Hello,
I recently bought Hakko FX 888D on eBay from seller in China which turn out to be fake, counterfeit item. I hoped to get 220V version that fits EU standards but unfortunately end up with "this thing".
I find it appropriate to share my experience here since there are other posts covering fake / copy items of Hakko and other manufacturers.
Purpose is just to help people not to stumble on these copy items and have to go thru all the problems and costs which they cause.
Overall it is a "good" copy - packaging and external appearance is not something that will be of use identifying this fake products, since Chinese perfected that part of copying - which makes it almost impossible to identify it from those aspects. Maybe to some one with trained eye or with close up photos, which they rarely provide.
Important thing is internal build. So that is what I am mostly gonna cover.
There are few important things that give away that it is fake: soldering quality, component quality, main IC and heater.
Lets start with
soldering quality.
![](http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p484/hobo2566/20140605_201543_zpsb0ed66ed.jpg)
As you can see from the picture soldering quality on PCB that is connected to transformer is very bad. Some joints have low amount, others high, some have cracks - bottom lane - very very bad. Also every joint i can look at is not adequately soldered - this is just example. Heater is so badly soldered that i wont post it, and DIN plug had two cables broke of plug slot.
Component quality![](http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p484/hobo2566/20140605_201722_zps0c2de07f.jpg)
Best example is this 120 Ohm resistor and capacitors. Resistor is of poorest quality possible and capacitors are branded JWEO not nichicon as it is on original. Also you can note burn spot on one of black cables leading to PCB, probably from soldering iron, which also indicates poor human soldering.
Main IC![](http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p484/hobo2566/20140605_202006_zps31e6d500.jpg)
Main IC is not Hakko custom made, it is branded ATMEL ATMEGA8A AU 1338, which is possibly easier and cheaper to get than original.
Heater![](http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/p484/hobo2566/131340e5-76e9-4a8f-bf46-2cc915637105_zps1f15b129.jpg?t=1403376242)
Heater is notorious copy, markings are not as same as on original. On original there is no nuber 8, all letters are gray, and hako mark is diferent. Also it has visible marks of usage.
You can see the difference between original and fake heaters on this topic, here on forum:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/genuine-vs-fake-hakko-936-ceramic-heater-a1321/Other things to note are: visible cable quality, different color of cables, overall soldering quality, transformer is different, screws are different, nonexistent serial number, etc.
As reference on how original looks you can look at link here, a nice tear-down covered with pictures:
http://runawaybrainz.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/hakko-fx-888d-solder-station-hi-res.htmlThat's about it folks! Unfortunately it turned out that not only they are copying FX 888, but also the FX 888D, which was unknown to me and couldn't research it on internet prior purchase. I expected to get Chinese 220V to use in Europe, but no luck!
Any other info needed, pictures, etc., I will gladly help!
![Grin ;D](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/xgrin.gif.pagespeed.ic.QVVz6XIT20.png)