Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?

[yelkvi]

In order not to overheat the plastic front panel (and not ruin it), I used a regular household hair dryer. He heated both from the inside (pulled out the power supply), and from the outside. And, of course, a suction cup, as in the video.

[SHTechnics]

I removed the pcb from the back twice, just had to remove the little grounding screw and the connector on the front pcb with a long tweezer. Removing the front takes longer and is more prone to damage.

[GregC]

BTW - anybody purchased their P2408 power supply? Looks interesting but haven't seen any reviews yet...

I also spotted that very nice looking Aixun P2408 Power Supply, but I've also been unable to find any reviews (as yet).

However, as I'm very pleased with my T3B purchase, I think I might just pull the trigger on this one and find out for myself.

I don't do a lot of mobile phone repair, but the matching small form factor means this will sit very nicely with my T3B controller.  Also, the added USB PD and QC3.0 support makes this 24V/8A adjustable PSU a useful compact PSU to add to my bench (alongside my existing linear and switched PSU's).

For interest, I ended up going for the T3B, instead of the T3A, as the T3B's controller cable-through-stand arrangement and the front power switch with rear connector works much better for my bench setup. Also the T210 handle / cartridge range does provide for all of my needs for PCB work, both TH and SMD.

I was going to get myself a nice JBC 027 (1.5mm) or 031 (2mm) C210 bevel tip as well, for my larger TH work with the T3B, but so far the supplied tips are getting even the bigger jobs done nicely, so I haven't seen the need yet...  with the bonus that the cost of one of these JBC tips will instead pay for my P2408

[GnomeZA]

For interest, I ended up going for the T3B, instead of the T3A, as the T3B's controller cable-through-stand arrangement and the front power switch with rear connector works much better for my bench setup. Also the T210 handle / cartridge range does provide for all of my needs for PCB work, both TH and SMD.

I was going to get myself a nice JBC 027 (1.5mm) or 031 (2mm) C210 bevel tip as well, for my larger TH work with the T3B, but so far the supplied tips are getting even the bigger jobs done nicely, so I haven't seen the need yet...  with the bonus that the cost of one of these JBC tips will instead pay for my P2408

I got the T245 version and there are quite a lot of tips available.  I bought roughly 4 JBC tips for the various sizes I wanted.  The chunkiest one I have, "Cartridge Knife 6.0mm" is especially impressive.  Puts heat into what I'm soldering like nothing I've used before.  I didn't know what I was missing till I used that tip.

[SHTechnics]

I can confirm that the 6 mm JBC (C245939) is impressive and very usefull when soldering on big ground planes.

[Superpig]

A friend of mine is going to give me a JBC T245 handle with a couple of used cartridges to try out the JBC platform.  I was thinking of building a Unisolder station but glad I found this thread about the T3A.  Looks to be a much easier option than to build the Unisolder.  Just want to pose this question before I pull the trigger on a bare T3A unit without handle and the upgraded iron stand, is there a pinout diagram for the original JBC handle and the 5-pin T3A connector?  I don't want to kill the nice OEM handle accidentally...

Thanks!

[toktoksp]

Sure 
In post 362 i wrote the pinout. Have Fun.
toktok

[yelkvi]

Guys, did anyone manage to contact the developers of this soldering station?
I want to write them a letter.
My question (with the sleep mode when placing the handle on the stand) did not dare. The seller could not (did not want) to help me. I opened a dispute to compensate part of the price, but Aliexpress issued a decision "Return the goods to the seller."
I have already opened the station and modified the case to mount it on a shelf above the desktop.
Therefore, the presentation is already "spoiled". And in the current economic conditions, I don’t want to send anything to China. I may not even get a "faulty" soldering station back.

[SHTechnics]

Maybe you can contact the main brand of AiXun, JC.
Website and contact details: https://www.jcprogrammer.com/

[yelkvi]

Already wrote there - no answer.
Or did they not like the letter from yandex.ru?

[SHTechnics]

Already wrote there - no answer.
Or did they not like the letter from yandex.ru?

What do you mean with "letter from yandex.ru"?

[yelkvi]

This is my mailbox hosted by yandex.ru - yelkvi@yandex.ru.
Try sending an email from a different address? Like gmail.com?
Someone in this chat wrote that he contacted the developers.

[SHTechnics]

Yes, Best is to use a generic mail like gmail. I don't know who contacted the developer/brand, did you used the search function already?

[mastershake]

they got back to me a couple times but it took like 2-3 weeks to get a response.

[yelkvi]

2-3 weeks? Very prompt!

I will remake this soldering station myself. I will put a controller board from KSGER (or similar). And I'll upload the firmware from DavidAlfa. It works well - I checked.
And Aixun T3A is still very unfinished. Hardware is well done. But the firmware must be cleaned from such bugs.

[Ungolian]

Honestly, you are the only person that seems to be having this issue.  Overall, Aixun has done a great job with the firmware.  Sure, there have been a few mistakes here and there, but they seem to get on those really quickly (there's been 10 updates in less than a year).  If anyone still has 1.23 on their units, there's no need to upgrade it to anything else.  1.24 had issues, and 1.25 works as well as 1.23, it just has the unnecessary graphing function.  No one has reported any outright failures, and some of these see heavy use.  Some people do report the "Singing Handle" issue, which seems to be a mystery.  Mine doesn't do that.  The only thing Aixun needs to do is to change the updating program so you can downgrade the firmware, or at the very least, reinstall it.  Yelkvi, if you could just reinstall the firmware, it might fix your problem.  But that's not possible at the moment. 

