First Soldering Station - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: lefty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2020, 06:11:20 pm
content: Here's where I'm at. Up until about 2 weeks ago, my use for soldering was the occasional wire connection and occasional low skill level repair. Like replacing a swollen cap on a power board in a couple monitors. So I was soldered maybe twice a year. I have two Weller irons and two industrial guns that were my father's, which did the trick for my occasional needs. To be honest, I would probably use them more if they were part of a "station" as they can be unwieldy as a stand-alone unit. But within the past 2 weeks, I've taken an interest in electronics and have been living a steady diet of online courses, electronic books, you-tube videos and breadboard shenanigans. I'm really enjoying diving into the math. I've also spent a lot of time researching this fine forum.So I think it's time to upgrade to a proper soldering platform. Since I'm so new at this, most of my time is going to be taken up with reading and breadboard experimenting and I will likely be putting this soldering platform to light, personal, non-critical hobby use with the occasional personal repair. I've read a bunch on this forum, as well as reviews online of the seemingly endless options. Like anything, I've learned that there is an enormous range of quality and performance between the many options.Someone on this forum echoed an adage of "buy once, cry once", which I agree with in most cases, especially when your livelihood depends on the tool. So before I decide on which tool fits me best, I wanted to bounce it off of you fine folks.I'm struggling to figure out in real terms, what the difference is between a 50-100 dollar unit and a 400+ dollar unit. Are we talking about performance and quality or something else? In other words, does a less expensive unit actually break, catch on fire? Or is it just not as good as the higher price units; for example, duty cycle, consistant output within a certain margin of error, etc. Most reviews I look are very detailed and technical, sometimes over my head.Sorry for the longwinded description of my woes...but I guess my main question would be... I'm going to be using this more than the average Joe, but less than most of you. I want something that has at least good enough quality that it will be usable for at least a few years, but not neccessarily something of heirloom quality. If this catches on in my life, which these things usually do with me, I can always upgrade. Given all of that, in what price range should I be looking?Thanks so much.

author: sn4k3
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 02, 2020, 07:19:25 pm
content: If you want the best for the price go PACE ADS200, it will serve you for many years if not for live. Cant go wrong with it.Of course you can buy cheaper stations like t12 clones or whatever, but this pace wroth all cents and will give you peace of mind and performance as well. You can search for it on forum, lot of coments on it

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2020, 02:41:41 pm
content: If you have old Weller stations a Chinese station may be a backwards step, most of the China soldering stations are knock offs of Hakko 936 or Hakko 951 designs, they go for about $50 upwards. For the genuine article these are the best options in the US:$100 Hakko FX888D (65W) which is an updated digital display version of the Hakko 936. Interface could be better but usable. Tips are $6 or $7 upwards and comes with a tip. Heats up in about 20+ seconds from cold. Japanese company, reliable and well built.$200-$300 Pace ADS200 (120W) this is all you really ever need, twice the power of most designs cheaper. Uses all metal construction station/stand/aluminum handpiece (stays cool while in use). Temperature accuracy to about 1C/2F which is about as accurate as you are going to get. Simple to use interface, easy to read display. Uses cartridge based tips which are easily swapped and have a short working distance, cost $11-$13 for the regular tips. Heats up in about 4+ seconds from cold. Made in the USA reliable and well built, simple to repair.If you decide to buy the Pace ADS200 get "the instant setback version" and you will need to buy at least one cartridge tip with the station.Eevblog members can get a 6% tequipment.net discount code for shopping there.

author: lefty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2020, 07:36:53 pm
content: Excellent. Thank you for your help. The irons I have are actually too small I think. 30 Watt. And they just have a corded plug attached so there's no control over it.

