Wanted: Hot tweezers with a variety of tips - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: img
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 08:53:21 am
content: I am looking for reasonably priced, possibly Chinese, hot tweezers, for which a wide variety of soic and qfp tips are available. Alternatively, an ordinary soldering iron with the above-mentioned tips will do too.Thank you.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 01:13:02 pm
content: For soic and QFP you are better off with a hot-air station like the Atten 858D. Ayoeu has a cheap soldering station with tweezers. I have it and the tips are utter crap. Since its a hakko clone I might buy original Hakko tips but on the other hand my hot-air station works so well on any SMD part I don't really need the tweezers.

author: img
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 01:19:15 pm
content: Sure, hot air (carefully used) works with little chance of damaging the components. Chipquik with a preheater is even safer and is currently my method of choice.But if, say, an attractive Thermotweez TT-65 tip set becomes available, i will still be very interested.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 07:49:24 pm
content: Revealing your location might help with this, particularly if someone has a unit they'd be willing to part with IMHO.

author: img
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 07:52:40 pm
content: Quote from: nanofrog on March 31, 2013, 07:49:24 pmUKOh yes, let me say, just in case, that finding hot tweezers is very easy, it's finding hot tweezers with a wide variety of reasonably affordable tips that is nontrivial.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 08:09:08 pm
content: Quote from: img on March 31, 2013, 07:52:40 pmAssuming new, and a decent brand, you could contactwww.dancap.co.ukabout a Hakko tweezer station (not listed on their site, but they're an authorized distributor). Another one to consider, might be an Ersa Chip Tool (http://www.ersa.com/art-0450mdj-358-1737.html), which works with the iCon series from what I understand. JBC of course, but that's likely the most expensive (might want to look atwww.Janelonline.comfor JBC; they're a US site, but carry the 230V versions and ship overseas).Since you mention Chinese however, I presume your budget is fairly tight. Assuming this is correct, then used via eBay or similar sites would make the most sense IMHO (assuming there's not a UK or EU member willing to part with one at the right price).Sorry I can't be of more help.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 08:15:07 pm
content: I've got at least one JBC Microtweezer station PA-2A that I'm looking to sell, however I have no bits for it.Bits are readily available, but like anything from JBC, they're not cheap

author: img
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 08:23:25 pm
content: Quote from: nanofrog on March 31, 2013, 08:09:08 pmNah, you're great, as always .Here is the situation. I have my Pace Thermotweez, and it's going strong. I also have a spare Thermotweez that I got from rubbish and repaired. Power supply is OK, there are enough Sensatemp boxes on offer in the UK pretty regularly.The problem is tips that are very expensive new and aren't available used. This used to spoil my mood quite a bit, but ever since I got a mega-pack of Chip quik the urgency has virtually disappeared, but the desire is still there somewhere.If I go for JBC or Ersa, it means investing in another major manufacturer's kit, and the situation there is likely to be the same: common tips widely available, specialised tips available only new and are very expensive.When I allowed for Chinese manufacturers, I meant someone of the caliber of Quick. A lesser firm in a hurry to make a quick buck will not bother copying intricate tips that aren't widely used by budget-minded hobbyists, and therefore will not be easy to sell in large quantities.So that's the current situation....

author: img
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 08:26:04 pm
content: Quote from: KJDS on March 31, 2013, 08:15:07 pmQuite a common situation, this.Your little Oki is doing VERY well here though!PS: Is there a place I can see your stuff for sale? Looks like many interesting things aren't on ebay.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 09:15:46 pm
content: Quote from: img on March 31, 2013, 08:26:04 pmI've got huge piles of stuff that need sorting, testing and putting on ebay. I'm concentrating on high value items that I have a lot off, such as the signal generators and vector signal analyzers but I'll be putting the rest up on ebay when I've got some spare time.I do still have some metcal kit available, and a few JBC units, as well as some interesting little EMC cell faraday cages for testing low noise RF equipment. I've got a big pile of Hitachi V522 scopes that need fixing, assorted kikusui scopes that I've not even plugged in yet and assorted microscopes and related bits that need sorting out. I've also got circuit boards for RF LNAs and high power amps, both aimed at being set up to work anywhere between a few 100MHz and a few GHz that I've barely started testing. I also need to get my load pull test set up working properly. I really need to clone myself but for now I'll get round to most things in the next few months, providing I don't buy yet more stock, but I always need more stock to keep the business running.Still, it stops me getting bored.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 09:16:14 pm
content: Quote from: img on March 31, 2013, 08:23:25 pmThat makes sense, but given the cost of a new station just for tweezers that will perform as necessary, perhaps a largish order (reduce the shipping per tip) of the profiles you're after would make better sense than something of unknown quality/reliability?I say this, as I don't have much confidence in what I've seen of the Chinese soldering equipment in general, and the tweezers seem crude to me. As per Quick, I've no idea.Assuming you mean profiles such as tunnel, square, rectangular, they're rather expensive here too. Not sure what those tips go for in the UK, so it may not be financially viable. Thus it come back to either Chinese unit or a good quality used model (unfortunately, tip profiles would probably still be on the pricey side regardless if they aren't included with a used model).

author: img
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 09:50:45 pm
content: Yes, very true.Thus, for now the most viable option seems to be Chip Quik + patience.As for China, they have very good kit there. When I visited I was quite amazed at both the variety and the quality. It's just we get cr*p here in the West.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 31, 2013, 11:01:03 pm
content: Quote from: img on March 31, 2013, 09:50:45 pmI don't doubt they could, even if they didn't (have seen good stuff, just not soldering stations). And I'd like to see the good quality stuff make its way to the West (I don't like crap, regardless of where it comes from, as I see it as money and resources thrown away).

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2013, 01:25:19 am
content: Quote from: img on March 31, 2013, 09:50:45 pmAhum. We only want to pay for crap in the west and 'England near the south pole'. The good stuff gets rebadged and sold as Ersa, Hakko, JBC, etc.

author: nanofrog
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2013, 02:05:51 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on April 01, 2013, 01:25:19 amRebadged?They're not companies such as Zhongdi, who'll put any name a large buyer wants on it."Mr. Lo, I'll take 10k units with the attached 'Won Hunka Crap 2000' label artwork." %-B

author: img
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 01, 2013, 08:04:27 am
content: Getting well-made things from China is possible only if you are there in person, whereby you actually see what you are buying beforehand. Otherwise, there are just too many crooks there.As for us wanting to pay peanuts, I disagree. There is a visible gap between a soldering station for £20 and one for £280, and an intelligent manufacturer could position themselves strategically. In some sense Hakko did this, but their prices are quite insane for the really good items, in which case we might as well get Pace or JBC.