Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?

[exe]

With this small heatplate from miniware I'm concerned about warping when heating large boards. Many youtube reviewers say it's cool to heat up a small region of interest to rework, but I'm not sure. If possible, I prefer to use bottom heater, and then finish work with hotair.

[janoc]

With this small heatplate from miniware I'm concerned about warping when heating large boards. Many youtube reviewers say it's cool to heat up a small region of interest to rework, but I'm not sure. If possible, I prefer to use bottom heater, and then finish work with hotair.

I have the Miniware hotplate and that is really not a concern. I have tried to (de)solder stuff from various scrap boards with it and no warping at all. Hot air will usually do a lot more damage than this. The biggest issue is that if you are repairing something, it can be difficult to find a spot where to position the hotplate because many boards have double sided load. Also large boards absolutely need some holders/support while heating them balanced on the tiny hotplate, so it can be a bit messy.

It is certainly not a production device, more a point repair or soldering one odd connector here and there.

If possible, I prefer to use bottom heater, and then finish work with hotair.

That's how you are supposed to use the mini hotplate too - preheat the board from the bottom and then hit the part with hot air. If you don't do that, it could easily scorch the board.

But it can be used alone as a classic hotplate for reflow as well.

[HT-787]

I seem to have a similar problem with T3A. I put the aixun arrowheads in just for a moment to check if they work. I ordered original JBC tips from TME and I also heard buzzing when using JBC tips, I don't remember if the buzzing occurred with aixun tips because

I didn't use them. The station operated less than two weeks and is now dead. I'm thinking about returning it, because if there are problems with the original JBC tips, then the station is useless to me. It seems to me that most T3A customers assumed correct operation with T3A tips.

That is most likely unrelated to the tips. I am using both the cheap Aixun supplied tips and original JBC ones (also from TME) and no issues whatsoever, no buzzing.

That looks like a defective unit, the controller is obviously restarting for some reason. It also doesn't seem to heat the tip, so my guess would be something in the power supply for the iron has died and now the controller is resetting.

Thanks for the info.

I have asked the same question in several places and all the answers are similar to yours.

The Chinese seller offered me a refund or shipping a new station. I chose the second option and I hope I will not regret this decision, in my free time, I'll try to resurrect a dead T3A.

[mastershake]

we have more then a dozen in use in a shop / repair business and they have been there for many months and out of over 20 units we have had we had only one with an issue and it was with the display. otherwise these have been perfect with zero issues. i did go ahead and order in better caps for the psu this way i have them on hand and if they go i have replacements ready to install. otherwise we will use them they way they are until we have an issue.

[ma_ko]

My dad has been using T3A with T245 handle and three supplied tips for several months and he's pleased with it. But i wanted to buy him some new/additional tips. From what i see Aixun only produces 3 types of tips for T245 handle (knife/s-tip/i sharp tip). Can i buy for example TS2245-939 tip (wide blade) (manufactured by I2C) from this link https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004614035930.html and it will work?

Sorry for maybe basic question, i don't know much about soldering but i know my dad wanted some other tips for his T3A and i wanted to avoid buying wrong product.

[mastershake]

yes it should work fine

[mastershake]

new aixun program available. this version lets you select if it should auto update or not. along with some other new options. version 1.16.1

[suicid]

Hi folks!
Can you please suggest the proven reliable source of T3A from Aliexpress? Wanna buy a whole set including 3 245 tips and upgraded stand.

TIA!

[mastershake]

Hi folks!
Can you please suggest the proven reliable source of T3A from Aliexpress? Wanna buy a whole set including 3 245 tips and upgraded stand.

TIA!

ive ordered from a number of them and most are fine. ZhenShang Tools Store, Bresun, HAOYIXIOU Store, diyphone, etc (others as well) all of those have been perfect. and iver had the fastest shipping from the first three out of all of them. sometimes you can find the set with the old stand for under 100$ and then order just the new stand by itself and end up cheaper then buying the "new" set ive done that a few times now.

[Ungolian]

Is there any particular reason you'd want to use the T115 handle and tips over the T245?  Literally everything I do is still through-hole, but I've learned to do SMT over the past couple of years.  Since I've gotten the T3A, it doesn't seem like there's anything the 245 tips can't do.  On paper.  The wide array of tips would give you the impression that you can do the very small, as well as large.  On more demanding jobs, regardless of the iron's power, you still need a pre-heater to load the board (especially the ground plane), but what's the advantage of one over the other?  Working space?  Maneuverability?  Thermal shock?  Performance? 

