I need a new soldering iron, what should I get?

[Casey Fulton]

I've been considering getting a new iron for a while, and was considering something along the lines of this:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/YIHUA-995D-soldering-station-used-for-motherboard-repair-tool/401349_1794837776.html

Has anyone had any experience with these? They seem to be the "best of the cheapest", and are pretty heavily used by iPhone/PC repair folk in China.

Cheers,

Casey

[Steven Pickles]

I was happy with our first YIHUA 936 iron at hackerspace until the more experienced members started endlessly criticising it. However, a lot of my life has been about getting good/ok results from crappy/cheap tools.

pix

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[Casey Fulton]

This concerns me. I've recently called a moratorium on buying cheap tools, because for the first time in my life I can actually afford the better options.

Any suggestions on what to get? Hakko? Where do you buy them from?

[tony onofrio]

If you're looking for Hakko.  Element 14, Mektronics, and Oritech have the FX888D.  It's Hakko's basic unit.   Mektronics has the cheapest, all are free delivery. (NB I've not dealt with Mektronics or Oritech).  I'll also have a look at which Hakko Flinders is using tomorrow night, just for reference.

http://au.element14.com/hakko/fx-888d/soldering-station-digital-70w/dp/2280753

http://www.mektronics.com.au/hakko-fx888d-digital-soldering-station.html

http://oritech.com.au/productDetail.aspx?productID=45894

[Steven Pickles]

The Hakko at Hackerspace in the city is from Mektronics.

pix

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[Dale H]

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On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 10:39:22 +1030
Casey Fulton <ca...@caseyfulton.com> wrote:

> This concerns me. I've recently called a moratorium on buying cheap tools,
> because for the first time in my life I can actually afford the better
> options.
>
> Any suggestions on what to get? Hakko? Where do you buy them from?
>

I recommend any Hakko stuff from Mektronics, I get most my solder and
stuff like that from Mektronics, easy crowd to deal with. only thing
though cause they use courier service no PO Box has to go to business
or home address.

as for the iron to get well that completely up to wwhat you want to use
it for, basic - intermediate soldering go with the FX888D which is
about $180, and it free shipping cause over $150.

anyways have a look
http://www.mektronics.com.au/soldering-rework/hakko-stations-irons.html

Also they only deal with genuine Hakko, ie Hakko direct.

so I hope that helps

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[Damian Kleiss]

I purchased all the Hakko equipment for Flinders from Darren Cox from Mektronics. He is very good to deal with. We use the Hakko FX-951's. If I remember correctly they do not come with a tip, so make sure you order tips when you order the iron. Feel free to drop into Tonsley and you can try the FX-951 and some different tips.

Damian

[Steven Pickles]

By the way, the cheap YiHUA 936 that Hackerspace had originally was something like $16 which might be a whole new category of cheap tool.

But no one ever got fired for buying a Hakko ;)

pix

[Damien P]

On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 10:19:25 AM UTC+10:30, Casey Fulton wrote:

I've been considering getting a new iron for a while, and was considering something along the lines of this:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/YIHUA-995D-soldering-station-used-for-motherboard-repair-tool/401349_1794837776.html

Here's a similar iron, available locally for a similar price:

http://au.element14.com/206263301

I've never seen or used one, so this isn't a recommendation!

[Jorn]

I realise most people believe they need to buy Hakko, Weller or Metcal to get a good Soldering Station but the reality is anything with temperature control, a good tip and a decent wattage will serve very well.

For the last 3 years I've been using a Highlight 852+ Rework station.
http://highlightelectronics.com.au/products.php?product=2-in-1-Hot-Air-Digital-Soldering-Rework-Station-4-SMD

I've been very pleased with mine as I never thought I'd be able to afford a rework station at home, they were well over $1000 when I started in electronics. This unit is widely used by the PSX/XBox repair shops for doing the BGA repairs that have plagued the industry since the adoption of lead free solder. Mine uses Hakko style tips and has been a perfectly reliable tool.

I actually have a couple of them new in the box. My previous place of work gave them to me in leiu of wages.

If anybody is interested I'd be happy to sell them for $140ea with a 12 month repair/return warranty.

Jorn

PS: Whichever one you get just be VERY careful to not make the newby hot air tool mistake of having the heat on without the air. That can cause overload in cheap tools and burn out the element. My 852+ has a magnetic switch cutoff to prevent that, some other machines, even some of the better Yihua units don't.

On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 10:19:25 AM UTC+10:30, Casey Fulton wrote:

[Cary Dreelan]

I’ll throw in my 2c as well.

I bought the following Tenma combination soldering iron and hot air rework station:

http://au.element14.com/tenma/21-10130-uk-eu/rework-station-900w-220v-uk-eu/dp/206263301

I haven’t used it extensively yet, but so far, I’ve been happy with it. I think I got it cheaper than that though, when they had a special on.

--
Cary Dreelan
ca...@active-ideas.com.au

[Jorn]

That Tenma looks like an updated version of my 852+. It's got LCD's instead of LED
 but the iron and hot air tool are identical.

Did it come with 3 hot air nozzles and an IC lifting tool ?

Jorn

[Cary Dreelan]

Yes it came with 3 different size air nozzles. I don’t remember an IC lifting tool though. Just one soldering tip, but I bought a couple of other ones with it as well, for different types of jobs.

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