Hakko Vs. Weller

[megahz]

I was looking at soldering stations and was curious what people prefer

[jpb]

I have an Ersa i-Con nano which I'm happy with so far but I've never tried a Hakko or a Weller so I can't really give a comparative view.

[dr.diesel]

My Weller WES51 has been chugging along for eons without a hiccup, absolutely love it.

[nanofrog]

These days, my first choice would be JBC. 

Next, would be Hakko.

Though I currently use a Weller WD1, I wouldn't recommend their products due to a slew of QC issues with their more recent product lines. Cost is another issue, as just a replacement iron for mine is more than an entire FX-888. The same funds would get both an iron + stand for JBC (or an iron + 2x tips).

[bombledmonk]

Easy Braid .  I love this station.  It's designed by a few former Metcal engineers and uses the self-regulating curie tips. 'Legend' goes that it was made when the Metcal patents ran out and there were some points that were improved over the Metcal version.  It's also sold under a few other names, but I'm not sure which ones are the knock-offs of this knock-off and which ones are the real deal.  May be a bit out of the price comparison that you're looking at.

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en/soldering-desoldering-rework-products/soldering-stations/1310841?k=ez%20braid

[Fsck]

First choice would be JBC but the getup I want is about a grand in Canada.
I know some people hate single temperature tips but I do like my used Metcal, excellent performance/cost.
If I need temperature control, I can turn to my Hakko 936.

[mikgntl-2013]

My vote for JBC stations. They are simply outstanding!
Since you are looking for a new station, you could consider the CD2BB kit in the buy/sell section.

[ddavidebor]

I was looking at soldering stations and was curious what people prefer

usually people work with only one high-end soldering station, so it's difficult to prefer one or other...

But...

Jbc is the top of the top
Weller are rugged
Hakko are cute

For my bench i will go for hakko, for a production chain with weller.
If time lost cost you a lot of bucks i'll go for jbc

[megahz]

JBC is pretty expensive though, im in around the 150$ range

[ddavidebor]

Oh so only weller-hakko?

Ok, hakko win.

Cheaper, nicer, more confortable and cute.

[nanofrog]

JBC is pretty expensive though, im in around the 150$ range

Given your budget, go for the Hakko FX-888/D between that and say a Weller WES51/D.

Or add more to your budget and get a JBC. 

[megahz]

hmm, I think Hakko is a bit better because the heating element seems like it's better quality, I have had an X-Tronic Soldering iron, and I loved it moslty because it used Hakko heating element and got hot very quickly.

[nukie]

Any brand mention above which is easily available to you, no point sticking to a brand when you have to wait two weeks for replacement parts.

[M. András]

very hot quick? depends, the wmrp pencil on the weller side takes 3-4 second to hit 350 celsius from room temp, jbc is around the same time, metcals dunno but its fast too. pick it out any of these from the stand in time you move to the board its already on working temp

[ben_r_]

Been using Hakko for years and have always liked them over Weller. Just seem better designed and at the time Weller's were over priced. But my primary iron is a Metcal.

[megahz]

I've never tried a metcal iron

[Hydrawerk]

Yes, Hakko is cheaper than Weller. It's better for hobby (or profi) use.

[megahz]

Well, I might just go for something cheap now like 80$, so the Hakko FX888D or the analog Weller station, I am in High School and want to go to Drexel for Electrical Engineering or Electro Mechanical Engineering so I probably wont need a JBC or Metcal just yet

[plesa]

I can highly recomend the Pace. Mostly their TD100 handpiece.
I tried the JBL and older Weller's, but Pace is my winner.
The JBL has on the handpiece the metal ring which became hot after while.
The main benefit of the TD100 for me  is the short distance between tip and hand.

[megahz]

I needed hot air too, so I think I am going to buy the X-Tronic 9020, it looks pretty good, with hot air and fume extractor, I had one of the older X-Tronic models before and they have great costumer service so I think I might go with the xtronic

[tvtechny]

This is my baby. http://www.shopjimmy.com/hakko-fx888d-23by-digital-soldering-station.htm

cheap, heats up fast, and reliable.

[megahz]

I just got the X-Tronic 9020, and I love it, the soldering iron is an exact copy of Hakko, in fact the extra heating element that came with it was a Hakko. I don't know about the Hot air though, I have never had an electronics hot air gun before, only the ones that are not for electronics. Costumer service is great, during shipping one of the Hot air nozzles were damaged so I sent them an email and they replied in 1 hour!! That's record time, and they are sending me a replacement for free! I love this station so far, even though its pretty big, and if you want to buy it here is the link (I am not associated with X-Tronic, I just rly love the station)

http://www.amazon.com/X-TRONIC-9020-XTS-SOLDERING-STATION-EXTRACTOR/dp/B00A2VQA24/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365116555&sr=8-1&keywords=xtronic+9020

[amspire]

The soldering iron I am going to vote for is one of the worse soldering irons ever, but also one of the most fun.

When I was at school, one of the popular soldering irons was the Scope irons, and amazingly, it still seems to be available today.

The original "SuperScope" soldering iron was 150W and then they brought out the "precision" 70W model.

They had temperature control - your finger. When you pushed a ring or level on the smaller iron, it pushed a carbon electrode onto the unplated copper tip. The other end was connected to a 3.3volt 50A transformer.  Instant heat! If you held the finger down too long, the tip started glowing red, and since it was an unplated copper tip, you had to keep plenty of spare tips and electrodes.

You had to learn by feel when the temperature was about right, and admittedly there were lots of wrecked phenolic PCBs along the way. Why it was fun is you instantly had so much heat available. Soldering to groundplanes, to bare metal - it was just so easy. You did get good at keeping the temperature about right with practice and it was far superior to any of the unregulated mains powered alternatives of the time.

Other then the feeling of pure power, it was fun as the 3.3V transformer was pretty indestructible, and I had a great time seeing what 3.3V @ 50A could do to bits of wire and anything else at hand. 

If anyone is crazy, here is the link to buy this 50 year old marvel of Ozzy technology. Must be a really great design to last that long!

http://www.ozautoelectrics.com/scope.html

My major disappointment is that the original Ferguson transformer has now been replaced with a wimpy-looking plastic encased job.

Richard.

[nanofrog]

The original "SuperScope" soldering iron was 150W and then they brought out the "precision" 70W model.

Given the alligator clips on the top pic, I wonder how many would have been mistakenly connected to a car battery.   

[megahz]

lolz (I think you are referring to the car battery post)