New Aixun T320 - Any opinions on it? (with inside pics)

[coppice]

Yeah, I went through all the normal troubleshooting options, different ports, different cables, usbc to usbc, usba to usbc, trying to setup wifi, restarting the app and pc and iron, &c.

But my main PC uses windows 11. Reading through other comments it looks like that could be an issue, so dug up an old laptop still on windows 8, downloaded the aixun app, and 1.09 installed first try
Which also looks to have fixed the shut down issue and the iron is working now.

... so tl;dr, can confirm the aixun app is still borked on windows 11.

I used a Windows 11 machine to set up my iron. I had no issues.

[Worf_RB]

Happy user of T3B with C210 iron . Upgrade to this station or the T420D? I'm doing mainly for the C245 iron.

[GnomeZA]

Happy user of T3B with C210 iron . Upgrade to this station or the T420D? I'm doing mainly for the C245 iron.

The T320 looks like it has all the same problems the T3A has
Especially the problem when you ground the tip in some situations that the temperature goes ballistic
So I don't quite see the point of it.
It also looks like it is using the same power supply as the T3A

So to me I'd either buy T3A (cheaper) or T420 or T420D because it supports more handles and has the transformer instead of switch mode power supply.

[JNorton]

I have not experienced the temperature variation to ground with mine, nor have I experienced a whine in the handle  I bought mine specifically to solder the 6-layer board in the QRP Labs QMX Qrp transceiver.  I used a 1.2mm tip and it soldered the board with no problem. I'm using software V1.07.  Overall I'm happy with it.

[kPATm]

I've been looking at getting a T3B but Im seriously considering getting this instead. The only thing thats stopping me is that it doesn't support T115 handles. I will be using the station for mostly Nintendo Switch Mods. Are the T210 tips much bigger than the T115s?

[GnomeZA]

I have not experienced the temperature variation to ground with mine, nor have I experienced a whine in the handle  I bought mine specifically to solder the 6-layer board in the QRP Labs QMX Qrp transceiver.  I used a 1.2mm tip and it soldered the board with no problem. I'm using software V1.07.  Overall I'm happy with it.

Ah ok, bad assumption on my part then.
I just saw the completely unrealistic temperature of 700℃ and assumed that is the grounding bug (same behaviour as with the grounding bug).
@Tony359 did say it was hard to replicate.

I haven't actually done a deep dive on the circuit of the T3A but I suspect the reason it has that bug is because they are using the earth pin as the positive pin for the TC.  They have to do that because the other TC pin is shared with the heater.  And if you use a DC supply your only option is to use that pin as your shared DC ground, forcing your earth pin to have a non-zero DC voltage.

With an AC supply you wouldn't have that problem;  Alternatively, you could in theory have an isolated DC supply just for your TC circuit (ie. DC->DC converter or similar for your measurement circuit communicating over opto couplers), so that it isn't referenced to your DC heater supply.  I fully expect the reason JBC doesn't do that is because it is much more complex than just running your heater from AC which is completely acceptable way to run it.

What I'm getting at is, if your earth pin has a DC voltage imposed on it, especially a incredible low DC voltage like a TC, adding parallel paths can lead to trouble.
Which I don't think you can just remove with software.
In my mind you have to have your earth pin at DC/AC 0 volts or you'll keep having weird behaviour like this.

As such I'm not convinced this is solved at all for the T320, or I'd very much love to see how they were able to solve it because I'm clearly misunderstanding what is causing the problem

[GnomeZA]

I've been looking at getting a T3B but Im seriously considering getting this instead. The only thing thats stopping me is that it doesn't support T115 handles. I will be using the station for mostly Nintendo Switch Mods. Are the T210 tips much bigger than the T115s?

I got the T420 (not the D).  Just so I could use the T115, I already had the T3A with the T245. (but now driving both hand pieces with the T420).  I've actually been very happy with that iron and have almost never run into a situation in which it is difficult to solder something.

But as you hint at, I've done some work on SMD circuits where the hand piece is just too bulky and sometimes even the heater tip was just too large.

I got the T115, got a NT115 JBC handle (did the same for T245, I want the "authentic JBC" experience as far as possible) and then a couple of fine JBC tips.
For example this 0.1mm tip


It is literally the size of a needle you'd use in sewing (just as sharp too).  I've now tested it on a couple of very small components and although it is incredible fine and pointy so I can get in there no problem, it does struggle with heat a bit.  I probably need more experience with it.

