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).
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.
10 thoughts on “$20 solder paste fridge!”
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Wow, that’s a real head-slapping “I wish I’d thought of that” good idea.
makerbot or reprap found room temp solder paste and nice syringes that put it on their products.
Why did you remove the usb connector?
@E – so we could plug it in to an outlet…
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.