ceramic heaters just arrived. PTC is an amazing material

we are intrested in small reflow ovens for workshops, to remove the need for soldering smd with cheap irons.

mybe call it uBake ?

first tested on bench with no heat load.
it takes 12DCV 5A ramping up
when it reaches 410C (rated at 400c) it stabilize on 3A this allows for relatively precise ramping using current control. using a benchtop psu or lm317(?) you can make a very simple reflow profile.

placed the ceramic heater on top of a huge copper heatsink (idiot)

then moved to a more suitable setup

i used microprint 2004p (Sn62 Pb36 Ag2, 20-38 µm (T4)) (pdf,pdf2)
with a claimed melting point of 179°C

• 12V-400C-30mm-Diameter-Round-MCH-Metal-Ceramic-Heater-Plate
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• Aluminum LED Remover Split Plate PTC Heating Soldering Chip Remove Demolition Welding For BGA Solder Ball Station
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https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/215418/smartest-way-to-use-current-limit-using-lm317 and polyfuse?