[dreamcat4]

Is there any particular reason you'd want to use the T115 handle and tips over the T245?

because when you activate you hands the signal to the muscles in the forearm is pulsed. kindda like pwm. so the amount of control you have or effective resolution is somewhat limited by your ability to control or change the rate or flow of those pulses

the t115 handle lets you hold your fingers closer to the end of the tip. so it should be able to give a finer control of the movement on smallest sized smd parts

a good test for this would be iphone pcb. or other modern smartphone pcb. where the components are so tightly packed together next to each other. that you dont want an accident and touch the next row of solder joints by mistake.

another good test on thee iphone mainboards is the vertical. when the components next door are so much taller. that then you have to orient the tip much more vertically. and this then becomes much more challenging for finer control.

i am not saying you cannot do these works also with t245 handle. just maybe that they are good test situation to try and see if there is enough difference to matter, to be a reason for why the t115.

because on other larger smd layouts. and more open space. then you can use a larger handle ok. without it being so difficult

[exe]

Any recommended cartridges from aliexpress? Or general consensus that only genuine ones are good?

[janoc]

Is there any particular reason you'd want to use the T115 handle and tips over the T245?

because when you activate you hands the signal to the muscles in the forearm is pulsed. kindda like pwm. so the amount of control you have or effective resolution is somewhat limited by your ability to control or change the rate or flow of those pulses

the t115 handle lets you hold your fingers closer to the end of the tip. so it should be able to give a finer control of the movement on smallest sized smd parts

a good test for this would be iphone pcb. or other modern smartphone pcb. where the components are so tightly packed together next to each other. that you dont want an accident and touch the next row of solder joints by mistake.

another good test on thee iphone mainboards is the vertical. when the components next door are so much taller. that then you have to orient the tip much more vertically. and this then becomes much more challenging for finer control.

i am not saying you cannot do these works also with t245 handle. just maybe that they are good test situation to try and see if there is enough difference to matter, to be a reason for why the t115.

because on other larger smd layouts. and more open space. then you can use a larger handle ok. without it being so difficult

I have been in this situation before - and specifically decided to not go for the smaller handle. The tip to grip distance difference isn't that large and I am not working on really tiny stuff like smartphones where the small handle could give any sort of advantage. And even there with the right tip choice you can do the work with a 245 handpiece without any issues, despite it being larger.

However, what sucks for the smaller handle is the poor choice of tips. The larger T245 one has completely ridiculous selection of shapes and sizes for anything imaginable. The smaller handle has only few - and most are suitable only for very fine work. So unless one plans to have multiple handpieces (or entire stations) for different jobs, the T245 is a lot more universal choice.

Compare for yourself:

T245 tips:
https://www.jbctools.com/c245-cartridges-product-19-category-4-menu-4.html

T115 tips:
https://www.jbctools.com/c115-cartridges-product-1354-category-4-menu-4.html

E.g. the largest chisel tip in C115 series is C115223 - 2.4mm wide. Good luck trying to solder some large FET on a ground plane with that!

[Ungolian]

Ok, so it seems like the working space is the main issue.  I agree that I can work on small stuff with the T245, but I've never worked on phones or anything that tightly packed.  How about thermal shock?  Is it really a concern working on components that small?  I'd think passives wouldn't be a big deal, but how about semiconductors and other stuff?  QFP, SOT23, SOP8, diodes, inductors, etc?  It seems like smaller irons (with less thermal mass) would have a temperature drop as soon as you touch a pad that the T245 wouldn't.  Is it safer to use a smaller iron on those parts instead of a larger iron?  I've been debating getting a T3B and start doing smaller stuff, but I also agree that the smaller handles don't have the wide array of tips that the T245 has.  I guess you don't really need all those tips for small stuff though- pad sizes are small, you might do some drag soldering with a small hoof or blade tip, and maybe a larger chisel type for larger ground pads or something.  So I can understand why the selection is smaller.     

Any recommended cartridges from aliexpress? Or general consensus that only genuine ones are good?

It seems like the non-JBC tips are kind of a mixed bag.  You can get some that will work fine (probably not as long as the real ones), you can get some that crap themselves in a month or two, and you can get some that don't really make it out of the box (the tip literally falls off because of a bad crimp job, or they glow red and burn out).  Consistency is the real issue.  I think it's also safe to say that the plating on the Chinese ones isn't the same quality, which would decrease life span.  If you're only using them a couple of times a month, the Chinese ones would probably be OK (assuming they weren't defective).  As for any specific vendors, I'm not sure.  I think there was some talk about that further back in this thread.   

[exe]

How about thermal shock?  Is it really a concern working on components that small?

I believe total soldering time is the most important parameter. I killed boards and components by soldering them too long and/or too hot. JBC stations let soldering at lower temperatures because of better heat transfer.

I'm also not very skilled, but I'm yet to kill something even after over-exposing components to hotair. I once had an experiment where I heated a mosfet up to 500C or something for a long time. Its parameters drifted and it finally died, but I had to make it glow red before it failed. My conclusion is, unless it's a precision circuitry, it shouldn't be a concern.

