hakko fx-888d

[ironsniper1]

hey everyone, i have and am using a hakko fx-888d but was wondering if this is still a good iron or should i upgrade to something else?

also at my local goodwill is a pace pps5 with just the pedal and was wondering how hard parts are to find?

[KL27x]

The 888d has a clunky interface like an 80's alarm clock.

Also, there's no USB connectivity to upload customized firmware. No OLED display. No bluetooth phone app or IoT. Progress has made soldering stations so much more sophisticated and sparkly, you can't hardly imagine.

[GreyWoolfe]

Nor does it take out the trash, pour you a frosty beverage or massage your aching muscles.  Now, if it does the soldering job you need it to do and does it in a way that meets your expectations and doesn't annoy you, then you don't need a new one.

[shteii01]

In other words: don't fix what aint broke.

[Cnoob]

Once you set your preferred temperature you normally don't have to use its clunky interface (worse part of the station)
The iron is nicely balanced in your hand unlike a pace TD100 the cable pulls at the iron.

[helius]

also at my local goodwill is a pace pps5 with just the pedal and was wondering how hard parts are to find?

You might be able to find a SX-25 desoldering tool if you look long and hard enough. The Pace IR-4 iron is impossible. Newer tools are not compatible with the PPS-5.
The station was made more than 40 years ago and parts have been discontinued for at least 20 years. You will have a hard time finding parts.

[Shock]

Secondhand I'd stay away from anything older than the Pace Sensatemp series the MBT250 was the 3 channel. The current 3 channel is the Intelliheat MBT 350, more up to date, but also more expensive.

Paces new series is Accudrive and they have only released a single channel station so far, the Pace ADS200. If you are interested in buying new they are ~$206 for the standard setback and ~$228 for the instant setback version from tequipment.net eevblog members get a 6% discount see this thread here.

For a couple of hundred dollars the ADS200 is great value, it has an aluminum iron, all metal chassis and stand, plus great selection of low cost tips.

[coppercone2]

does anyone hate the digital controls for soldering irons? I like the damn potentiometer.

[Tarloth]

does anyone hate the digital controls for soldering irons? I like the damn potentiometer.

Yes, I love the damn potentiometer! But the same people that thinks that a solder station (or a hammer for example) need to seem like a smartphone they love the displays and buttons and if have a big HD screen with visual effects and real time graphics better off course.

I not understand these people, when I use a solder station I'm concentrated in solder, not in the screensaver at the solder station, never need to change a firmware that was thought by people that knows a looooot more than me in solder circuits and tested it for years in factories.

I believe that a hammer it's not a better tool at all if it have screen and interface to hack, it's better if it have ergonomics, balance and off course the best steel.

I know people really big and respected at their work that still soldering with an old 936 and they solder better than most of people with fancy solder stations plenty of temp profiles, buttons lights and animated graphics in hd screens. These people are soldering or seeing a movie in their solder stations screen???

Nor does it take out the trash, pour you a frosty beverage or massage your aching muscles.  Now, if it does the soldering job you need it to do and does it in a way that meets your expectations and doesn't annoy you, then you don't need a new one.

  the best answer!

ironsniper1:

I had for years a 888D, worked like a charm, and still use it!. Buy by parts a FX-951 because I need to solder a LOTS of very small smd components under the microscope.  Work better? Yes, but I think that barely justify the cost/benefit at the moment of solder a component. It justify the extra cost by their better ergonomics but principally the possibility of change the tip in seconds, but all the solder stations with cartridge tip share this improvement.

A friend of mine borrowed me a JBC. Nice solder station but the difference in price it's not justificable to me, maybe for people that solder very massive GND PAD's, but I solder it without problem with both of my solder stations.

If you are comfortable with your 888d, don't change it, invert this money in another gadget, your solder station would be work for decades.

[Shock]

does anyone hate the digital controls for soldering irons? I like the damn potentiometer.

I like potentiometers as well but there are a few catches when running multiple tips. Stations that require tip calibration or offsets like the Hakko FX stations can be a pain, having presets gets around this and also handy to use as a temp boost. But it entirely depends on how friendly the interface is. A bad digital interface will make you beg for analog, a good digital interface however outweighs the negatives.

