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Tried a cheap hot air station vs my old Weller iron for a stubborn HDMI port | Electronics Repairers - Vivisector

Tried a cheap hot air station vs my old Weller iron for a stubborn HDMI port

I spent 20 minutes fighting a bad HDMI port on a PS4 with my standard iron, desoldering braid, and a lot of swearing. Finally dug out a $35 hot air station I bought on a whim, and the job took under 5 minutes with way less board damage. Anyone else find hot air is way better for these multi-pin connectors, or do you stick with iron and flux?

3 comments

3 Comments

walker.julia3mo ago

Oh man, totally agree with you on that. @colethomas is right that you can definitely do it with an iron and patience, but for me, once I got a hot air station I never looked back for those big connectors. The trick is keeping the temp low enough to not melt everything around it, around 300C works for me. I think the real skill is learning when to use each tool, like hot air for the heavy lifting and the iron for cleanup and touch up. It's saved me so much frustration with PS4 and laptop ports, even if the cheap station feels a little janky sometimes.

colethomas3mo ago

Respectfully, I see it a bit different. For something like an HDMI port where all those pins are hidden under the connector, hot air is clearly faster and cleaner. But I've also seen folks lift pads or melt nearby plastic parts when they crank the temperature too high. A good iron with a chisel tip and plenty of flux can get the job done if you're careful, especially if you add fresh solder to bridge all the pins first. It just takes patience and a steady hand rather than raw heat. Different tools for different comfort levels, I guess.

wren_mitchell3mo ago

Use painters tape to mask off everything around the port before you hit it with hot air. @walker.julia mentioned keeping temps at 300C, but even at that range you can warp a nearby ribbon cable connector if you're not careful. Taping off with kapton or even just standard blue tape protects the plastic bits and gives you a clean work area. Changed my whole game when I started doing that.