Homebrew PCBs

Hi Guys,

Thanks for replying. I have referenced Hans' links and the others in 
the past and made the hot-air-pencil -- that works fine. My real 
questions lie elsewhere
Hans indicates that preheating is necessary. ok, one question down.

The outstanding questions are:
What is the proper preheating temperature?
Is there a maximum time you should preheat the board/components 
before damage can set in?
What can I do about unmelted solder paste that has moved under 
surface mount caps?
What do you do about the tiny cap components blowing away, even under 
very minimal air flow? I've read a tiny dab of epoxy. What do others 
do?

Thanks,
Ted

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@y..., Steve Greenfield <alienrelics@y...> wrote:
> Yup, Hans, your page has been in the bookmarks of the Group home
> page for weeks!
> 
> Hint, hint, everyone, check out the Bookmarks at the Group home
> page once in a while. Also a reminder to add useful links.
> 
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/links
> 
> Do you think one of those warmer plates would work? Not a hotplate,
> I mean those glass warmer things. I was just figuring they are
> pretty cheap at the thrift store.
> 
> Also a reminder that when you do this, the solder paste must be dry
> before you start trying to solder, or any fluids will boil and push
> the parts off the pads. Should be able to do that by warming it up
> on your pre-warmer for a bit.
> 
> Steve Greenfield
> 
> --- hans@c... wrote:
> > Ted,
> > I made a Hot Air Pencil and published the idea several years ago
> > at my
> > web site.
> > The single most important item is the heat exchanger. In my
> > design I
> > filled it with stainless steel
> > wool and that made a vast difference.
> > Pre-heating the board is required.
> > http://hans-w.com/surfacem.htm
> > hansw
> 
> 
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