A hot air station will melt wire solder.
(The solder alloy is the same, or rather the same alloys are available, solder paste is just tiny balls mixed with flux).
However using wire with a hot air station is awkward, as the hot air will melt the wire before you reach the joint.
Typically you would use hot air as a rework tool, to swap parts without adding any fresh solder.
(Left hand holds the hot air, right hand holds the tweezers, for right handed people, thus the hot air station is positioned left on the bench unlike the soldering iron).
You might often touch up with a regular iron and wire solder after the rework, if the solder quantity or quality is not sufficient.
You can also use a hot air rework tool to reflow solder paste, I do that often for small boards.
However as with all paste work the temperature rise timing is important, you need to apply the hot air gently or you will get stray solder balls and stuff.
ST
On Fri, Aug 8, 2014 at 5:26 PM,
qz9090@... [Homebrew_PCBs]
<Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
James,
When using a hot air rework station, I would solder paste, right?
Can a rework station be hot enough to use with regular solder (for attaching components or removing components)?
Thanks.