Hi all,
I've seen some really interesting ideas in this thread. I'll certainly be trying out a few of them. I do have one question though. How much heat can devices take before they are damaged?

I've seen data sheets for some devices which specify maximum soldering temperatures such as "250 degrees for 10 seconds" and maximum storage temperatures of 100 or 150 degrees. Can surface mount ICs really take being put in an oven for 5 minutes?

Whenever I solder a board I am always nervous about damaging components. With an iron I tend to go as quickly as possible to minimise the risk but I don't really have any idea of how much devices can take or at what point they begin to become damaged.

Does anyone have an ideas on this?

Paul Connor