🆕 Soldering Electronics- T962 Reflow Oven Review Pt.2

[@MkmeOrg]

Anyone doing any SMD soldering on their projects?

[@Anticitizen666]

Hi, I recently created new firmware for this oven based on the Unified Engineering firmware, to add more features and make the UI nicer to use. The Unified Engineering firmware hasn't been updated in over a year, and I can't get my updates pulled, but you might like the firmware. I included a hex file to flash straight to the oven so you don't need to build it. I've been using this oven for about a year for SMD work. The firmware is here if you're interested (it even has a Pacman screensaver :) ): github.com/Smashcat/T-962-improvements

[@MrOrangeman18]

@@Anticitizen666 nice. do you have a video of the working firmware and a how to on how to flash the new firmware? cheers

[@dungvuinh2409]

how did you do it can you share with me , thank you

[@victorcassel8521]

Does anyone know some good forums for reflow soldering and stuff? Also is the T962 with this quick fix a good buy or no? Bc I havent really heard much good about this device or the manufacturer, but also havent found any other comparable devices in that pricerange.

[@GodzillaGoesGaga]

So here's my thoughts. Having a K-Type thermocouple in the air does not compensate for the fact that a board has a thermal mass. So the profile setting may be correct for the actual board surface temperature as it has to heat up the PCB too. The way to check this would be to tape the K-Type thermocouple to the PCB. Also is the Thermocouple Ice-compensated (or corrector compensated for room temperature) ? Great review.

[@Chingonazo1]

I never used this oven before, and would like to know if one can create a custom profile.

[@MkmeOrg]

Yes. There is a fully customizable firmware on GIT too

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Awesome! Glad to see it worked, even with the temp discrepancy. I get a 15-20deg temp discrepancy with my temp probe in my oven too. There is no perfect place to mount it to read a good average. So will you be doing any follow up videos, and maybe do any of the mods?

[@MkmeOrg]

It will definitely be in more videos. I'm testing it more right now- I might not bother with the firmware if it keeps working for me. I'll probably test shielding the temp sensors from the element radiant heat- I suspect that might be enough to make this thing very close. For now it seems to work pretty great

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Great! Looking forward to seeing more... I'd be super interested to see reflow comparisons for when the boards are in the centre compared to being on the sides of the tray, especially for multi-board reflow to see if it struggles to keep it even. *No pressure* ;)

[@martinolesen9930]

Hi, very nice review, i want that reflow oven too. Two questions, how du one choose the right reflow profile, and also, is there a link for the firmware update? Thank you Martin

[@samchan5251]

Maybe is too late for your interest. Most of the component datasheet will have a reflow profile. Some are more detail than the other.

[@slap_my_hand]

This or a Quick 861DW for soldering BGAs?

[@Arek_R.]

I bought cheap capton tape from china two times and it's completly fine.

[@shanebekker]

I may be imagining things but did you put kapton around your thermocouple? If so would that no insulate it?

[@MkmeOrg]

I did indeed, on purpose even. The laws of thermodynamics still apply so no- it wont insulate it from the oven- it will still rise to the same temp. It may help (maybe) to not be so affected by strictly radiant transient effects as the heaters toggle- which is why I taped it.

[@Ferreira019760]

In my experience dealing with calibrated industrial ovens, when you want to check the accuracy of the measurement, you should place your thermocouple as close to the oven's as possible. The reason for this is that quite often the temperature is not homogenous. You will have hotter and colder zones inside the oven. If you want to go anal about it, you can replicate the actual calibration procedure and place 9 TC's, one at each corner and one at the very centre. As long as your measuring device is consistent, you should be able to see if the oven is balanced, and what class it fits into. Class 1, from memory, is within ±2ºC between all the TC´s and the set point. There is also the matter of the response time, but that is going way OTT for non-critical soldering. There are two main ways to improve the homogeneity of the temperature. One is the heating elements distribution in the hot chamber. If they are evenly distributed and equally balanced, that alone will make your life a lot easier. The other way is to have air circulation. In the case of these ovens, it cannot be a strong air flow, or you risk blowing the components off of their rightful place. A slow turning cooler that is rated for high temperature will certainly do the trick. Measuring the PCB temperature is also an important step if you are looking for a very accurate result. If you have followed all of these guidelines, your oven will be potentially improved and fully characterized. For those who want to go through the trouble, you can run your own calibrations periodically, which will show you if your oven is degrading over time. Again, that's meant for processes that are very demanding, but it's still a good learning exercise. I must advise you, however, that TC's have a limited life span when you are dealing with calibration processes. The norm states that after a number of cycles they should be scrapped. They can still be useful for less demanding tasks, but as far as calibration goes, they are done and need replacement. Overall, great video. Sorry for being extensive, I just wanted to add some information that may one day help you understand a bit better why something is not working as you'd expect. It's not that I'm an expert, this is just what hands-on experience has taught me, hopefully it will be useful to someone else too.

[@BrynFLEW]

thats awesome

[@ultrarichie]

it was going great, until the demonstration part. Please do it again

[@wl9052]

sounds funny