RE: Leister SMT hot air gun

I actually just got the literature from Leister (their Hot Jet tips are the
same size as those for a Hakko 850, so I was hoping to find them cheaper
than ~$100-200 a pop like the Hakko ones). Price-wise most "similar" stuff
is around $700-900 new (up past $2K pretty quick if you get one with vacuum
removal as well).

The tips can set you back a *lot* if you have to buy them new. If you're
just desoldering and reworking something a 44-pin PLCC tip is a good choice
since you can use it pretty effectively on 44/ 32/ 28/ 20 plcc's, 14-20SOIC,
and some others. Having a larger tip (like for an 84PLCC) will work for
68/84 PLCC, and most TQFP type packages up to about 120 pins or so. I
haven't needed to use any TQFP specific tips, but then again I use a
pre-heater on the PCB which probably buys me a little slack with the tip
selection...

One thing I didn't like about the Leister was that it was "all-in-one"
physically-- looks like it could be hard to hold after a while. Also, I
don't know what the controls are like on the Leister. The Hakko has
adjustable temp and airflow which is really nice when you're using the
"wrong" tip for a part-- you can tweak the air and temp to minimize thermal
stress.

If you're planning on doing any non-contact soldering though I'd recommand
against trying to use the Leister (or Hakko) for that. Even with a
relatively large diameter tip and the airflow adjusted to as low as it will
go the Hakko still blows *way* too much air. It would probably work in a
pinch, but a hot-air pencil is a MUCH more effective tool.

-Clay

(Dammit, did it again. Another non-vector post!)

> ----------
> From: jeff hendrix[SMTP:jhendrix@Quark.Com]
> Reply To: vectorlist@lists.cc.utexas.edu
> Sent: Thursday, July 29, 1999 9:18 PM
> To: 'vectorlist@lists.cc.utexas.edu'
> Subject: Leister SMT hot air gun
>
> Does anybody have any experience with a Leister hot air gun?
> I'm looking into buying a Hot Jet 7E.
> What would be a good price to pay for this?
>
> -jeff
>
>
Received on Fri Jul 30 11:07:54 1999