I also got a chisel tip and it does better but it is still a very different experience from T245:


I've not used T210 at all, but I'm still happy I went with the T115 instead because I don't really see the point.  I was already able to do practically everything with T245, sometimes it was a bit more annoying to do it, but I got it done.  So to me the next smaller iron really had to tackle those VERY hard to do jobs and I couldn't convince myself the T210 is going to do that as well as the T115.
The T115 overall is actually very small and pictures will not give you an accurate representation.
I saw it on videos and still didn't comprehend fully until I held one.

It is fair to say I'll be using T245 95% of the time unless the work calls for very tiny work.

I can't justify spending a bunch of money on T210 to work with that but I suspect I'd still be frustrated by the lack of power compared to what I've gotten accustomed to with the T245 (absolute beast with a chisel tip).

[JNorton]

Quote from: JNorton on Today at 04:44:27 am
I have not experienced the temperature variation to ground with mine, nor have I experienced a whine in the handle  I bought mine specifically to solder the 6-layer board in the QRP Labs QMX Qrp transceiver.  I used a 1.2mm tip and it soldered the board with no problem. I'm using software V1.07.  Overall I'm happy with it.

Ah ok, bad assumption on my part then.
I just saw the completely unrealistic temperature of 700℃ and assumed that is the grounding bug (same behaviour as with the grounding bug).
@Tony359 did say it was hard to replicate.

The temperature is in Fahrenheit.    I've attached a picture showing the tip connected to ground with no temperature rise.  I don't have an explanation for it as your theory seems completely plausible. I've also shown a T115 handle in comparison to the T245 and the much smaller T210 handle.

[GnomeZA]

The temperature is in Fahrenheit.    I've attached a picture showing the tip connected to ground with no temperature rise.  I don't have an explanation for it as your theory seems completely plausible. I've also shown a T115 handle in comparison to the T245 and the much smaller T210 handle.

I see in SDG's video he was able to show that the iron does indeed jump when connected to mains earth at the back of the station VS when he doesn't touch mains earth.
I hadn't seen the video before but he has basically come to the same conclusion about the TC and heater not floating in respect to each other so you have this strange behaviour.
They've attempted to fix it in firmware but you can't really patch out a fundamental hardware problem.

[JNorton]

I previously connected the tip to the ground terminal in the T320 opened case.  This time I used the earth terminal of a socket on my bench.  My unit has no temperature rise.  What I do know is this thing is a beast soldering 6 layer boards when zero problems.  It is also easy to service compared to the T3A.  Buy what you want.

[JNorton]

After I burnt my finger trying to shut off the T320 I installed a new rocker switch on the top of the unit.  There is plenty of room.

[JNorton]

I am not a happy camper.  The T320 has started to lose its memory settings.  I turned it on two days ago to see the initial display screen asking for what language to use, Chinese or English.  I reset my preferences shrugging it off.  This morning the same initial screen greeted me.  Now of course I wish I hadn't put in the rocker switch on the top of the unit.  I'll continue to use the soldering station as it still works but losing memory preferences is a disappointment, to say the least.  There have been no power surges to account for this.

[coppice]

I am not a happy camper.  The T320 has started to lose its memory settings.  I turned it on two days ago to see the initial display screen asking for what language to use, Chinese or English.  I reset my preferences shrugging it off.  This morning the same initial screen greeted me.  Now of course I wish I hadn't put in the rocker switch on the top of the unit.  I'll continue to use the soldering station as it still works but losing memory preferences is a disappointment, to say the least.  There have been no power surges to account for this.

Had it done a firmware update? I had to reset the configuration after one of the firmware updates.

[JNorton]

I did the upgrade to V1.07 right after I purchased it.  I'll try a reset although each time it loses its memory it is right back to a factory reset state.  I've had Quicko and Ksger T12 soldering stations with zero problems.   I only purchased the Aixun because it offered the additional power of the JBC cartridges.

[coppice]

I did the upgrade to V1.07 right after I purchased it.  I'll try a reset although each time it loses its memory it is right back to a factory reset state.  I've had Quicko and Ksger T12 soldering stations with zero problems.   I only purchased the Aixun because it offered the additional power of the JBC cartridges.

Isn't V1.07 the one where the introduced Russian, and made a horrible mess of it? I would update again.

[JNorton]

Upgraded to V1.10.  Will let everyone know if this solves the issue with the T320 losing its preferences.

[bastler59]

I did the upgrade to V1.07 right after I purchased it.  I'll try a reset although each time it loses its memory it is right back to a factory reset state. 

"loses its memory" = temperature on M1 to M3, standby temperature and time are gone?
Does it happen directly after you switch the station off and then on again?

