TrakPower TK-950 soldering station worth it? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Electrospark
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 05, 2016, 05:12:12 am
content: Hey everyone! New member here.I bought a Chinese knock off 60W variable temp soldering iron for $15CAD and used it intensively for more than a year now and the end of the part holding the tip just started to rust away and doesn't hold the tip in place anymore.Needless to say, I have enough of this and want to get a decent soldering iron, I was planning to get the Hakko FX888D as you can't get the analog knob model anymore but it's only available online from the US and comes up to $180-200CAD with the shipping which is way too expensive.I can get the TrackPower TK-950 (TeamCheckpoint TC-950 is basically the same one but the older version) for $130CAD with a 5 years warranty at my local store, it seem like a clone of the Hakko 936 but what kind of quality is it? Perhaps like the Yihua?If you guys know anything about it or any other recommendations on soldering stations I can get for around the same price with better quality in Canada, it'd be great!I do a lot of soldering through hole only for now and I also do a lot of desoldering, this is how I get most of my electronic components so I need a soldering station that will last me for a while and that doesn't smell like a Chinese knock off out of the box.Sorry for the wall of text.-Electrospark

author: TechItApart
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 09, 2016, 04:33:16 pm
content: I don't think the TrakPower looks any good, not that I've ever heard of it or used one but it does seem like a Chinese clone.I had a quick look on Amazon.ca and you can get a pretty nice analog Weller for under $120. Although this iron isn't perfect it is at least well made. If you can find an ERSA iron that would be fantastic (popular in Europe) or maybe a used Metcal or PACE iron? Those things are bulletproof.http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B000BRC2XU/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1455035287&sr=8-2&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=soldering+station&dpPl=1&dpID=41WVs6AdNqL&ref=plSrch

author: GreyWoolfe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 01:33:47 pm
content: for $136cn you can get a Hakko FX-888Dhttp://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_7?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=hakko+fx888d&sprefix=hakko+fx888d%2Caps%2C151Weller tips can be a bit dodgy depending on country of manufacture. Hakko OEM bought from an authorized dealer are solid tips that last a very long time provided they are well cared for.Take what I say with a grain of salt. I have never owned a Weller. I have owned a Hakko 936 and currently own a Hakko FX-951 and a Metcal MX500P

author: rrinker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 10, 2016, 05:30:54 pm
content: Something I noticed here, there seems to be no love for Xytronics soldering equipment. I have an older 'analog' control (no digital display, just a knob) 369 that I paid a whole $45 USD for and it's been perfectly solid the 7 years I've had it. I use it as much of not more for model railroad stuff as I do for electronics, although not daily in some sort of production mode. If I need another station I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Xytronics.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2016, 07:51:25 am
content: QuoteYeah, this is a bummer. I have quite a collection of T18 tips for my FX888, and I need to buy a second station for a project on site. I've been planning to buy an 888D for awhile, now, and today I finally took a good look at one (online pic) and was astonished to see the controls. Two buttons... one marked "up." So far so good. The other "Enter."Changing temperature :1. press and hold "enter" for 1 second...2. are you still talking? I'm not listening.I bought one anyway. I guess I'll just have to program in a couple of presets until I can figure out how to fix this defect.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 20, 2016, 12:58:36 am
content: It's worse than I thought. To change between presets:1.Press up once to enter the preset menu. Which is so weird, because pressing up doesn't do anything else in the default "mode"... I can't see the point of this. This is like pressing up just to verify that you are going to press up, again, for reals this time.2.Then press up, again, to cycle to the next preset.3.Then press enter. (The station doesn't automatically accept the new setting after, say, 1 second of no further up presses. It will simply stay in the select mode indefinitely, in case after an hour of this you are still deciding which of your 5 presets you want to select from; how thoughtful.)So to go up by 3 settings, you would have to press up four times, then enter. Of course this is simple algebra, where N up presses = what you really want to increment +1, (and then ENTER). Unless you are going down, in which case it is N up presses = well, maybe a mathematician can figure out this equation. Hmm, # up presses = [max presets] +1 - [#of presets you wish to decrement], (and then ENTER). That might be second nature to Rainman.And after you change to a different preset, there is a zone of unresponsiveness which you will have to wait out if you made a mistake and want to change to a different preset.That's minimally 3 button presses to change between presets, and that's only if you are going up one. With 5 presets, it would take 6 button presses to go down by one, and you would probably have to look at the display while doing it.Also, if you manually change temperature for some reason, it is automatically saved to your current preset. So manually doing something just for a one time event, you have to change the temp back after (requiring probably 6-12 button presses and a HOLD to change temp manually, each way), or you have to cycle to your "temporary preset" before you start to fiddle with the temperature. So if you thought you were going to use just 2 presets to simplify the preset selection algorithm, and manually adjusting when really needed, well, think again.Actually, this is excellent for the fix I am (eventually, when I have time) going to make, but I am shocked with the way this station is designed to work, by default.