ATTEN AT8586 2 in 1 Soldering Station, is it worth it.

[jack1197]

Im planning on buying a soldering station, and to a lesser degree, a hot air rework station(currently i have one or two wall plug irons). I was looking around and found the ATTEN AT8586, and it seems fairly decent for an entry level soldering iron and hot air rework station.

I live in new zealand, and I have found that a website called focalbga.com sells them for about 100US including postage to new zealand(which is truly horrible, about 45US). I have read that this website has sold fake/rip-off products, but did refund them. I don't think there would be a large risk of this being any worse than the average quality of this specific product, due to it being very close to the retail price others are offering it at. I have a very limited budget, being at high-school, so i would really like to get the cheapest that i can get without getting something that performs poorly.

Basically, is this worth getting, or will i regret it, i am planing on buying a tip to go with it as well. thanks for any advice.

focalbga product: http://www.focalbga.com/atten-at8586-2-in-1-soldering-station-for-smd-rework_p948.html
atten page: http://www.atten.com/product/at8586-hot-air-rework-station/

[amyk]

The usual advice is to buy one of each (hot air gun and soldering station), that way you can use one to fix the other if it breaks.

[GeoffS]

I recently bought a Yihua 898D 2 in 1 and I'm quite happy with it.
It arrived with spare heater cartridges for the soldering iron and the heat gun. When I opened it up to replace the European power cord, it seemed to be quite well made. It gets up to temperature very quickly and (to the  limit to which I can test it) seems to keep a stable temperature.
Delivery was about 4 days and from the US, not China. Total cost $A112

Here's a link to the eBay sale.

Fixed link, thanks  miguelvp

[jack1197]

I recently bought a Yihua 898D 2 in 1 and I'm quite happy with it.
It arrived with spare heater cartridges for the soldering iron and the heat gun. When I opened it up to replace the European power cord, it seemed to be quite well made. It gets up to temperature very quickly and (to the  limit to which I can test it) seems to keep a stable temperature.
Delivery was about 4 days and from the US, not China. Total cost $A112

Here's a link to the eBay sale.

thanks, also geoffs, your link isn't working for me
amyk, thanks, but if that isn't likely  to be an issue, i would really like to save my money, also, the postage for two separate units, although it would probably be less if they were packaged together, would likely be worse that it already is(45US on a 55US product).

So what im getting out of this is: getting a cheap one will do just fine(assuming I don't want a rock solid product that will last 100 years)

[miguelvp]

Fixed link
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/151065315101

[jack1197]

thanks, that seller even has the model I was looking at, and its slightly cheaper too

EDIT: actually, they have a yihua clone of it
EDIT2: it was a 110v version, ill keep looking

[AmmoJammo]

I have a station that looks similar, and it isn't great, but it works.

Not sure how accurate the reported soldering iron temperature is, as I accidentally left it switched on one night, and when I came back to it, the LED display still read 400, but the tip was stone cold. 

I bought it when my "good" soldering station element failed, and couldn't justify spending $65 for the replacement.

[GeoffS]

A heat gun feature caught me when I first tried to use it.
I set the temperature but the fan didn't turn on or start to heat - until I picked the gun up. Once off the bracket, the fan starts and it heats up, fairly quickly. When you put the gun/wand back on the bracket, it cools down to 100° then switches the fan off.
Perhaps the soldering iron does something similar although there's no way to set a delay to do so.

[TheGeologist]

Hello all,

In the last few months - via a rather twisted route - I've had my interest in electronics rekindled and as chance would have it bought a Sumsour 8586.  As far as I can tell it is an ATTEN clone, unbranded, that some lot have stuck their name on.  Total cost $75, of which nearly $46 was shipping and GST.  Let me state right now that I'm not sure if that is $75 well spent, but here are the details with images attached for reference.

• The whole thing is very light weight, from the unit itself to both the iron and hot air gun.
• The iron is very fine, the tip tiny, and the element connects poorly with the tip.
• Iron heats quickly but I'm yet to use it beyond a couple of tests on wire and an old PCB. Cut-out feature works well providing you orient the gun vertically.
• Hot air gun is more quiet that I was expecting and I've tested it removing some larger through hole resistors from a PCB.  Really only wanted this for heatshrink, so no harm done if it is a bit on the tentative side.
• Rear plate is rather flimsy and bends when inserting and removing the power cord - will be set up permanently so this shouldn't be a problem.
• Plugs on the front panel and leads are piss-weak.  If the thing lasts I'll probably replace them.
• Has calibration trimmers for both the heat gun and iron, visible through small holes in the front panel.
• Inside it is remarkably clean and the components all look reasonable (even if it appears it was put together in a right hurry).
• Earth wire is attached by screw to the transformer and chaise, soldered to the power socket.
• No visible poor joints, corrosion or damaged components; some joints look a little light on on the solder front.
• Listed as being compatible with Hakko 900M-T series tips - will need to upgrade!

As I get more bits and pieces turn up and can start on a few little projects I'll provide more detail on performance.  Given versions of this unit are all over eBay and other online stores, I figure this info might be useful to others, and if anyone has any questions please do ask.

[wasyoungonce]

Hello all,

In the last few months - via a rather twisted route - I've had my interest in electronics rekindled and as chance would have it bought a Sumsour 8586. 

Ok there is a problem with your unit.  The first pic shows the heater gun being powered thru a plug on the front panel.  This plug looks to be a std microphone plug made by the bazillions in China.

Problem is it’s not rated to pass 220V thru it in fact it’s downright dangerous used only for low voltages.  Early yiuhia or whatever models had this but changed to a fixed connector because of this exact issue.

So what to do....look at pics of other units see if you can swap out the socket & plug to something like a 220V cord grip or something safe.  Have a look at newer units also on this forum thread post #154
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/deadly-wiring-fault-atten-858d-hot-air-rework-station/?all


Brendan



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[HB9EVI]

Except for the overall flimsy quality, this was a main reason I sold again my Youyue 852D hot air station; you could easily call that a death trap with the 230V on that mic socket - that's simply not acceptable.

my advice would be to

1. go for 1 solder iron station and 1 hot air rework station
2. invest some more bucks in something decent

those solder and rework station are maybe cheap, but it's nothing you're going to spend a longer time - so it turns out to be true again:

buy cheap, buy twice

[wasyoungonce]

Look I know it’s dangerous very dangerous but if you can rewire the hot air pwr lead thru something like a 230v plug cord grip it will fix this issue.  Remove this socket plug completely heatshrink joins. Problems is the insulation on the pins backshell or plug cannot withstand 220VAC and will leak (to the case shell or other pins) and eventually arc over, the case can now become live. 

I’ve seen this actually happen. 

Anyway it’s too big a risk to ignore.  There are links on the net how to modify or return it for a “safer unit”.  I cannot undestimate the danger with this arrangement.  The solder iron plug passed 24~30VAC  which is low enough to be considered reasonably safe. The hot air gun passes power from a triac @ 220VAC Which is just not on. Sorry to bearer of bad news to you

Brendan

[TheGeologist]

Thanks for the heads up guys.

I've check the innards again, this time with a multimeter,  and can confirm that the output power supplied to the hot air gun is 28V not straight through 240V.

The device works on the various output voltages from the transformer which are conveniently printed on the top of it (see attached photo).

So while the socket is bodge I don't think it's likely to do me in.

Still very glad of the warning!

[wasyoungonce]

If it’s 28VAC it’s ok but do measure the heater element voltage and or trace it from it’s voltage controller triac. 28VAC Sounds like iron voltage but hey I’m guessing measure it at the element and triac