| ▲ Workshop |
My previous hotplate didn't have any frame or means of rapid cooling, which is pretty essential when using it to reflow circuit boards. So, I built a little support frame from 8mm square steel rod and mounted a fan directly underneath. The temperature is again controlled using my software-based PID controller and one of the controller's relay outputs is used to activate the cooling fan. Both the heating element and fan are switched using solid-state relays.
I don't actually have any temperature profiles to show, but I managed to get it following a standard reflow profile pretty closely, including the cooling-down period.
Check out my pick-and-place attempt to see how I populated the board shown in the photo.
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| ▲ Workshop |