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DEADLY WIRING FAULT ; Atten 858D+ Hot Air Rework Station
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Knifa:
Looks like RS Components are selling a similar looking unit under their own brand. It is more expensive, with slightly beefed up looking casing and a nicer connector.

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/soldering-stations/1244133/

What are the chances it's actually safe to use?
floobydust:
How can RS resell this when it has no safety approvals? There are laws, in USA/Canada/UK that you can't sell products (vs import) without proper regulatory certs.
I believe RS would be liable if you got electrocuted or it burned your house down.

The 858D+ is not safe really - you'll find 220V hazardous live mains at the pins of the connector all the time, the on/off switch does not disconnect line (only opens neutral), the PCB creepage/clearances are pretty bad, the 22ga wiring is not rated for the fuse fault current, power transformer has no approvals... I could go on. Generally, the insulation components are not suitable for mains use, only low voltage. The design could NEVER pass regulatory. A hi-pot test would tell you right away.

Always run one of these (and your entire workbench) through a GFCI for better safety. Never leave it plugged in unattended. Never mess with the connector is it's plugged in.
Knifa:

--- Quote from: floobydust on April 28, 2017, 02:02:12 am ---How can RS resell this when it has no safety approvals? There are laws, in USA/Canada/UK that you can't sell products (vs import) without proper regulatory certs.
I believe RS would be liable if you got electrocuted or it burned your house down.

--- End quote ---

I contacted their support and asked if it was safe, linking this thread. They replied saying it was indeed safe.

Can't know for sure though, eh? Going by everything else that's known it doesn't seem too good. It does have a different connector, so it might just be the same shell?
TheSpecialist:
Sorry to bump this thread from April last year, but as a long time lurker, I thought I'd add my experiences of one of these type units.  In my case, I've got the 852D+ by WEP, which I purchased early last year.
I started having problems with the iron itself (haven't really used the blower much).  Difficulty with soldering connections, and discovered through temperature testing, that the irons temperature at the tip, isn't stable at all, and seems to fluctuate a fair bit.  Despite trying to set the temperature with the LCD, I couldn't get the iron to go above a certain temperature.  Comparing the LCD reading with the actual iron temperature, it was way off, and I had to adjust a preset in the unit, but even that seemed very tricky.
Adjusting the preset though (to get higher temperatures), strangely seemed to give me problems when selecting lower temperatures.
I thought I had a faulty multimeter temperature probe at first, so I used the probe to test the adjustable temperature of something else, and the temperature seemed far more stable, so I don't know what's wrong with this unit!
satelliteau:
I just purchased an 858D branded 'HiYLKO' from ebay, Australian company and Australian stock. Having heard about the safety issues with some of these units, the first thing I went to check was the earth pin to chassis connection. Needn't have bothered - these is no earth pin on the male end of the power cable, and it's hard wired into the back of the unit (no IEC connector). It's an Aus standard 'Type I' plug, no international adapters involved.

Is there any consensus on which 858D is the best/safest option? I see that the Atten 858D+ is twice the price of the generic models, is it any better?
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