On The Bench Tonight: $40 Hot-air Rework StationWhile reading up on this particular variant of the Cheap-Ass Blow-Job, one of the reviewers posted a very cogent rundown of the pros & cons. Even though it came wired wrong (fuse in the neutral line), he gave it high marks because excellent build quality for literally a few dollars.
He was absolutely right on both counts. I was expecting a disposable cheapest-possible styrene case; this is epoxy-painted steel everywhere, including front & rear panels. The plastic you see is just bezel rings. Inside... Okay, they use hot-snot as a primary building material for one thing: To hold the red filter over the LED to the front panel. That considered, I still prefer it to the option a great many variants take: omit it altogether.
A quick teardown showed mine wired similarly wrong; continuity test to the plug made absolutely certain. And
really nerve-grating... the "hot" wire from the switch is made from wire in one of the universal color codes for a GND circuit.
Those grumps corrected and a proper ESD bleeder resistor in the GND wire for the handset; I just had to do something aboot that hot lead so committed a little Sharpie abuse to turn it bloo.After discovering how well & truly fooked this thing was, I've gone back & rewired with a new cord in North American color code. Handset GND restored to original direct to Earth GND configuration after seeing inside of handset and noting close proximity of heater element to metal shell.
Here it it tootling away at 380°; good range of flow control and very little fan vibration. I got lucky with this one.
It comes with 5mm, 8mm & 10mm nozzles. They are a twist-lock design; we'll see how well they hold on in use.
One nice thing is the UI is "pick it up and start using it simple" and intuitive. Design is
Spartan, but not without features. I like the red filter over the LED; makes it look finished. The rightmost decimal point illuminates to indicate PWM cycling on the heat. LED indicates set temp when you're pressing buttons and when it first starts heating up, then shows measured temp as it heats. Set temp is retained after power off.
The cradle has a magnet in it; a sensor in the handle detects when you've put it up and starts a cooldown process, running the fan until temp drops below 100°, then switching to this null display mode to indicate it is asleep. Very straightforward & intuitive.
All in all, just like the other buyer described it; QC on the wiring is a weak point, but an incredible value for only ~US$40 as long as you open it and inspect it (and correct as necessary) before you power it up. I'm not going to call it a good daily use unit for any kind of a pro... the handset is one of the cheapest made, and I still prefer the tactile feedback you get with a remote blower model. But perfect for occasional hobbyist use. Just enough to get the job done in most cases.
For the price... you could almost treat the whole thing as a consumable supply.
mnem
*toddles off to ded*