Digital displays make the station easier to work with as well. What I don't like is custom LCD panels, if you need a replacement down the track your stuck. Pace still thankfully uses generic LCD and LED displays, which came up in another thread recently. The average person sees more buttons and fancier displays as a better station, while it has nothing to do with ease of use, reliability, regulation and ergonomics (which is what I'm looking for).

I expect all the potentiometer models to be eventually phased out due to the power and tip saving features of setback and sleep modes (both of which you would want to configure). Stations with a few seconds warm up time don't need to be running at full temp all day anymore.

[KL27x]

having presets gets around this and also handy to use as a temp boost. But it entirely depends on how friendly the interface is. A bad digital interface will make you beg for analog, a good digital interface however outweighs the negatives.

Yeah, this is true. It takes me a bit longer to figure out where to set the dial when changing tips. When using a digital interface, it's more repeatable. So it only takes a short while to be convinced I need to adjust the temp when using this tip or that. With the dial, I may not even be convinced the dial is moving. My memory of where I have been setting it moves, instead. And now I also have it wrong when I switch back to the other tip, lol.

With fatter stubbier tips, you can generally use a lower set temp. And with long pointy tips, you generally need to use a bit higher temp. Metal tips have different set temps built in for the tip type.

[GreyWoolfe]

does anyone hate the digital controls for soldering irons? I like the damn potentiometer.

Why not take it 1 step further and get rid of the damn potentiometer?  Get a Metcal, only has a power switch and a port selector switch on 2 port models like my MX-500.

[ironsniper1]

i dont care how old or new something is as long as it works as it supposed to, i only asked because i was trying to desolder some caps off of a computer power supply and even with the temp at 850c and some flux it wouldnt melt the solder no matter how long i left the iron on the joint,

as for the other thing i didnt know what it was i just knew it was for soldering and thought it looked cool cause it was so old lol

[Shock]

Why not take it 1 step further and get rid of the damn potentiometer?  Get a Metcal, only has a power switch and a port selector switch on 2 port models like my MX-500.

Well that opens up a can of worms, but induction stations are a different beast. Not specifically compared to the MX-500 but they along with accessories and consumables were typically more expensive. Temp is locked into the station iron or tip, so changing that would require additional cost. Not sure if any of them have a setback/low power/temp standby? They used to be the faster heating with better regulation stations but that line is getting more blurred now. Power is hard to draw comparisons but the new MX-500 says the station is 70W with an SMPS with max tip output of 40W. Personally I don't fancy trying to calculate efficiencies and power consumption on any station. Having a display or not could be viewed both good and bad.

[Shock]

i dont care how old or new something is as long as it works as it supposed to, i only asked because i was trying to desolder some caps off of a computer power supply and even with the temp at 850c and some flux it wouldnt melt the solder no matter how long i left the iron on the joint,

as for the other thing i didnt know what it was i just knew it was for soldering and thought it looked cool cause it was so old lol

The point I was making is that age and therefore service parts that might be required to get a desoldering handpiece up and running on the PPS-5 might make it a poor purchasing experience. You will obviously have to weigh up the cost yourself.

Desoldering caps off a power supply doesn't sound like the most challenging task so I assume it's a large joint on a thickly soldered high current trace. Tip size to make a decent thermal bridge and store and dump heat, plus the recovery speed of the iron and the power is going to make the difference.

The PPS-5 would have been awesome to own in the 1970s. If your keen to get one back into operational condition give it a try. Here is video with a similar vintage station.

[ironsniper1]

i dont care how old or new something is as long as it works as it supposed to, i only asked because i was trying to desolder some caps off of a computer power supply and even with the temp at 850c and some flux it wouldnt melt the solder no matter how long i left the iron on the joint,

as for the other thing i didnt know what it was i just knew it was for soldering and thought it looked cool cause it was so old lol

The point I was making is that age and therefore service parts that might be required to get a desoldering handpiece up and running on the PPS-5 might make it a poor purchasing experience. You will obviously have to weigh up the cost yourself.