author: mariush
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2020, 09:45:02 pm
content: If you want something a bit cheaper but still OK, there are a lot of clones of the old Hakko 936 and some models derived from that design, which still use the same tips that worked on Hakko 936 and FX 888Newark.com / Farnell / Arrow (same company now) rebrands some soldering soldering from Atten and other companies under their Tenma brand and they sell them cheap, here's some links:34$- 21-19800 - Soldering Station, 24 V, 900°F, 35 Whttps://www.newark.com/tenma/21-19800/temperature-controlled-soldering/dp/84Y9255Cheap, hakko 936 clone with temp. sensor and all that but 35w transformer means a bit slow to reach temperature desired and would be a bit harder to solder very thick wires or stuff that sucks heat from tipok for soldering components on pcbs52$- J-SSA-1 - Soldering Station, Adjustable, 45 W, 110 V, 450 °C Max Temp, Iron Stand, Spongehttps://www.newark.com/ecg/j-ssa-1/solder-station-analog-adjustable/dp/02AH8170Same as above also a hakko 936 clone, but 45w transformer so a bit better80$- 21-10115 - Soldering Station, 110 VAC, 896 °F, 60 W, LCD Display, Solder Iron, Sponge, UShttps://www.newark.com/tenma/21-10115/soldering-station-esd-safe-60w/dp/56T2208Atten rebranded soldering station , super easy to find spare parts on eBay, tips compatible with the hakko 936/ fx888 ones, also tips available on newarkThe 60w transformer should be plenty powerful for any hobbyst and quality wise should be on par with the old hakko 936, maybe close or even to fx 888later edit :: one of the potential benefits buying from them is that you get 1 year or so warranty, so if it dies on you you'd either get a replacement unit or credit and you can pay the difference to a better model.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 03, 2020, 10:57:55 pm
content: Ah sorry I read it as you have two regulated Weller stations, anything is an upgrade in that case. You just need to work out your budget. There is a substantial difference between those two I mentioned.To answer your other question safety. Some cheap Chinese stations can be lacking in quality control, some models exaggerate their power, some have had the mains wired wrong. The darling of the cheap Chinese stations at the moment is the Ksger which is a Chinese clone controller for a T12 tipped handpiece (knock of from Hakko 951) it uses a cheap switched mode power supply (of questionable standard) in a project style box, with or without stand.Some of the Chinese stations look quite stylized now and you can easily buy a Hakko 936 clone for more than the station they are trying to imitate. The Chinese also counterfeit lookalike Hakkos. If you buy genuine Hakko Amazon/Ebay/China are not reliable sources. I suggest never to be fooled by a stations display, aside from being able to see it clearly and use the controls easily it has little do with the performance of the station.Rather than planning to upgrade later just shoot for what you want. Within budget of course, but don't buy cheap tools for the sake of being cheap. You will just end up with a bunch of stuff you don't like later. Budgeting out and planning your workbench/lab etc is a quite rewarding part of the hobby and should be something done over a long time. Along with building your knowledge and the practical application of it.

author: mattej
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 07, 2020, 09:03:07 am
content: If you wanna go cheap and relatively reliable theres Yihua 936, clone of Hakko on hobbyking for less than 20$, whole package with stand and all.KSGER T12 would be my favourite, v2.1s is now really cheap on BG since v3.1 is out. It performs really, really good, but since it's still a cheap chineese equipment, QC is not that high.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2020, 05:07:34 am
content: In America the Hakko 888 is a steal. Power, durability, reliability, tip selection and cost. Can't beat it.The major reason to buy a $400+ station is it does something you need ever so slightly better than the other one. And you need to do this something a bunch of times.

author: lefty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 08, 2020, 02:18:58 pm
content: Thank you very much.

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2020, 01:42:08 am
content: If one of the Weller irons you have is temperature controlled, then I recommend continuing to use it and getting a stand and extra tips if necessary.

author: MarkF
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2020, 02:48:16 am
content: +1 for theHakko FX888DI have had mine for some time now and I'm very happy with it.

author: Grandchuck
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2020, 08:08:14 pm
content: Quote from: MarkF on February 09, 2020, 02:48:16 amSame here.

author: lefty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2020, 10:54:43 pm
content: Thanks to all. I think I'm going with the Hakko 888 based on your input. I think it should serve my needs. I appreciate all the help.The Wellers I have just have a plug coming off them so they are not adjustable whatsoever.

