Reflow Master Meltdown

I made 2 silly coding mistakes and BAM - Reflow Master Meltdown!
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[@Davedarko]

*unexpected meltdown*

[@Hasitier]

davedarko damn. You were faster Dave. Normally I should have made this joke 😀

[@connorchapman4223]

What a hot mess

[@davidlegault9745]

Wow Seon, way too much coffee - ooops sorry missed the 12 x notice. Glad you caught it and got everything under control in the end. Regards, Dave

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Never too much coffee ;)

[@bwack]

Great video non the less ! I really love the look of the control box. Will watch the prevous videos about this oven :)

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Thanks bwack!

[@azyfloof]

Oww Seon! Lucky that the only damage was the exhaust port 😲 Maybe put a 200°C bimetallic thermal fuse on the oven wall to shut off power to the element. Hardware override 😜 The temperature curve profile is so so close to ideal now :D Is the fan coming at strategic points to help reduce the gradient?

[@UnexpectedMaker]

The fan only comes on at the end.. the matching the curve is still all element control. The issue with a hardware fuse is I don't want to clamp it to 200 permanently If I eve use a 183/187deg paste, I need it to go to 221, so apart from silly code typos, software control should be fine ;)

[@azyfloof]

Unexpected Maker Oooh ok, wasn't sure if you'd ever take her past 200 😊 I suppose you could fabricobble an exhaust duct with some bent up sheet metal, if you need a higher temp rating. Could be a fun experiment 😜

[@Dust599]

PETG isnt the best choice for a hot environment... glass transition temperature of only 88 C, better than PLA glass transition temperature between 60-65 °C. I suspect some of the damage was pre meltdown.

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Hey Peter, I'm not sure any of it was pre-meltdown, but I'll never know now ;) Once I have used this new one a dozen or more times, I'll open up the oven cover and take a look at it's state!

[@tablatronix]

I cant believe how fast that melted , I looked at nylon and its only 220C so not much better.

[@Davedarko]

BTW. are you using any pin that isn't broken out on an adafruit feather?

[@UnexpectedMaker]

I am, but I am not using more pins that what the feature breaks out I don't think. I left SDA, SCL and 2 others spare (and exposed) on my Reflow Master board for suture expansion possibilities.

[@TheHaubke]

ooppss unexpected meltdown, luckily you are not buidling a nuclear reactor;) nice i'm going to watch your livestream tonight . greetings from the netherlands

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Hahahahah! I would have used ABS if it was nuclear !

[@raviraj7808]

Can i ask multiple questions in one comment for the giveaway

[@tablatronix]

Might as well go ahead and add an extra over temp control in software heh, hard code it to never go above x, at a point in code that supersedes everything else.

[@UnexpectedMaker]

That's a great idea!

[@tablatronix]

and a big red flashing light lol

[@iot_enthusiast]

sorry to hear :(

[@UnexpectedMaker]

It's all a good learning experience!

[@gregclare]

Hi Seon. I was busy manually placing SMD parts and (painfully) manually reflowing with my heat gun, when your Reflow Master video alert popped-up. All I know is I need a better reflow solution! I've spent way too many hours holding a heat gun, and fighting occasional headstoning due to impatience! LOL. But I still think I want to go for a hot plate solution instead of an oven (space is an issue also). What to do? Almost tempted to buy one of those AU$100 electronic hot plates from AliExpress, and see if it could be retro-fitted with a Reflow Master controller. Hmm.

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Anything has to be better than hot air gun reflow... just too hard to be consistent with it ( in my limited experience ). Even a $30 toaster oven with no controller is better as once you know how long to bake it for, it *should* yield identical results every time. You know my thoughts about hot plate reflow... I think the ReflowR is the best option, but pricey. I'm not sure I'd trust an AliExpress hotplate solution - anything mains powered from China makes me worried ;) How about an electric Kambrook cooking hot plate? ;)

[@gregclare]

Indeed! But I really don’t have room for a toaster oven. I was looking at: goo.gl/zLehfg or the even cheaper 150mm x 150mm models (big enough for my needs). They go up to 350 degrees, and given they’d obviously have a thermocouple, and element + fan control, you’d think it might be a candidate for a Reflow Master retro-fit? :-) Google won’t find me any tear-downs, or anyone who has attempted the same idea. So, info is lacking. I’m still considering the ReflowR @ AU$270 odd (with shipping), but Lafras hasn’t responded to my question 5 days ago, so that kinda kills the confidence in his support!

[@cheetahkid]

I did with the hotplate, using the kitchen's stove electric hotplate, with a piece of aluminium and placing the ready pcb, turn up the stove gradually manually till the solder paste melt then turn off, move the aluminium (with the pcb ) to cool down. It was easy but labouring and keeping an eye on it. I done a few boards without problems.

[@UnexpectedMaker]

I honestly don't know enough about how the pre-heaters work - what their rate of temp change is and how they cool down etc... def worth a try at less than half the price of a ReflowR - but remember, it's not designed as a reflow system... so who knows? ;) I'm happy to watch you make a video about it ;)

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Hey @cheetahkid - yeah, that's why I mentioned it, I have seen others on YT doing the same thing. Just remember not to cook in it after you use it ;)

[@ws_stelzi79]

Well you got an interesting almost 7 min video out of this "experiance".

[@UnexpectedMaker]

7 mins at mostly super fast speed! It wasn't anywhere near as interesting in realtime!

[@connorchapman4223]

A hot mess

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Indeeeeed :-)

[@Peter_S_]

Fantastic as always Seon! My AOYUE HHL3000 reflow oven from years ago has only a series of 5 red LEDs to indicate stage progress and two 4 digit LED displays to show time and temperature. You've got it squarely beat and then some! I guess it's time for a controller upgrade. After experiencing corporate hell for a couple years I took a break from EE/PCB work for a while and your streams have been extremely useful in re-inspiring me to tinker not to mention get back to real work, for which I thank you greatly! Cheers from Boulder, Colorado www.museumofboulder.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1.jpg

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Hey Peter... if the LED's as a display work, perfect! It's about reliability, not fancy... "says the guy that put pretty graphs on his display" ;) The country side in that photo looks awesome!

[@MindFlareRetro]

3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣!!! Oops. I guess it held up well, all things considered. I want me a Reflow Master. ✳waits patiently, like a good boy✳

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Yeah, I am surprised that's all the damage the exhaust tube took... considering it's 3D printing melting point is 235deg ;) Not long now on the Reflow Master...

[@Anvilshock]

Using material that is deposited and brought into shaped with heat … in a heated appliance close to the heat source … what could possibly go wrong? … Oh.