f_petrini wrote:Yes, a reflow oven would be very nice to have. I've thought about getting a pizza oven and build a simple controller for it but so far I'm only making smaller boards in very small amounts so the time saved on a oven vs. hot-air is not worth it. Yet... ;)
Oh yes, a nice little toy ;-)
Although I have access to a BGA rework station, which of course can solder high-density
standard flat packs too, I built my hobby "reflizza" oven (the Reflow-Pizza ;-) a few month ago.
But I only used it 2-3 times for soldering a BGA.
The major problem for all other stuff, <=0.5mm pitch, is placing the part onto the
solder paste without creating short-circuits.
Another problem is the bad smell...
The first "calibration tests" were performed in our kitchen.
Just imagine that all the smoke and fume from a 2-3 manual soldering orgy
releases within 2-3 minutes... My wife was not amused ;)
I still think the good old soldering iron is the best way, doing all this at home.
For anything below 0.6mm pitch, I lengthen the pads of the footprint a little and
let all the traces leave the part in a straight line for ~3-4mm.
The real drawback of high-density parts are that my little private milling machine
doesn't work below <0.6mm pitch, so I need to order PCBs for these projects...