Switched from a generic hot air station to a proper Hakko one for BGA work

The old one had such inconsistent airflow it was a gamble every time. The Hakko's digital control and steady heat made a reflow on a PS4 motherboard actually work on the first try. Anyone have a favorite tip for keeping those tiny balls aligned during the process?

4 comments

4 Comments

karenh562mo ago

Seriously, is the old one that bad?

patricia_perez742mo ago

Wrestling a bear? That's putting it mildly. My old one would freeze up if you looked at it wrong. I lost actual work, like full documents just gone. It wasn't just slow, it was broken. Calling it a nightmare is being nice.

karen_sanchez492mo ago

Tell me about it, mine was a total nightmare. Felt like I was wrestling a bear just to get a simple task done. The thing was so slow it made me want to scream. I finally gave up and got the new version, and it's like night and day.

holly_reed551mo ago

And it's not just tools, it's like everything now. My buddy spent like 3 hours trying to fix a leaky faucet with a cheap wrench from the hardware store, stripped the whole thing. Then he borrowed a proper one and it was done in 10 minutes. Same with my old blender that would leave chunks of ice no matter what, got a Ninja and it's perfect every time. We're all just out here buying junk and then wondering why our projects fail. The difference between "it works" and "it works reliably" is massive when you're doing something serious like reflowing a PS4.