[yelkvi]

I'm not the only one with this problem. For example, on page 9 EricNava described a similar error. And someone else later.

P.S. I would be able to flash the processor with a programmer, (not a program).
But I'm 100% sure that the Chinese will not give the firmware file - a trade secret.

P.P.S And by the way, I don't like the handle detection scheme on the stand.
I analyzed - 1 diode and 2 resistors. Input directly to the processor port. Without any protection.
It is very easy to damage the processor if a high voltage is "accidentally" applied to the cradle. For example static.
I know that the processor chip itself has protective diodes at the input. But they also come out and build.
If I were developing a circuit, I would make an optical decoupling. So more reliable. And not much more expensive. There is a lot of free space on the board.

[Ungolian]

You put hand piece into stand -> dormancy time -> heating reduced to dormancy temperature -> sleep time -> heating disabled -> standby time -> screen turns off.
If you don't have dormancy temperature then heating is disabled as you put hand piece into stand/enter dormancy and only standby has any effect. So sleep doesn't change anything in such case.

Many thanks for the explanation, that makes sense now.
I thought the sleep or standby setting was to disable the heater when the handpiece had been taken out of the stand for a set time and not been put back in.
I would still like this option as a safety thing, so if you forget to put the iron back in the stand, it won't just stay on forever and pose a fire risk.

I think his issue was just with the unit settings.  He made no more posts on it, so I can't say if it was resolved or not.  I'm not sure how long you've had your unit, so maybe consider returning it?

[SHTechnics]

To be honest, the problems with the device are very rare. Usually the problems are due to incorrect settings or usage. In your case, it could be that there is actually a defect but I agree with Ungolian, firmware and hardware are of a good quality. I know firms that no longer purchase JBCs but the T3A and the use is anything but recreational....
If you suspect there is a defect then it's best to ask an RMA of the unit.

[mastershake]

we have over a dozen in use here and the guys like them just as well as their jbc units and honestly some of them brought their jbc units home so they were not sitting in the shop these are cheap enough if something happens to them its not a huge deal compared to the money they spend on their jbc's none of them have complained once. out of like over 20 we had only one with a bad screen issue. and these guys use them every day for everything. i told them i would buy everyone one and they all agreed to try them and they are still on everyone's desk here. a few of the guys did the cap upgrade to theirs where the others left them be for now. not saying its the end all station but they work just fine without issues for a pretty busy shop using them every day all day no major issues yet.

[Ungolian]

Mastershake, if anyone would have issues with these, it would probably be you.  But you haven't.  Looking back at Eltax's FLIR image on page 8, the 35v 1000uf cap closest to the edge of the board got the hottest at 79C.  The others were generally fine.  Now that was an extreme situation, but it also points out where the weak link was.  I'll assume the caps are of minimal quality, 85c/2000 hours.  40 work hours a week on them, and a general 49 week work year, that's 1,960 hours.  That should put things into perspective.  Now those caps aren't going to get that hot under general use, and while they should be good for longer than that, there's a reason people avoid the cheap Chinese electrolytics.  After the first year of use, I'd recommend everyone upgrade to at least 105c/10,000 hour caps.  Should be about $10 and last literally forever.  Rubycon, Nichicon, Panasonic, Kemet, or Wurth.     

[mastershake]

i wonder if we should have a "parts" list here with part numbers for suitable replacements and alternatives for the caps for people.

[Ungolian]

It's already been done, and it's more like $6 (even less per unit if buying in bulk).  The 1000uf caps are an issue though.  They are really close together, so the size is important.  Only the 2000 hour caps will fit in there, which will be fine for about 7 years with your current workload, and even then, only the 1000uf caps would need replacing.  Assuming a 70C average temperature.  Get them from Digikey, Mouser is out of a lot of things, including some of these caps.

SHTechnics posted this in reply #413 (and I added two edits):

C1- 82 uf 400v --> RUBYCON  400BXW82MEFR18X25  Electrolytic Capacitor, Miniature, 82 µF, 400 V, ± 20%, Radial Leaded, 12000 hours @ 105°C
C2 - 10 uf 50v --> NICHICON  ULD1H100MDD1TD  Electrolytic Capacitor, 10 µF, 50 V, ± 20%, Radial Leaded, 10000 hours @ 105°C (I changed this to a longer life cap)
C7 and C8 - 1000 uf 35v --> RUBYCON  35PX1000MEFC10X20  Electrolytic Capacitor, Miniature, 1000 µF, 35 V, ± 20%, Radial Leaded, 2000 hours @ 105°C (changed to a higher temp cap)
C10 - 470 uf 35v --> NICHICON  UPW1V471MPD1TD  Electrolytic Capacitor, 470 µF, 35 V, ± 20%, Radial Leaded, 5000 hours @ 105°C

[mastershake]

i know those were posted but for me at least some of those were not available so i opted for different part numbers. ill pull up the ones i used and add them. same values but different sizes.

[mastershake]

new firmware

1.26 (2022-04-02)
1.Optimized 936 heating logic;