Starting as a hobbyist with the Hakko FX888D

[morelenmir]

Hey Forum!!!

Like many others before me I have been inspired to get back in to electronics by Dave's videos.  Following the advice in "Soldering Tutorials - Part 1" I am in the process of getting hold of the Hakko FX888D to be my principle soldering iron.  Sadly the analogue version Dave uses is no longer available in Britain at least, but the digital 'D' model seems to be a pretty much direct replacement.

It happens there is only one supplier of Hakko machines over here and apparently they do not often cater to the hobbyist market so purchasing is arranged via emails and bank transfers rather than modern e-commerce.  Accordingly I would prefer to get everything I need in as few passes through their system as possible.  I wonder if anyone could supply me with the Hakko part numbers for the chisel-tip and well-tip that Dave recommends?  I believe the machine comes with the sharp conical tip, but obviously that is not really much good.  I have seen a couple of similar posts, but the part numbers mentioned there do not tally up with the list available to me:

T18-B          SOLDERING IRON TIP (B)
T18-BL        SOLDERING IRON TIP (LB)
T18-BR02    SOLDERING IRON TIP (0.2BR)
T18-C05      SOLDERING IRON TIP (0.5C)
T18-C08      SOLDERING IRON TIP (0.8C)
T18-C1        SOLDERING IRON TIP (1C)
T18-C2        SOLDERING IRON TIP (2C)
T18-C3        SOLDERING IRON TIP (3C)
T18-C4        SOLDERING IRON TIP (4C)
T18-C5        SOLDERING IRON TIP (5C)
T18-CF1      SOLDERING IRON TIP (1CF)
T18-CF15    SOLDERING IRON TIP (1.5CF)
T18-D08      SOLDERING IRON TIP (0.8D)
T18-D12      SOLDERING IRON TIP (1.2D)
T18-D16      SOLDERING IRON TIP (1.6D)
T18-D24      SOLDERING IRON TIP (2.4D)
T18-D32      SOLDERING IRON TIP (3.2D)
T18-DL12    SOLDERING IRON TIP (1.2DL)
T18-DL2      SOLDERING IRON TIP (2DL)
T18-DL32    SOLDERING IRON TIP (3.2DL)
T18-I           SOLDERING IRON TIP (I)
T18-K          SOLDERING IRON TIP (K)
T18-S3        SOLDERING IRON TIP (S3)
T18-S4        SOLDERING IRON TIP (S4)
T18-S6        SOLDERING IRON TIP (S6)
T18-S9        SOLDERING IRON TIP (S9)
T18-SB        SOLDERING IRON TIP (SB)

I understand the Hakko 900M iron tips are very popular and also inexpensive - indeed available from amazon for about £5!.  Are they compatible with the FX888D?

[mariush]

You can buy the tips from lots of places and they're relatively cheap to ship.

The solder tips for Hakko 936 (the 900M ones) will work with the fx-888 the only difference is that the new ones are a few mm longer I think. Just be careful if you order 900M tips, a lot of such tips on eBay are clones made by various companies and don't have the same life as original tips and often they also show up in stores like Amazon.

The shape of the tips, you can see here: http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fx888d_tips.html#productNav
The page also has for each category a "how to use" link and shows examples, so you can determine what's best for you.

If you have the money get the kind that has a small hole in the center..  ..so you can put flux on board and then put some solder in the tip hole at the top and just drag solder like it shows in the how to use page)
The D shape that looks like a regular flat screwdriver is also often useful. The K is also nice for surface mount stuff and for breaking solder bridges and for drag soldering

I would recommend getting a small size (but not the smallest, often not worth it) and one of the larger sizes from each type but it depends on how much money you have.

There's also an eBay distributor for Hakko which sells from US... seems reliable and doesn't look like selling fake stuff : http://stores.ebay.com/NEI-Lamps-and-Electronics   
Scroll down and click on Hakko soldering tips. 

I would also suggest looking at Sparkfun or Adafruit  (both in US) and maybe tequipment from Australia I think (and I think they also offer a small discount to eevblog members) :  http://www.tequipment.net/hakko/soldering-equipment-1/tips/

[GreyWoolfe]

I have the T18-D08, D12, D16 and S4.  I am toying with getting 2.4 and 3.2 mm chisel tip.  I like the chisel tips.

[kolonelkadat]

fwiw lots of people seem to think it comes with a conical tip but all the 888d that I have seen and heard about have come with a tiny d shape tip. (d12 or d16).

I dont know though if its a region/vendor thing (everyone here buys from the same store) or if the 888 came with a conical tip and thats the source of the confusion.

[morelenmir]

MANY thanks chaps!

Going from what you say and the Hakko site I think the 'D' range are the ones for me.  I guess the number refers to the size in MM, so the one Dave uses in his video are probably the "T18-DL32    SOLDERING IRON TIP (3.2DL)" and I will add that to my order.

I cannot quite make out which is the well-tip though.

[Shock]

I cannot quite make out which is the well-tip though.

The two tips with the hollow face suitable for drag soldering are 900M-T-2CM Shape-2C and 900M-T-3CM Shape-3C.
There is also CF tips which have only the cone tinned.

I do like the D-Shape chisel tip for through hole soldering just because of the flat edge.
The ultimate for me is a C-Shape tip with slight flat edge on the end with a little worn notch in the middle.

The longer edge D-Shape are useful for placing it on the bench for tinning.

For big heating jobs a T18-B Shape-B should last a while.

The T18-K Shape-K knife blade is good for drag soldering or situations where a you need to cover a wider area.
The bent tip does everything the blade cannot T18-BR02 Shape-0.2BR.

[morelenmir]

EXCELLENT!!!

All that order is in then - just the painful part of paying for it and an overnight courier shipping.

As I say, in Britain there seems only to be one dealer:  www.dancap.co.uk.  I am not in any way affiliated with them, but include that link for the convenience of any other Brits who might want to go the same route I did.  Their site is rather tough to use and there is no proper e-commerce capability.  Once you have the part numbers you want to buy you have to email them and pay by check or direct bank transfer.  HOWEVER, I have spoken to one of their chaps a couple of times now through email - even over the weekend - and he seems perfectly decent and helpful.  Its a bit of a faff, but so far I recommend them rather than having one imported from overseas and retrofitting an appropriate transformer.  All told with delivery and the two bits discussed above I think the order will come to around £140 with VAT and shipping.  Which is damn pricey of course, but by all account the FX888B should last a lifetime.