> I have a small solder "cauldron"

> I just layed the boards on top of the
> solder bubble for 2 seconds, and pulled the chips
> straight out.

A scaled up version of this is used by a lot of small/medium
manufacturers around here. Many of them have wave solder
machines that sit idle because the setup time and having carriers
made isn't justified for batches of many different products.

There are specific fluxes for this type of soldering and a typical
setup looks very much like the vats in a greasy fast food outlet.
One for flux (which also preheats) and one for the solder.
A couple of deep friers from the local store and you have your
through-hole production setup as well.

> Now I just need to try some SMT stuff and maybe wave
> soldering with it...

If you are going to dunk your SMT parts in the solder bath, you
might want to consider baking the boards in the toaster oven for a
while to drive out moisture first.

You mentioned small boards in the toaster oven in another
response. I'm doing 8" x 5" panels (leaves about an inch on each
side) with no problems. Although I'm using fan-forced for preheat
and grill for reflow which may make a difference.

Steve.

======================================================
Steve Baldwin                Electronic Product Design
TLA Microsystems Ltd         Microcontroller Specialists
PO Box 15-680, New Lynn      http://www.tla.co.nz
Auckland, New Zealand        ph  +64 9 820-2221
email: steveb@tla.co.nz      fax +64 9 820-1929
======================================================

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