. Aiming the heat gun at the same point can melt the board after a certain period of time. Certain components may be heat sensitive. Make sure to check the datasheet on the IC. The black plastic on male and female headers can melt while surface mount buttons can become discolored. Be sure to aim the hot air at a component carefully!

If you also see smoke, warping, or black goo coming from your board, remove the heat and turn your heat setting down.

Cool Down

When you are done, flip the power switch to OFF to allow the station to cool down when finished. The self-cooling will kick on and last for a few minutes.

Clean

Wash your board when you're finished to remove any water soluble flux left on the board, which can cause corrosion over time.

Demo Video

Below is a demo video from our pal Dave Stillman showing us how to use our SparkFun Hot-air Rework Station properly!

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