The Best way to Solder? Hot Plate to the rescue! (DIY or Buy)

Fans Activity: Top 8 comments with the most likes will get a $50 JLCPCB discount card.

You can get the Buy option here (affiliate links):

Parts list for the DIY version (incomplete, affiliate links):

More project information about the DIY option:

In this episode of DIY or Buy we will be having a look at reflow soldering plates. I am familiar with hand soldering, hot air reflow soldering and oven reflow soldering and I was looking for a better technique that is easy to pull off and not as bulky as an oven. That is when I found out about reflow plates. So I bought myself one for testing and around the same time a viewer of mine reached out with a DIY solution. So in this video I will test both versions and ultimately tell you whether hot plate soldering is awesome and whether you should DIY one or simply buy one! Let's get started!

Thanks to JLCPCB for sponsoring this video.

0:00 My Soldering techniques suck!
1:10 Hot Plate soldering?
1:53 Intro
2:36 Buy option test
4:35 DIY PCB version functional principle
5:21 DIY Schematic & Code
6:57 DIY Build
9:33 DIY option test
10:22 Verdict

[collinbardini]

To address the lifespan of the pcb heater it might make sense to have the control circuitry on a separate board and make the heater pcb a consumable. It is definitely not as clean, but potentially more practical.

[hexablend]

This project shows just how awesome this community is. There always is someone with a DIY solution.
I'll definitely try the DIY version if I win the discount code.

[danspratt]

Hey GreatScott, I used to be a surface mount assembly tech in the UK, just wanted to give some advice on solder paste application using a stencil. Lay the paste down the shortest edge of stencil and using a thin but fairly stiff piece of metal drag the paste "sausage" across the stencil in one go(using firm but steady pressure), the paste should appear to roll as its going. Repeatedly wiping across the same spot as you do in the video is causing excess paste to go through the stencil, which can cause messy joints and bridges.

[fortheregm]

I soldered all my ESP32s onto their expansion boards on a frying pan on the kitchen stove :D

[paulisfrench]

For anybody trying to do this, if burning the bootloader sounds daunting, just pre program the atmega while it is still in the arduino, then take it off, that way its is extremely simple and only takes like 1 minute to do.

[oliverpattsch]

Keep up the great work. Especially Projects that show what can be done with cheap or DIY equipment...

[CBJ]

In the beginning I was worried about the durability about the PCB too. But, having used this heatplate to solder 200-250 PCB's, I must say that it still works perfectly fine. The silkscreen is a bit darker than unused yes, but still the heatplate works 100%. Not bended or in any other way damaged. It's still able to reach the temperature in the same curve as new. (I have the Atmega 328 version)

[secretwebsite]

It's really easy to make a DIY hotplate, just order an aluminium PCB from JLCPCB with one long thin trace winding around it. Use a thermal switch instead of the complex microcontroller system.

[Geniusinventor]

Can we all take a moment to appreciate the work this man is doing to educate and entertain us. Man thank you very much 😃😃

[HackingElectronics]

Instead of this, we can also go the traditional way to fill a pan with sand and use it as the hot plate, we can also easily change the size of pan to accomodate a larger PCB size. Well we do have problems of temperature control but a potential solution for those who do not want to use it too often.

[JLCPCB]

Awesome video GreatScott and amaizing project Chris! Maybe usage of our Aluminium PCB's for the heater part could improve a lifetime of product? Separate Aluminium PCB for heater part and standard PCB for controler part. 🙂

[ornotermes]

I think it would make more sense to make the DIY version as two boards, one control board and one just as a heater. That way you only need to replace the heater board if it gets damaged over time. The heater could also be larger and it might also be possible to have a temperature sensor touching the bottom of the heater if the boards are stacked to get a more accurate temperature measurement.

[ShahZahid]

these hotplates and reflow ovens are good an all but i just love to hand solder even the most tedious components just for the fun of it, ngl its kinda relaxing

[lucasmeyers]

Can we take a minute to appreciate the quality this man puts into each video. From the research to drawings to high quality video, these videos are amazing

[vatterger]

If you don't have a hotplate yet, but you got a heat gun laying around: Just put one edge of the board in some kind of holder, like a vise or alligator clips and heat it from below. This has the same effect as a hotplate. I have soldered like this very often, no damage to the backside of any board yet and you can control the heat intuitively with your hands. Only downside is that the heating isn't as uniform as with the hotplate and large boards will warp a bit because of that. Largest one i have soldered this way was 100x70mm^2.

[bernardli]

GreatScott's videos basically taught me soldering and helped on so many DIY/student projects. Thanks for all the content over the years!

[lilmatt]

i love the prospect of utilizing pcbs as heating elements. carl bugeja has done some great videos on not only pcb heating elements but pcb stators.

I've been using this technique for about 2 years using one of the blue "large" hotplates, and actually have gotten pretty good at it, though I do find 0402 and SOT-553 components too small to work well with a stencil. I have a challenge for you @greatscott. While shopping for solder paste, I noticed that the low-temp melt solders come in different temperature ranges, and I thought... this could be used to do double-sided PCBs, which are usually not possible for hobbyists at home. You would first do one layer with the higher temperature solder, allow it to cool, and then do the other side with a lower temperature solder. Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to try this yet, but I think it would be a fun project for your channel.

[mjmeans]

I've used a kitchen electric ~22" griddle for about 50 USD and a thin sheet of aluminum as an additional heat spreader when woring with large boards. I check the temperature with an IR non-contact thermometer. Works great.

[kelli]

Purchased the SolderReflowPlate PCB project as soon as it was available and it did not disappoint! About two weeks of use and testing without any issues!