Zephyrtronics vs Hakko etc. hot air stations

[terryk87]

Hello,

For basic SMT rework (mostly desoldering 0805's, small ICs with leads), I was going to get a hot tweezer with different tip sets, but from reading/viewing tons of stuff online, it seems that even a basic hot air station without specialized nozzles would be a better choice.

Not wanting to be annoyed with the real cheap stuff (and the nicer stuff with vacuum pickup being out of my budget for now), I'm looking at the following:

(i) the Zephyrtonics ZT-2: http://www.zeph.com/pencil.html; about $900 from Zephyrtronics themselves.  It does come with the small oval tip (nozzle).

(ii) the Hakko FR-801: http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fr801.html; e.g. here in Canada, $875 from Tooltronic.  The manual is available through Hakko's document portal, but this seems to get to it: https://doc.hakko.com/download.php?_gs=on&l=en&kp=fr-801&d=2404 (2-page 7M pdf).  Nozzles available separately, so perhaps a small general-purpose one would have to be bought as well.

(iii) the Xytronics LF-852D: $290 from Howard Electronics: http://www.howardelectronics.com/xytronic/LF-852D.html.  Comes with a few nozzles.  This is the only thing I've seen in-between in price between (i)/(ii) above and “the real cheap stuff”.  However, I'm not sure I'd want to do in-process manual control with those pushbuttons.  (And it sure looks clunkier, FWIW...)

Opinions?

BTW, I did find this EEVblog thread on Zephyrtronics from just this past December: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/zephyrtronics-tools-legit/msg173915/#msg173915.  Summary: good stuff, bad customer communication (but nothing about their air pencil specifically).

Thanks,
-Terry Karlson

[terryk87]

Clarification: I originally posted this topic in the wrong board (Chat), later asked to have it moved here, but since it appeared so far down (now on p. 2) I'm afraid most readers of this board would never see it (without me now kicking it back up). -TK

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Which one did you get in the end?

[terryk87]

Which one did you get in the end?

Actually, after discovering the Hakko FM-206 (http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fm206.html), I realized it would best fit my needs, especially since it's modular and I don't have a lot of bench space, and the tool stands detect tool presence for sleep mode (esp. important for lead-free).

The available configurations are best seen at Hakko USA: http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?CID=51,345&PID=4936&Page=1 (see about halfway down the page).  Even though I was only going to start with a soldering pencil and hot air tool, I "went for" the FM206-DSA configuration (Desolder, Solder, hot Air) since I realized I could also justify a proper desoldering tool (as opposed to my old spring-loaded one) since I'm also doing some higher-power through-hole stuff.

The hot air accessory FM-2029 is a pencil-type rework tool (http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fm2029.html), more similar to the Zephyrtronics unit I had been considering in my original post.  It does not have the airflow capacity of something like the Hakko FR-801 which I had also been considering, which is why it only has available a few smaller general-purpose nozzles and is good for reworking components up to about 10mm x 10mm (which suits me for now).  A nice feature is programmable temperature profiling, which should be useful for reflow-soldering of individual components which should not be contact-soldered.

Re. Hakko in general, I was reassured of maintainability by the blow-apart diagrams and parts lists in all their manuals.

After I get my FM-206 system and gain some experience with it, I'll see about posting a review.

Thanks,
Terry Karlson

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Great! Hurry up and get the experience, and we'll stay tuned to the review with pictures.