Simple Reflow Controller
A minimalistic controller enabling any oven to do SMD reflow soldering
Surface mount devices are becoming more and more popular, and allow a level of integration and miniaturization not possible before. However, some modern devices come only in very fine pitch packages or BGA formats, which make soldering by hand impossible.
Reflow soldering solves these issues by heating up the whole board in an oven and melting solder paste applied beforehand. For this process to be reliable, a specific thermal profile must be followed. The hardware and software in this project allows any oven to do so, making modern device packages more accessible to hobbyists.
The hardware
A 4x5cm board that connects to a computer via USB and has thermocouple input and relay control signal output for regulating the temperature inside the oven. The controller features an NXP LPC11U24 Cortex M0 µC running software based on the ARM mbed libraries.
The software
A small web app served locally that connects to the oven and allows tuning the ovens parameters and supervising the reflow process in real time. The server uses node.js, so the app is cross platform and can be accessed from anywhere within the local network.
Additional information
Downloads
Download the full, open-source schematics, PCB layout and control software.
Project on GitHubBuy the hardware
Buy an assembled Simple Reflow Controller and support my projects, starting at 35$!
Buy now on TindieGetting stared & documentation
Information on how to set up the controller and additional information on the project.
Full documentation