SMD Soldering in a Toaster Oven - No Modifications!

Get the boards here: www.pcbway.com...
I got 10 RGBtoHDMI boards from pcbway.com and built them up using a toaster oven to do the SMD work. Combined with the low temperature Chip Quik solder paste, I was able to achieve some fantastic results.
Chip Quik Low Temp No Clean Solder Paste
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Ceramic Tweezers for SMD Work
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Real Reflow Oven T962
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Quartz Toaster Oven (I got mine for $30 from Target)
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Kaiweets HT118A - My favorite meter
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Andonstar 10.1" Microscope
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More Affordable Digitial Microscope
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Special thanks to Aaron over at Retro Hack Shack for the Tech Support - / retrohackshack
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[@generaldisarray]

Great video. I saw a video, ages ago, where a guy made a soldering oven using a normal hot air gun, and a box made from insulation panels to flow the solder. It worked pretty well.

[@AnotherMaker]

Very cool. I will definitely be experimenting with this more. I was pretty happy with the initial results, but I know it can be better.

[@mrBDeye]

A clothes iron turned upside down makes for an excellent reflow plate.

[@AnotherMaker]

I may have to try that

[@Snowsea-gs4wu]

@@AnotherMakerget one from the trash, they still typically work with some troubleshooting. The one I got had the temperature fuse blown, so I removed it and it works! Thanks for the video.

[@aperturesignaturebandwidth]

Nice video! I have seen a few modified toaster ovens or temperature sensor mods, but I wanted to give it a shot "manually" and it worked great! I just stuck my temp probe and kept an eye on them. There was some touch-up work with the iron on a small pitch QFN, but I think it turned out great! Haven't tested them yet, but it's looking better than my hot air skills yielded

[@AnotherMaker]

Yeah I am terrible with the manual SMD soldering especially tiny components. . Basically cracking the door open is enough to get the speed slow enough to be with inside the profile... I would like to build some more sophisticated logic in there though

[@tripplegracing8276]

This was a great video and shows there are always a way to make something work. Love it, always learning from you.

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@tripplegracing8276]

Absolutely awesome video. Well done on the first time flow solder

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you sir.

[@michaeldavidheit]

Wonderful video, I have a different project I am working on but this information you presented so well has made my day as for modifying boards I have made .... thank you very much ! Mike AD7VV

[@UReasonIt]

Nice work as always Dan! Glad to see that I'm not the only one to do the un-moded method :) and it has worked out for me so far. I managed to find a clean oven at a thrift shop for around 10usd that worked good. I'm using an old DataTherm II for monitoring, but I think I want to do some auto-controlling at some point. I have also used higher temp paste and mixed it with rosin flux for better re-flow. I haven't tried any SMD LEDs yet but plan to try some soon!

[@AnotherMaker]

Thank you. I probably will do some more refined control because it sounds like a fun project.

[@AnotherMaker]

Also, I looked up the data therm. That thing is pretty fancy :)

[@randyjohnson8987]

Tons of solder balls. Going to have bridging problems with the excessive solder. Many violating electrical clearance.

[@alexsandermagalhaes9266]

There are some free solder drops fused together all around. I believe those are from boiling humidity or flux vapors when you heat too fast. I heard you could reduce that by pre heating everything. Would you test that please?

[@AnotherMaker]

You're 100% right. I didn't put the two together, but I did slow it down on subequent ones and they didn't have as much splatter. I propped the door open and I think you could ALMOST keep the door all the way open and have the board in the back. I'm also tinkering wit h other types of solder.

[@alexsandermagalhaes9266]

@@AnotherMaker This would confirm it is all about mimicking the temperature curve and keeping in mind that air is a poor heat conductor. I'd really like to see you try this next: 1- heat up to 80% of your melting point. Everything must be at that temperature for about 1 min. 2- heat to melting point until you see it fused (it may take a minute) then turn off and open the door. I think you'll be more successful if you use low temperature melting solder :)

[@Ro-Bucks]

I'm thinking of trying this but my PCB's are dual sided, any thoughts on using parchment paper? or should I use standoffs?

[@PaulRicher-xk7jh]

A good trick to reduce oven power is by connecting it with cheap (16-18AWG) extension(s), and adjust by varying the number (total length) of extensions.

[@tigrafrog]

errr.. Are you sure it will survive for 2+ years? I believe it is a bad solution and solder joints will be more brittle over time. It is GREAT for de-soldering, but I will take leaded solder over any low-temp. solution for soldering. I have some rose apply just for desoldering connectors & USB from small boards, save me some troubles, but only for removal.

[@AnotherMaker]

This can definitely do leaded solder and I have some. I will try that round 2. So far they're all working but if they start failing, I will report back. And interestingly enough the amazon ad said 127c but the datasheet said 166, so it's not as low temp as it seemed at first. Also, the parts of the thing that take abuse (pinheaders etc are all soldered by hand, with lead). We'll see! Thanks for the heads up.

[@heinz-57]

The solder paste said it expires January 2023. It's not expired yet👍

[@AnotherMaker]

Yep. When I first looked at it I did think that was the expiration date. It is still a short shelf life.

[@fabiyang1556]

hello, any chance to cooperate with your channel?

[@AnotherMaker]

You can contact me through the contact info on my channel