Recommended tips for new JBC solder station

[motocoder]

I just received my JBC CD-1BD soldering station today. I'm moving to this and retiring my 30 year old Hakko unit.

It came with two tips: C245903 and C245741. The C245903 is a smaller conical tip that is useful for some things, but the C245741 is a 2.2mm chisel tip that is too large for most things.  I am used to a chisel tip that is smaller than this, I think on my Hakko it is 1.6mm.

Anyway, I started browsing the JBC C245 line of tips and quickly got overwhelmed.

Can someone recommend a few tips that are the most generally useful? I do mostly through-hole stuff today, but am about to venture into the world of SMD for the first time (for non-work projects anyway). I don't have a reflow oven at the moment, so for SMD would probably be doing drag soldering. For through-hole it will be mostly be the usual 0.1 inch pitch stuff.

Thanks

[VK5RC]

I have one as well and I like it!
I use
C245-903 for general soldering
C245-742 for 'heavy' ground plane stuff
c245-126 for poking into small corners, small smd , down into connectors etc
but you never can have too many, it took me a while to try hot swapping but it works well.
The thermal transfer rate is fantastic.
Enjoy, Robert

[flolic]

This is what I use:
C245-034 for almost everything from SMD to TTH boards (my favorite tip  )
C245-903 for general soldering, wires, connectors, etc.
C245-759 for ground planes, heavy wires etc.
C245-913 for BGA rework and quick desoldering of DIL packages, connectors etc.

I also have T210-A handle with C210-009 tip. That is used exclusively for under microscope repairs of broken flat flex cables, small SMD connectors and other delicate repairs on digital cameras.

[nanofrog]

Hakko has a resource page on Tip Shape Selection that might be useful.

There's a lot of crossover with what tasks different tips can be used for, so just a few tips can do quite a bit. Worth taking the time to check it out.

Hope this helps. :}

[robrenz]

My most used is the C245-963. Once you get used to all the ways it can contact things It is indispensable. Especially good for soldering heavy solder cup connectors. The large angled flat can get huge contact area to really get some heat flow into the parts.

[motocoder]

Thanks, everyone. The Hakko page on tip selection looks useful. I think I will spend some time going through the links there before ordering anything.

[devnull]

Hello all,

I know it's been a while since the original post, but I'd like to get a bit more info:

Dave wrote:

You don't need many. Two sizes of basic chisel tips (small and wide) will do most jobs.
A very fine conical for needle point hack work can also be handy.

Does anyone know which tips are the "Two sizes of basic chisel tips (small and wide) will do most jobs " ?
Can these be "the ones" :
small ? C245906 Cartridge Chisel 1,2x0,7 ?
wide ? C245907 Cartridge Chisel 2,2x1 ?
wide ? C245741 Cartridge Chisel 2,4x0.6 ?

Is the C245741 too big for ocasional work ? Would the C245907 be more versatile ?
(ocasional work = soldering cables, through hole components/connectors, a few smd's and eventually scavenge parts from old boards)

thanks

[AndyC_772]

C245-774 rarely leaves my iron; it's good for anything from an 0603 to through-hole prototyping with stripboard, including drag soldering 0.5mm pitch. Something smaller might be nice for 0402, though.

For bigger stuff (eg. automotive wiring) I have a C245-907, and for really big stuff (eg. soldering D2PAK to a solid plane), I have a C245-966.

[devnull]

C245-774 rarely leaves my iron; it's good for anything from an 0603 to through-hole prototyping with stripboard, including drag soldering 0.5mm pitch. Something smaller might be nice for 0402, though.

For bigger stuff (eg. automotive wiring) I have a C245-907, and for really big stuff (eg. soldering D2PAK to a solid plane), I have a C245-966.

Thank you AndyC_772.

Just for reference:
C245774 is a Cartridge Chisel 1,2x0,3 mm , which is the slender model of the C245906 cartridge.

[digger]

there are many similar topics i could have replied to, but i just picked this one because i kind of liked the answers more on average.

i just ordered an aixun T420D with knock-off T245, T210, and T115 handles. two can be plugged in at once. each handle will come with a knife tip cartridge, and i believe they will not be aixun's "high level" carts (just the standard ones).

as a complete newcomer to the jbc ecosystem, i was bewildered. all i knew was that i wanted some genuine carts of which jbc claims to offer over 500 varieties.

https://www.jbctools.com/c245-cartridge-range-long-life-tip-product-19-design-iron.html
https://www.jbctools.com/c210-cartridge-range-product-18-design-iron.html
https://www.jbctools.com/c115-cartridge-range-product-1354-design-iron.html

i noticed that the 245 platform has by far the most variety of carts. tbh, 245 would probably completely cover my needs, but i decided to get the smaller tips on another platform just for the heck of it since it may be more ergonomic, and i wouldn't have to change carts as often.

i found it interesting that, in general, carts seem to get more expensive as you move to successively smaller handle platforms. C245s are often around 37usd. C210s are around $47, and C115s are more than $50.

for now, i decided to get carts for only two platforms. 245 is an obvious choice, but i had a hard time deciding between 210 and 115 for the other. assuming you go for equivalent/overlapping offerings (roughly same size and type of tip), my take on it is that 210 would likely be more performant due to more thermal mass behind the actual tip, and the 115 would probably be more nimble and ergonomic.

i decided to go for 245 and 115.

as for carts:

• C245056 bevel 3.5 – heavy duty use (i mostly picked this as my heavy duty option because i found it on sale)
• C245963 bent chisel 1.8x0.8 – general use, bigger jobs, tough access
• C245906 chisel 1.2x0.7 – general use, smaller jobs
• C115105 bent conical 0.3 – fine smd work

[selcuk]

I can recommend using bevel cartridges for most of the jobs. I'm using mainly for QFN, TQFP chips, actives and passives but they are also suitable for through hole. Conical cartridges are not that useful. For smd passives like 0402 etc. chisel cartridges are good but I'm using bevel for them as well.

This one is always plugged to my T245-A:
https://www.jbctools.com/c245945-bevel-cartridge-o-22-product-356.html

[motocoder]

I can recommend using bevel cartridges for most of the jobs. I'm using mainly for QFN, TQFP chips, actives and passives but they are also suitable for through hole. Conical cartridges are not that useful. For smd passives like 0402 etc. chisel cartridges are good but I'm using bevel for them as well.

This one is always plugged to my T245-A:
https://www.jbctools.com/c245945-bevel-cartridge-o-22-product-356.html

Thanks. Just ordered one and am going to give it a try.

[digger]

one more tip (see what i did there?):

i held calipers up to my monitor and adjusted my browser's zoom until the dimensions were actual-size. this helped me visualize and make my selection.

frustratingly, the figures on the 245, 210, and 115 cart pages on jbc's site are not all the same scale, so i used a couple of different browsers.
iirc, 245 was at one scale, and 210 and 115 may have been at another.