Surface mount Stencils

[Wawa]

@JohnRob

I have 0.015" solder and a little 0.010" (solid).

If I have to hand-solder with an iron then I prefer to drag-solder with the thicker stuff.
Seems to be more flux in the thicker stuff that I have.

Never use non flux cored (solid) solder for electronics.

Everybody seems to develop habits that work.
Leo..

[MarkT]

If you are doing SMT by hand you need to use extra flux - more flux and less solder
is the mantra to go by. Once you have excess solder you'll get shorting of adjacent
pins and have to wick it out again.

Its always a poor compromise to do SMT without the best tools (hot-air rework
station and oven). For a complex board with lots of fine-pitch SMT (or with even
one BGA) its essential to have the right tools if you want 100% chance of success
with everything. If you have only a couple of SMT parts you can do hand-soldering
without risk to your sanity - I'd suggest excess flux and fine cored solder and a desk
magnifier.

[Wawa]

@MarkT

If you are doing SMT by hand you need to use extra flux - more flux and less solder
is the mantra to go by. Once you have excess solder you'll get shorting of adjacent
pins and have to wick it out again.

Or... More/fatter solder with a bit more flux inside, and drag-solder it in a ball that you can lift off and the end of the chip with the soldering iron. That requires some experience, a temp controlled iron, and the board kept in a ~30 degree angle.
Leo..

[JohnRob]

I agree, the solid was given to me. The 0.015 has too little flux to use it with add'l flux.
I've never had hardware to practice drag soldering.

The reason my interest in paste is lately I've had parts I could barely solder with an iron, and I couldn't find larger alternatives. One was a SOD-923 cased diode, another had a J lead and I didn't think to increase the pad for hand soldering.

[LarryD]

I’ve been using T5 solder paste for a while and like the way it flows.

When all the T3 is gone, T5 will be my go to.

---

I got this hot plate and very much like it too.

Share tips you have come across - #857 by LarryD text**

---

And

Share tips you have come across

Make a soldering table for the MHP30 hot plate. See post #857 also. The following discusses how adding a hot plate table to your MHP30 can greatly increase its capabilities. FR4 glass fiber PCB material is used in the table. Jack screws are used and can adjust the separation of the tabletop and its base. A major advantage of the table is it allows for SMD PCB soldering of much larger boards than can normally be accommodated by the hot plate itself. You solder the board in 37 X 37 mm sectio…

---

[Wawa]

Well, mine is bigger
The only thing I don't like about it is it's height. Too high, and no place to rest your hand on.
A table with a hole, like you made, could be a solution.
But then everything is still too high.

The lowest temp is also too high.
Very low to just warm things would be nice. Not a problem for soldering though.
Leo..

[LarryD]

I have a big one too:

Share tips you have come across

For better control while soldering add a gatry to hold your hot air wand. Use the silicone ears to move the sled when heating components for soldering. Hot plate set to 160 degrees C, sled is ~10 degree less (150'C). Set the air nozzle 1 cm above the components being soldered. Set the Wand temperature to ~235'C and set the air speed to ~4.5. [1.jpg] [2.jpg] [3.jpg] [4.jpg] [5.jpg] [image]

---

Share tips you have come across

After the hot plate gets to the 160 degree soak temperature, place the sled with PCB onto the heated surface. After the PCB sits for the soak period, use hot air wand to finish component soldering. [8.jpg] [6.jpg] [7.jpg] [5.jpg]

---

Share tips you have come across

When using your ‘Hot Plate Preheat Station’ it can be awkward to position the PCB being soldered. Make yourself a ‘hot plate soldering sled’ so you can more easily move your work around. Silicone ears on either side keep your fingers from getting burned. Cut the sled’s ears from a silicone cookie sheet. If your ‘Hot Air Wand’ is centered on the hot plate, you can use the sled’s ears to move the PCB, so components are directly under the hot air jet. After all PCB components have been soldere…

---

Share tips you have come across

Terry Yes kids and blocks go together. There is nothing like a good piece of hardwood sanded and given a nice waxed finish. Further to post #724 [Alum1.jpg] [Alum2.jpg]

[Wawa]

Nice tips. Thank you.
Leo..

[LarryD]

@Wawa

The only thing I don't like about it is it's height. Too high, and no place to rest your hand on.
A table with a hole, like you made, could be a solution.
But then everything is still too high.

If you have a few spare $, a bench mate added to your workbench can be used to lower the big hotplate to a more reasonable height.

Similar to this:

Share tips you have come across

Just added a GRS BenchMate ‘Mounting Plate’ to the basement electronics work bench. The mounting plate was covered in a previous post (post #545); thought it might be reasonable to mention it again. [A.jpg] [B.jpg] [C.jpg] [D.jpg] [E.jpg] [F.jpg] [G.jpg] [H.jpg] [I.jpg] [J.jpg] [K.jpg] [Benchmate]