Soldering station

[mandor]

Hello. Must be tons of these posts, but please forgive me for this one.
I have a soldering iron Weller WHS40 from my school days. Looking to replace that one.
Now, i stumbled upon this https://www.batterfly.com/shop/hakko-fx889-st
I hear that hakko should be good and even hakko ripoffs ore ok.
What i mind about the Weller is poor thermal capacity, lower power and tip held in place by one screw from the side.
This is quite a lot of money for a amateur like me, but i would really like to buy something decent, so any comments are welcome.

Thank you!

p.s. I'm in Europe.

[Rolo]

Do you really need the tweezer iron? If not the HAKKO FX-888D could do the job fine.
I would recommend to buy original Hakko stuf. Select a few original tips with it and it will serve you many years.

[mandor]

Is hakko in general worth it over my Weller? Is it a good improvement?
Is it the same soldering iron with just different station?

[mandor]

I thought this italian store would be good. They want 50€ for shipping. Well, that is just awful. And that price was without VAT sooo...
There was some German site, but they only deliver to Austria, Netherlands, Belgium...
Any other suggestions?

[kalel]

Some people recommend TS100 and TS100 clones (possibly) from China. You could take a look at some YT reviews and see how you like it. It's supposed to be good, but I do not own it. In fact, your Weller is better than anything I have (and I assume is a really decent iron).

[flolic]

Just buy some T12 clone soldering station (kit) from China. They are available on Aliexpress from 20 up to 100USD, depending of variant.

[mandor]

I'm not sure about the clones. Did you notice what I don't like about my weller?

[flolic]

Yes. T12 soldering stations should be miles ahead your old Weller.
I have this one on order, will compare it to my JBC when it arrive:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/T12-KU-ILS-B2-BC2-STM32-2-1S-OLED-Station-Case-Electronic-Soldering-Iron-220v-70w/32788177785.html

[Belrmar]

I would reccomend you to make your own soldering station, there are some pretty cool proyects around the web

[mandor]

Well, i was hoping for specific suggestions. I can make my own, of cousrse. But what type and which components?

[X10an]

I can warmly recoment the TS100, one leather (faux) toilet bag, one 6s 5000mAh LiPo, some different tips, suitable cable(30cm)/connectors and a good stand for the sponge and iron. Bought this kit for travel-accessory, and ended up using it as my daily driver. I consider myself a pro and choose my tools wisely. This iron heats up to 400 degrees celcius in under 10 sec and melts solder in less than five. The 6s battery really make the tiny TS100 perform like a true boss. I use it on batterypower all the time, regardless of nearby poweroutlets. My stationary Hakko 936 now look like an retarded old bi%¤h when I compare them. Total price for this setup: ~$100...  (exl. LiPo-charger and stand)

[kalel]

I can warmly recoment the TS100, one leather (faux) toilet bag, one 6s 5000mAh LiPo, some different tips, suitable cable/connectors and a good stand for the sponge and iron. Bought tis kit for travel-accessory, and ended up using it as my daily driver. I consider myself a pro and choose my tools wisely. This iron heats up to 400 degrees celcius in under 10 sec and melts solder in less than five. My stationary Hakko 936 now look like an retarded old bi%¤h when I compare them. Total price for this setup: ~$100...  (exl. LiPo-charger)

That setup looks really good (although there's a price for the quality). Would a VRLA battery work as well?

[X10an]

That setup looks really good (although there's a price for the quality). Would a VRLA battery work as well?

Easy answer: No.

Problem is that you really need the voltage to get to the power on this iron. It will probably perform "ok for field use" with 12V, but nowhere close to the exellent performance you will get from 6s LiPo (20V+). With 12V you will get about 17W, compared to 60W form 6s Lipo...

Let not the high wattage fool you to believe this will drain your battery really fast. This iron heats up extremely fast and trigger the thermostat so it will be idling only after few seconds. In fact, I turn it off after every cycle (by pressing both buttons for 1 sec) because it heats up so incredible fast. When I am ready to continue I click two times on the lower button and the iron is ready for more soldering before I have lined up the iron and the tin. This is not at all exaggerated, it really heats up this fast. This is also an added bonus if you work with leadless RoHs tin, because the tips will not burn up from staying hot between operations.

[Gyro]

I can warmly recoment the TS100, one leather (faux) toilet bag, one 6s 5000mAh LiPo, some different tips, suitable cable(30cm)/connectors and a good stand for the sponge and iron. Bought this kit for travel-accessory, and ended up using it as my daily driver. I consider myself a pro and choose my tools wisely. This iron heats up to 400 degrees celcius in under 10 sec and melts solder in less than five. The 6s battery really make the tiny TS100 perform like a true boss. I use it on batterypower all the time, regardless of nearby poweroutlets. My stationary Hakko 936 now look like an retarded old bi%¤h when I compare them. Total price for this setup: ~$100...  (exl. LiPo-charger and stand)

@X10an:

Seeing your TS100 sitting in the stand reminded me of a simple mod that I have done to mine to make it more compatible with full size stands...

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/ts100-soldering-iron-test/msg1343465/#msg1343465

[mandor]

I ended up finding Hakko on some other German site with reasonable shipping prices.
http://www.watterott.com/de/Hakko-Loetstation-FX-888D
Thanks for comments!!

[mandor]

Got Hakko 888d today.
First impression: AWESOME
:-)