The BY1515 hot plate from BYA is intended for applications that require precise temperature control. Although you can cook an egg on it, it is not for kitchen use as it is not watertight. However, it is perfect for shrink film packaging and heating up circuit boards for rework and even reflow soldering.

What Is the BY1515?

The BY1515 has a compact (15 cm by 15 cm) and straightforward design, making it easy to place on any workbench. The build quality feels solid, with a flat aluminum surface that can handle lab work (but marks and scratches easily). The BY1515 is the second-smallest member of a family of six similar hot plates, from 350 W (BY1010, 10 cm by 10 cm) up to 2000 W (BY3040, 40 cm by 30 cm).
 

The BY1515 Features Customizable PID Control

The main attraction of the BY1515 (and its family members) is the constant temperature control obtained with a PID regulator that is fully customizable. This seems a bit over the top, and personally, I haven’t yet found a use for it in my lab, but the hot plate lets you adjust the ‘P’, ‘I’ and ‘D’ gain settings individually.

Temperature Range & Display

With a power rating of 500 W and default PID settings, the hot plate heats up fairly quickly. The temperature can be set anywhere from zero up to 400 °C using Up/Down pushbuttons. When it is heating, the most-right decimal point lights up. This is referred to by the label ‘OUT’ with a white dot next to it. The BY1515 does not have a fan to force cooling, and therefore it cools down rather slowly.

Strange Temperature Display

Note that the display doesn’t seem to show the actual temperature of the plate, but some sort of desired value of the PID regulator. At the time of writing this article, the ambient temperature was 27 °C. As soon as I switched the hot plate on, it started to heat up. I needed say 20 seconds to adjust the target temperature to 20 °C, so I could manipulate it safely while running (it doesn’t seem to have a heater-off function). While I did that, the hot plate heated up to about 40 °C (according to its display). Two hours later, the display showed 20 °C. However, the ambient temperature was still 27 °C, while I measured the temperature of the hot plate at 36 °C (which felt about right when I touched it: lukewarm).

Incomprehensible Manual

One notable drawback of the BY1515 is its manual, which is printed in Chinese. The basic operation is quite intuitive, so you don’t have to understand Chinese for that, but using the advanced settings is complicated. With the help of a Chinese subcontractor, I got the manual translated. As it turned out, the Chinese manual appears to be as complicated to read for a Chinese speaker as for a non-Chinese speaker. It revealed a convoluted menu system that uses strange values for settings without clear descriptions.
 

What complicates things even more is the way the 7-segment display is used to print some western characters in an unconventional way. As an example, there is a parameter displayed as ‘Ar’ which should read ‘At’ (automatic PID tuning). Furthermore, when pressing around on the pushbuttons, you will quickly run into an undocumented parameter ‘odE’ (press Up and Down at the same time).

Clearly, it would have been helpful to have a basic guide in English or a universally understandable diagram. Despite this, I had no trouble getting started with the hot plate.

Reflow Soldering & Desoldering

As the BY1515 can reach temperatures as high as 400 °C, it is possible to use it for reflow soldering. However, as it does not provide reflow solder temperature profiles nor forced cooling, this has to be done with care while watching the process closely. Without a fan, you cannot leave the soldered board on the plate to cool down. Instead, you must slide it off carefully with molten solder and floating parts. This can be a perilous exercise. On the other hand, it is great for quickly disassembling an SMT board.

 

Solid Performance

Overall, the BYA BY1515 (500 W) hot plate is a solid performer for its price range. Its ability to reach temperatures up to 400 °C makes it suitable for a wide range of tasks. The lack of an English manual is a minor inconvenience (unless you want to explore all its undocumented features), but its simplicity in design and function compensates for this. If you’re in the market for a low-cost hot plate that gets the job done, the BYA BY1515 is worth considering.