High Power Soldering Stations

[openyk]

Can someone tell me some high quality options for high power (ideally 200W+) soldering stations? My Pace ADS200 has a known defect (poor higher power performance) where it is not able to sustain continuous 120W as rated, but rather effectively limited to 60W as evidenced in SDG's youtube review and month-long testing a few years back (is there even a firmware update path to fix this?). I know of the recently released Hakko FX-805 (Hakko known for mediocre UI) and Metcal's GT120 (not really high power), but surely there's more in the landscape.

I want to buy 1 high-quality high-power soldering station with usable UI, decent tip selection, and be done with it.

Hakko FX-805

400W
50C to 500C
ESD SAFE
HAKKO T37 TIPS
cMETus certified
960 USD (but no tips!)

Wattage Comparison Video:

Also found:

Weller WXSmart

200W (https://www.weller-tools.com/us/en/industrial-soldering) (WXS2012 is the heavy duty soldering set) (I know weller for their simple irons from a decade+ back, pretty old school impression, but these are fancy, though I don't need all these production control settings and wireless datafeed) (alternatively, the WT family seems to go up to 150W but it's an oldie 7+ years old)

1300 USD (station)
1600-2600 USD (kits)

Animated Usage Video:

UPDATE: might as well post details of what I found

UPDATE 2024-03-20: I ended up getting the Hakko FX-805 (needs T37 tips ordered separately). Reasoning is it's the highest power (400W), electrically certified (cMETus), video-demonstrated power comparison (150W vs 300W vs 400W), and even less expensive (960 USD + 75 USD per tip) than the reputable high-power alternatives (1500USD + tips). I know some people have mixed feelings about Hakko especially after Louis's video about their technical non-openness, and I share that sentiment, but it doesn't look like there's a kicad-like alternative here. In other words, JBC, Weller, Metcal, they all look similar in my eyes to Hakko. Even though the JBC first impression was good, I heard about their business/technical hiccups too (ex. https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/warning-to-jbc-dde-1c-soldering-station-owners-check-your-firmware!/)

[Hydrawerk]

I have never used a high power (more than 120W) soldering station. There is a 250 Watt JBC HDE available. https://www.jbctools.com/hde-heavy-duty-product-933.html
The cartridge range is wide. https://www.jbctools.com/c470-cartridge-range-product-22.html

[openyk]

I have never used a high power (more than 120W) soldering station. There is a 250 Watt JBC HDE available. https://www.jbctools.com/hde-heavy-duty-product-933.html
The cartridge range is wide. https://www.jbctools.com/c470-cartridge-range-product-22.html

This is my first time looking at JBC stations and I like them! Product design ethos seems very practical. They're advertising excellent tip thermal response and highly-consistent reactive power delivery, which is exactly the functional priority that I'd want an engineering team to focus on. JBC HDE has jumped to the top of my shortlist.

UPDATE: alas I was informed that this JBC station is only CE approved and would not pass electrical inspection in Canada. Seems to be a common theme with many European machine/tool product lines.

[khach]

RG150W induction heating with 500 series tip.

[thm_w]

It might help to show some photos of what you are trying to solder, or what tips you want to use.

Metcal GT120 was tested against JBC HDE and performance was supposedly similar: https://www.metcal.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Inductive-vs-resistive-heating-a-comparison_by_Metcal.pdf

But:
- This testing is from metcal themselves so clearly biased
- We don't have indepentant tests of HDE, though SDG has compared GT120 and MX5200 and found the MX5200 to be superior (link: youtu.be/Z-hwjWW4G_A?t=974)
- If you are using a massive specialized tip it might need more than 80-120W of the metcal.

I'm sure either station will be good.

[RiRaRi]

JBC HDE is same power as JBC compact stations which i have. 150W

[eutectique]

JBC HDE is same power as JBC compact stations which i have. 150W

A compact JBC BT-2BQA, being advertised as 140W station, uses BT-2A power supply, which is rated to 75W (scroll to the last page).

Weidinger calls it "heat-up rating 140W / nominal power 75W", which is confusing.

[thm_w]

JBC HDE is same power as JBC compact stations which i have. 150W

No, its 250W.

"It can provide up to 250W when used with a HDE Heavy Duty Station and C470 Cartridge Range."
https://www.jbctools.com/hde-heavy-duty-soldering-station-product-933.html
https://www.jbctools.com/t470f-thermal-insulator-grip-hd-handle-product-126.html

Of course real world use might be a different story. And 250W might be peak not continuous.

[tooki]

Another option is the Ersa i-tool HP handpiece (250W) with a compatible station.

See pages 21-24 in the catalog:
https://ts.kurtzersa.com/fileadmin/medien/members_final/Electronics/9_Medien/9.5_Kataloge/9.5.1_Tools/Ersa-Tools-Catalog-en.pdf

The smaller i-Tool (150W) irons are great everyday handpieces that work with the same stations.


Out of curiosity, what is it you need so much power for? 200W+ is a lot.

[Hydrawerk]

There is a 200W Bakon BK3300 soldering station.
https://www.verpackungsgerate.de/detail/loten/desktop/mikrolotgerat-bakon-bk3300-200w.html
https://www.bakon.cc/quality-lead-free-soldering-electric-iron-anti-static-fast-heating-welding-soldering-station-BK3300-pd46820125.html
I am not sure whether it is good. Soldering tip range is rather limited. https://www.verpackungsgerate.de/loten/bakon-bk500-spitzen/p-1-24.html