Micro Soldering Microscopes(microsolderingsupply.com)
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Micro Soldering Microscopes
https://microsolderingsupply.com/blog/2017/07/17/micro-soldering-microscopes-everything-you-ever-needed-to-know/
8 comments
I have a condition where I don't have stereoscopic vision. This poses a problem when doing fine SMD.
I am using a camera connected directly to a monitor to reduce lag. This allows me to see both the monitor and the board at the same time, without moving my head. I see the board an the tip at an angle allowing me to judge the height. When soldering, I will mostly look at the monitor and regularly scanning to see the height of the tip.
The bigger problem is with placing fine components on the board. It's just slow and irritating. I will position the component in its location and then slowly bring it down until it touches the paste.
I am using a camera connected directly to a monitor to reduce lag. This allows me to see both the monitor and the board at the same time, without moving my head. I see the board an the tip at an angle allowing me to judge the height. When soldering, I will mostly look at the monitor and regularly scanning to see the height of the tip.
The bigger problem is with placing fine components on the board. It's just slow and irritating. I will position the component in its location and then slowly bring it down until it touches the paste.
> The bigger problem is with placing fine components on the board. It's just slow and irritating. I will position the component in its location and then slowly bring it down until it touches the paste.
Have you tried not using solder paste and instead using a "normal" thin solder wire (with jelly flux)? I prefer to use that over solder paste for everything up to 0402.
Have you tried not using solder paste and instead using a "normal" thin solder wire (with jelly flux)? I prefer to use that over solder paste for everything up to 0402.
I would use dragging on larger components like QFP but 0402 is very tricky for me. I am happy to be able to place it at all.
Reflow seems to be much easier for me as I can take multiple tries at placing the flux paste and then the component and then once I'm happy with the placement I no longer have to touch it and instead hope surface tension and solder mask will do its job.
Takes more work but with my eyesight, no stereoscopic vision and limited motor skills I am pretty happy I can do it at all.
Reflow seems to be much easier for me as I can take multiple tries at placing the flux paste and then the component and then once I'm happy with the placement I no longer have to touch it and instead hope surface tension and solder mask will do its job.
Takes more work but with my eyesight, no stereoscopic vision and limited motor skills I am pretty happy I can do it at all.
After trying some soldering acrobatics, the short focal (meaning constant readjustment) and the lack of depth was a bit loss. Going in eye-guess style ended up almost as efficient.
I was a solder monkey for a summer, and did a fair bit of soldering at university. I also have pretty marginal vision and can't even read out of my left eye without correction.
I found that with practice, you don't actually need magnification for SMT soldering. I can solder down to 0603 without magnification. I have also never used fine point irons, since I was taught how to solder SMT using a medium point. Trying to solder individual connections is a waste of time, use flux to direct the flow of solder, and desoldering braid to clean up the excess. Good lighting was my most important tool for good soldering.
On the occasions I did use magnification, I found the best tool was the big stand mounted magnifying glasses with a light ring. We had a really fancy one at university that gave you really good stereo vision using some magic.
I found that with practice, you don't actually need magnification for SMT soldering. I can solder down to 0603 without magnification. I have also never used fine point irons, since I was taught how to solder SMT using a medium point. Trying to solder individual connections is a waste of time, use flux to direct the flow of solder, and desoldering braid to clean up the excess. Good lighting was my most important tool for good soldering.
On the occasions I did use magnification, I found the best tool was the big stand mounted magnifying glasses with a light ring. We had a really fancy one at university that gave you really good stereo vision using some magic.
I found that with practice, you don't actually need magnification for SMT soldering.
Youth is wasted on the young. ;-)
Youth is wasted on the young. ;-)
I've recently moved to an eyepieceless microscope, and it's really quite an improvement over traditional stereo eyepiece microscopes. They are made for SMD work and part inspection, and generally max out at 20x (which is plenty of magnification for SMD work).
To see into the microscope, you look straight ahead into a viewing window. There's a huge margin of error for head position; you can move your head around quite a bit and still keep the image visible. Additionally, it's much less strain on your back, as you're not hunched over. Your focus distance when looking into the microscope is the same as when you glance down at the work, significantly reducing eye strain. These microscopes can also be used with glasses. (Quick summary video here[1])
One of the coolest parts of this setup is that you can actually change your 3D view of the object simply by moving your head around. You can actually "look around" the magnified object. It's hard to describe how impressive this is -- experiencing it in real life is quite astonishing.
As far as I know, there's only one eyepieceless microscope on the market: the Mantis. Buying these new[2] is very expensive ($3000, plus $500 per objective lens), due to the massive optics inside the unit. However, you can find the older models on eBay for $500, sometimes even including some objective lenses.
I recently got a cheap one from eBay that needed a bit of repair, and now have it mounted to my bench for general inspection and SMD work. If you end up going this route, I recommend replacing the MR11 halogen bulbs with LED bulbs.
Dave Jones (of EEVblog) is a big fan of this, and has a good video describing it[3].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpN83dv0f7Q
[2] http://www.visioneng.us/products/stereo-microscopes/mantis-e...
