Homebrew PCBs

Got my oven from Walmart and tried it out.

It works pretty well!

A few points:
-12 minutes was enough to back some test SOICs I put on with some solder
paste from a cold start.
-Because the oven rotates, it is not ideal for heating as the temperature
drops pretty quickly as it leaves the heating zone.
-I tried a second set when I used 5 minutes heating on the rotating oven and
30 seconds heating with the hot air gun and it was perfect.
-The rotating design ensures even heating
-The open design of the pizza oven makes it very easy to adjust parts while
they are heating.
-The temperature is not high enough to melt the PCB even with the dual
heating modes enabled.  Next time I will watch it with my infrared
thermometer.
-I think the temperature is perfect for preheating but just slightly lower
than needed for leader solder paste.  This lower temperature requires more
than double the time to bake it alone as it does with some extra help from a
hot air gun.

In summary, the oven makes a perfect cheap preheating platform but I still
recommend a hot air gun to touch up trouble zones.


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