For those of you that have or have used hot air rework stations what have you found is a good brand/model? I'm getting tired of having to trash perfectly good mask roms just to remove them from a PCB. Amazon has a few models that look pretty good from what few reviews there are: http://www.amazon.com/REWORK-SOLDER...e=UTF8&qid=1346621146&sr=1-1&keywords=hot+air But most are given the complaint of being cheap, Chinese made garbage (plastic components instead of metal, neutral is switched rather than hot for power, tip isn't grounded at all, etc) or are $500+. I have no qualms dropping $500 on a piece of hardware if it's easy/cheap to repair and it'll last me a decade or five.
As you say, stick with the name brand for sure. I made that mistake years ago when I bought my soldering station as part of my apprenticeship. I bought the Jaycar (electronics store in Australia) branded soldering station (Digitech). Was told the soldering tip was same as Weller, well, er (lol, see what did there?) that turned out not to be the case. So when the tip dies, or the tube splits I will be up for the whole kit. In it's defence, the soldering station is now around 9-10 yrs old so I have gotten my monies worth out of it. As a "sort of on topic" I have a Hakko de-solder gun and I am very happy with it. Parts are easy to come buy, as it has consumables to replace (filters and what not).
I use a X-tronic 6040. It was only a little over $100. It's made all my dreams come true. It lets you set temperatures precisely with a digital display as opposed to just turning a dial to hotter/colder. It comes with many different tips and a generous supply of replacement parts in case you ever need them. I seriously don't have a single complaint. I love it. I can't imagine how a $500 unit could be better...