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3o0EWHEH08
To see into the microscope, you look straight ahead into a viewing window. There's a huge margin of error for head position; you can move your head around quite a bit and still keep the image visible. Additionally, it's much less strain on your back, as you're not hunched over. Your focus distance when looking into the microscope is the same as when you glance down at the work, significantly reducing eye strain. These microscopes can also be used with glasses. (Quick summary video here[1])
One of the coolest parts of this setup is that you can actually change your 3D view of the object simply by moving your head around. You can actually "look around" the magnified object. It's hard to describe how impressive this is -- experiencing it in real life is quite astonishing.
As far as I know, there's only one eyepieceless microscope on the market: the Mantis. Buying these new[2] is very expensive ($3000, plus $500 per objective lens), due to the massive optics inside the unit. However, you can find the older models on eBay for $500, sometimes even including some objective lenses.
I recently got a cheap one from eBay that needed a bit of repair, and now have it mounted to my bench for general inspection and SMD work. If you end up going this route, I recommend replacing the MR11 halogen bulbs with LED bulbs.
Dave Jones (of EEVblog) is a big fan of this, and has a good video describing it[3].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpN83dv0f7Q
[2] http://www.visioneng.us/products/stereo-microscopes/mantis-e...
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3o0EWHEH08
We had one of those at university. They are an order of magnitude nicer to use than a normal stereo microscope. It takes a little bit of getting used to the magnification and your hand/eye coordination, but I could happily use it for 8 hours with no pain.
For hobbyists that don't use the microscope every day and don't need stereo optics, I can warmly recommend the Andonstar ADSM201 (around 160$ from China). Look on Youtube for reviews, the image quality is great and it can be connected directly to a HDMI screen!
Edit: There's also a guy on Ebay selling polarized lenses for it to get rid of reflections.
Edit: There's also a guy on Ebay selling polarized lenses for it to get rid of reflections.
ADSM201 is nice but don't buy it! Buy ADSM302 instead ($299 from AliExpress). It is recent addition and leaps and bounds better than ADSM201.
Looks really nice, but it's also double the price. For me, the upgrade from the Andonstar A1 (40$) to the ADSM201 (160$) was definitely worth it, optical quality is massively better. But from ADSM201 (160$) to ADSM302 (300$), I'm not sure.
Also, from 300$ it's not that much more that you'd need to pay for a proper stereo microscope.
Also, from 300$ it's not that much more that you'd need to pay for a proper stereo microscope.
Reminded me of this recent marco reps video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EfMRKujWAY
Of which, great youtube channel to subscribe to.
Of which, great youtube channel to subscribe to.
To solder SMD, I use a 'reading aid' from Tieman.
Example : http://www.dlf-data.org.uk/product.php?product_id=0033982
Example : http://www.dlf-data.org.uk/product.php?product_id=0033982
How do you fix the misalignment in your head?
Not sure what you mean with misalignment.
That would be the "what you're looking at isn't where you're working" thing. And, like using a Wacom pad or similar device, it's really an easy thing to get used to quickly.
I have an AmScope stereo microscope. It certainly gets the job done for me. For the amount of time I spend using it, I am very happy with it and glad I didn't buy anything more expensive.
One of the PCB assembly houses I use has purchased some AmScope stereo microscopes. They use them as "backups" for their higher-quality microscopes and have them sprinkled through the plant so they'res always a microscope near by and you don't have to walk far.
One of the PCB assembly houses I use has purchased some AmScope stereo microscopes. They use them as "backups" for their higher-quality microscopes and have them sprinkled through the plant so they'res always a microscope near by and you don't have to walk far.
I have that same Amscope setup, but without the camera monocular. Working distance is key for an inspection/soldering scope; the more the better.
The ring LED is not strong enough. Go with the fiber light, though the potentiometer crapped out on mine and I had to replace it. It’s not UL listed either.
Can take decent pictures just holding a camera up to the eyepiece, through lose about 1/2 the field of view.
You can get fiber LED, but those are $1500 themselves.
The ring LED is not strong enough. Go with the fiber light, though the potentiometer crapped out on mine and I had to replace it. It’s not UL listed either.
Can take decent pictures just holding a camera up to the eyepiece, through lose about 1/2 the field of view.
You can get fiber LED, but those are $1500 themselves.
A TL;DR:
1. Binocular microscope to see depth.
2. 4" or greater working distance, achieved with a Barlow lens, not <1" as on other microscopes.
3. The best and brightest ring light you can afford.
4. Stable mount.
Also, with regards to #3, I found their recommendation of LED ring lights odd:
> At $30/each and requiring us to keep a few in stock in case one blew, we found that although halogen lights made it easier and clearer when examining motherboards, the reliability, flexibility, and low operating cost of LED lights prevailed in the end.
Surely $30 every 3-4 months is a tiny fraction of what their work is worth. I pay that without hesitation, because the light is just better. Also, the 200W heat of the halogen bulb is far away, at the end of a fiber optic cable, while the 40W of LED lights is right under my eyes and near my hands, and I have a gentle fan to move soldering fumes away so only the latter is bothersome.