Desoldering caps off a power supply doesn't sound like the most challenging task so I assume it's a large joint on a thickly soldered high current trace. Tip size to make a decent thermal bridge and store and dump heat, plus the recovery speed of the iron and the power is going to make the difference.

The PPS-5 would have been awesome to own in the 1970s. If your keen to get one back into operational condition give it a try. Here is video with a similar vintage station.

it was like 20 bucks at goodwill, if it had the parts i would have grabbed it but since the parts are hard to find im going to not get it, the joint i was trying to melt was a small one for a 2200uf 25v cap so just a small one not sure what the issue is, the power supply itself is for a hp z800 if that helps at all

[Shock]

it was like 20 bucks at goodwill, if it had the parts i would have grabbed it but since the parts are hard to find im going to not get it, the joint i was trying to melt was a small one for a 2200uf 25v cap so just a small one not sure what the issue is, the power supply itself is for a hp z800 if that helps at all

Two EEVblog users in this thread here own a PPS-5. Send them a private message if you like, they seem still active. $20 if it works is actually a cheap station. It's two channel either hot air, vacuum desoldering iron, soldering iron. One went a couple of months ago on ebay for $40. I had no luck in finding a desoldering handpiece for it. The earlier ones before this I think were blue handpieces. These had light grey and smooth black. Later models textured darker grey, with textured black being the most recent.

The joint you are having problems with, perhaps it would help to post a couple of photos. If you are using the stock thin tip that came with the Hakko FX-888D that might be part of the issue.

[KL27x]

OP: 850F, not C.

A computer motherboard is a particularly difficult board. You're dealing with 6-8 layers with solid ground planes for heat dissipation.

When you run into an issue with your 888, the first thing you have to consider is tip selection. There is no station that is going to do what you tried to do with the wrong tip. And even with the most powerful station and the right tip, you still might need a preheater. This is not unusual, at all. A mobo is a a very good radiator that takes away the heat you are putting into it and transfers it to the surrounding board... and ultimately to the surrounding air. The component was initially put on there in an oven that brought the entire board up to temp.

There's a limit to what an iron can do. If you just keep jacking up the power and temp of the station instead of using a preheater, you will have a very hard time to remove or install a part without damaging the board or the component (plus you will create stress in the joints). And you will still end up heating a huge amount of the board around the joint in the process. So it's not like it'll be any much different than using a preheater. Where you have your hand set on the board, expect to burn yourself by the time the part comes off, using your 1000W soldering iron.

[ironsniper1]

OP: 850F, not C.

A computer motherboard is a particularly difficult board. You're dealing with 6-8 layers with solid ground planes for heat dissipation.

When you run into an issue with your 888, the first thing you have to consider is tip selection. There is no station that is going to do what you tried to do with the wrong tip. And even with the most powerful station and the right tip, you still might need a preheater. This is not unusual, at all. A mobo is a a very good radiator that takes away the heat you are putting into it and transfers it to the surrounding board... and ultimately to the surrounding air. The component was initially put on there in an oven that brought the entire board up to temp.

There's a limit to what an iron can do. If you just keep jacking up the power and temp of the station instead of using a preheater, you will have a very hard time to remove or install a part without damaging the board or the component (plus you will create stress in the joints). And you will still end up heating a huge amount of the board around the joint in the process. So it's not like it'll be any much different than using a preheater. Where you have your hand set on the board, expect to burn yourself by the time the part comes off, using your 1000W soldering iron.

i cant tell ig you're being snarky or sarcastic or mean or all 3, but anyway i dont know why i would want or need a 1000w iron for but okay, also this is not a computer motherboard but a board for a computer power supply also it is set at C always has been since i got it, if i should change to F i will but for now its been working okay for the minor stuff i have been doing

it was like 20 bucks at goodwill, if it had the parts i would have grabbed it but since the parts are hard to find im going to not get it, the joint i was trying to melt was a small one for a 2200uf 25v cap so just a small one not sure what the issue is, the power supply itself is for a hp z800 if that helps at all

Two EEVblog users in this thread here own a PPS-5. Send them a private message if you like, they seem still active. $20 if it works is actually a cheap station. It's two channel either hot air, vacuum desoldering iron, soldering iron. One went a couple of months ago on ebay for $40. I had no luck in finding a desoldering handpiece for it. The earlier ones before this I think were blue handpieces. These had light grey and smooth black. Later models textured darker grey, with textured black being the most recent.

