Reflow Master Pro has killer features and an easy-to-use interface with beautiful reflow graphs. It comes with five built-in solder paste profiles, and a built-in webserver for adding, editing, and removing profiles, with a graphical view of how the profile will look.
Reflow Master Pro is designed to work with any toaster oven - no algorithm tuning required! That said, if you really want to tweak, you can switch from the classic Reflow Master algorithm to PID control and tune your settings to exactly how you like.
Here are some highlights of what's new in 3.0:
Reflow Master Pro is WiFi enabled, and once WiFi is setup, you will have access to a browser interface to add, edit and remove reflow paste profiles and bake profiles as well as alter all of the settings via the built-in web server... but that's just the beginning!
Runtime tuning allows you to tweak Classic and PID settings for Reflow, Bake & Device Test modes live, while your RMP is running!
When on the runtime page, it will automatically switch between your tasks on your RMP, rebuilding the page live where possible, and auto-refreshing when required. It's pretty slick!
RMP has a beautiful and easy to follow graphical display during the reflow process.
The purple graph is the paste profile selected, and the green graph is the real-time update of the temperature matching.
You get to see the SSR power being applied as well as the current temperature and target temperature at the top.
The main reflow zones are also clearly labelled for you.
RMP features an awesome bake mode that allows you to do timed baking of things like filament, electronics components and more.
You can add your own bake profiles for your specific needs via the web interface.
RMP has a beautiful and easy to follow graphical display during the reflow process.
The purple graph is the paste profile selected, and the green graph is the real-time update of the temperature matching.
You get to see the SSR power being applied as well as the current temperature and target temperature at the top.
The main reflow zones are also clearly labelled for you.
RMP ships with an extensive list of settings and options, with the most common available on the device and the web interface, and some of the more complex settings just on the web interface.
You are able to control 2 external fans, individually, during reflow/bake/test and after reflow/bake/test modes. This allows you to run them at a slow speed to help circulate air during reflow, and then full power for a period of time after reflow, as part of the cooling process.
You bet! For all 2023 and 2024 RMP versions, just download the STL & STEP ZIP file and slice and print them in any colour or material you like!
Use the object orientation shown on the right to be able to print without using any supports.
That's a valid question... Every toaster oven is different and mains power is obviously not universal and is dangerous to play with. I don't feel comfortable supplying a generic "Chinese unbranded SSR" that might be unreliable or inadequate for your specific use case. I could supply something I am prepared to endorse & support, but it would be considerably cheaper for you to source one yourself - rather than me buy one and reship it to you.
Yes, the K-Type thermocouples I supply are good enough for most environments and use cases, but if you are using your Reflow Master Pro in an area that suffers from high frequency noise from power or mobile antennas etc, you may get some extra noise in your temperature readings.
If that is the case, you might want to invest in a better thermocouple, something that is really well shielded in metal or fibreglass, like one of these from Adafruit
Also, if you plan on reflowing high temperature pastes 190deg+, you can use the probes that I ship, but they won't last forever at high temperatures, so I'd definitely recommend investing in glass-shielded thermocouples to ensure the probe shield can withstand the 200deg+ temperatures required for reflow for long term use.
The best way to install the TCs in your oven is to have one sitting just above the board being reflowed and one sitting just underneath. The key is to get the top one to sit about 1-2cm above the PCB, and the bottom one to sit within 1cm of the bottom.
There is no need to have one of the TCs attached to the PCB being reflowed, as that won't necessarily give you an accurate reading for the entire board, and it can be quite difficult to attach and remove the TC from your boards each time, without knocking components or smudging paste.
You don't have to use both TCs, and if you only use one, make sure you place it in the top position. When using both TC, the temperature being monitored is the average of both TCs.
You can power your RMP from the 5V IN/OUT terminal, but there should be nothing else on that power rail, as there is no protection on that terminal.
If there is any ripple on the rail above 5.5V, you can easily blow the 3V3 regulator on the RMP, so connecting fans or other peripherals on the same rail should be avoided.
You also need to ensure there's no chance of back-feed/inrush current coming through the rail.
If you are unsure, it's safest to power from USB or the 5V DC jack.
From my own experience and from working with other makers that use both toaster ovens and my Reflow Master, there are 2 key requirements for a toaster oven to be usable as a reflow oven: It needs to be small and powerful - so ideally you want an oven that is 18 Litres or lower in capacity, with 1300W or higher in power.
If your oven is too big or underpowered, or both, then your oven will not be able to get to the initial profile temperature in time to allow for an adequate pre-soak time. You MIGHT still get a successful reflow, but it will likely be out of the guidelines from your solder paste manufacturer - so you'll need to check your specifications for your paste to assess the repercussions.
