Homebrew PCBs

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "kc1p" <wilson@...> wrote:
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "jmelson2" <elson@> wrote:
> >The fix was to poke the thermocouple into a through hole near
> >the middle of the board.  This way, the temp controller is sensing
> >the ACTUAL board temperature, which apparently is hotter than the
> >surrounding air, due to the IR from the heating elements.
> 
> Hey, I think you're on to something here!  I'm running out of loaded
> boards to test on but the one I tried your way came out great --
> thanks!!!
Well, I've been doing production boards in both lead-solder and lead-free for 4 years now with this setup, and it works quite reliably.  It is a bit more of a bother to reach into the oven and poke the thermocouple into the hole without knocking any parts out of alignment, but the other way sure didn't work at all.

I did luck into a roll of micro thermocouple wire on eBay and a good deal on a ramp and soak controller that would cost $800+ new.

Jon