The joint you are having problems with, perhaps it would help to post a couple of photos. If you are using the stock thin tip that came with the Hakko FX-888D that might be part of the issue.

yes i can post some pictures of the board later, it will be a while as its dinner time!

[KL27x]

I'm not being snarky. I'm saying even if you had an iron powerful enough to solder to ground planes on a mobo, it wouldn't work like you might think it would. Apparently this is not a mobo. But the point is the 888D has enough power and thermal mass to hang with just about anything for electrical work. If it's not enough, then other tools may be a better way to go than an upgrade of the soldering iron.

also it is set at C

even with the temp at 850c

You can't set an 888D to 850C, though. I believe the highest it goes in Farenheit, even, is 840. In Celcius it goes only up to 480.

If you do not read the instructions, it is easy to accidentally adjust the calibration rather than change the set temp. You keep "adjusting" it up, and the iron just gets colder.

[Shock]

i dont care how old or new something is as long as it works as it supposed to, i only asked because i was trying to desolder some caps off of a computer power supply and even with the temp at 850c and some flux it wouldnt melt the solder no matter how long i left the iron on the joint

i cant tell ig you're being snarky or sarcastic or mean or all 3, but anyway i dont know why i would want or need a 1000w iron for but okay, also this is not a computer motherboard but a board for a computer power supply also it is set at C always has been since i got it, if i should change to F i will but for now its been working okay for the minor stuff i have been doing

If you do not read the instructions, it is easy to accidentally adjust the calibration rather than change the set temp. You keep "adjusting" it up, and the iron just gets colder.

I just interpreted it as you were talking Celsius and wrote the Fahrenheit temp with the wrong symbol. ~850F happens to be the limit of a lot of stations.

The Hakko FX-888D manual can be found here.
Section 6. Parameter setting, discusses presets.
Section 5.C Operation, discusses "adjustment" (commonly referred to as temperature offset or calibration).
The way it reads in the manual is the station can adjust an offset a maximum of 150°C/270°F every time but it's effects appear cumulative.

One way of telling if the "adjustment" is messed up is changing the set temperature (not the adjustment)  around the melt temp of the solder that you are using and then lower it and down and see where it stops melting.
60/40 Sn-Pb at ~188 °C (370 °F)
63/37 Sn-Pb at ~183 °C (361 °F)
Lead free a little higher at ~217°C (422°F)

The other is by using a suitable thermocouple and measure the tip temp then adjusting back the temperature "adjustment" until it's back calibrated. If you feel it's totally messed up then you can do a factory reset as shown in this video.

[Shock]

Sorry to complicate things but one other thing you might want to check as well is if your Hakko FX-888D is counterfeit unfortunately quite a few fakes were/are sold on Ebay and Amazon. That also could explain a performance problem.

[Tarloth]

I agree with other people:

1) Check if the Hakko FX-888D it's genuine, counterfeit's are generally crap that only works in small boards with small components.
2) Check that you are using the correct tip with a lot of contact surface
3) As a comment, I used to remove components, specially big capacitors, from PC Power sources for years and never had a problem, solder did melts almost instantaneously, remove the componente and put new one without hassle with all solder station that I had had prior the fx-888d and off course, the 888 itself.

I think that the problem it's not your solder station

[ironsniper1]

thats one of the first things i did check was wether it was fake and i have seen that video and mine is the real deal everything on mine matches the real one, also i reset it to default settings and it set the temp to 750C as default

[Tarloth]

In my experience it's not necessary to increment the temperature a lot, I use it at 260-280 c with the tip with the highest storage of heat possible for the application.

https://www.hakko.com/english/tip_selection/selection_1.html

In T12 (fx951) exist tips with special high heat capacity, but in T900 the geometry it's the key. Use original tips with good tinning, this improve a lot the wet ability and lower the temp. SMD spatula have a VERY high heat storage, but any of the other tips with 5-7mm front may be enough, for example K type or S3 that are cheap and long lasting, mine have more than 6 years and seems like new.