--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Richard <metal@...> wrote:
>
> Bill, I'll be interested to hear the difference you get
> in readings using the heatsink. I like the optical thermo's,
> but one has to be careful to -understand- how they
> work; and use them accordingly.
On the iron on which I originally measured a temperature of 205F as
the maximum now measures at 296F using the black-anodized heat sink.
However, with what I know now, I still don't trust that reading. As I
mentioned in a another post, this thermo was accurate when compared
with a thermocouple reading of the temperature of an RC engine and
gave a reading of very close to 390F from the surface of the PCB in my
oven set to 390F.
> Your idea to -preheat- the board in the oven was an
> excellent one. It is no surprise that it helped your
> results enormously. Considering the residence-time
> under the rollers of any particular spot of the board,
> it would take rollers with pretty good thermal-mass
> to heat the copper to 400F in that very short time.
Thanks, that was really the point of my original post as indicated by
the original subject title. The iron temp data was only incidental to
the path to the oven-based method used to rescue my under-temp
laminator, a problem I'd seen others mention here.
> Probably why the $500 laminators work well; and the
> $29 lams do not... <g>
If I'd known about the used Ibico laminators available on eBay, this
might never have come up in the first place. However, since my cheap
Royal PL2100 now works perfectly with the assistance of an oven, I'm
happy. I'll type up a How-To and post it in the files section for
others with the same problem. I'll also put a (bad) rating for the
Royal PL2100 in the database section. For $30, I am impressed with
the quality of its construction (having been inside it, too), just not
with its unassisted heating abilities.
> re: Typewriter rollers: I wouldn't even try it. Not any
> black-rubber rollers. The rollers in laminators and copier
> / laser-print fusers are -silicone- rubber...good to around
> 450F. Totally different kind of material than black rubber.
I'm happy with what I have now, so I won't be destroying any typewriters.
Bill