HF solder station
 

http://ww2.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96375

anyone used it? looks like a hakko knock off, pretty much identicle from the pictures. anyone know if it uses the same tips? or if it sucks ?

Re: HF solder station
 

If I didnt already have a Hakko, Id buy that thing. Think of it as a $40 lottery ticket w/ heat control, hahaha.

Re: HF solder station
 

i actually checked it out when i was buying there buying a $10 digital caliper :X i didnt wana buy it if i cant get replacement ---- for it thats what i want to find out if it uses the same parts. the tip was held in by a screw on "collar" and the tip slipped over a white ceramic looking piece

Re: HF solder station
 

old 50 watt Ungar pencil I still use for solder RC battry packs, $10 is all I paid, has served me for 20 years :)

Re: HF solder station
 

i have a Weller solder station...------ love it.. think it was 99-120bucks. it has the heat control like that, but thats worthless fucker has been set on NOG since the day i bought it. great for doing ECUs, wires, whatever... after buying a couple of those pencil ones that sucked ass i stepped up to this, deff buy it again if i had a choice...

Re: HF solder station
 

I agree the weller pencil unit I had was very weak. Im rockin a radio shack special :1. It does the job but I need to buy a hakko desoldering unit I cant stand braid anymore

Re: HF solder station
 

I want to buy one of their desoldering guns.

Re: HF solder station
 

i dont know which sucks more, the spring loaded injector lookin solder suckers or finger burning braid. i roll with the $8 walmart emergency 30w pencil with melted tip. wrecked my last radio shack one melting holes in somthing plasic. i have to assemble a megasquirt soon so i want to find a cheapish station

Re: HF solder station
 

i got the weller digital head control station. it was about $140 and it works great. i got the spring loaded pensil sucker for like $30 it was way better then the radioshack bulb sucker i was using but i am already ready to upgrade to a hakko 808

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/631/dsm027.jpg

Re: HF solder station
 

I have the Hakko 808 desoldering gun and the Hakko 936 station which is what that HF one is copying.

Picked up the 936 soldering station at Fry's about 4 years ago for $49. They had a bunch of them. Don't know why they were so cheap, but ---- I didn't care. Got the 808 a little later ALSO at Fry's on sale for $99.

I've chipped over 500 ecu's by now and so much other electronics stuff for school and my other job. Hakko gets my vote. Reliable.

Re: HF solder station
 

damn, can you find me a cheap 808?

Re: HF solder station
 

Not any more. They usually run at least $150+.

Re: HF solder station
 

fry's has em cheapest I've found.

Re: HF solder station
 

808 purchase this week for me. No more braid. I have spent proably 150 on braid alone :1

Re: HF solder station
 

I really want to try out a good desolder station before buying it.
I buy big spools of braid from Digikey, so it seems cost effective. I like braid because it leaves the board very clean, vs a bulb type solder sucker.
Do you guys get any splatter from the desoldering stations?

Re: HF solder station
 

None.

I always clean the board with circuit cleaner and then re-apply a silicone based conformal coating after all the soldering is done.


The 808 can desolder a board for standard socketing in about a minute.

Re: HF solder station
 

That's one spot per second, impossible to do it clean in one run...take a video and prove me wrong, I would love to see if it is actually possible.

Re: HF solder station
 

What is the name or trade name of the coating you are applying after soldering?

Re: HF solder station
 

Ooooooh. Getting called out by the big dog. Just an exaggeration.

It just seems like a minute, but in reality it's more like just over 2 minutes.



BUT, that's before I started using the ecu-chipping-machine. >:D

Re: HF solder station
 

am i the only one what no matter how hard i try i can get certin hold to come clean in the first 2 tryies. every board its the same holes on the ned that take forever to get clean, like there glued in there of something

Re: HF solder station
 

I stick to solder braid. I've got it down to where I can desolder a board in about 15 minutes. That includes taking the ecu apart.

Re: HF solder station
 

I dont do THAT many ECUs personally any more (thats why i pay my employees the big bucks). But with my $500 soldering station, with a fresh and clean tip and a mint board, I would have to guess it takes me at least 20 minutes per ECU (from complete start to finish).

I could rush and get it done faster...but that's a clean desolder and install. The desolder portion (sucking 2 holes at once when possible) has to take at least 5 minutes.

There are ALWAYS those holes that are atttached to the main ground circuit in the ECU that take forever to heat, melt and suck...and I almost always clean both sides of the board with a braid still as the sucker cant get everything.

I just always see people say "I can do it in a minute flat" and I have never seen anyone prove it really. I'm not trying to call anyone out, but I would really love to see some one do it :)

Re: HF solder station
 

LOL, I know what you mean. THOSE ground pin holes have some other kind of solder in them or something. I just hold the gun on them for twice as long and it always gets them clean.

Re: HF solder station
 

I used to use braid only, it was getting kinda spendy I switched to a bulb type desoldering iron and holy ---- I get every single hole sucked clean in prolly 3-4 mins its great, with the braid it took me 20-30 mins alone just to desolder and I dont know how many times i've fucked up traces because I had to press so hard with the braid, now with the sucker its super clean and fast. I think it cost me like $20 from radio shack and its def. worth every godamn penny.

Re: HF solder station
 

And you've never once said to somebody, "I'll be back in a second" or "Just a minute". If we took everything literally, there'd be a lot more murders and a LOT more one-night stands. :P

I have a 'xrtronic 258' adjustable 5-30 watt pencil (simple temp knob, variable size/shape tips) and a cheap weller 60/100 watt gun. I do everything from solder high-density NI-MH batteries with solid copper bars to 32ga Kynar wire for PS2 dvd controller pins (modchips). All my sucking duties are done with a cheap spring-loaded sucking gun, and works perfect. Just the teflon tip gets enlarged after a while and needs replacing.

Re: HF solder station
 

4200/4500/4600 mah NIMH?

Re: HF solder station
 

I timed myself on a couple of the ecu's I did last week. Socketing only ones.


2:37 for my best time desoldering.

15:21 for my best time acetone to conformal coat and burned chip. I guess add another minute to put the screws back on.

Re: HF solder station
 

---- I feel slow. I think my best is 40 mins from start to finish converting a P06 to P28.

Re: HF solder station
 

i did one once in like 20 minutes and thought i was good.. it was a rush job but everything looked good, too bad i never tested it that was de-soldering with heating then blowing the holes out with a straw, then picking/brainding the ---- slung out the back if it stuck

Re: HF solder station
 

Keep yer tip clean and not fucked up. Makes a big difference.

Re: HF solder station
 

bigtime, I keep a SS brush closeby and scrub the tip every once and awhile

Re: HF solder station
 

I use a JBC soldering iron in work. It is the dogs danglies. I have used most weller irons (from pencil to gas) and they all suck.

For desoldering, I have never had problems with using a spring powered sucker. And can socket an ECU in around 30 minutes, without breaking a sweat and doing all of the conformal coating etc. that madmax does.

Re: HF solder station
 

anyone buy the HF one yet? i like my 20/40 watt radioshack station, but you cant but tips for the damn thing anymore.