Hot take: I finally tried a $30 hot air station from a flea market and it changed my whole view on cheap gear.

For years I stuck with my old Weller soldering iron for everything, even SMD work. Last month I grabbed a no-name hot air station from a guy's table, expecting it to be junk. I used it to pull a BGA chip off a dead laptop board on the first try, and the heat control was way more even than I thought it would be. So, is it just luck, or are we all sleeping on some of the bargain bin tools now?

2 comments

2 Comments

lilyb2710d ago

Seriously, my buddy had the same shock with a cheap rework gun. He fixed an old game console with it after his fancy one died. Maybe the good stuff is just overpriced now.

shah.zara10d ago

Honestly I've had the opposite happen, where the cheap stuff just breaks on you at the worst time. My experience is that paying a bit more means it lasts way longer and works right every time. That reliability is worth the extra cost to me.