[JNorton]

Everything is lost.  The opening screen is the same as you would see after purchasing the unit as new.  It does not happen after each power shutdown.  I am a hobbyist.  It is turned off when I take a break sometimes several times a day.  The first time it lost its users' preferences was after it had not been used for several days.  The next time in a day or so, which seems to be the current pattern.  As I have cut into the top to install a rocker switch I'll just learn to live with it.  I posted this to see if others were having the same problem. 

[bastler59]

Thanks for information.
This erratic behavoir reminds me of a video cassette recorder long time ago. It used a gold cap instead of a battery, so time until memory was gone depended on how long gold cap had time to charge.

But today user values should be stored in a eeprom, so a device shouldn't have amnesia.

Hope my T320 will arrive today, so I will have a look, if it also lose memory ...


[Update]
My T320 just arrived 1 hour ago.
Now I understand, why JNorton adds an addition switch. It is really stupid to place ON/OFF-switch below the open parking position for the handle. 

My solder station has version 1.07 from 06.12.2023 - so losing memory is the Nikolaus-bug?

[JNorton]

I did not connect to WiFi to upgrade the T320.  I strongly believe that anything with a microprocessor does not need to be connected to my home network.  However, I could have left the option to connect to WiFi active without providing connection information.  Perhaps these repeated failed connection attempts caused the reset.  I made sure to set the WiFi connection to off.  Yesterday the iron worked perfectly.  I hope this is the cause as I really like this iron.

[bastler59]

The "earth error" ...

I use the cable Aixun put into the box, banana jack into socket at back side and alligator clamp at a steel plate.

Standby temperature ist set to 120 °C and working temperatur to 325 °C. So here what happens:


This is the moment, when I take handle out of parking position


This is the moment, when I place solder tip on grounded plate


Now I take solder tip off grounded plate

So when solder is grounded, power goes up, but temperature goes down.
Temperature is only going up, when I take the tip off the grounded plate.

I thought other user observe a higher temperature, when tip is grounded?

BTW: can I trust the display of T320?

[JNorton]

I have observed the same behavior with mine, no temperature rise when the tip is grounded.  I used the earth ground on a 120v duplex outlet. What was observed with the T3A is the temperature keeps going up.  You can also use the thermocouple that comes with a lot of meters to look at the temperature of the tip for a double check.  What is puzzling to me is that the video of the T320 on YouTube by SDG Electronics also shows the temperature rise when the tip is grounded.

[bastler59]

What is puzzling to me is that the video of the T320 on YouTube by SDG Electronics also shows the temperature rise when the tip is grounded.

I have in mind a Youtube-video from Tony359 (from Great Britain) about the T3A. With an old firmware he shows that display is flickering and temperature makes a big overshoot. With a newer firmware display stays "quiet", but solder station stll makes an overshoot. So Aixun simply hide the misfunction from user. That the reason why I asked, if I can trust the display of the station.

But you are right. Also SGS shows something in video. From 27:15 min you can see, that by grounding the tip temperature is going down and release the tip temperature makes an overshoot.

In between I have to revise my observation: I switch my station from graphic mode back to normal mode. Set temperature on M1 is 275 °C.

first try: By grounding the tip, temperature is going down to 248 °C, rises up to 279 °C and then down to 275 °C. This all happens in 4 seconds. I have to make a video with my smartphone to really recognize it. When I release the tip, temperature rises to 305 °C and needs 10 sec to go down to 275 °C.

second try: This time temperature is only going down to 255 °C and afterwards rises up to 288 °C and then down again - all in 5 sec.  Releasing tip from ground temperature rises to 302 °C and then goes down again.

Resolution of graphic mode is not good enough to see this temperature changing.
1. Is a overshoot of 13 °C or 4% really a problem? As far as I know, thermocouple is close to heating wire. The effect at the tip may be smaller.
2. The larger temperature change when pulling up the tip I judge as irrelevant. The tip has no connecting to a component anymore, so nothing can be damaged.

[bastler59]

I pulled off power cord and measured resistance between:
a) solder tip and middle pin of IEC C13 socket
b) solder tip and banana socket on backside of solder station

It is nearly zero Ohm.  So  when station is on, this connection is open?

[bastler59]

You can also use the thermocouple that comes with a lot of meters to look at the temperature of the tip for a double check. 

I have a Hakko 191 (may be it's an original, because it is branded as Hakko) and a FG-100 (a chinese clone).

Companies, who produce PT100/PT1000 and thermocouple sensors write on their homepages, that a thermocouple has a faster response that a PT100/PT1000. 

My solder thermometers act very slow! Especially on the last 10 degrees until they stop counting up. So I can't image, that thermocouple sensor is fast enough to recognize an overshoot with a duration of 4 seconds.