Choosing a solder station

[seba]

Hello,

I've just began watching the eevblog series. I'm a beginner, so I first looked at the videos about the required tools where the hako fx-888 (which has already been replaced by the fx-888d) is presented.
However, I can't seem to find this easily where I live and online it's always for US power net (110v), but I live in a 240v country (Belgium, EU).

There's a huge choice of solder stations, so what would be a good alternative for the hako fx-888 that works on 240v?
I'm looking for something in the same price range and it would be nice if it also had a decent base to put the pen in and clean it like the fx-888 has with the metal sponge.

What about tips: are these standardized between brands (or at least between models of one brand)? Are the cheap 5-bucks for 10-pieces solder tips you can find on ebay any good?

Btw, there seem to be big price differences between solder stations: what makes a solder station good or bad (as it's a fairly simple device AFAIK)?

Thanks in advance.

[wraper]

In EU hakko is 2x expensive. There are a plenenty of hakko clones. They have crap heating element and tip. If you change them to original hakko then performance will be similar to FX-888. Ebay, aliexpress, DX are full of fake hakko BTW.

[Sigmoid]

I'd say go for a Weller. Weller all the way.
I suggest getting a WES51: http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/811808/Weller-Loetstation-Weller-WS-51-Set-0053230699-230-VAC-Leistung-50-80-W-Temperaturbereich-150-450-C

[wraper]

Link is for discontinued WS 51, not WES 51. I would recommend ERSA I-CON PICO instead of weller. And tips are cheap enough to get bunch of them for different kinds of work.

[ThomasDK]

I would recommend ERSA I-CON PICO instead of weller.

Do you have any first hand experience with these? I'm considering getting a I-CON NANO for Pb-free soldering

[Dave]

I don't know about I-Con Pico, but I can tell you the regular I-Con works like a charm. The temperature control is really sharp and responsive. Combined with the right tip (you have MANY to choose from), you can solder pretty much anything. I'm guessing that pico isn't much different, just lower power.
I don't have one yet, I just used it a couple of times. I'm still waiting for the right opportunity to buy one myself.

[wraper]

I have I-CON 2, works like a charm. I-CON pico iron looks very similar, only major difference is 80W power instead of 150W. Tips are compatible between all I-CONs. Just to mention, I  have done a little bit 01005 SMT porn with 0.2 tip O0. Did a little research. I-CON Nano although is only 80w has the same heating element as 150W I-CONs. I-CON pico is also 80w but heating element is different. Maybe thats the reason why pico is cheaper than nano. Seems that they just underrated expensive parts on nano. Pico is much newer design and seems 100% the same as nano. My thought is that they just found a way how to make a cheaper nano.

[ThomasDK]

I have I-CON 2, works like a charm. I-CON pico iron looks very similar, only major difference is 80W power instead of 150W. Tips are compatible between all I-CONs. Just to mention, I  have done a little bit 01005 SMT porn with 0.2 tip O0. Did a little research. I-CON Nano although is only 80w has the same heating element as 150W I-CONs. I-CON pico is also 80w but heating element is different. Maybe thats the reason why pico is cheaper than nano. Seems that they just underrated expensive parts on nano. Pico is much newer design and seems 100% the same as nano. My thought is that they just found a way how to make a cheaper nano.

Just did a little more research myself. Looks like pico and nano are very similar. Only main difference is that the nano is esd safe.

Doesn't look like you can buy a new heating element for the pico, but a complete replacement iron for it is cheaper than the heater alone for the nano.

Overall the pico looks like the winner here, much more bang per buck. As an added bonus you can reuse the tips if you decide to upgrade to the I-CON 1 or 2 some day :-)

[wraper]

I saw heating element for pico at farnell yesterday, I think it was 47 EUR without VAT. I found one more difference, Nano made in Germany, Pico in China  . Upd. it is 42.58 EUR. About ESD, I think that tip should be grounded anyway, maybe heater is 230V instead of 24V so they don't call it ESD safe. If anyone have RDS 80 should be able to check that, should be similar.

[tiborsimon]

I have ordered my Hakko soldering station from SparkFun, and I am pretty happy with that. Fast heating up, compact size. The only downside is, that I have to buy a 230/110V voltage converter, because it comes from the US, and I am located in Hungary.