If you are just getting into data recovery, one of your first purchases will probably be a solder reflow station. These devices use infra-red or hot air to heat up solder so you can easily move multi-legged chips from one PCB to another. Of course, you could do this with a microsoldering setup, but many professionals in the field prefer reflow stations for their ease of use, speed, and safety.
Solder reflow stations are split up into two categories: hot and and infrared. Infrared stations are MUCH more expensive, and unless your business is cranking out board repairs as its main source of revenue, you probably don’t need something this expensive. For jobs like ROM chip swaps or replacing motherboard components, a hot air station will do just fine.
Like many things in life, the adage “you get what you pay for” is true for solder reflow stations. The difference between the various models comes down to accuracy and longevity. We have seen temperature differences as great at 50F on cheaper stations. Depending on what kinds of components you are soldering, this could be the difference between a safely moved chip and a non-functional board. Some reflow stations come with multiple air guns (or an air gun and soldering gun), which significantly adds to the price.
But for most ROM swaps, even the cheapest models will be fine so long as you set the target temperature low enough, have some patience, and “get to know” your station. Unless you buy the absolute cheapest model, you are unlikely to be unhappy with your purchase. As always, you should test this model on some boards you don’t care about before working on a “live” case.
This is the model we suggest if you are just starting out, we have a nearly identical model in our shop and it works perfectly for ROM swaps. At $50, it doesn’t break the bank.