Talk to me about JBC irons

[John Coloccia]

It's here.  I haven't had a chance to really play with it yet, but from the little bit of fooling around I've done I think I made a VERY wise decision.  Very wise, indeed.

[digsys]

It's here.  I haven't had a chance to really play with it yet, but from the little bit of fooling around I've done I think I made a VERY wise decision.  Very wise, indeed. 

Great news. Hint: Whatever you do - IF you change the pin code# .. DON'T forget it !!!!!

[nukie]

This a picture of a few JBC tips, I added the Hakko 936 heater element for a size comparison.

The top is the 40W T210 series tip, it has very short working distance, and a dream to use while soldering smd. How they pack heating element, thermocouple in there, I have no idea... It's the pinnacle of miniaturisation for soldering iron 

Next we have the macho looking high thermal efficiency chisel tip for the T245 series.
Then a regular 0.5mm conical tip, I use this most because I am used to conical.

I notice that JBC tips have larger radius soldering point compared to their specs.

[John Coloccia]

I've now built a couple of boards with the JBC.  Here are my thoughts, and some of them are surprising:

1) This is a hell of a nice iron.  It was worth the $500 just for the much better ergonomics.  Probably the best I've ever used.
2) I love being able to program in 3 preset temperatures.  VERY convenient instead of having to scroll up and down
3) It does a truly excellent job of pumping heat into a joint, and that's really the bottom line.  This thing WORKS.
4) The cable holder is brilliant.  I can't begin to tell you how great it is to not have all that cable getting tangled up and weighing down the iron.

That said, I have to add that it doesn't blow away my Hakko.  It certainly performs better, and that's what I needed, but it's not like my jaw is on the ground in awe.  I think this is a testament to just how good the Hakkos really are, but the JBC's performance is superior in every way.  I'm now able to solder up these boards at 650.  I still overdrive at 750 for the heavy ground copper poor, but if I had the proper sized pads I probably wouldn't need to do that either.

So I'm very satisfied.  If I need to buy more stations, they will be JBC moving forward unless I'm really on a budget...then it will be back to Hakko.

[robrenz]

Very glad you didn't feel misled

[John Coloccia]

OK, so a little more follow up.  The tips are a little strange.  The chisel tips are very thick at the ends and take some getting accustomed to.  I cancelled the 2.4 skinny tip and replaced with a 2.2mm high thermal capacity tip.  I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I'm figuring out how to use their tips and this thing DOES toss quite a bit more heat into the work.

I wish they would come out with a 1.8mm or 1.6mm high thermal capacity tip.  I sent them an e-mail about that.  2.2 is just a bit too big for through hole, and 1.2mm is just far too small.  Maybe they'll make me one?  I don't know.

The tips are shaped such that I can get excellent contact with the tips on their side.  I've done that before with other irons, but that works particularly well with the JBC tips.  Now that I've updated my technique to match the equipment, I'm getting far better performance.  Wit the proper sized tip, performance would be even better.

I also took the time to redesign my board.  The new board has more reasonable thermal relief trace widths, and while I kept the copper pour both sides, only the bottom side is actually connected to ground.  The holes and pads now conform to industry guidelines too...they were just far too small the last time.  I eyeballed it...I should have done a bit more research, but it's workable.  The next batch of boards will be a piece of cake to solder.

Let me also give a huge thumbs up to Janel.  I wish every supplier were this easy to work with.  I made a couple of changes on this order....first, I added something something to the order, and a day or two ago I asked to change my back ordered part to an in stock part.  Both changes took nothing but a simple e-mail to execute...no problem, no drama, and everything keeps showing up on my doorstep much sooner than I would expect.  I got one e-mail response back at 1:00am.  I read it at 2:00am, which is when I finally stopped working for the night.  These guys are 100% pro and they work every bit as hard as I work, plus their prices are good.  Moving forward, I will purchase everything I possibly can through them.

[robrenz]

My experience also, Janel is excellent.

[stormbr]

I'll consider the purchase a jbc iron for me too.

I have only 800,00 u$ in my pocket, what the best station of solder with this money ?

