Parkside PLSD 48 A1

[acidvenom]

Hello everyone!

I bought this soldering station from my local LIDL today, it was pretty cheap, and i saw another post on here that said it's cousin (PLS 48B1) is really bad.

LINK: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/parkside-pls-48b1-the-cheapest-%27soldering-station%27/

Now i'm no pro, but this one seems decent enough to me, and it seems they learned from it.

My thoughts so far compared to the previous post (I'll update this as i use it):

-The tips take solder without a problem, but they screw on, which might be a problem due to thermal expansion/contraction
-The cable is a bit stiffer, but not unusable. Also seems generously sized, both in length and width (but then again that might just be the insulation).
-The iron feels good, the rubberized stuff is nice and grippy, but not too rubbery.
-Heat up time from 0-300°C is about 40 seconds.
-Cool down time from 300-60°C is about 7-8 minutes.
-The iron and power cord are hardwired into the base.
-The base is nicely designed, with slots to store solder spools and spare bits.
-The tip and the metalwork is grounded.
-The base and the stand have rubber pads to hold them in place.
-It has 200,300 and 400 °C presets, which make selecting the right temperature easier than holding the +/- buttons.
-Temperature display is accurate to ~5°C
-I guess it doesn't use a transformer because the base is really, really light.

Now the only thing i would like better is if you could get spare handles, and if the same handles weren't hardwired into the base.
Also the selection of 3 provided tips are the 2 pointed ones and one that really looks like a screwdriver tip, they could have made one of those two pointed ones a bit finer. Also i keep all my stuff in a cupboard, while this is designed to be set up on a desk and left there, and this doesn't really pack up nicely due to the hardwired iron and power plug.

I'll throw in some pictures as soon as my camera is back up.

I think it's okay for the price (30$), maybe not the greatest, but as a first soldering station i think it's okay, not too expensive but seems solidly made, except for the base which clearly doesn't use a transformer because it's too light.

Drop some thoughts if you have this iron or have used it, or if you want me to add something

[NottheDan]

-I guess it doesn't use a transformer because the base is really, really light.

There's basically nothing in there.

[bd139]

Looks dangerous to me.

Capacitive dropper. Unless there's a big transformer I can't see, there appears to be no sign of any line isolation there which means there's no galvanic isolation if the element burns out.

[acidvenom]

Jesus, i didn't expect it to be that bad...

[NottheDan]

Jesus, i didn't expect it to be that bad...

The item or my photographing skills?