Decent Desoldering iron/station

[Gyro]

I'm waiting for delivery of a solid-state relay to fix this bs.
i suspect that's what's in the cable-tied box in the back of daves - a relay of some type.

The black plastic box at the back (screwed to the back in the Proskit) contains just a pair of PCB mounted ceramic power resistors. These are in series with the output of the SMPS feeding the fan and switching circuit. The box has one 2-pin input header at the top left corner and two parallel connected 2-pin output headers in the bottom right corner. The resistors are used to drop the voltage to the vacuum pump motor (and probably provide some stall current limiting). One of the bottom right gonnectors goes to the pump circuit and the other to the case cooling fan.

The output of the SMPS is a steady 18V approx (from memory). The (12V rated) cooling fan however sees as much as 12-18V variation depending whether the vacuum pump is running or not (due to the series resistors). This makes it wail a bit like a banshee as you use the gun.

The solution is easy. Unplug the three connectors from the plastic box . Unscrew it from the rear panel (2 screws), rotate it through 180' and put it back. This now leaves you with the two parallel connected headers at the top left corner and one at the bottom right. Plug the pump circuit connector back into the bottom right header and the SMPS back into either of the top left headers. All the headers are the same type and polarity.

Buy a cheap 50mm 24V 3d printer cooling fan from ebay (you should have done that earlier, shouldn't you  ) to replace the existing case fan. Plug this into the remaining header at the top left of the plastic box. It will now receive a steady 18v from the SMPS. This is the one I bought (50mm size), it plugged straight in...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-Printer-24v-Cooling-Fan-25mm-30mm-40mm-50mm-60mm-Extruder-Fan-RepRap-/191458206299?var=&hash=item2c93cc625b:m:m6PyjIeUYOqwD28857uubWw

Enjoy your quieter desoldering station. 

[oxidized]

My Proskit has a SMPS, not linear transformer. 

sick!

I'm waiting for delivery of a solid-state relay to fix this bs.
i suspect that's what's in the cable-tied box in the back of daves - a relay of some type.

The black plastic box at the back (screwed to the back in the Proskit) contains just a pair of PCB mounted ceramic power resistors. These are in series with the output of the SMPS feeding the fan and switching circuit. The box has one 2-pin input header at the top left corner and two parallel connected 2-pin output headers in the bottom right corner. The resistors are used to drop the voltage to the vacuum pump motor (and probably provide some stall current limiting). One of the bottom right gonnectors goes to the pump circuit and the other to the case cooling fan.

The output of the SMPS is a steady 18V approx (from memory). The (12V rated) cooling fan however sees as much as 12-18V variation depending whether the vacuum pump is running or not (due to the series resistors). This makes it wail a bit like a banshee as you use the gun.

The solution is easy. Unplug the three connectors from the plastic box . Unscrew it from the rear panel (2 screws), rotate it through 180' and put it back. This now leaves you with the two parallel connected headers at the top left corner and one at the bottom right. Plug the pump circuit connector back into the bottom right header and the SMPS back into either of the top left headers. All the headers are the same type and polarity.

Buy a cheap 50mm 24V 3d printer cooling fan from ebay (you should have done that earlier, shouldn't you  ) to replace the existing case fan. Plug this into the remaining header at the top left of the plastic box. It will now receive a steady 18v from the SMPS. This is the one I bought (50mm size), it plugged straight in...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3D-Printer-24v-Cooling-Fan-25mm-30mm-40mm-50mm-60mm-Extruder-Fan-RepRap-/191458206299?var=&hash=item2c93cc625b:m:m6PyjIeUYOqwD28857uubWw

Enjoy your quieter desoldering station. 

Sounds interesting, i'll save this, you never know i might need this in the future

[Gyro]

Just by happy coincedence, new user felix_GR posted internal photos of the black plastic resistor box yesterday:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/zd-915-desolder-gunstation/msg1052757/#msg1052757

[oxidized]

Just by happy coincedence, new user felix_GR posted internal photos of the black plastic resistor box yesterday:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/zd-915-desolder-gunstation/msg1052757/#msg1052757

This is the pro's kit one or?

edit: oh nevermind

[aronake]

Do anybody know specification or part of the specifications on the motor and vacuum pump? 12V? Watt? Lite per min? etc? There seem to be be some text on the picture with the motor but picture is too small to read it.

[wizard69]

Hello everyone, i'm new in this forum and i plan to stay as long as i can 
Now let's go to the point.

You kinda failed here.   The point is what is your use case?   This is the beginners forum so I have to assume you are new to electronics in some form.   You could be interested in repair or have hobby interests in a different direction.   In any event the point here is that buying a desoldering gun might not be your best move if you are starting out in electronics.   In otherwords to get to the point we need more info.
[/quote]
I'm looking for a decent desoldering iron or station around 200€ (better if under ofc), the hakko fr-300 looks good, but VAT included it ends up costing like ~290€, and i want to stay far below that.
Any idea?
[/quote]

I don't have a station at home and the one at work requires a compressed air supply and wasn't cheap   So honestly I can't offer good advice.   All I can say is that I would make sure I had access to a really good soldering station before worrying about a desoldering station.

By the way, If salvaging for hobby use is something you are thinking about, I've had really good success using a propane torch on the back side of boards with surface mount components I want.   The board may be useless afterwards but you can get the components to fall off as soon as the solder melts limiting thermal stress.   For through hole I just use a regular iron and solder sucker for hobby use.   If your goal is professional though, increase your budget and buy name brand with easy to get supplies in your area.   With soldering equipment after the sales support or spare parts if you will is a big factor in a purchase, you don't want to have to rely upon a supplier in China for this stuff.   Even if the iron is made in China buy from a local STOCKING distributor.   The reality is when you need something, a spare tip of filter for example, getting it overnight is on average worth the cost.

In my mind there is a huge difference between professional use and hobby use and this comes down to spare parts.   If you do something bone headed and damage a tip or whole heating element; waiting days for the replacement isn't a problem in a hobby related endeavor.   If this is a business you want next day or maybe even the ability to drive into town and get the item.