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Induction soldering iron review

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Marco:
We have had low cost induction soldering irons for a few years now and they seem to have a big advantage as far as temperature control is concerned. I'd really like to see some comparative tests between some commonly available inductive soldering stations and the old school Hakko FX-888. Hakko FX-100, ATTEN AT306DH and Xytronic LF-3200 seem the most common devices.

Temperature control testing would be especially interesting, for instance by attaching a thermocouple to the tip and graphing the temperature when the tip is brought into contact with a solder blob on a piece of PCB.

wblock:
There is an older document from JBC that I can't find on their site, but did find here: www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/download.php?id=401508

Marco:
I don't think that is the same technology exactly, doesn't Metcal rely on the transition temperature to passively control temperature? These stations I mentioned use a control loop with a thermocouple, with the thermocouple going in through the core of the tip with the induction coil on the outside.

wblock:
The Hakko FX100 seems like a refinement.  This article http://www.stratesysgroup.com/Product_Reviews/HakkoFX100 suggests that it does not actually monitor the temperature, but monitors current and raises the voltage during high current draw to get the tip back up to temperature quickly.

I don't know about the others.

Marco:
Ah, okay. As far as I know the Atten and Xytronic use this kind of wand (this is an image from the Kingsom KS-200DH) :

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