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Hacking PTC Heater for SMD Soldering

PTC Heaters are cheaply available aluminum encased temperature controlled systems perfect for hot plate soldering.

analog-twoAnalog Two
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In this project I explore using a PTC heater for SMT soldering. The aluminum casing on the PTC heater is perfect for transferring heat to the PCB. I was able to find PTC heaters that run at 230C on <a href="http://Amazon.com" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>, which is hot enough to melt leaded solder. The purpose of this project is to exploit these heaters for easy DIY SMT soldering.

I was inspired by the previous post concerning ceramic heaters for hot plate SMT soldering. I sought out another method and found PTC heaters, cheap heaters encased in aluminum that self regulated their max temperature. I bought one that was a max temperature of 230C and found that it would reflow SMT parts very well...and for just $10 from Amazon!

Experimental setup:

I used a 200W 110V PTC Heater with a regulated temp of 230C. I used an old Pentium II heatsink as a stand for the heater. I used a power cord scavenged from a broken rice cooker as the mains hookup. I tied the power cord and heater together with screw terminals.

I documented my test results in the first project log. In short, the PTC heater is a very economical and simple way to get started with hot plate SMT soldering small PCB boards.

  • 1 × 110V PTC Heater 100W 230C
  • 1 × Standoff
  • 1 × AC power cable
  • 1 × Screw terminals

  • Initial testing

    Analog Two • 05/03/2016 at 21:38 • 0 comments

    I performed 3 tests today

    1. Soldering 0805 and 0402 components to a throwaway PCB board
    2. Soldering a 28 pin TSSOP to a breakout
    3. Desoldering components from an existing board

    For the soldering tests, I did not have a stencil available so I just sloppily place paste directly from the tube. Even so, the solder wicked its way to the pads and I was able to solder very small parts without tombstoning. The soldering time was about 90 seconds to reflow.

    For the desoldering test, I used a non function MSP430 launchpad. As the board exceeded the size of the heater, I put pressure on the board against the heater. It took about 2-3 minutes until I was able to remove the TUSB and the large MSP430 chip.

    The tests show that the self regulating behaviour of the PTC heater works very well for hot plate soldering. I did not require a controller or arduino of any kind to get results!

View project log

  • 1
    Step 1

    Obtain a 230C PTC Heater with at least 100W output. You can source them from Amazon or Aliexpress. I chose to use 110V mains as I did not want to bother with a high amperage DC power supply. If you are afraid of mains there are low voltage DC options available.

  • 2
    Step 2

    Find or build a suitable stand for your PTC heater; unless you have a high temperature surface it should be offset. I used an old heatsink from the Pentium II era. Be creative.

  • 3
    Step 3

    Secure the PTC heater to the heatsink. My initial test ignored this step, but I strongly recommend it for safety reasons.

View all 7 instructions

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