That $80 soldering station from amazon was a complete waste of cash

Bought some no-name brand soldering station off Amazon for 80 bucks last month because I figured it'd be fine for basic board work. First time I tried to desolder a through-hole cap on an old power supply, the tip temperature was all over the place and it lifted the pad instantly. Ended up having to order a Hakko FX-888D for 110 bucks just to fix the board I messed up. Anyone else get burned by these cheap stations or am I just dumb for expecting it to work?

3 comments

3 Comments

aliceg6117d ago

The Hakko saved my bacon too.

alice12117d ago

Man that EXACT same thing happened to me last year with a cheap station. It couldn't hold temperature to save its life and I lifted three pads before I gave up. The Hakko really is in a whole different league for the money, I wish I had just bought it first instead of trying to save a buck. Those Amazon specials look okay in the pictures but the internals are just JUNK. At least we both learned our lesson the hard way I guess.

christopher71317d ago

Did you notice how the Hakko tip stays clean way longer too? I had the same issue with a cheap station where the tip was black and crusty after like three uses. My buddy tried to clean it with a wet sponge and it just made it worse. Then I spent way too long trying to re-tin the tip with some old flux I had laying around, ended up with a goopy mess that smoked up the whole garage. The Hakko just works without all that drama, makes you wonder why anyone bothers with the cheap stuff.