I’ve been using a Velleman VTSS5U 50wt iron for about 20 years.
I do a decent amount of soldering. From airsoft guns, bicycle lights, e-bike work, etc.
It’s been quite a while since I’ve built flashlights, but recently got bit by the bug again.
I’m looking to build a handful of P60 dropins and a few new flashlights with more current tech. When I last built a flashlight, the XML was brand new technology.
I always struggled with soldering drivers to pills, as well as super heavy guage wire on lipo batteries, etc.
I’m looking to up my game.
I don’t know a ton about the wiz bang stations, but am wanting something more powerful and faster to heat up.
I’m looking to spend around $150 max, but am slightly flexible.
Is 75 watts enough?
I was looking at the Hakko FX888DX.
I’ve got one, in my limited experience with soldering irons (plug in mains type, the Hakko, and a Pinecil) I can say it’s a nice enough unit; soldering performance when compared to the pinecil is similar, but I find the ergonomics (particularly the iron grip and the stand) superior on the Hakko.
I’m not sure it’s got the oomph for joins which wick the heat away rapidly, I’ve always struggled with soldering drivers to pills but just about managed it with either iron (clean the surfaces well, tin, use lots of flux, use highest temp setting).
Despite superior user experience with the Hakko, my Pinecil gets most use as it’s more portable and easy to get out - I don’t have a dedicated workbench.
I’ve been using the Hakko 888 (analog version) for ~15 years with great, repeatable results. Although I rarely solder anymore, I appreciate how quickly this 65-watt unit heats up and cools down. Making sure to regularly clean & tin the few tips I prefer, I never have issues.
While Hakko’s products are generally more expensive, they are top-of-the-line for hobbyist soldering and worth the premium in my opinion.
That FNIRSI station looks like a solid alternative at roughly the same price. And YIHUA seems to be a popular brand on Amazon, but trying to choose from the billion different models they offer would be a headache, lol. Good luck!
In my opinion one shouldn’t buy an iron with last century technology like the FX888DX, that is with a separate heating element and tip which means poor heat transfert to the tip.
Modern soldering irons use a cartridge system in which the heating element and tip is one piece, making the tip able to transfert significantly more power to the working area, without having to crank up the temperature very high and the issues that causes (burning flux making it ineffective , fast ageing of the tips). This is especially more important for us on BLF who often solder on MCPCBs
There are several cartridge systems like Hakko T12/T15, JBC C245 (and other sizes), Pace TD-200…etc, the official stations that use those systems are out of your price range though, so the options are limited to Chinese irons/stations using those cartridges systems (or others).
The best of Chinese stations on the market are the ones that use the JBC cartridge system (like the Fnirsi you linked), simply because they make the best cartridges outside of maybe Metcal with their induction heating.
I think one of the most recommended one lately is the Geeboon TC22 (with C245 cartridges). @Bob_McBob bought one recently to replace his Pace ADS200 plus and consider it an upgrade even using the geeboon C245 cartridges. I’ve used these cartridges too with my Axxsolder (an opensource station for JBC system), and they’re comparable in performance with the genuine JBC C245, which is not always the case with C245 clones, for example the cartridges that I received with my Aixun T3A aren’t very good, the station itself is very noisy and has a significant current leakage from tip to ground so I wouldn’t recommend this one at all.
Thanks for all the info. It’s a great help. I’m gonna give the FNIRSI DWS-200 a try. It seems to get good reviews. The few bad ones it has are generally that people received the wrong iron, and the seller is very responsive with issues. I’ll report back after I’ve used it a bit.
Yes, I’ve got the AiXun and it’s awesome- plus from AliExpress it’s excellent value. Definitely also get the smart iron holder if you buy it- the iron automatically goes to sleep when placed into the holder and heats straight away when lifted to be used again.
I’ve been soldering since the late 1980’s using expensive soldering stations where I worked. They all used the heater element built into the handle with removable tips. The AiXun set up with the element in the tips is so much quicker to heat up - literally a couple of seconds like they claim. And the amount of heat they can get into the joint is impressive for the size of the iron. There’s no lag between the tip getting cool before the station detects it and reheats.
The tips are dearer but if you look after them they will last for years.
I’ve been pretty happy with my Bakon 950D clone, it’s not as compact as something like a Pinecel but it takes up very little space works good enough for mcpcbs. I’m still using the same T12 tip for about 6 years now. You don’t need to go above $50 to get a decent soldering iron.
So amazon lost the package for the FNIRSI station I had ordered. It was supposed to be delivered a few days ago. The order was cancelled and I went to order another one, but they jacked the price up to $159 which kinda pissed me off. So I ordered a YIHUA 982D SE 200W station. I got the one that comes with 210 & 245 irons here…Amazon.com
I’ll report back after I’ve used it a bit.
Thanks again for all your help.
I received the Yihua 982D SE today.
I can’t believe I waited this long to do an upgrade.
It came with a generous selection of tips.
I did a little soldering on a fixed lighting project I’m working on.
This thing heats up extremely fast.
A couple seconds from standby mode and it’s ready to use.
If it holds up well, I’ll be a very happy camper.
I fully agree on this! Untill last year I was also still using an old (style) soldering station with a separate heating element and tip. I impulsively bought a cheap (usb) soldering iron on Aliexpress, an Aneng SL109 for € 14,29 (just because it was so cheap at that time) and it was my first experience with a cartridge system soldering iron and it instantly made me realize how outdated/infirior my old soldering station was, even against such a cheap USB soldering iron.
So there was no way back anymore and had to switch to a modern soldering station.
In the end I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go (yet) for the more ‘hobby-enthousiast’ category of 100/125+ euro, given my current limited use, so I decided to go for (a more affordable) step below that.
In the end I picked up an AIFEN A9ED with C245 handle/cartridges, which was on sale and after discounts came down to € 65,90. (I also considered the older, and somewhat cheaper, A9E version, but the newer A9ED version had some advantages and the price difference was pretty limited.)
The EEVblog(.com) forum also was an interesting source for experiences and (usefull) information on certain brands/types of soldering stations.
If anyone from EU is looking for a decent station for not a ton of money i can recommend a Yato YT-82462 soldering station. It uses T12 tips, with heating element integrated into them. I’ve been using this one for last 6 months for flashlight mods, various repairs like car fobs, e-bikes, electric scooters etc. It’s been working great. It comes with 4 different tips in te box, and for the money (~200 PLN, which is about 47 Euro) for an occasional user i think it is more than enough. Short distance from handle to the soldering tip, cools down when you put it away, and heats up when you pick it up. It takes like 3 seconds to be at operating temperature again. Highly reccomended!
I’ve done a fair bit of soldering with the new Yihua 982D SE over the last week.
It’s a game changer for me. Especially coming from an outdated 50wt station.
One of the things I struggled with the most with my old iron was soldering drivers to pills.
This new station eats them up. I’ve done a few pills now, using the t245 medium wedge tip, using between 805f and 825f temps. Pill heats up fast and solder sticks like I’ve never been able to get it to, without killing the driver.
On the first pill I did, I tested preheating the pill on my reflow hot plate to around 125c, but I don’t think it is needed.
Using the t210 small blade tip, stacking 7135 chips is easy work.
I appreciate everyone’s input and guidance. It’s been very helpful.
