I performed 3 tests today

1. Soldering 0805 and 0402 components to a throwaway PCB board
2. Soldering a 28 pin TSSOP to a breakout
3. Desoldering components from an existing board

For the soldering tests, I did not have a stencil available so I just sloppily place paste directly from the tube. Even so, the solder wicked its way to the pads and I was able to solder very small parts without tombstoning. The soldering time was about 90 seconds to reflow.

For the desoldering test, I used a non function MSP430 launchpad. As the board exceeded the size of the heater, I put pressure on the board against the heater. It took about 2-3 minutes until I was able to remove the TUSB and the large MSP430 chip.

The tests show that the self regulating behaviour of the PTC heater works very well for hot plate soldering. I did not require a controller or arduino of any kind to get results!