That looks good NeutralFan. :+1:
What is the roller in the picture for??
EDIT: ā¦ Nevermind, I found it when I clicked the link. It holds a roll of solder. 
I kept the solder roll holder in the box since I donāt have a big roll of solder. It is attached to the soldering iron holder with 2 screws. It also takes up less space on my workbench without it.
/\\\\
Makes perfect senseā¦ :+1:
NeutralFan, Congrats. Looks like a sweet soldering station 
I might end up buying one because it looks so cool.
Does anyone have experience with these pen-style irons?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CXG-C110W-Thermostat-Soledering-Staiton-C9-Iron-tip-LCD-Digital-Display-Electric-Soldering-Irons-European-Plug/32812151795.html
On paper looks great. Powerful, temperature-regulated, cheap, compact.
Itās just that something tells me thereās a reason why the recommended stations tend to come with that lumpy boxā¦
Agro,
I bought the Hakko FX-888 a couple years ago. More than the one you showed, but IMO very worth it. And the build quality is proven.
Iād only pick one of those cheap ones as a secondary or something to use in the garage. If itās actually 110w, it might be useful for car work.
I have the 936 Hakko clone and couldnāt be happier. Super reliable, compatible with other handles and tips as well (but nothing broke so far, letās hope itāll stay like this). I believe I paid 22GBP back in the day, including shipping (the Pound Sterling was worth more a long time ago 
)
I have a Yihua ā50Wā. A similar was independently tested to be 40W actually. Overall itās good, but sometimes itās simply too weak, I get real troubles with brass pills and batteries. I tried to compensate by buying a super-fat tip and low-temperature solder wire. So far I donāt have something that works for me. I still havenāt tried everything in that department yet (and actually have some stuff on the way), but I think it would be best to solve the root cause and just get more heat to that tip.
Nowā¦I donāt want to buy another station. Mine wasnāt expensive, but considering how little I use it, it definitely wasnāt cheap. And itās nearly new.
I havenāt found a way to replace the heating element; there are too many to pick from.
So Iām contemplating getting something else, though Iād rather avoid it.
Probably not a 936 clone. From what Iāve seen the best ones have sustained 50W (100W at startup, but quickly going down). The improvement-to-cost is simply not good enough.
And not a brand station. These are simply too expensive for my needs.
Maybe unregulated? That option is on the table.
Surfing the web, I have accidentally found a variant of what Iāve shown above.
On paper, this one simply looks greatā¦but Iām not willing to take a significant risk of getting junk which it may be really.
The clone stations have different power ratings. Mine has 60W, which is better than 45W, but still not that great. An S2+ brass pill is fine, but probably not if the item is much larger or wicks away heat quickly (large amounts of copper i.e.).
I also have a blow torch, so if everything fails Iāll put that to use
. . I like the way you think!!! . :+1:
I have two Yihua clonesāā It makes a big difference if youāre using Hakko tipsāAlso if you are soldering copper pills make sure you have a large flat tip to transfer more heatā-Big copper pills (P60) are obviously gonna take time to heat up
I got this one several months ago & it does what I need it to do so far.
Since this thread is still going I will add my station to itā¦I have the Weller WX1012 and love it!!
https://www.amazon.ca/Weller-WX1012-Powered-Digital-Soldering/dp/B005N712Y8
I have a 937D clone and i solder to brass pills all the time. I usually set the temp really high at 400+ degrees Celsius and i use a spade style tip.
I actually found a problem with the last solder wire i bought from Ebay its so crap it doesnāt flow very well compared to my old one. I scraped it and bought another one. Its melting point is bad and it doesnāt adhere to the surface well. Maybe a few people are having solder problems?
I bought a couple of these Soldering Iron Stands recentlyā-All metal heavy with adjustable angle for ironādoesnāt move around like the plastic onesāI grabbed a couple to make the free shipping limitāworth every penny
I have an old weller station and a few nice weller pencils but Iād like to upgrade to newer station.
First was looking at these:
Then considering this:
Now looking at this,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/YIHUA-2in1-Soldering-Solder-Station-SMD-Rework-Iron-with-Hot-Air-Gun-8786D-220V/202270331088?hash=item2f184050d0:g:BvQAAOSwh41atlog
EDIT: Link is for 220v version - wouldnāt work for me. (thanks klrman for pointing it out)
There is a 100v version but these are around $80-$90, was probably a scammer listing, seems like too good of price (and seller has 0 feedback)
Iād still like to know if the Hot Air Gun be useful?
Yes Iām in the US, didnāt catch that thanks, bummer though. I think. Donāt know if the Hot Air would be useful.
These are $80-$90 from China, (110v version $84.99) gotta be something shaky with that listing/seller.
I deleted my post as someone tested it here at BLF, so I thought maybe it does work at 110V? https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/27779
I was wondering where it went!
No thereās also a 100v version, thatās whatās in that review. But it isnāt $20 bucks, probably scammer listing.
Yeah, I'm quick at deleting but you were even quicker this time around 
Must be a scam, or, since the seller is from Canada, maybe he ordered the wrong one
at 220V and wants to offload it.