Aixun CM30 Automatic Tip Cleaner Teardown and Review

[digger]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/hakko-ft-720-automatic-tip-cleaner/msg5651667/#msg5651667

i got one from aliexpress for $88 shipped.

compared to yihua 200C that i got for $50 from amazon: i would go for the aixun cm30, no question. the build quality is better. the window is nice so you can see what you're doing. it also has a larger aperture for easier maneuvering. i prefer the arrangement of the brushes on the aixun, and also it feels a bit draggier (so perhaps stronger) which was surprising because the bristle density on the yihua looks higher. maybe the gap between the brushes is different or something. the tip sensing seems a little more responsive on the aixun as the yihua uses IR. the actual cleaning performance is about the same though.

it uses capacitive sensing or something for tip sensing, and it's plenty sensitive. it actually detects the iron tip (or a screwdriver or whatever) just outside of the aperture, and it will also detect a finger or other metallic or moist things. i did not find that it was oversensitive or twitchy. it just works well.

i am 'impressed' with the mechanical engineering. it doesn't seem like they were optimizing super hard for cost, and i chuckled several times as i took it apart. it seems overbuilt and too well made for what it is. i wonder if the performance or the UX is in any way worse than a fancy tip cleaner from JBC. never used one of those.

not sure why they used off sizes for the hex fasteners. i think they used 1.5mm and 2.5mm. wtf.







brush arrangement:






aixun:






yihua:






as you look at the pics, take note of how the solder chamber is well isolated on the aixun. because of the gasket material, i don't think there's much chance of solder particles going where they're not supposed to.







main pcb:









amusingly, the motor pulley and brush bearing stuff is totally sealed inside a milled aluminum block. they use NSK ZZ bearings on the brushes. i'm generally impressed with all the metal parts in this build. well finished, chamfered, deburred. they use thread locker on the main fasteners.









the magnets for drawer latching are mounted to the aluminum motor/brush block:






i lol'd when i noticed that the drawer was actually made out of steel (to stick to the magnets). i guess they finished and painted it to pretty closely match the look of the aluminum body's anodization. steel drawer on left, main aluminum chassis on right:






here's a shot of the main body. one solid piece of aluminum. i guess they extruded that and then did follow up milling operations? i don't know much about DFM, but that doesn't look cheap at all to me. i'm surprised they went with this method of construction, but it looks sweet. maybe someone with more manufacturing experience can comment on this.






here's a closeup of the sensing flex pcb near the aperture. you can see they goobered it up with silicone, but not quite well enough for my taste. i put a dab of whiteout (correction fluid) over the exposed pins after i looked at this pic:






some before and after tip cleaning shots. normally, i would not run them this long in there, but i wanted to see how much crap it could scrape off:

[thm_w]

Build quality looks incredible, better than JBC. NSK bearing is just over the top, good china brand would have been fine.

In terms of the extruded aluminum enclosure, the bare extrusion itself is very cheap even in smaller quantities, hardly more than the cost of aluminum. The die that they pass the aluminum through is likely <$2k in china.

The machining part, its complex, maybe 4 or more operations to get all of those angles. Normally not cheap. In China though, CNC costs are unbelievably low right now.

[shabaz]

Very useful review. Is it fast to spin up? The Aixun ads mention 'microsecond' level sensing, but was just curious how it felt in use. It seems straightforward to maintain/repair.

I'm tempted to buy two of them (one for a friend who is still using sponges) (incidentally there's an 'early bird' deal with quite a saving from 'SK Tech Store' on AliExpress, but Qty 1 allowed so I'll get someone else to order the other one). I've looked for the CM30 brushes, but cannot find a supplier. However, since a ball of steel wool lasts me a decade easily, I'm wondering if the CM30 brushes may last many years too. Worst case, it looks like the Quick 310 brushes might be approximately the same (or perhaps could be modified as a last resort).

[digger]

the sensing is snappy.

if you're remotely handy, i think you should be able to get some other brushes working in there. i'm not worried about it personally. in fact, i bet i could get the spare yihua brushes to work in it, but i'm not sure if the OD (incl. bristles) is the same. i bet it would still be fine if it's not exactly the same, but it may feel a little different.

[shabaz]

Thanks. And agree, even if the brushes wore out, it's not rocket-science to adapt other brushes, especially at this low cost, that's not a showstopper.

[digger]

Build quality looks incredible, better than JBC.

hm... i'd say the engineering on the jbc looks more complicated with all the injection molded parts and stuff, but i prefer all-metal on the aixun. all other things being equal, i suppose i prefer the build quality of the aixun. but who knows about the actual longevity or how the UX is on a real jbc. i want to believe jbc has a lot of design refinements that add value, but then again maybe not. the jbc brushes look more elite.

https://www.stevenrhine.com/?p=132118
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/jbc-clmu-pa-senior-tip-cleaner/

[digger]

Thanks. And agree, even if the brushes wore out, it's not rocket-science to adapt other brushes, especially at this low cost, that's not a showstopper.

so the brush 'axis' is the two twisted wires common to most axial brush (and bottle cleaner) construction. it is terminated with a crimped collar. the collar has two flat sections 180° apart. the collar goes into the 'mount collar' (where those ZZ bearings are) and secured with two set screws.

that's pretty easy to adapt i think.

you can see it fairly clearly in this pic:
https://i.ibb.co/Nx4x9m2/PXL-20241010-022424131.jpg

[thm_w]

Build quality looks incredible, better than JBC.

hm... i'd say the engineering on the jbc looks more complicated with all the injection molded parts and stuff, but i prefer all-metal on the aixun. all other things being equal, i suppose i prefer the build quality of the aixun. but who knows about the actual longevity or how the UX is on a real jbc. i want to believe jbc has a lot of design refinements that add value, but then again maybe not. the jbc brushes look more elite.

https://www.stevenrhine.com/?p=132118
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/jbc-clmu-pa-senior-tip-cleaner/

Yeah the quality of the brushes is the one thing that looks better, but those brushes cost more than the entire Aixun unit at $120.

