Hakko FX-888 shipping to Australia

[STCC]

Hi,

I have been reading a lot of posts about soldering stations and decided on Hakko FX-888... Problem is it costs far too much here in Australia, at $160... Where as on Amazon it's just 80.72 plus shipping and i'll just have to get a step down transformer for it to use 240V. I have read that a few people here have done the same but when i try to purchase it i get "We're sorry. This item can't be shipped to your selected destination. You may either change the shipping address or delete the item from your order". Does anyone know of a good online retailer that will send the soldering station to Australia?

Otherwise can some Australians recommend something local, i have seen the jaycar station http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=TS1564&keywords=soldering&form=KEYWORD which is a bit weak and the iron isn't nearly as nice. And the DSE http://dicksmith.com.au/product/T2200/temperature-controlled-soldering-station which might be a little better quality but also weak.

Should i cough up the $160? It seems so stupid when it half the price online.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[johnboxall]

If you want the Hakko and time is money - just order it locally, get it the next day and get back to work.

[elliot42]

Just cough up the money for the Hakko locally, it's an excellent iron (I love mine), you'll have it next or same day delivered from e14 or RS with no extra shipping cost, and step down transformers are pretty expensive, unless you already have one.

[vk6zgo]

Yes,Hakko FX-888s in all the 220/240 volt countries seem to be more expensive than in 120 volt countries.
It seems strange,seeing that there are so many European countries using 220 volts,but that's the way it is.

On another thread,I made comment along these lines, re the difference in price : "You would spend that much filling your car with petrol which is gone in a week,whereas you will still be using the Hakko in 20 years!"

[STCC]

I'll spend the $160 and get the Hakko... It always ther case that you get what you pay for, it's just a bit frustrating when you pay double what your nieghbour is.

Now to decide the 1.6 or the 1.2mm chisel tip? hahah

[Mint.]

Oritech on sale:
http://www.oritech.com.au/productDetail.aspx?productID=27313

[STCC]

Thanks Mint, that's where i was planning on buying it from. I spoke to them earlier today and they have them in stock and ready to send today. Very nice people.

[T4P]

In china they have the 220V version ( I'm talking about the Original FX-888 for their market ) for about the same price as the americans have it .
It's just that amazon has it cheaper . Much cheaper . This is unfair man 

[opticpow]

Ok, I'm biting the bullet and ordering one from RS, so I will have it for a project on the weekend. 

After recommendations on what tip to order. I want a small chisel type like Dave shows in his video, but I'm having trouble working out what part No that would be.

Thanks,

Wayne.

[Mint.]

Ok, I'm biting the bullet and ordering one from RS, so I will have it for a project on the weekend. 

After recommendations on what tip to order. I want a small chisel type like Dave shows in his video, but I'm having trouble working out what part No that would be.

Thanks,

Wayne.

They are bad! I messaged them asking for the best price they can give me for a single fluke 87V. Then I had to call some lady and she is like how did you get my number, I told her, then afterwards she asked me how many I wanted and who do I work for. WTF? I just wanted to find out the bloody price for ONE FLUKE MULTIMETER, not 20, not 50, but 1! Far out!

Sorry for the rant...

[johnboxall]

Ok, I'm biting the bullet and ordering one from RS, so I will have it for a project on the weekend. 

After recommendations on what tip to order. I want a small chisel type like Dave shows in his video, but I'm having trouble working out what part No that would be.

Thanks,

Wayne.

They are bad! I messaged them asking for the best price they can give me for a single fluke 87V. Then I had to call some lady and she is like how did you get my number, I told her, then afterwards she asked me how many I wanted and who do I work for. WTF? I just wanted to find out the bloody price for ONE FLUKE MULTIMETER, not 20, not 50, but 1! Far out!

Sorry for the rant...

RS isn't a local shop. The price is the price unless you want a lot. However if their main competitors have it cheaper they will (and the same for element14) match it.

[Rick]

Ok, I'm biting the bullet and ordering one from RS, so I will have it for a project on the weekend. 

After recommendations on what tip to order. I want a small chisel type like Dave shows in his video, but I'm having trouble working out what part No that would be.

Thanks,

Wayne.

They are bad! I messaged them asking for the best price they can give me for a single fluke 87V. Then I had to call some lady and she is like how did you get my number, I told her, then afterwards she asked me how many I wanted and who do I work for. WTF? I just wanted to find out the bloody price for ONE FLUKE MULTIMETER, not 20, not 50, but 1! Far out!

Sorry for the rant...

Buy it on ebay like me... it is 50-75$ cheaper than on amazon and you ask them to ship the item with USPS 1st class mail. It will cost you 20 dollars more if it is a multimeter. USPS 1st class mail is available under 4 pounds. You can use a cheap Chinese step down transformer if you buy your FX-888 from USA (niosales is a good one from USA on ebay) the transformer of the soldering station will heat a little bit (because of the 50 Hz instead of 60 Hz I think).

[steve30]

Same issue with price here in England, but I decided to get it anyway because the price was pretty much on par with other name brands (if not better).

Anyway, it is a nice iron and I'd say it is worth it.

[SeanB]

Phoned RS today for a microswitch ( nobody local has one in stock0 and asked if they had the part 198 8440 in stock. 2 in stock, coming tomorrow by courier. $50 for the 2................. Ah well, lost production is more expensive, luckily I have a little slack time in the schedule to do this. I get this and the OHL machine tomorrow to fix.

[WhiteFireDragon]

Wow I didn't know it was so much more in Aus. And I thought $80 shipped was expensive here in the US, so I went with a Weller WLC-100 haha.

[EEVblog]

Interestingly, AU$160 is about the same price I paid for my Hakko 926 you still see on my bench in videos. That was 20+ years ago!

Dave.

[openthomas]

If you want items from Amazon in the US you just need someone in the US to relay the goods to you right ? Well if we can work out a way to move money I can probably help you out there.

[opticpow]

Happy as a pig in you know what (well for ozzies as least  )

Can't beat over night shipping...