[Boatanchors] OT. Need hot air station advice

[Robert Nickels]

Phil,

Given that you're a newbie to SMT repair, let me first address your 
questions and then give you a better alternative.

Hot air rework stations are basically all the same - that Kohree is 
someone's version of an 858D at twice the price.  The problem is that 
hot air is going to be marginal for a 28 pin device because of the 
difficulty in getting all the pins above the solder melting point at the 
same time (and without inadvertently removing and adjacent parts).   
It's easy to rip off a few pads until you develop the touch (don't ask 
how I know!).   The 858D sells for under $35 shipped on eBay and works 
very well for small SMT components.   I wouldn't pay extra to get a 
rework station with a soldering iron because I want to select the iron 
on it's own merits.    As to flux, the easiest type to use for general 
purpose SMT hand soldering (such as soldering in your replacement IC)  
is a flux pen, which you can get at Amazon for <$15.   You'll need .015" 
dia. solder too. Watch some YouTube videos to get the idea, but 
generally you'll wick off all the old solder and flux all the pads, then 
tack one corner of the replacement IC, check for alignment and tack the 
opposite corner, then solder the pins.   Wick will remove the almost 
inevitable bridges.

But first you have to remove the old IC and for that there's nothing 
easier or more effective for larger ICs than the$17 Chip Quik  SMD-1 
removal kit.    This kit includes a low-melting point alloy that is 
applied to all the IC pins and which melts and mixes with the existing 
solder to conduct heat to all pins simultaneously.  Removal then becomes 
simply a matter of lifting off the IC without damage to the board.    
Take a few minutes and watch how Dave Jones uses it here for the first 
time without any practice to remove a much larger IC:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmD7F0--7Lc   (skip to 9:00 if you're 
impatient)

The low-temp alloy is like magic!  You don't need a hot air rework 
station to use it, and the odds of a beginner successfully removing a 
larger component will be much higher.

73, Bob W9RAN