Injection molding takes more design time for sure, but the intent is only to produce a cheaper product, not a superior one, in this case.

[thm_w]

NWR is claiming it caused his JBC tip to fail prematurely, I don't know if this is a coincidence, or it stripped too much solder leaving the tip vulnerable. If the brush is brass, it can't be damaging the iron plating itself.

[shabaz]

I wonder if he's got a fault in his soldering station.

I've been using a genuine JBC soldering station, and genuine tips (both purchased from an official JBC reseller), mostly with the T210 handle, with two small tips (one is 1 mm bevel C210006, and the other is bent conical, 0.3 mm C210010) for almost a year with the CM30. I've not touched my old JBC steel wool since that time, I've exclusively used the CM30 for all tip cleaning.

If he's been doing production volume (I certainly have not; just prototyping) then I think it's crazy not to use a top brand tip cleaner tool such as the official JBC one, surely end customers deserve that level of traceable tools used in production.

For non-production design use, I've had no problems with the CM30, and it's been really convenient when soldering, especially because the JBC tips no longer snag on the steel wool I used to use. And, for what it's worth, I always use the CM30 at its top speed setting.

EDIT: Just noticed in the video, at 2.30 onward, he didn't immediately tin the tip after cleaning. Maybe that's because he was recording a video and forgot, but JBC tips are too expensive to forget such a thing usually. His soldering station beeps when he lifts/replaces the handle, I wonder what model station that is (mine doesn't beep, but maybe I disabled that, I cannot recall).

[thm_w]

EDIT: Just noticed in the video, at 2.30 onward, he didn't immediately tin the tip after cleaning. Maybe that's because he was recording a video and forgot, but JBC tips are too expensive to forget such a thing usually. His soldering station beeps when he lifts/replaces the handle, I wonder what model station that is (mine doesn't beep, but maybe I disabled that, I cannot recall).

Thats what I'm thinking, need to fully retin right away.
He does many hours of soldering per day, so average user won't see the wear he does.
Station is just aixun t3b.

[pmx]

CLMUAt work there are mostly Weller stations, but in one of the EMC/SI labs we use for investigations (there are several other EMC labs for qualifications), there is a genuine JBC station, and there is also a JBC CLMU-A rotary brushes tip cleaner.

I discovered this tool only a few months ago, and I'm so hooked that I'm currently ordering a CM30 for my personal use.

The JBC tip cleaner uses an ultrasonic detection system, which I sometimes find very annoying: simply placing an object on the table in the detection zone, such as a bag of components, triggers the motor continuously.
Adjusting the detector sensitivity (3 levels) does not always help.
Given the high price of this tool, I can't say I find the detection system particularly well-designed.

[pmx]

Thanks to the OP for the review and the pictures. 

The CM30 construction is clearly several steps above the Yiuha !

[nukie]

First of all thank you for buying and exposing this beautiful gem. The CM30 is one world, Quality!

The use of RTV on the motor plugs for extra security against vibration and additional glass fiber insulation over the wires on a DC 12V 1A motor suggest that this is some seriously gear aimed for safety and reliability. Over the top electrical safety. Perhaps it will protect the wires insulation against abrasion during operation. DMM makers should take note here.

The branded NSK bearings, big chunk of alloy cut out for the pulley section is way over the top. They really gone nuts with over engineering here. This is like stage3 ICE engine modding swapping all weak components with beefed up parts to handle power. It looks like they went for a full metal alloy construction for rigidity and im sure it will last for years. It seems all the parts are easily available including the common round o-ring as a belt instead of the square cut belt. The motor life last ages as this is intermittent operation so the buyer will surely be passing this down to generation after generation.

One may think Aixun boss just won some lottery on the day he was designing the tip cleaner. He went all out spare no expense. Cleaning the tips is something that can be done manually within a few seconds and an automatic cleaner is considered luxury to me as to a battery pencil sharpener. Then on top of all these extravagant-ness is this crazy material and build quality. This really sets apart a Chinese domestic product totally changed my view in terms of 'over the top' build. Aixun gets a big thumbs up here.

[itscoldoutside]

Anyone with one of these AIXUN C30 tip cleaners find it some times get stuck on, running forever until you unplug it and plug it back in? I've cleaned it inside and out but that didn't make any difference, it's actually done it from day one. I am wondering if it's maybe because the metal case isn't grounded.

[shabaz]

I've been using the CM30 for about 18 months now (prototyping, not production use) and I've never encountered that issue. I don't know if it makes a difference, but I'm not using the supplied mains adapter, I'm using a locally-purchased one (Tiger TP1147 ). It may be worth trying a different adapter just to see what happens.

Also, just as a general update: in the time I've been using it, it's been reliable, I've had no tip wear issues with the supplied brushes and my (genuine) JBC tips, and I've never needed to change out the brushes either. However, in terms of negatives, I wish the brushes were a few millimeters larger in diameter, or for the brushes to be slightly closer together. A friend uses Weller WATC100F and he mentioned he just pokes the iron in and out, whereas I have to move the iron left/right slightly when using fine tips. For non-hobby use, I'd go for the Weller I reckon. But for the price the CM30 has been awesome - I've not used any other tip cleaner tool, I've solely relied on the CM30 since I got it. It's a pity the CM30 is more expensive now than at launch, at the point where it may be worth considering other models too perhaps (I've not seen what else is out there currently). At the launch price it's definitely been worth it in my opinion.