author: FlowMoMcFadden
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 17, 2020, 07:34:50 pm
content: Just wanted to thank the folks, especially the Pace representatives, on this board for the soldering iron recommendations. I needed something better than the the pistol-style Weller gun for some Arduino electronics projects that I'd like to tinker with. Big thanks to TEquipment for the EEVBlog coupon code and the January $20 coupon which I used when purchasing the power supply and all these tips. I wasn't really sure what tips I needed so I went through the catalog and picked out a range of tip sizes and shapes while trying to not duplicate any within the 1130 and 1131 series. Glad to see USA on this stuff too! Keep it up Pace!8007-0579 Pace ADS200 with auto set-back1130-0042-P1 - 1/128 MicroFine Conical (0.25mm)1130-0011-P1 - 1/64" 60° Conical Bevel (0.40mm)1131-0002-P1 - 1/64" Conical Sharp (0.40mm)1131-0003-P1 - 1/64" 30° Conical Sharp Bent (0.40mm)1130-0015-P1 - 1/64" 30° Conical Bent (0.04mm)1131-0001-P1 - 2/64" Conical Sharp Ext. (0.80mm)1130-0035-P1 - Bent MiniWave (2.11mm)1131-0032-P1 - Miniwave (3.05mm)1131-0012-P1 - 2/64" 30° Chisel (0.80mm)1130-0008-P1 - 3/64" 30° Chisel (1.20mm)1130-0016-P1 - 3/64" 30° Bent Chisel (1.20mm)1131-0019-P1 - 4/64" 30° Chisel (1.59mm)1130-0026-P1 - 4/64 30° Bent Chisel (1.59mm)1131-0013-P1 - 6/64" 30° Chisel (2.38mm)1131-0051-P1 - 8/64" 30° Chisel (3.18mm)1131-0010-P1 - 13/64" Chisel (5.15mm)1131-0055-P1 - 16/64" Chisel (6.35mm)1131-0037-P1 - 16/64" Knife Blade (6.35mm)

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2020, 11:25:28 pm
content: Congrats, that is a thorough tip selection. With practice you should be able to get some great results.To both you guys if you are interested in upping your game. Clean tips often by coating them with solder and then removing it with the brass wool or sponge prior to soldering. But leave solder on the tips when they are not in use and clean and coat tips with solder immediately before putting them away.You can get deionized water for the sponge from the hardware or auto store. But don't feel compelled to use it just because it's there. If you clean with the sponge and don't apply fresh solder frequently and reclean, it can have a detrimental effect on the tip. When the tip goes dull gray and doesn't wet well it's a warning sign.

author: lefty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2020, 11:58:50 pm
content: Thanks for the tip.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 18, 2020, 02:54:42 am
content: Quote from: Shock on February 17, 2020, 11:25:28 pm^^^^ this!! People often make the mistake of cleaning the tip after use, before returning it to the stand, but what Shock says here is exactly right.

author: SmallCog
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2020, 12:23:21 am
content: I’ve got a Hakko 888 on my bench at work. It’s a lovely iron and will do anything you want to do. There are undoubtedly better irons on the market but the little Hakko won’t hold you back for serious hobby or mild professional usage.On my home bench I’ve got the ubiquitous Chinese Hakko clone. Mines apparently a YH936C (but the clones apparently get cloned) that I fitted with a genuine Hakko tip. I do through hole and basic SMD stuff with it and it does a great job for less than 40 of our colourful plastic Australian dollars.Go the Hakko if you have the budget. Go clone if you don’t. Don’t go more expensive than the Hakko without a damn good reason.

author: lefty
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2020, 03:42:18 am
content: I ended up going with the 888D from TEquipment. They took care of the tax, shipping and threw in a 1lb roll of solder. Turns out they're only a few hours from me, which makes me pretty comfortable. I haven't used it a lot but have tested it out and I love it. I just wanted to post the disposition on this and didn't want to leave anyone in suspense. Everyone has been very helpful so thank you.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2020, 07:56:33 am
content: Good to hear lefty. It's a very safe and reliable station, I can't even recall the last time anyone reported having a problem with one (aside from not reading the manual that is). There is an option on peoples forum posts marked "say thanks" you can click on that anytime to give feedback as well. Enjoy.

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 23, 2020, 03:10:15 pm
content: Quote from: lefty on February 20, 2020, 03:42:18 amEnjoy your 888D. I had its predecessor, the 936 for about 7 years before I sold it on for a FX-951. I ended up fixing a couple of hundred power supply boards in LCD monitors for work with it and never an issue. Shock is dead on for tip care. OEM Hakko tips will last for years in the hobbyist environment with proper care. I am using brass wool myself and I like it better than the sponge. YMMV. I had a range of tips from .8-3.2 mm and it did everything I needed except soldering PL-259 connectors. For that, I had a small butane torch.