Advice on Hakko FX888D tips? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Hakhak
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 24, 2019, 07:31:26 pm
content: I own a Hakko FX888D which comes with the default T18-D16 tip.Are there any other tips that people find worthwhile / worth having?In particular, is the I shape worthwhile for getting into narrow places / soldering small components? Or a C shape for SMD soldering?I am just trying to get a feel for which tips in particular people have found to actually be useful in practice versus which ones only look good on paper but have practical limitations that make them less worthwhile. For instance I heard the I tip is not great at distributing heat and is generally not worth it, but I don't know how true this is, so I am asking for what others experiences have been with various tips.

author: Cnoob
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2019, 07:43:24 pm
content: The tip I'm currently using and like is the T18-CF2 (2mm)I also have T18-CF1(1mm) T18-CF15(1.5mm) and T18-C4 (4mm)

author: Moriambar
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 24, 2019, 07:47:49 pm
content: If you plan to rework some chips and to desolder some smd parts I would recommend the K tip.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2019, 09:49:49 pm
content: I mostly do SMD. I find the CF tips most useful. I have 'em all. The 2.5mm CF is probably what I consider my default tip. This is what I use for gullwing parts and SMD passives and LEDS and whatnot, and I find it is also fine for most thru hole and wire splicing, too, if you are the kind of person who rather apply flux to the joints than to feed solderwire.I find 2-3mm regular "nekked" C/bevel is the bees knees tip for hand soldering QFNs with side pads. This is a bit niche/specific, though. And my current 2.5mm CF* has worn the chrome on just the right spot where I don't have to hardly use a regular bevel, anymore.Knife tip has few good uses for SMD, particularly rework. It will lay out a ton of heat when you use it along a row of IC pins, so it can be useful for lifting chips with the solder blob chipquik methods. And for removing passives, it will be able to do that without adding any extra solder, in many cases, because it's able to get down to the edge of both pads at once. With the bevels, you often have to add a solder blob.If you're a solderwire feeder, then chisel tips and regular bevel tips are probably where it's at.*actually it's a CSF, S for short... cuz it's shorter/stubbier than the other tips giving it better thermal characteristics; the newer T12 tips have all gotten shorter and stubbier than the 888 tips, since SMD soldering doesn't usually need much reach.I could pretty well do just about anything with just a few tips. CSF25 for almost everything. CF1 or CF15 for tight point to point bodge wiring. Then a regular bevel or chisel or bevelled conical or... well, something hot but not too pointy for thru hole solder-feed jobs like lots of pin headers.So first off, you have to figure out what kind of solderer you are. A feeder or a fluxer. Lots of people are solder feeders. They invent things like hold downs to hold parts in place while they solder them. They use third hands and special vices and stuff like that. They have 15 different sizes of solderwire. Some of these folks think liquid/gel flux is a scam to part dummies from their money, and that the flux in the solder is all you ever need. Feeders tend to like nice concave filets. They find this to be very important for esthetics and functionality. The electrons flow better this way. They consider every joint a masterpiece of attention and detail. Drag soldering is the devil. Every feeder needs to have a bunch of chisels and an extensive collection of long pointy I and B tips plus the requisite pointy bent conical for "reach" and "precision."If you're a fluxer, you might want to try some bevels and CF bevels for SMD stuff.

author: Hakhak
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: February 25, 2019, 10:47:31 pm
content: I'm somewhat new to the hobby so I'm interested in learning both approaches and becoming familiar with both sides of the coin.In my case I think my Hakko FX888D only works with the T18 series as opposed to the T12:http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fx888d_tips.html#productNavShape BC/C, B, D, I, J, KI'm not sure yet what's considered "regular" so I'm just trying to get a sense for which of these would be the best picks.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2019, 10:56:48 pm
content: Well, for a noob hobbyist, you probably will be using your share of veroboard and protoboard and thru holes parts and a lot of bodge wires. You are gonna need some reach and visibility. So smaller tips will be useful.If you want to try on the flux and CF tip, I suggest 1.5 to 2mm. diameter. The CF15 and/or CF2. And you will want to buy some flux.For solder feed, suggest C1, C2, D2 is a decent place to start. The blunter B/conical is nice to start, too, if you're eyes aren't super great and you don't have good magnification. The orientation of chisels and bevels, you might not be able to see so good.If you get more experience and a microscope, you'll feel fine with larger tips, if you use adequate flux. Esp if/when you work more with PCBs. You can give up the visibility factor and margin for error for better thermal performance* and larger solder reservoir. You can comfortably maneuver a bull through a china shop.*Thermal performance. This is a funny thing. A tiny, pointy tip will work fine, it's just that you get more thermal drop/loss. The practical drawback is that you have to turn your temps up. And when you're NOT soldering a joint, the temp of the solder on the tip rises higher. And this burns out the flux faster, leaving a dry solder blob that has no surface tension and flow and thus does not behave well/predictably. So you have to clean/retin the tip more often. (And the tip might not last as long, but that's a remote secondary concern, IMO).