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Equipment that made the most money / your life easier. £1000 budget

G.Beard

G.Beard

New member
Right so I'm looking at improving my setup with upgrades. I could do with upgrading everything but I'll do that bit by bit.
Like any sane person I like an easy life. To me that means better tools.

For now, I can spend £1000 - £1200 max.

I have found (after a lot of searching) what I think is the only source for Crest ultrasonics in the UK so an ultrasonic is definately on the menu.
DANCAP is a UK supplier of Hakko eqipment with exemplary customer service.

Here are few things I'm concidering but clearly I can only afford 1 or 2 of these right now.
  • Hakko FR810B Hot air station
  • Hakko FR830 PreHeater
  • Crest CP500D Ultrasonic
  • Hakko FX951 soldering station
The crest is a must but I thought I would ask you guys what made life easiest for you and what made you the most money. My next investment will dent my wallet for a few weeks so it needs to be a wise one. Please would you also suggest other tools you have. I would really appreciate your time effort to comment.
 
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larossmann

larossmann

Administrator
Staff member
Fuck the preheater. You preheat the board by using hot air from far away with the nozzle off for a few minutes. It will make your life easier, but you won't do anything with it you couldn't without it. At some point it will just become instinct to heat the board from far away for a minute before you start working and for what we do that's good enough. A board preheater becomes more important when we get into big chip BGA, and also people who lack the technique to preheat the board with the regular hot air before they start. Big chip BGA is not where the money is anyway so I don't focus on that.

I bought the Crest CP500 when I lived in poverty and it was the best investment I ever made. It fixes more boards than I do.

The FX951 is more money than the FM202, and it won't power tweezers, so keep this in mind if hot tweezers are in your future. However, the FX-951 does allow the station to go to SLEEP, which will save you money on destroyed tips in the long run. The FR-810 costs more than the WHA900 but is more modern and doesn't cause the lights in the room to flicker like the WHA900 does.

None of this gear needs to be bought new. An FX-951 will work if dropped off a cliff. Used market is your friend!
 
Bart

Bart

New member
Dancap is extremaly expensive.
Check Batterfly.com fom Italy or Hakko distributor in Hungary.
If you have EU VAT tax code then they'll reduce VAT.
 
nate8organic

nate8organic

New member
I think Louis got it covered here. But in my personal experience spend the money on the crest cp500 as it has paid for its self in the first 5 boards i ran through it. Also i got a cheap zeny reworks station about 6 months ago and hands down for $45 it is top notch. obviously i dont expect it to last 3 or even 2 years but works great and beats the $300+ price range of the hakko for a start up rework station. also it has ceramic heating elements that are up to heat in under a min and the heat stays steady on both the tip and hot air. if i had to recommend anything here i would say drop the expensive rework unit and spend the money on the Amscope sm-4tp 7x-45x. this makes things impossible, Become possible in are work.
 
J

john

New member
Nate I'm doing this as a hobby. I did try a few years back with cheap stuff and it didn't work. Now I want to buy some good tools. Mine is sm-4tpz-frl-5m. I quiet happy with it but i was thinking to buy some lenses as well. Any advice which one?
 
G.Beard

G.Beard

New member
No Title

nate8organic said:
I think Louis got it covered here. But in my personal experience spend the money on the crest cp500 as it has paid for its self in the first 5 boards i ran through it. Also i got a cheap zeny reworks station about 6 months ago and hands down for $45 it is top notch. obviously i dont expect it to last 3 or even 2 years but works great and beats the $300+ price range of the hakko for a start up rework station. also it has ceramic heating elements that are up to heat in under a min and the heat stays steady on both the tip and hot air. if i had to recommend anything here i would say drop the expensive rework unit and spend the money on the Amscope sm-4tp 7x-45x. this makes things impossible, Become possible in are work.
Click to expand...

As you can see, I have a plethora of cheap.... This is one half of my wife's kitchen (she loves me). i've had enough of cheap, I have come up over the past 2 years from ex-con, to the guy that can hack, design, build, repair, support etc. I'm done with cheap, fuck cheap :)

I'll get the crest and the rework. Hey, anyone use a flir?
 

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G.Beard

G.Beard

New member
john said:
Nate I'm doing this as a hobby. I did try a few years back with cheap stuff and it didn't work. Now I want to buy some good tools. Mine is sm-4tpz-frl-5m. I quiet happy with it but i was thinking to buy some lenses as well. Any advice which one?
Click to expand...

About 900 jib I think.
 
G.Beard

G.Beard

New member
nate8organic said:
if i had to recommend anything here i would say drop the expensive rework unit and spend the money on the Amscope sm-4tp 7x-45x. this makes things impossible, Become possible in are work.
Click to expand...

I like that scope. Do you find you get a bad back from looking at it all day?
 
nate8organic

nate8organic

New member
john said:
Nate I'm doing this as a hobby. I did try a few years back with cheap stuff and it didn't work. Now I want to buy some good tools. Mine is sm-4tpz-frl-5m. I quiet happy with it but i was thinking to buy some lenses as well. Any advice which one?
Click to expand...



Oh okay, i understand.

Honestly im not sure about the lenses maybe louis will chime in for that.


G.Beard said:
I like that scope. Do you find you get a bad back from looking at it all day?
Click to expand...

I don't really get a bad back from it, Firstly i just got a new task chair that's been helping a lot because it allows me to use the scope without bending my back or neck much. very helpful*!

Also i try to get 2 hours of Exercise, Yoga, and workout in everyday. and usually about an hour of skateboarding or slack lining(tight rope walking) when i finish up for the day so i try to keep my self in good shape. I once had a fedex guy tell me he was a masseuse in his off time and his number one recommendation to his clients with bad backs was to stretch every morning and a little yogo & stretch before bed if you can.
 
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nate8organic

nate8organic

New member
Costco for $100 has a nice task chair with mesh bottom and back. i personally like it but the $180 one is a bit more comfortable.
 
G.Beard

G.Beard

New member
Hey, I just ordered an "Ergo Lux HD 24 Hour Chair" for £155 incl VAT. I have problems with L4 and L5 putting pressure on the nerve so I can't feel from my knee down.
Also looking at an electric adjustable height workbench so I acn go from sitting to standing and move around a bit while I work. Also good for looking through the scope too so not too much leaning over.
The table is £1,200 excl VAT so in a bit with that one. There are mechanical crank versions but the variable heights are stupid and completely unusable.
 
ALB-Repairs

ALB-Repairs

Member
I see no fume extraction, You can get some good stuff on ebay UK for it, some replacement filters, and a gooseneck style arm and you'll avoid breathing the nasty.
 
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