FX-951 tips recommendations - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Kerkana
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 30, 2023, 07:30:19 am
content: Hello,I wanted to buy an FX-951, I always used B2 tips, I wanted to know if you think it's a good choice or if you have any recommendationsI do a bit of everything, SMD, whether it's chips and capacitors, resistors... But also through-hole components like large capacitors etc.Do you think the B2 + a chisel tip is a good choice?Thanks

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2023, 11:35:21 pm
content: T12-B2 is a conical tip, most people here are not big fans of conical. Generally recommended is a chisel like T12-D16.What I would do is buy a variety of clone tips (knife, small chisel, big chisel, hoof, etc). Once you figured out which tip you like to use 90% of the time, buy the genuine version of that tip.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 12:25:10 am
content: I'd look at BC2 and BC3 for regular through hole and C4 for bigger things.

author: DavidAlfa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 01:15:05 am
content: Conical tips are just crap, the flat ones work great.Ultrathin tips are only ok for repairing extremely small things, like traces on a phone, they won't transfer enough heat to solder anything properly.D08 for small parts.KU works great for drag soldering.D16 for medium pads.DL32 D52 for heavy stuff.

author: John B
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 01:35:27 am
content: I use a D16 from 0603 components, to soldering the tabs of TO-220s.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 07:28:37 am
content: Chisels are ideal for through hole and larger smd as appropriately sized tips have more surface contact area with the pad than bevels or conical. Once you get down to finer sizes (below 1mm) it's almost conical by shape, so less of a difference there.As you can see in the image at least two different size chisels would be needed (for this specific board) as the large one is twice the size of the smd. Alternately a chisel and a reasonably sized conical on the smd could work, myself I have a set of different sized chisels.

author: Kerkana
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 08:19:00 am
content: Do you think clone tips will damage my FX-951?When you say chisel do you mean beveled? Because in your photos it looks like beveled

author: John B
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 09:07:27 am
content: The genuine tips are very long lasting when you look after them (lowest usable temp and tin the tip with fresh solder after use).I would buy a genuine D16 tip, you'll probably still have the same tip in the handpiece years from now.I have purchased the Hakko tip kit in the past, but I haven't even used some of them, and used the larger chisel tip only a handful of times.

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 03:32:10 pm
content: Quote from: Kerkana on August 01, 2023, 08:19:00 amWhere is that photo from? They seem to have chisel and beveled interchanged. The one they call 'chisel' is what I (and Hakko AFAIK) call a bevelled conical or just bevel.https://hakkousa.com/t18-c2-bevel-tip.html

author: Veteran68
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 05:30:32 pm
content: Yeah that photo looks wrong. I agree that I'm used to a chisel having a double bevel on each side, while a tip like the BC2 or BC3 (shown here as "beveled") has a single bevel. Typically the BC tips also will have a well or depression in the bevel to hold a small reserve of solder, handy for drag soldering.The tip I find myself leaving on my ADS200 and using most often is a small chisel tip, maybe 2-3mm wide, but I have a variety of tips including multiple sizes of knife, bevel, and chisel, as well as a bent conical, which I do find handy at times as opposed to a straight conical.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 06:14:46 pm
content: The Wave/Flow/Gullwing (named after Gullwing smd legs) tips have a cupped reservoir to hold solder for flow/drag soldering.Extra wide Chisels (not shown) are generally called Blades and used to solder multiple pins or clean BGA pads.The Knife Blade tip is multipurpose. Good for rework to solder fine joints using the very tip and clear solder bridges. The broad edge can pickup solder and perform drag or fine pitched soldering of through hole pins. The upside is it's a very thermally efficient and flexible tip. The downside is when you aren't flow/drag soldering or using the point it's less flexible than a selection of different chisel sizes.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2023, 07:13:21 pm
content: Hakko's BCM tips likely mean Beveled Conical Miniwave. In other words a conical tip which has a beveled edge with a reservoir for drag soldering.This Pace ADS200 video shows how they work. The tip in use is a Angled Miniwave. Bent/Angled tips allow either more comfort/access or a lower contact angle which increases wetting performance.

author: donlisms
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2023, 05:08:39 pm
content: Just as a parenthetical comment... those sets of 10 of the T12-style tips are very tempting, and I would understand if someone on a very tight budget went that way. My experience was that several from the set were broken and the rest were unstable and flaky. I'd rather have two genuine Hakko's (T15) than 20 of those!And in general, I vote for the chisels, hopefully three or four sizes, for most stuff from SMD to THT and big audio connectors.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2023, 09:10:38 pm
content: I agree, compromising on the tips doesn't make much sense.