Beginner here, Help me buy a good soldering iron.

[AaronLee]

I just had a look on Banggood. I never use them, nor really ever visit the site anymore, and one visit made me realize just how horrible they are and the reason I avoid them at all costs. For instance, searching for KSGER products, for the life of me, I can't even see who the vendor is for any of the items. It might be direct from KSGER, or it might not be. There's nothing to show the satisfaction customers have with the vendor, and a ton of other features that are available with AliExpress. If I'm doing something wrong, someone please explain to me, how do you see who the vendor is on Banggood, and how do you see the satisfaction rating and reviews of that vendor?

Honestly, I've never thought about it.   I look at the reviews for the item, the brand name of the item, and the satisfaction rating for that item, and if people are bitching about poor customer service, etc. then that would certainly affect my interest in the item, but I've never really cared who was selling it.   I have received everything I have purchased and I haven't had a problem.  Delivery times vary, but I expect that.   I assume your worry is that you could be getting counterfeit product.   That's a valid worry, but it's not one that has affected my purchasing as yet.

Not just that they could send a counterfeit product, but perhaps a defective product, a used product, not send anything, or long delays in sending an item. On AliExpress, each vendor gets a percent rating, and if ever the rating is less than 95%, I seriously reconsider ordering from them. The products themselves have ratings, and the vendor also. It makes a big difference to me in feeling more confident in ordering stuff directly from Chinese companies. I had one bad experience on AliExpress, with a vendor that played games and never shipped the goods, and AliExpress stepped in and I quickly got a refund. For most things I order, there's generally a number of different vendors selling the same thing, so I check how many people have ordered from each, the price differences, and the vendor ratings in order to make my decision. Banggood is a far cry in providing that information, compared to AliExpress from what I see.

[Doctorandus_P]

I just did a random search on Ali for "T12 Handle", and among others, the link below popped up.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32965564853.html

It has some pictures of the inside of various handles.
Some have 2 pieces of FR4 wit single wipe contacts, others have a plastic tube with moulded in connectors.

About the "fit" of the handles with KGSER station. It's just a connector on the end of a wire.
The only extra's in the handle are a tilt switch to detect movement, and an NTC, and I think this is to detect / prevent overheating of the handle itself. Apparently both 4pin and 5 pin connectors are used, so you may have to pay some attention to that, or just buy some extra connectors.
You can also buy the wire between the handle and the connector separately, or bundled with a handle as a set. The cheaper versions probably are PVC, while the better versions have silly cone.

You can also buy the control PCB with O-LED and rotary button as a spare part for just over EUR20. A spare may ease your mind if you have intentions of re-flashing the software to remove some "feature" that irritates you. I think a bunch of firmware variants float around on sourececode distribution sites, packed in git repositories.

[l3gi0n]

I just did a random search on Ali for "T12 Handle", and among others, the link below popped up.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32965564853.html

This is the one that I ordered:



Is this ok ? or do you recommend ordering another type ? if so, which one from the site that you posted ?

[Bassman59]

I am a beginner and I am looking to buy a good soldering iron.

Here are the things that I want to do:

(1) Repair PS2 controllers: Change the ribbon sheet connector that has very thin legs.
(2) Repair PS3 consoles, change NEC Tokin caps with other types of caps.
(3) Repair/Re-cable headphones.

Which one should I go for ? Any other recommendations in the same price range ?

The answer to your question is Metcal.

Buy once, cry once.

[l3gi0n]

Are there any differences between the mini version and the one with power supply built in ?

Does the V3.1S have grounding issues ? Do you recommend fixing the grounding issue ?

[MultiMike]

Is this ok ? or do you recommend ordering another type ? if so, which one from the site that you posted ?

  I don't have that one so I can't speak from personal experience, but what I have heard is that those variants of the handles are narrower and don't fit the generic Hakko-like iron holders.  If you have some other concept for holding your iron or are willing to make some modifications to the holder then you might be perfectly fine.

  I have seen a complaint that the tube that the tip is held in was too tight and needed to be modified for easier tip changes.   I have seen other complaints that the tube was too loose and could, under certain circumstances, creep out of the handle enough that it loses contact and stops working until you push it back in.

Again - no personal experience, here.

