Close
0%
0%

Hacking PTC Heater for SMD Soldering

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

analog-twoAnalog Two
Following
Liked Like project

Just one more thing

To make the experience fit your profile, pick a username and tell us what interests you.

Pick an awesome username
hackaday.io/
Your profile's URL: hackaday.io/username. Max 25 alphanumeric characters.
Pick a few interests
Projects that share your interests
People that share your interests

We found and based on your interests.

Choose more interests.

OK, I'm done! Skip
Similar projects worth following
4.6k views
0 comments
14 followers
View Gallery
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 Amazon.com, 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

Enjoy this project?

Share

Discussions

Similar Projects

Micro table to reflow small boards.
Project Owner Contributor

Reflow micro table

vitalyVitaly

An article about How to Solder Circuit Boards in 5 Steps, this article will be helpful to beginners especially.
Project Owner Contributor

How to Solder Circuit Boards in 5 Steps

catherine-suiCatherine Sui

A thermal cycler currently being developed for use as a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine
Project Owner Contributor

Open Source Thermal Cycler

katherina-baranovaKatherina Baranova

A DIY reflow hotplate made from a regular dry iron to solder smd components on a PCB
Project Owner Contributor

Reflow Soldering Iron

sayantan-palSAYANTAN PAL

Does this project spark your interest?

Become a member to follow this project and never miss any updates

Going up?

About Us Contact Hackaday.io Give Feedback Terms of Use Privacy Policy Hackaday API

© 2024 Hackaday

Yes, delete it Cancel

Report project as inappropriate

You are about to report the project "Hacking PTC Heater for SMD Soldering", please tell us the reason.

Send message

Your application has been submitted.

Remove Member

Are you sure you want to remove yourself as a member for this project?

Project owner will be notified upon removal.