T-962 Reflow Oven Unboxing and Teardown

In this video, I unbox, tear down, modify and test out an imported T-962 desktop solder reflow oven that I ordered through Amazon.
This model of reflow oven is commonly sold on eBay, and has become popular with many electronics hobbyists. It has a number of known issues, and purchasers of this device should perform some safety-related upgrades to the unit before applying power for the first time. Some additional modifications are also advisable to make the oven provide acceptable results.
Here is a GitHub repository with improved firmware and details of hardware modifications for this oven:
github.com/Uni...
I plan to try out those modifications in a future video.

[@alexvisard]

Excellent review with mastering, interesting to see the soldering process

[@SatyajitRoy2048]

Its a quality youtube video production indeed. I loved the way how you represented everything so beautifully.

[@TheRealSasquatch]

It will be interesting to see how this operates once properly modded. Thanks for the Video.

[@DoRC]

the combination of the gold kapton and silver foil makes it look like something from an Apollo mission

[@ulagathamilan]

Very useful review. Pointed out all the flaws.

[@keinnorgler8733]

I did not apply the mods, but experienced that the oven cannot work properly due to very bad heat distribution and missing heater beneath the PCB. General heating profiles have a soldering part that are only a few seconds long (

[@wallacew8634]

I have one of these and made several good quality boards 3+ year back. I'm making a new set of double sided boards, I did some research on the subject and found many new updates and posts for this machine. I have since run some data logging on my machine and found that I can just modify the curves to match the actual temperatures I want. Other than the debounce issue, my machine seems fine. I looked at the tape inside and it is all well away from the heat and shows no signs of degradation at all. If I had to make a mod, it would be to add thermocouples at board height. A couple of flying leads from the board to plugs in the side of the cabinet would do the job. Any comments on this?

[@Nf6xNet]

Your suggestion for a thermocouple modification sounds similar to what I did to my Qinsi oven, to close its control loop with a contact thermocouple on a board being reflowed: twitter.com/nf6x/status/836015978089705472 twitter.com/nf6x/status/835989253880360960

[@arjuna207]

so? did you try the firmware?

[@PhilipMartin-ii5vq]

How can the firmware fix the bounce on the buttons?

[@MindFlareRetro]

Hi Mark. Great initial review. Did you ever update it with the opensource FW and other small mods or did you just jump straight to using the Qinsi QS-5100? Oh, and subbed!

[@Nf6xNet]

I never bothered to upgrade my T-962. I jumped to the Qinsi oven and then modified that to put a thermocouple on the board surface. But I actually haven’t gotten around to doing any real work with that one, either. I have too many projects on my list!

[@iforce2d]

holy shit.... thanks for the warning!!

[@horacepoon7044]

"make sure my fire extinguisher is handy" :) LOL

[@GEORGE-jf2vz]

I am surprised Amazon is able to sell this in America. So many faults on this unit I would send it back.

[@michaellowery1559]

Did you remove the masking tape under the silver heat insulation. How you coping with the solder fumes, you got near a window when you reflow ?

[@Nf6xNet]

+Michael Lowery I'm sorry for the slow response, but I wanted to dig this oven back out of my pile and verify something before replying. I don't recall removing the silver heat insulation to remove any masking tape under it, so I guess it's still in there. I think I just removed the visible tape up on top. Regarding solder fumes, I think that putting the unit next to a window looks like the best option. The fan sucks in air from the back and exhausts out the bottom, so you can't simply attach something like dryer duct to the back to deal with the fumes. I suppose that the fan could be turned around to exhaust out the back, but I don't know how long it would last with hot air from the oven moving over it. Now, the fan on my Qinsi QS-5100 exhausts out the back, so I think I'll try making a flange to attach dryer duct to it. I don't have enough time on either oven yet to have an idea of how well they will hold up over many cycles.

[@michaellowery1559]

Hi, did you get the t-962 insulation tested ?

