$20 solder paste fridge!

3769860416 31Fb16Bd46 B-1
Here's a USB fridge we from www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.7340 but there may be better places... We're using this to keep our lead-free solder paste cold (more on that in a moment). Cut off the USB cable and replace it with a 2.1mm DC inline jack cable. Tip is + (red) and sleeve is - (black). Use a 5V regulated power supply, the switching one we used is an overkill. You only need about 1Amp supply draw, but its what we had in our box-o-wallwarts. There's sometimes a little condensation on the peltier, that's fine.

We use this paste for reflowing and stenciling of some of our kits at Adafruit, one example is the 3-axis accelerometer. The parts are super tiny so you use a stencil and a squeegee to apply the paste and pop it in the skillet (video here of another kit getting cooked).

Pt 2080
The solder paste needs to stay between o and 10 degrees celsius to keep its 6 month shelf life. If it's not stored properly (cooled) it can degrade, get too sticky and just be a mess to work with. Don't store in your fridge with food, this is nasty stuff - look in to a solution like a small cooler instead.



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Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: Evil Paul on July 30, 2009 at 12:39 AM

Great idea!

Wow, that's a real head-slapping "I wish I'd thought of that" good idea.


Posted by: tink widget on July 30, 2009 at 4:03 AM

makerbot or reprap found room temp solder paste and nice syringes that put it on their products.

makerbot or reprap found room temp solder paste and nice syringes that put it on their products.


Posted by: E on July 30, 2009 at 7:42 AM

Why remove Usb

Why did you remove the usb connector?


Posted by: Phillip Torrone on July 30, 2009 at 11:34 AM

@E - so we could plug it in to an outlet...


Posted by: Philip Heron on July 31, 2009 at 12:38 AM

USB adapter

Cool!

There are mains to USB power adapters available. I know these guys probably didn't have one handy, but if anyone else is planning to do something like this it might be worth looking at. No cutting of cables required.


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