I wanna too have a desoldering station, but is overpriced for my condition today.

Anybody recommed online stores ?

[John Coloccia]

The JBC is a great station, but it's expensive.  Personally, I would try to find a Hakko FX-888 (not the D version but that's my preference).  Hakko makes a wonderful station at a fraction of the price of the JBC.  I had my labs outfitted with Hakko stations.  I'm doing production work now for my business, building 100 boards at a time.  The Hakko was OK, but I wanted something that could pump more heat into the joint quickly without over driving, and I also wanted the convenience of the quick change tips, the digital readout of actual tip temperature, and the lighter, more comfortable hand piece, the cable management, etc, because I'm doing it 12 hours a day trying to get ready for a new product launch.

Tip life is also important to me.  Each unit is about 120 joints, ranging from delicate and oxidized Germanium diodes to heavy duty soldering of PCB mount control pot mounting legs.  That's 12,000 joints each run.  JBC claims their tips are good for 25,000 to 100,000 joints, and I know their tips last much longer than most because of the cool down.  However good the Hakko tips are, and they are VERY good and have outlasted everything else I've used so far, I was already starting to see degradation of the tip after the first 30 units.  The tip is still usable but it's definitely showing wear and would have to be replaced fairly soon.  They also oxidize so quickly because it sits in the holder for 5 minutes baking while I prepare the next group of components to be soldered, and it's a pain in the butt to keep doing a ritualistic cleaning when you're trying to work quickly.  The JBC iron cools down and it take but a second or two to bring it back to dead clean and new condition.

My opinion is that unless you have money to burn, or you really just want the JBC because it's cool, get the Hakko.   To give an idea, my first Hakko tips lasted 10 years of hobbyist and guitar building use.  These days, I probably do more soldering in one or two days than most hobbyists do all year.  You can get the JBC later.  It's always good to have two solder stations anyhow.  If you do have the money to burn, though, the JBC is fantastic.

That's just my opinion.

[nanofrog]

I'll consider the purchase a jbc iron for me too.

I have only 800,00 u$ in my pocket, what the best station of solder with this money ?

I wanna too have a desoldering station, but is overpriced for my condition today.

Anybody recommed online stores ?

Where are you located?

If in the US for example, you'd be able to get both a Hakko 808 Desoldering tool and a JBC Compact station with money left over for tips (comes with 2; one round, one chisel). Modular series of JBC would put you ~$830, so out of your listed budget unless you can adjust to compensate.

120V versions
Hakko 808: http://www.amazon.com/Hakko-Desoldering-Kit-With-808/dp/B000ARPULW
JBC CD-1BC: http://www.janelonline.com/jbc-tools-soldering-station-cd-1bc-p/jbc-tools-cd-1bc.htm

BTW, Janel also sells 230V versions and ships internationally (swap the 1 for a 2 in the model number).

[stormbr]

I've very problems with the maintenance of old boards.

I'll bought a hakko station and make more money to purchase my JBC station after.

Or i bought just the sodering station JBC (entry level model).

Thanks my friends by your review and experience, i live in Brazil and work with maintenance of elevators. 

[Christopher]

The JBC is really, really nice. I thought it'd be another iron. Not the case, much better than Metcals, Hakko etc. Trust me it's worth it 

[nukie]

I have to agree with the above post regarding JBC tips life. While the heater last almost indefinitely, the tip coating is questionable. I have original tips from my Hakko 936 and a few more which I bought and abused more than a decade, they are still fine. Some of the Chinese made tips which I employ for lead free use is starting to have copper eaten away below the iron plating but they still hold up quite well despite the pitting.

I inherited some of the earlier 2245 tips used and I have a couple of C245 tips I find that the older 2245 tips are terrible they don't stay 'wet' for long and requires frequent cleaning. Not sure if they are heavily used or because the iron plating is worn. The new C245 tips behave better but still not as good as Hakko tips, the JBC C245 tips oxidise more rapid. I made sure that the actual temperature is close to one another and I use leaded solder most of the time.

So I have come to a conclusion that Hakko tips have a superior plating and it stays wet longer.