[@Nf6xNet]

+Michael Lowery No, I never got around to it. I'm pretty sure it's just fiberglass, though.

[@Nf6xNet]

+Michael Lowery No, I never got around to it. I'm pretty sure it's just fiberglass, though.

[@imagoatbah]

Mind if I ask why you think so? The manual for this thing warns to take caution when opening because "insulations in the machine had been treated strictly." I have no idea what that means but the fact that the insulation is mentioned is slightly worrying. Also there have been a couple of reports that I've found online of ebay sellers of this oven claiming that it does, in fact, contain asbestos. None of this is strictly confirmed I suppose, but it doesn't provide much confidence. I was thinking about picking up one of these as a starting point for a reflow oven, but if they've padded it out with asbestos I'd rather not go anywhere near one.

[@imagoatbah]

So I ordered a T962 and as a quick test put the insulation material under a mapp torch and it glows white hot and doesn't flinch (compared to a known sample of fiberglass which melts pretty quickly). Not necessarily proof that it's asbestos by any means but not at all comforting, again. Now to decide what to do with this thing...

[@anthonyvdmeer2893]

Hey Mark, I am very curious if you tried the open source firmware yet. How does it perform with the improved firmware? My T-962 is on it's way now too so I am wondering if it needs any additional hardware mods besides the ones you showed in this video

[@Nf6xNet]

+Anthony vd Meer Hi! I have not tried the open source firmware yet. I've been working on a thermocouple interface that I plan to use to analyze the behavior of both the T-962 and the QS-5100 in detail.

[@endoracing]

Hot Snot .. I have not heard that one before but I like it :)

[@darkmedievil123]

Hi nice video, what about asbest fibers?

[@laptoprepair6868]

this mech, for for gfx ic and laptop pch chip reflow...or not

[@imechanicdiyconnect]

bga reboll nicе goot?

[@prashkd7684]

i feel sometimes people harp on Chinese products for no reason.. or to brag themselves as "superior". The epoxy on ground and other power connection is not for keeping the screw in but to prevent any live wire coming in contact with that bare screw metal and creating short.

[@nheng6913]

Now try to digest a price of over $800 from several sellers on Amazon today. Is anyone dumb enough to pay this much for an under $200 product? Yes, you can always build your own but if you're short of time and cash (yes, it likely will cost more before you're done), this looks like a nice (and small) unit. I'll be buying one this week ... at a proper price. The screwdrivers, Kapton tape and foil faced glass will be waiting for its arrival :)

[@5volts440]

What's the name of the tape you are using?

[@Nf6xNet]

It's normally called either "Kapton" (a brand name) or "polyimide" (generic name of what it's made of). It's very handy stuff for a lot of electronic work, because it tolerates soldering temperature without melting.

[@5volts440]

Thank You for your response. One more Query I have is - for micro soldering, what is the best (of course within a budget of $200.00 or less), Microscope you recommend?

[@Nf6xNet]

I don't know what is available in the sub-$200 range. I use a stereo microscope from Amscope, and I think it was in the $750 range.

[@NourMuhammad]

OMG, this instrument from inside is very poorly made, it is as they are not expecting it to be sold at all !!!

[@ruadeil_zabelin]

They're being sold lots on AliExpress apparently. Lots of people are giving it a good review too, but I don't think they looked inside of it.

[@steveh130]

Should put a geiger counter next to it, wouldn't surprise me if its dirty.

[@1badpete999]

I know its and old 2015 post, but on the other hand it's a pretty sketchy chinese assembly but if the same unit was assembled in USA the manufacturer would sell it over $2K, like the overpriced Hakko or Weller soldering station who only have a small transformer inside and a cheap china assembled control board ,margin of profits are totally out of control in america even worst in Canada where I live ,31$ canadians dollars for a simple flux paste syringe that's why the chinese are taking over !

[@ctbully]

So much money for this piece of crap. you are better off building your own