Hey there everyone!
I decided to pick up a cheap $48 USD 936 clone off AliExpress recently. These things are everywhere, varying in quality, but the reviews seemed to say that this one was quite good. It came with a few nice bits, like some solder, a solder sucker, spare heating element, 6 tips, etc.
You can check out the Ali page here:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/HAKKO-936-soldering-station-Electric-iron-A1321-ceramic-heating-element-lots-gift-as-photo-220V-110V/32404068867.htmlThis particular clone is obviously going for the straight copyright infrigement, using the Hakko logos and cloning the design to a T. The printing on the control board is a bit off in places, but it tries:
I've been using this station for a bit recently, and it works quite well. I'm using the chisel tip that came with it, around 1.5mm. The unit heats to 370C in around 13 seconds, which I'd say is quite good. Definitely better than the $20 Mitre 10 iron I was using before...
It comes with 3 conical tips of various sizes, a big hot knife tip, the small chisel I'm using, and one of those "well" style tips for surface mount.
The stand it comes with isn't too bad, it's metal at the very least. Obviously very light. It wouldn't be too bad if you put a couple lead weights in there, but I'd suggest grabbing a heavy stand with brass wool in it. The sponge is okay, it works, but it's not that great. Nor is it that great for the tips, especially these cheapo ones.
The sticker on the back of the unit almost looks genuine! "Made in Japan", yeah, sure...
Right, onto the inside of the unit!
Disassembly:
From the top. I would honestly say that this doesn't look too bad. Those connections look secure, and the wires looks reasonably tidy. There are a couple solder joints that aren't quite 100%, but most are pretty good. I wouldn't know enough about transformers to give any kind of statement on that. There's a fuse on that switch board, as usual.
Side view of the transformer. Date code and some Chinese characters there, if you're interested. This is obviously the 220V model (I'm in New Zealand), but you can request a 110V unit and the specific type plug for your country. Mine came with a New Zealand plug, as requested. No insulation on the pins though. As you can see, it uses the usual type of iron plug for the clones, and this specific iron has a collar to keep it secure on the plug.
And here's the other side. You can see the fuse on the switch board there, as well as a bit more of the transformer.
I hadn't removed the board itself, as it would've required desoldering those wires, and this is my only iron
The Mitre 10 iron went in the bin a week ago!
Overall, I'd say this station is pretty good, especially when factoring in the price. It obviously won't beat a real Hakko, but it's more than enough for a first station, or an upgrade from a cheapo wall iron. The solder sucker it comes with works okay, but solder wick works much better. The unit's build quality is really good for a clone, in my opinion, apart from the small imperfections on the printing. It's got a fair bit of heft to it, too. If you're really interested in running this iron for a long time, I'd recommend:
Replacing the plug with a higher quality one.
Calibrate the station - the factory calibration is okay, but it's not fantastic.
Get better tips, genuine Hakko
should work on it.
Other than that, there's not much else to say. The solder it comes with is alright, the tips aren't bad, and it heats quickly and makes good quality joints.
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you pick one of these up, I'd like to know how it goes for you.
High res images:
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