The smaller the oven, the faster it will heat, just like the higher the power, the faster it will heat. Having a smaller and more powerful oven is the safest bet.
Sure, you can control a hotplate as well if you prefer to reflow your boards that way. Your hotplate will likely be grounded, especially if it's a commercial unit, or one that is powered via AC, so you won't be able to connect a thermocouple directly to it, or it will cause an error when trying to read the temperature. To solve this, you can use some thermal tape to stick the TC to the plate, which will allow heat transfer for the temperature reading, without any electrical connectivity.
Nope! I know it sounds like a great idea, but it's also a really dangerous one, and it would be totally irresponsible of me to allow you to fire off a 280C or higher reflow process, both unattended and without visual monitoring. You don't leave a laser cutter unattended, and you should never leave your reflow oven unattended, especially one that is DIY'd from a toaster oven, where you are controlling mains power.
RM Fan Controllers are basically opt-o-isolated MOSFET switches that you can connect to the AUX outputs of your RMP to drive up to 24V/1A loads like fans or in the future, stuff like linear actuators.
RM Fan Controllers ship with the surface mount parts fully assembled, and the through-hole parts separate, so some soldering is required to use them, but I know you all love to solder, so it's a perfect mix!
Can I just use some cheap $2 MOSFET switches from Ali? Sure, if you want to take the risk, but I can't, in good conscience, ship something like those with my products and be able to trust and support them if they fail. So I designed and make my own, that have had extensive testing, that are built with reliable components and that I trust and can support.
Sure! RMP can reflow any paste - But, what you are really asking here is, can the RMP make an oven that is not powerful enough, or insulated well enough, to reflow high temp paste? No :( Physics is physics, and if your oven of choice is not able to reach the temperature required, fast enough, to manage a reflow profile for a high temperature paste like SAC305, then adding an RMP won't help.
Most toaster ovens, as they come, are not capable of ramping temperature fast enough, or of holding the temperature at the higher end of the process, especially when you start to add extra thermal mass into the equation.... like PCBs with components on them.
That said, there are many folks who have gone to extraordinary lengths to completely insulate their toaster ovens and make them capable of reflowing the most difficult pastes. Do a Google search and you'll find a few projects showing step-by-step how they did it, but be warned - it's a lot of effort, and costs quite a lot to make happen.
The #reflow-master-pro channel in my Discord server also has pictures and discussions from folks that have modded their toaster ovens to get high tep paste reflowing.
Wiring up your RMP is very easy. Simply connect the thermocouples to the correct coloured inputs (Red/White), connect your SSR's digital input to the +ve and -ve inputs and you're done!
If you also have some RM Fan Controllers, simply wire the +ve and -ve signal inputs from them into the corresponding +ve and -ve inputs on your RMP.
Once everything is wired up, you are ready to power on the RMP. By default, a low-temperature lead-free paste is selected, which is a good starting point for testing out your oven's ability to ramp and cool down during the reflow cycle.
Put a blank PCB into the oven on top of the tray, to be used to add some thermal mass to the oven to simulate something being in there, and click the [REFLOW] button, and watch the graph as it follows the profile.
If your oven is able to follow the profile closely, then you should be ok with this temperature paste for your reflow process. If your oven is struggling to heat up quickly enough to follow the profile, you might need to add some extra insulation to the oven to prevent heat from leaking out. If that doesn't help, it could mean that your oven is not powerful enough for its volume size.
You can connect your Reflow Master Pro to your home/office WiFi network, so you can use the web interface to manage reflow & bake profiles and adjust settings. To setup your WiFi SSID & PASSWORD setting so your RMP can connect to your network, follow these steps:
Once your WiFi credentials are saved, your RMP can be connected to your network using the same button on the main menu. Once connected, the button will change to show you the IP address of your RMP. You can now navigate to that IP address from any web browser on any device you like, to access the RMP web interface.
We've made updating your RMP to the latest firmware as simple as possible!
There's no need for any IDE or development environment, no need for tracking source changes or compiling any code. Updating your RMP is as simple as plugging it into your computer, putting it into "Update Firmware Mode" from the settings menu, and following the web-flashing tool instructions.
Note: The web flashing tool requires Chrome or Edge, sorry Safari users!
Reflow Master Pro is only shipped directly from Unexpected Maker in Australia, but I offer multiple ways to purchase, including now offering it via Lectronz for EU customers, so VAT is handled for you at checkout!
The latest Reflow Master Pro schematic is available here.