I’ve needed to step up production of Myro:Bridge and that means I need a better way to solder all the small SMD components on the boards quickly and with higher quality.   After hours of researching reflow ovens, I decided instead of purchasing one (which can cost thousands) I’ll do it in the tradition of Mavromatic and build one myself. I compiled a list of components needed and placed the orders.

Here is a list of what I’m getting:

> Black & Decker Infrawave Oven – This will be the donor oven.  What led me to this oven was the folks over at Silicon Horizon.  They have a reflow controller and recommend using the IR based oven because it seems to work with many reflow profiles nicely.  It seems like they are on hiatus right now so ordering their controller was not possible.  And that led me to the following critical component…

> Shinko JCL-33A PID Controller with Ramp/Soak function –   I searched high and low for a controller that offers MM:SS timing as the typical seems to only be HH:MM.   This controller only offers one program and up to 9 steps which works perfect for my application. I also wanted a RS485 (programming and charting via PC) interface and SSR driver output.  The end result was the JCL-33A from Shinko.  (I went with a true PID controller versus an Arduino or PIC based controller because I wanted something more reliable and the programming and charting software comes free with the JCL-33A).

> 25A Rated SSR DC/AC – Solid State Relay – This pretty little device is what the PID controller controls and the SSR (solid state relay) controls the IR element in the oven.

> Omega K-Type Thermocouple Probe with Fitting – This is what connects to the PID controller and reads the temperature very accurately.

A few other parts (which I already have) include: outlet with box, wiring, RS485 to USB converter, project box to mount PID and SSR in.

Now, I just need to wait for all the parts to arrive and begin the modifications to the oven.

… Continue to Part 2, The Oven >>

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