Suspect hakko fx 888d

[dzarren]

Hi there! I just got a hakko fx888d in the mail yesterday.
I got it off eBay, which is already suspect, but it's from a retailer that is supposedly authorized by hakko and has been since 1990. The seller is electro5 from Quebec. The unit in general looks the part, and doesn't scream fake, but there are a few things hat are making me suspicious.

I'm not sure if this is standard, but the tip it came with already had some melted solder on it. Also, it came with A chisel tip, not the conical tip I see coming with every fx888d.

Second, the tip fits quite loosely on the ceramic heating element. From what I understand, the hakko should fit snugly, whereas the fakes tend to be a bit sloppy and jangly.

Another thing is that when I opened the unit, I can see a few (not that many) cold solder joints.

The chip on the middle of the board is NOT branded atmel, it has a couple alphanumeric sequences and the word Japan on it, but the letters and numbers bring up nothing on google.

When I use the iron, it seems to have pretty low thermal capacity. I have it set at 700, and solder melts onto it, but when I place it on a joint to desolder, it seems to take a really long time being left there to start melting the solder at the joint, and the joint isn't really high mass.

And the last thing is that it came in the typical brown box, but it also had some outter sleeve that had a picture of the iron, as well as some other random words like "fashionable" or something similar. I have never seen this before.

If you have any thoughts I would love to hear them! Thank You for reading.

[RayRay]

Definitely sounds like a fake replica to me.
FX888D does come with a conical tip by default, and no, it's definitely not normal (with any soldering iron) to get a used tip out of the box!
Are there any etched hakko markings on the tip & heating element? (Remove all the nuts from the handle, to the point where you could push the circuit board outside, so you'd get a full view). Also, if you have a digital caliper, take measurements of the heating element's diameter, and the internal diameter of the tip (in MM of course).

[james_s]

I wonder if it's a return? Somebody may have bought the real deal and returned a fake.

[Nusa]

Several real vs fake videos around. Here's one:

You didn't say if it was sold as used or new. If used, the solder and random tip are to be expected.

You likely have recourse via ebay if it's advertised as genuine and isn't.

[retiredcaps]

I got it off eBay, which is already suspect, but it's from a retailer that is supposedly authorized by hakko and has been since 1990. The seller is electro5 from Quebec.

Electro5 is an authorized dealer, using J1L as postal code, according to

https://www.hakkousa.com/storelocator/?location=1

Screenshot included. I suggest phoning them, number is in screen shot, and talking to them about this.

Point to this thread if they question your integrity.

[retiredcaps]

I wonder if it's a return? Somebody may have bought the real deal and returned a fake.

The above is a possibility.

[retiredcaps]

PS. Let us know the outcome after you talk to the vendor.

[dzarren]

I got the following as a response from electro 5 after briefly expressing my concern it was fake.

electro-5 sent you a message about your request:

"Hello, I reassure you, the device you received from us is a genuine Hakko product. We (Electro-5) are an authorized Hakko distributor since 1990. You can check Hakko's website (www.hakkousa.com) for the list of authorized distributors and we are there. You can also contact Hakko Customer Service to make sure. Best regards, Claude Denis President of Electro-5 Inc."

To reply now, see your request details.






I'm not 100 percent sure how to proceed, I didn't bring up the fact that the soldering tip is not stock and has solder on it. I will do that as a reply. Let me know if there's other stuff I should maybe bring up as well.

The unit was purchased as "new".

[wraper]

The chip on the middle of the board is NOT branded atmel, it has a couple alphanumeric sequences and the word Japan on it, but the letters and numbers bring up nothing on google.

There never were any atmel chips in 888D, post the photo of the PCB. IIRC MCU was some custom part made by Renesas. Actually fakes are often built with atmel MCU.

and has solder on it

Dunno about Hakko but tips usually have some solder of them because they are tinned at the factory.

[dzarren]

Yeah sry, I wasn't clear. I stated that the chip was not atmel, because I know that lots of fakes use the atmel chips. So that was what made me unsure, it looks quite real and seems to be high quality exteriourly, but performance seems to lack and the tip fits loose on the element. This is the most suspect for me. Seems like crap thermal contact in my opinion.

[rsjsouza]

Yeah sry, I wasn't clear. I stated that the chip was not atmel, because I know that lots of fakes use the atmel chips. So that was what made me unsure, it looks quite real and seems to be high quality exteriourly, but performance seems to lack and the tip fits loose on the element. This is the most suspect for me. Seems like crap thermal contact in my opinion.

Perhaps a problem that happened during shipping? At any rate, if you feel the soldering iron is not doing its job you can always return it as defective. Before you do so, try to create a video of you soldering something somewhat simple (not one of these massive ground planes) to show them if that should be expected or not.

[Nusa]

I suggest that pictures of any suspicious features would go a lot farther than words. Especially if you want the collective to render opinions.

[amyk]

The chip on the middle of the board is NOT branded atmel, it has a couple alphanumeric sequences and the word Japan on it, but the letters and numbers bring up nothing on google.

There never were any atmel chips in 888D, post the photo of the PCB. IIRC MCU was some custom part made by Renesas. Actually fakes are often built with atmel MCU.

It's a Renesas R5F1007C, as I discovered in this thread.

If your PCB and IC looks like this, it's a real FX-888D:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_ym9zCYAnxk/UTdkX3p3BrI/AAAAAAAACiI/NJJF3aAzURw/s1600/IMGA0287.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Bjm0lmT2-ZI/VB70NsOZdlI/AAAAAAAAD7o/VFic5ARCwOk/s1600/P1010801%2B(Large).JPG
More pictures here: http://runawaybrainz.blogspot.ca/2013/03/hakko-fx-888d-solder-station-hi-res.html

(Those show an IC made in Singapore but it's not unusual for multiple fabs to be making them, and Japan being a source of Renesas ICs is not surprising either.)

The loose fit of the tip may be normal --- here's someone else noticing the same thing: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/why-your-hakko-might-have-poor-thermal-recovery/

One other possibility is that you somehow got a 240V transformer and it's being run at 120V so the heater is supplied 1/2 the voltage and at 1/4 of its usual power. That would still melt solder, albeit slowly and with very poor thermal recovery.

[Shock]

As mentioned just go to this website, you will need to check the iron and the station thoroughly against the pics, it could be hard for the seller to even know if a fake has been swapped into inventory.

http://runawaybrainz.blogspot.ca/2013/03/hakko-fx-888d-solder-station-hi-res.html

Regarding the tip, the tip comes pre-tinned as shown in this photo, a slight bit of extra solder could of occurred in manufacturing but it would look pristine, any discoloration or wear down the tip indicated its been used.

[amitchell]

Regarding the tip, mine from a local authorized dealer (Queale Electronics) came with the 1.6 chisel tip. It is verified authentic.

Some suppliers ship with the chisel tip, I know Adafruit does this.

The tip is meant to be loose, this accounts for thermal expansion.

[CustomEngineerer]

I bought my fx888d brand new from Fry's, and it had the chisel tip with a bit of solder on the tip from being tinned/tested at the factory.

[mdesfosses]

Mine came with a chisel tip too.