Got the stencil for my ESP-S3 board. First one I assembled and soldered by hand, took 5 hours.
This one took 30 minutes to assemble and goes on the hotplate now. Hope it works out!
Extremely satisfying. 2 minor issues on the USB-C connector and the DNF LDO regulator. Easily fixed via reflow. Love it.
Only had to rework the DNF IC and the USB-C connector. Worked first try again. Looks so much nicer without all the flux gunk.
This took about an hour including a small break vs. 5 hours of hand soldering.
I need a bigger hotplate :D
Lesson learned: always order a stencil along with your PCB. Saves times, avoid mess, well worth the $7.
@christiankothe You also have to ensure your design only features components the PCB assembler supports. Might be tricky.
@christiankothe And if you fucked up your design, you have now not only wasted money on the PCBs but also on the components soldered to the PCBs. You can possibly salvage the components via hot plate or hot air gun, but that's not ideal.
@badlogic Yeah definitely makes sense from a hands-on learning perspective (and yes, one could desolder bad component picks). I'd worry I'd go blind if I tried to hand solder all those tiny parts all day long :)
@christiankothe Haven't tried yet. Since I'm still learning, I prefer the practice, going through the motions and, more importantly, failures myself.