EEVblog1543 - Mailbag FNIRSI HS-01 USB Portable Soldering Iron

[EEVblog]

A look at the $30 Fnirsi HS-01 USB PD Portable soldering iron.
It is better than the E-Design Miniware TS-80P?

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DFykRxj

[Helio_Centra]

The American company Pine 64 makes a clone of the TS100 or TS101 called the Pinecil. and it is $26

https://pine64.com/product-category/pinecil/

Up to 88W, 12-24V, takes DC jack or USB-C PD, comes with the hacked firmware already installed.

[EEVblog]

The American company Pine 64 makes a clone of the TS100 or TS101 called the Pinecil. and it is $26
https://pine64.com/product-category/pinecil/
Up to 88W, 12-24V, takes DC jack or USB-C PD, comes with the hacked firmware already installed.

So the rabid fanboys in the video comments section have told me 
Looks like they have taken over from the TS100 fanboys.

[Helio_Centra]

Looks like they have taken over from the TS100 fanboys.

They made a better TS100 for a third of the price. That's how they converted me.

[kmike]

I am not a fanboy of either soldering irons, I just needed a new iron for field work.

The pinecil costs 52€ in europe plus shipping without a cable or a power supply and with only 1 tip. Also I don't like the idea of fiddling with an m2 screw (and allen wrench) in the field, when I have to replace the tip.

I bought the HS-01 from aliexpress for 73€ with a cable, power supply and 6 tips. Lets see how long it lasts...

Thanks Dave for the video! :-)

[.RC.]

There seems to be quite a few manufacturers of these small portable irons now. One downside I see is they all seem to make use of their own tip design which limits options.

With the advent of the T12 clones, cordless power tool batteries and 3D printers, you can whip together something I think better as you get a better selection of handles and tips and it is similar priced or maybe even cheaper.   Also looking at the Fnirsi one, to me it looks ungainly to be handling such a large cylindrical shaped thing like that.  Maybe others are more used to it, but I am more used to a smaller more finesse sized handle that I feel I can wield with greater precision.

Here is one I prepared earlier. I know it is not quite as handy as the pocket ones though.

[free_electron]

"OS: Ralim’s IronOS build
Chipset: Bouffalo BL-706
CPU: 32-bit RV32IMAFC RISC-V “SiFive E24 Core” @ 144 MHz"

Nope. No way. Do not want. Soldering irons don't need an os. They need a couple of opamps and a 7106 or 7107 if you must have a display for temperature and setpoint. (ok you can use a cheap micro to perform a/d and show on a display and maybe a dac to control the temp setpoint.

[thm_w]

There seems to be quite a few manufacturers of these small portable irons now. One downside I see is they all seem to make use of their own tip design which limits options.

With the advent of the T12 clones, cordless power tool batteries and 3D printers, you can whip together something I think better as you get a better selection of handles and tips and it is similar priced or maybe even cheaper.   Also looking at the Fnirsi one, to me it looks ungainly to be handling such a large cylindrical shaped thing like that.  Maybe others are more used to it, but I am more used to a smaller more finesse sized handle that I feel I can wield with greater precision.

Here is one I prepared earlier. I know it is not quite as handy as the pocket ones though.

Battery based is better in some situations, so yours is a nice option.
If you search around on ali and you'll find irons using standard tips: T12, C245, C210

Agree with the odd shape. This KSGER one looks a bit more ergonomic, and is $28: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005519807256.html But its direct 12V instead of TypeC. Unsure if it would handle higher voltages of a 18V battery.
Some of the C245 stuff is type C: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004883610424.html
Or a wired 245 + good stand: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005366090783.html

[Jesse_G_EE]

I was actually curious about what that USB Power Monitor Device is?

[thm_w]

I was actually curious about what that USB Power Monitor Device is?

Search for fnirsi power meter, there are a few different models.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256802754714015.html

[Jesse_G_EE]

Thanks friendo!

[Doctorandus_P]

So it's not compatible with the T12 tips.
It can't normally show a temperature on it's display.
It can't make a decent connection to the tip.

It seems that fnirsi iron is just as horrible as their scopes.
I'm quite like "cheap" tools, but there is a minimum quality standard for tools to be "acceptable", and the fnirsi garbage just does not meet it. A "decent product" should have a combination of "something useful", and the "absence of show stoppers and stupidity", and fnirsi seems to always fail on that second part.

I did not see the whole video, I stopped after I saw the trouble with recognizing the tip.
I wonder why people even bother reviewing that stuff.

[thm_w]

I did not see the whole video, I stopped after I saw the trouble with recognizing the tip.
I wonder why people even bother reviewing that stuff.

And as usual you don't bother reading a few minutes to find the actual info:
- The tip was loose because Dave didn't screw on the collar holding it in place
- The temperatures bounce around on T12 clone type tips until the thermocouple burns in, this should resolve after 5-10mins or so. Presumably Hakko tips are pre burnt-in, Pace has stated they do this to theirs.

