Can a new Hakko iron work in an older station?

[sunspots]

Can an iron that comes with the Hakko FX888D work on a Hakko 936/703 station. My stations are all the older models (legit Hakko) and I need some new irons.

Thanks!

[KL27x]

Last I checked, the genuine handpiece that comes with an 888 costs 70+ dollars. So this question is curious to me. Whereas you can buy clone 936 handpieces quite cheaply.

The handpiece that comes with 888 is essentially the same as the one for the 936 except for the connector. 2 pins for the heater, 2 pins for the thermistor, and 1 pin for the ground. But you would have to change the plug. The 888 has a 6 pin plug, seemingly for the sole purpose to prevent backwards compatibility. Either one, 5 pin 936 or 6 pin 888, these are more or less a standard DIN plugs, so they are easy to source, if needed.

That said, there are apparently at least two different 936 clones with different thermistor/calibration. It could take some fiddling to get it reasonably well calibrated.

[sunspots]

The reason I want to do this is I have a 907 (936 handpiece) clone along side my genuine on my Hakko 703 workstation. I replaced the heating element with a genuine Hakko and I have to undercalibrate my station by 100 degrees F in order for it to be accurate. I assume this is due to the different wire/length of wire they used. I could probably add some resistance to get it about even but I'd rather a genuine as I don't like clones, even the grip is different and I prefer real Hakko stuff. All of my stuff is genuine old school Hakko with the exception of this one handpiece and I'd like to dump it.

Now a new old stock 936 handpiece is like $100 if you can find one on the bay. You can get an entire 888 station for less than that. I figured why not get an entire station, just use the iron, could retrofit the station for some solder tweezers or something.

So according to what you claim, I could get an 888 and swap out the DIN plugs on my clone without issue? I would have a 95% genuine that way Although I wonder how much I would have to over/under calibrate my station by still.

[sunspots]

To add on that... I realize that once my station is calibrated for the clone, with a genuine heating element, it's essentially the same thing, but I'd prefer to not have to devote one station, or a part of my 703 just to one clone and make sure I never mix it up. I'd prefer to plug and play as it were. Also, like I said, the grips are different, even the nut that goes over it is slightly different on clones, to where they don't fit as perfectly as I believe some claim they do. Granted, there are varieties of clones, but I really think some people want to believe that the $5 shipped clones are better than they know they are, which I can't say I blame them. I'm just a bit of a perfectionist I guess. I also wonder how many using clones realize how off the calibration can be, 100F is enough to be a problem IMHO.

[KL27x]

So according to what you claim, I could get an 888 and swap out the DIN plugs on my clone without issue?

Yes, I'm pretty positive about it. The only technical difference between 888 and 937 stations is the 888 runs with about 17% more power. 888 runs at 26V vs 24V. I am not sure if that translates into any difference in the heaters. But at any rate, you could interchange the heaters as well as the DIN connectors on the handpiece, if needed. Everything else besides the connector (and possible heater unit) is essentially the same. I just pulled apart one of my 888 handpieces to make sure I wasn't overlooking anything obvious. There are no electrical components in there at all, other than the heater unit.

Also, like I said, the grips are different, even the nut that goes over it is slightly different on clones, to where they don't fit as perfectly as I believe some claim they do. Granted, there are varieties of clones, but I really think some people want to believe that the $5 shipped clones are better than they know they are, which I can't say I blame them. I'm just a bit of a perfectionist I guess.

I totally get it. I had a Hakko clone, which the station and power were fine, but I didn't like the handpiece. Hakko grip is great with sweat or rosin or whatnot, and none of the clones use a similar substance, if they include an overgrip, at all. The ones I have used have either been bare plastic or had a plain rubber (which feels wet when sweaty) overgrip. I also have firsthand experience of clone hakko handpiece plastic failure after year of use.

[sunspots]

Thanks, I really appreciate your taking the time to look at your 888's guts. It may have been in vain though. The more I think about it the more I realize how likely it is that the resistance values will be off between a modified legit 888 and a legit 907 which will defeat a large part of the reason I'm doing this. I think I'll just bite the bullet and spend an arm and a leg on a legit 907. Perhaps I'll buy a handful of heating elements to go with it as that stock is sure to go dry here one day.

[Shock]

Thanks, I really appreciate your taking the time to look at your 888's guts. It may have been in vain though. The more I think about it the more I realize how likely it is that the resistance values will be off between a modified legit 888 and a legit 907 which will defeat a large part of the reason I'm doing this. I think I'll just bite the bullet and spend an arm and a leg on a legit 907. Perhaps I'll buy a handful of heating elements to go with it as that stock is sure to go dry here one day.

In the US you can buy a complete genuine FX-888D for just under $100 and probably score free shipping, they are even cheaper (around $70) when on special.

The original Hakko 907 is 50W and the FX-8801 is 65W so not strictly interchangeable without modification. They seem to share pinouts (not looked at the connectors).

The clones however are a mixed bag with different connectors and there is about 3 different elements used in the 907 irons.

Chinese also make a clone FG-101 for calibration, they used to go for about $10 with free shipping.

Not sure what your trying to do but it sounds like you're making more work for yourself.