Mike

[Psi]

I am a beginner and I am looking to buy a good soldering iron.

Here are the things that I want to do:

(1) Repair PS2 controllers: Change the ribbon sheet connector that has very thin legs.
(2) Repair PS3 consoles, change NEC Tokin caps with other types of caps.
(3) Repair/Re-cable headphones.

Which one should I go for ? Any other recommendations in the same price range ?

The answer to your question is Metcal.

Buy once, cry once.

Also Thermotronics make good stuff, and without the metcal tax.
Though still not cheap.

[mansaxel]

For small work, the TS100 is not bad, but you should probably factor a new chisel tip in the price; the conical standard tip is not so convincing.  I have the TS100 in my portable tool kit, and for bench use I have a Ersa i-Con Nano which has been very good to me. I almost exclusively work with TH pcb's and older technology (point-to-point wiring and cables, et c), so if one's into newer assemblies, YMMV.

[fkfaraz]

T12X by OSS team from Ali.

It has much better offering then the ksger or quicko, with the stand, cleaning sponge and brass wire,silicon pad for removing tips on the go, May be a better power suplly then the ksger one's.
It has new display with the power bar graph like the jbc, sleep/delay function etc etc. hack they even make their own t12 tips which is expensive then the other common t12 tips found on the internet.

i am considering it my self for the upgrade from the Bakon 950d which i am using from the last 5 years before going the route of jbc/I2C t245 style configuration. Because i have accumulated 11 t12 tips of different size and shape so far so i can not leave the t12 configuration until they all die/vanish somehow
BTW, i dont know how to save pic from ali or google in a usable format(jpg) rather then the stupid webp so i will post the Ali links here.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003198423402.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.456a2e0eIvILQE

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001633176455.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.1000014.3.24a834e5DkX3n9&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.33416.213724.0&scm_id=1007.33416.213724.0&scm-url=1007.33416.213724.0&pvid=f7a12587-d099-4759-9a85-b663dcd1d6f2&_t=gps-id:pcDetailBottomMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.33416.213724.0,pvid:f7a12587-d099-4759-9a85-b663dcd1d6f2,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238111%231996&&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sceneId%22:%2223416%22,%22sku_id%22:%2212000016902727040%22%7D

and the OSS team T12 tips
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002511020868.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.28036705YaKto5&gps-id=pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller&scm=1007.13339.169870.0&scm_id=1007.13339.169870.0&scm-url=1007.13339.169870.0&pvid=2a6cfff7-27ca-4be0-b05b-3dc9c4752248&_t=gps-id:pcDetailBottomMoreThisSeller,scm-url:1007.13339.169870.0,pvid:2a6cfff7-27ca-4be0-b05b-3dc9c4752248,tpp_buckets:668%232846%238111%231996&&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sceneId%22:%223339%22,%22sku_id%22:%2212000020940642144%22%7D

There are Some sellers who are claiming to have genuine hakko tips of different shape. they are expensive then the t12 tips and OSS t12 tips.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001333500983.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.54b62e0e1vNbIu

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000673357540.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.54b62e0e1vNbIu

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001333574829.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.5fd52e0etBbTDl

[mechkbfan]

What was your final decision regarding soldering iron?

Finding myself in a similar position. The last post of a OSS T12-X looked alright and removed some guess work for me.

[jonpaul]

Since decades ago we use genuine Metcal SP-200 stations and tips, and also the old Japanese Hakko 926, 936 station and tips.

The Chinese knockoffs are faulty, poorly made and occasionally fail dangerously eg loss of temperature control, runaway and,ains leakage current due to faulty insulation system
.

As in everything else you get what you pay for.

Bon courage

Jon

[fkfaraz]

t12-x is indeed a nice station. after that post i have gone ahead and got myself t12-x from Ali. Used it a lot in
the two years with my t12 style tips. i must say the handle with that nice jbc style silicone cable Relief and with the nice silicone cable was the real update for me from my old bakon station.

But now i have upgraded again with a real soldering station i.e an Metcal Mx-500 with mx-h1-Av Advanced Hand piece and Mx-DS1 Desoldering Gun. it is awesome..

[fkfaraz]

Mx-H1-Av fits nicely in t12-x holder.

[fkfaraz]

Also mx-ds1