[dinoboy]

Anybody knows if the "KAIWEETS Mini Lötkolben Set digital aus Aluminium, Typ-C-Kabel, Adapter, 5 Ersatzlötspitzen, Temperatur Einstellbar 80-420°C, Soldering Kit KETS02" is the same hardware and firmware as the Fnirsi?

https://kaiweets.com/en-de/collections/soldering

The tool is all over youtube and amazon, with high availability at intl amzn warehouses. Maybe in the long term the HS-01 will become the most popular USB soldering iron simply because of the marketing power of Kaiweets which is not a small company/name in the business.

[MathWizard]

Well what are some good cordless/chargeable mini-soldering irons? I would like a mini one for just for when I have some DUT, all wired up on the scope, and I don't want to unhook it all and go over to the solder iron to change 1 little part. And I don't want my big soldering station next to my touchscreen scope.

Any good ones in the $70-100 range ? I've seen the TSxxx ones, I don't remember them being cordless, I thought they just had new style heaters/tips. I'll have to check them out too.

[thm_w]

Well what are some good cordless/chargeable mini-soldering irons? I would like a mini one for just for when I have some DUT, all wired up on the scope, and I don't want to unhook it all and go over to the solder iron to change 1 little part. And I don't want my big soldering station next to my touchscreen scope.

Any good ones in the $70-100 range ? I've seen the TSxxx ones, I don't remember them being cordless, I thought they just had new style heaters/tips. I'll have to check them out too.

See what I suggested above.. ksger

[MathWizard]

I'll see if it's on amazon, aliexpress never worked with my bank in the past.

Just checking out the pencil, and it's amazing reading it's MCU spec's, 32-bit, 144MHz. That's probably faster than the best computers in my highschool at the time.

https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-soldering-iron/

[Veteran68]

Anybody knows if the "KAIWEETS Mini Lötkolben Set digital aus Aluminium, Typ-C-Kabel, Adapter, 5 Ersatzlötspitzen, Temperatur Einstellbar 80-420°C, Soldering Kit KETS02" is the same hardware and firmware as the Fnirsi?

https://kaiweets.com/en-de/collections/soldering

The tool is all over youtube and amazon, with high availability at intl amzn warehouses. Maybe in the long term the HS-01 will become the most popular USB soldering iron simply because of the marketing power of Kaiweets which is not a small company/name in the business.

I have both the FNIRSI HS-01 and Kaiweets KETS02, they are identical hardware. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison or looked that closely but I don't recall any UX differences in the firmware so my guess is they're the same.

[thm_w]

I'll see if it's on amazon, aliexpress never worked with my bank in the past.

I wouldn't bother with amazon. I'm sure we've discussed this before, but you can either use paypal to pay on aliexpress, or sign up for Koho/Wealthsimple/etc. within a matter of days.

[solidhit]

Anybody knows if the "KAIWEETS Mini Lötkolben Set digital aus Aluminium, Typ-C-Kabel, Adapter, 5 Ersatzlötspitzen, Temperatur Einstellbar 80-420°C, Soldering Kit KETS02" is the same hardware and firmware as the Fnirsi?

https://kaiweets.com/en-de/collections/soldering

The tool is all over youtube and amazon, with high availability at intl amzn warehouses. Maybe in the long term the HS-01 will become the most popular USB soldering iron simply because of the marketing power of Kaiweets which is not a small company/name in the business.

I have both the FNIRSI HS-01 and Kaiweets KETS02, they are identical hardware. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison or looked that closely but I don't recall any UX differences in the firmware so my guess is they're the same.

Hello, the  Kaiweets KETS02 has a firmware update available whereas the HS-01 does not. Could we apply that update to the HS-01 if the hardware is really identical?

[Veteran68]

I have both the FNIRSI HS-01 and Kaiweets KETS02, they are identical hardware. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison or looked that closely but I don't recall any UX differences in the firmware so my guess is they're the same.

Hello, the  Kaiweets KETS02 has a firmware update available whereas the HS-01 does not. Could we apply that update to the HS-01 if the hardware is really identical?

I should clarify -- when I say the hardware is identical, I mean in appearance and UX. I have not torn down either to compare internals. I would probably not risk upgrading the firmware from one to the other until I've heard someone else do it successfully, and who knows if the firmware tool will even allow you to.

That said, FNIRSI has an almost identically named firmware update that would imply they might be the same:

FNIRSI filename: HS01_V0.1.s19
KAIWEETS filename: KETS02 temperature calibration_V0.1.s19

However they are very different, with different file sizes as you can see in the comparison screenshot below. The FNIRSI version also dates from a year ago.

[solidhit]

Hello, fnirsi just uploaded v0.3 of their firmware for the HS-01 soldering iron. They only published the firmware file, no "what's new" and no tool to update the firmware. So I used the tool for the kaiweets KETS02 which sure enough recognized the fnirsi HS-01 as a kaiweets KETS02, allowed me to choose the fnirsi firmware file and programmed the iron as expected. Of course the tool doesn't say anything about firmware versions (the one already installed and the one to be programmed) nor does the iron itself has an option to display the firmware version. Well, maybe I don't know what's new but at least I got the latest firmware installed and the iron works fine!

[cleopete]

Looks like Fnrisi has added the tool since your post, it's about meg smaller than the KETS02 tool.