[mb.raghavendra@gmail.com]

It is available in T12 and T245 both versions now, i have purchased T245 version from same vendor(Only available with this vendor in India) it is working well from past 8 months. I purchased few C245 original JBC Bits from ebay.

https://www.babaocamachine.com/?product_cat=0&s=T3A&post_type=product&et_search=true

Some review /Comparison

[exe]

I just received my station, and so far I'm impressed with the external quality. I ordered with T245A handle and it's so tiny. I'm reriously thinking that it's mislabeled T210 or something. I'm definitely not buying T210 as T245 is already very small imo. The cord is very thin and quite soft, I like it. The only thing I don't like is the additional wire from the iron holder. But it works reliably, unlike shake sensor in my ksger station.

[dreamcat4]

don't like is the additional wire from the iron holder

yes but with some effort can mod to install a proper extension cable to run thru the base. and then include that / carry that signal within the standard gh12-5. {breaks t12 compatibility)

at least 2 of us have already done this {me and mario)... have moved on to other mods now

[dreamcat4]

hi again,
for anybody here who wants to order replacement MCU, in case of ESD damage becoming broken. Then I have just received mine from this aliexpress seller heres the link:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004482107212.html

Cheap / affordable and the laser markings looks identical including the manufacturer logo etc. (or alternatively I suppose you might be able to buy them from LCSC if you want a more reputable supply chain).

have a nice day

[kosmos]

I read here that there are problems with adjusting the temperature. But that's not correct. You can write down your values that are actually present at the set 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 and then enter them in the menu, the stored curve is then corrected immediately, although nothing else is displayed when you call up the menu again. So you think that nothing was saved, but that's not true, the curve was definitely corrected. I even find it advantageous that you can correct the curve over 5 points if it is not so linear. But you can also only enter a value for 100 and 500, then it is just a straight curve.

I've also had the T3A for a few days and use original JBC tips from TME, I haven't tried the 3 Aixun stock soldering tips yet.

With the unprotected µC I/O pin, I will fix it with a diode from the I/O pin to VCC and from GND to the I/O pin and a resistor, don't think that such a big effort with an optocoupler is necessary.

Furthermore, I wrote to support@jcprogrammer.com and info@aixuntech.com whether it would not be possible 1. in a later firmware update to offer a setting for the overshoot or short-term overboost in the menu. 2. Offered to translate the menus into German for free. 3. I asked if you could delay the transfer of the set temperature from the storage locations by 1 second so that when you switch from 2 to 1 you don't select the higher temperature from storage location 3 for a short time and heat up unnecessarily before you reach storage location 1.

Let's see if anyone reports.

Here I just saw how the pin for detecting the sleep mode is wired.

https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev/blob/master/schematics/aixun_t3a.pdf

It has an external pullup and the diode only allows the pin to be pulled to ground, so an overvoltage should not be able to reach the pin at all due to the diode.

[yelkvi]

for anybody here who wants to order replacement MCU, in case of ESD damage becoming broken. Then I have just received mine from this aliexpress seller heres the link:

This is very good news. There was a chance to repair my soldering station.
Now you need a suitable programmer.
As far as I understand, the programmer from STLink will not work.
A special programmer for GD is expensive even for the Chinese.

[yelkvi]

in case of ESD damage becoming broken

On another soldering station (T12), I made myself a very simple and reliable ESD protection on one small 24 volt relay. (plus capacitor and resistor). Everything is very simple and reliable. The signal from the stand turns on the relay, and it, in turn, switches the signal to the processor. 100% protection. No optocoupler needed and.....
If interested, I can draw a diagram and a photo.

[dreamcat4]

As far as I understand, the programmer from STLink will not work.
A special programmer for GD is expensive even for the Chinese.

not true, i myself have taken dump from my own aixun t3a station using the $3 chinese clone "stlink v2" you can pickup for dirt cheap on aliexpress

there is already the pads on the t3a's controller PCB, where you can solder a simple 0.1" inch header for the 3-4 pins SWD programmer connection

I also recorded the steps already in a pastie, here you can just follow my instructions for connecting over cmdline with openocd program to take flash dump of the firmware:

https://gist.github.com/dreamcat4/9022f7efd0e73f411b677fe0ad8b2708

[yelkvi]

After my AIXUN soldering station broke, I converted it to a KSGER T12 board with David firmware.
Here's what happened (with protection on the relay):

P.S. This protection really works. Now I use this soldering station all the time.
It was too lazy to make one good printed circuit board. Therefore, I used Dremel - anyway, no one will see the board inside.

[dreamcat4]

how to solder programming header. and to make it permanently accessible from outside. so can program even after reassembly: