Looking for hot air station

[Raziel92]

Hello, im looking for a new Hot Air station

Mostly ill work on desoldering/soldering QFP
Im looking for the high reliability since it will be used in full time work
My budget is about 500-700 euro, at the moment im aimed on

Aixun H310D (ATM im using also T420D which i love)
Im a bit afraid of the building quality, mostly due to SMPS

Sugon 8650
Quite good building quality but the glass painted keybuttons looks so cheap and probably will lost their painting after a while (i know its just a detail)

Quick TR1300 (non A wersion) which is probably the best but its over budget right now

[Faranight]

I'm using Quick 861DW, and with proper nozzle it works wonders with TQFP, QFN and DFN and even some smaller SMD components like 0603 and 0402. Note that I'm mostly doing soldering by hand with a proper magnifier and tweezers. For QFP's you technically don't need a hot air station (unless there's a thermal pad present on the IC), but it can work too. I simply use a hoof tip nozzle on my soldering station and a lot of flux. Also works wonders.

[mastershake]

i would def skip the 310 for now personally. if i have to be honest one of the units i use more then any other here now is the best bst with the modified pcb board in it. its fantastic with the new board installed. but it does add a bit of cost. otherwise id go for quick. when these are made well they last a really long time so i recc spending a bit more instead of having to replace a cheap junk one many times. most of my techs are using the best bst with the added pcb (to give you dials) and they tell me they reach for that more then even the quick unit. those dials make it so fast and east to change temps and air speed on the fly as you need to.

[Psi]

I like the Atten ST-862D

I've heard good things about the Quick 861DW as well, never used one though.

[Raziel92]

I think ill give a try Sugon 8650

[Raziel92]

Sugon 8650 arrived, what I can say, what a beast.

Internal built design is very good as for chinese manufacturer, probably it will work fine for years, if not distributor in Poland has huge spare parts inventory, f.e heater for 25 euro, whole handle with heater 50 euro, there is also the turbine, power supply pcb, front end pcb but I didnt asked the prices for them, i think they will not cost much.

Everything is excellent except the plastic chrome buttons, but I can live with that

[Psi]

I like how you can see what all the presets are before clicking on them with the Sugon 8650

[mcconkeyb]

Did you get all of the nozzles as advertised by Sugon with your 8650? Mine just arrived and only 4 of the 8 nozzles are provided.

[Psi]

Since my last post we got a Quick 861DW at work.
Great machine. When my china Aoyue station dies that is what i'm buying.

One minor annoyance about the Quick 861DW though, is accidently bumping the button on the hand piece and turning off the iron while trying to use it.
However I think you can change that button to do nothing, have not checked manual yet but I was told you can change its function.

[KE5FX]

Sugon 8650 arrived, what I can say, what a beast.

Internal built design is very good as for chinese manufacturer, probably it will work fine for years, if not distributor in Poland has huge spare parts inventory, f.e heater for 25 euro, whole handle with heater 50 euro, there is also the turbine, power supply pcb, front end pcb but I didnt asked the prices for them, i think they will not cost much.

Everything is excellent except the plastic chrome buttons, but I can live with that

Interestingly the 8650 that I just bought no longer has chromed buttons, but matte black.  Maybe they heard your complaint. 

I haven't actually soldered anything with the 8650 yet, but it looks good so far.  Memories and state are retained across power cycles, the display is great, ergonomics seem well thought out, and the UI is very capable (although some features require at least a brief pass through the manual.)  You get the impression it was designed by people who used similar products and wanted to do better.

[digger]

Everything is excellent except the plastic chrome buttons, but I can live with that

Interestingly the 8650 that I just bought no longer has chromed buttons, but matte black.  Maybe they heard your complaint.

ha, i actually like the chrome look. too bad.

can you post a pic of your unit?

[KE5FX]

Note that "MODEL" is still misspelled on the PID damping control button at lower right...

[linux-works]

thinking about getting this unit (amazon, likely).

interesting that your unit comes with black buttons which are nicer than chrome (imho).

one thing of note: this unit comes with 2 angle tips!  no one else seems to and angle makes more sense for microscope work.

my concerns on this brand:

 - no spare parts listed on their website or amazon or (?)
 - no idea on actual cost of ownership and hassle factor.  will the company respond?  will the stuff last?  is it a disposable unit so that you get what you get and then throw it away?

to compare, the 8610 or 8620 (same units but more air power on the 20) are a bit cheaper and the UI seems ok enough.  on amazon, this unit comes with a spare heater core.  I like that; but I dont see any way to buy more of those.  has anyone burned thru theirs, yet?

the xtronic seems identical other than cosmetic.  any experience with that one for parts and service?

the other big Q is about tips.  I can find tips from china that are angled and say they fit the quick brand series.  is this somewhat standard between these brands?  can quick style angle tips fit on these 2 brands (xytronic and sugon)?

I guess same question for atten; there is an atten in the same $250 range and I also see no angle tips for those.  what is going on that no one seems to really promote those, yet microscope guys really need them.

[linux-works]

stange behavior on amazon and tequipment as a seller.

I had the quick hot air station in my cart at a decent price.  was thinking about it and comparing to other brands (as I just posted).

I go to refresh my cart and what do you know, tequipment.net increased the price by a whopping $50.

what does that say about the vendor?  how can price jump by $50?

I guess that's one vendor that I will not work with.  gives me a real bad taste when that crap happens.

are there any good sellers left?  (kind of underwhelmed by the market, in its current state, I guess)

[KE5FX]

If you order from the same seller via the link I posted (or otherwise), you should get three angled tips as well as a few straight ones.  The angled tips are indeed a game-changer for microscope work.  Temperature calibration will be degraded when using them, though, so if you consider that critical it may be a drawback.

Having used the 8650 it a few times now, I'd give it two thumbs up.  No complaints, except perhaps that it is a little awkward to pick up the handpiece without accidentally hitting a button.  Muscle memory will eventually fix that.

[linux-works]

have you looked inside to see if it has the rfi ac filter?  the quick seemed to need it to stop lights from flickering.

I tried a 'quick clone' from amazon and when I checked inside, it did not have the filter (and the quality was overall poor).  that unit is not worth keeping and I didn't even try turning it on.

the quick is too often cloned, now.  its unsafe to buy unless its genuine and its way overpriced for the market today, imho.  still, a lot of aftermarket tips are made to fit the quick.  that might be one reason to go with this older design.

I've asked the seller or rep of sugon what the parts story is.  I NEED a parts story.  heater and whatever else wears out.  I dont want the whole unit to be disposable.  waiting on a reply from them.  the website is a mess and I cant count on that, really.  its odd that no one markets the angled tips and you have to really struggle to find them.

here's an idea (someone steal it, please).  put rfid on the tip and when you install a tip, that tells the gun what calibration curve to use.  it would allow it to be a level smarter than what we have today.  seems an opp that no one addressed.

[linux-works]

for ref, this is the place you referred to; and its likely where I'd buy it, too.  love/hate with amazon, but when you have prime, you at least can get a real person and fix whatever delivery issue/etc occurs.

posting the ad just to capture its state in time, as of right now.

the price with the discount seems somewhat ok.  a bit high for a hobbiest who wont use this very often; but I do like to have more recent gear if I'm buying new, and this seems to be the next level in usability.

fun fact: I created a DIY audio system based on the LCDuino (some 8 years ago or more) and the audio preamp that I designed around it had a volume control that had 2 speeds.  2 sets of arrow buttons.  a 'fast up' and a 'slow up' (and corresponding down's).  with mine, you can go into the menu and define the step size (often I use 3db for big step and 1db for small step).  its so much faster to get where you want to go when its linear speed (no accel) and you have 2 speeds to pick from with direct buttons.  you need 4 buttons but having lived with my own audio system like that for so many years, I never want to go back to regular single knob audio systems or two-arrow vol control systems.  this hot air has that dual speed up/down thing and it plucks my heartstrings, I have to say   (https://github.com/sercona/LCDuino-v1.02 is my DIY audio preamp, for ref)

this new unit also seems to have some buttons on the handle.  do you find that useful or are they in the way?

[linux-works]

I see 2 angled tips in the photo.  did you really get three?

[linux-works]

update, I got a reply from the seller on amazon who I think is the actual company rep.  they go by the name 'kaweisi'.

the reply is this:

Hello, the parts you replaced during the warranty period will be shipped directly to you without payment.
As for the wind nozzle elbow, it has been discontinued and we are unable to obtain goods from the factory anymore.

I asked for cost of wearing parts like the pump and the heater element.  either they didnt understand, or they reserve parts only for warranty claims.

before I buy or invest in a tool, I really want to know that I can get parts.  even if I have to mail from china.  that way, I have my own shelf spares and the world can go to hell - I'll still be ok   this is how we have to be these days.  parts are not maintained by vendors so if you want a future to your gear, YOU have to stock repair parts ;(

I asked the vendor again.  we'll see, but I dont think they sell parts, tbh.  that shoots down this whole company for me.  I really cant buy something that I have no confidence in, for repair parts.   its not a $50 item, its a $300-$500 item.  that's high priced for my hobbiest budget.  and I dont 'expense away' test gear.  it has to run for years and years.

[linux-works]

feeling discouraged.

maybe I'm better buying a higher end brand name, used.

I need to be able to have a 'parts story' and none of the china companies even care.  they just dont make it a priority.

pace or old school hakko or something, maybe.  nothing I could afford new, but at least they have a parts story that I can believe.