JBC element voltage ?

[neslekkim]

Yeah, tons of pictures and a lot of marketing bull. I hope Mike will be so kind to do a proper review, once he got his iron, that would be really nice 

bull or whatnot, if you use this as an replacement iron, i can agree, but as an secondary iron, which you carry on jobs, that's another thing, you don't want to carry your stationary tool with you?, right?

[ajb]

Another option if you just want something compact to throw in the tool bag but don't need it to be cordless is the Hakko FX-600.  It uses the same series of tips as the FX-888 and has a similar ceramic heater with temperature control, but in a firestick format.  I picked one up recently and while I've only done a few joints with it, performance seems to be in the ballpark you'd expect for the style of tip and heater--not quite in the same league as an integrated cartridge, but quite serviceable.  My biggest complaint is that the cord is relatively stiff, and I'm not sure if there's a 240V version available.

[neslekkim]

Doesn't seem to be available in EU at least.

But there is Hakko FX-901, battery powered, but using normal AA batteries, wonder how that would work..

[Mr.B]

But there is Hakko FX-901, battery powered, but using normal AA batteries, wonder how that would work..

Forum member @5ky did a review here:

[neslekkim]

Forum member @5ky did a review

ah, thanks, that didn't look bad at all.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I just got hold of this Weller battery unit, which looks similar to the hakko
http://www.rapidonline.com/tools-equipment/weller-bp865ceu-dual-wattage-battery-soldering-iron-6-8w-6v-85-5757/?utm_source=googleps&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping&&gclid=cl6dtdfk6cgcfacewwodg5ga9q

Also 4xAA. 2 power levels, done by inserting an 1N5401 diode in series for low power.
Bought for a specific job - patching in pieces of  APA102 LED tape to replace dodgy LEDs (in one case 30ft up in a cherry picker!) .
Worked reasonably well for this light-duty application, much better than the gas iron which got too hot and made a bit of an oxidised mess of things.  The light was really handy.
Although it had new Duracells, even after a few minutes' use I was feeling "range anxiety" - "are the batteries going or is it still warming up...."
A version of this with a couple of lipos and some temp feedback could be fairly reasonable.
Current draw from fresh batteries is about 2A on high power - I wonder if NiMh batteries may be better - lower voltage but less internal resistance.
I ordered some Lithium AAs to try - not sure how their internal resistance compares to alkaline.

[KL27x]

Another option if you just want something compact to throw in the tool bag but don't need it to be cordless is the Hakko FX-600.  It uses the same series of tips as the FX-888

Check out the Peakeep digital stick iron. Ordinarily, I would prefer the simple dial on the Hakko. But the 40W Peakeep reaches solder-melting temp in only 8 seconds, using the same tips. The 73W Hakko takes 25 seconds, per reviewers. This suggests to me that the Hakko is power-modulated with an SCR, rather than being true temp-controlled full-throttle switching. Not too big a deal, other than startup time. I suppose with the Hakko, you could fiddle with the dial if you were in a hurry to get the iron up to temp and also have the flexibility to do larger joints.

The Peakeep would seem to be close to 936 level of power with true temp-control in a stick format. I don't have one, mind you. I'm tempted, at 8 second warm-up, to reduce tip-switches on my Hakko 888. A genuine spare wand for an 888 is $70.00!

[IanB]

Current draw from fresh batteries is about 2A on high power - I wonder if NiMh batteries may be better - lower voltage but less internal resistance.

With anything that draws more than 500 mA from AA cells it is NiMH all the way.

I have tested both the Radio Shack and FX-901 irons on Eneloops (AAx4) with very satisfactory results. With both irons the tip warms up in a few seconds, so you can turn it on, make the joint and then turn it off again. (The Radio Shack iron came with a momentary push button switch, but I soon tired of that and hacked it into a latching switch. Too much finger ache otherwise.)

[KL27x]

(The Radio Shack iron came with a momentary push button switch, but I soon tired of that and hacked it into a latching switch. Too much finger ache otherwise.)

I installed a toggle switch onto my Weller battery iron, too. That works fine for a few joints. Set up, turn on, wait, do the job, and turn off. But I soon tired of toggling it on/off on longer jobs, in order to prevent the tip from turning into a ball of charred flux residue.

PWM standby power is all it takes to make these things into awesome little working irons. Each joint is just one second of full power away. I used a micro. But at it's simplest, all you need is a PWM circuit, a FET, a full power bypass tac switch, and an on/off switch. PWM cycle can be quite slow, on the order of 1Hz, so switching doesn't need to be efficient, at all. Simple pull up/down would be sufficient to turn off the FET, so the tac could simply override the PWM's output at the FET gate +- diode rectifier on the PWM output, depending if it's push-pull or open drain. Or if using an IC for PWM, perhaps connecting the tac switch to the reset pin.

[kkontak]

Ok, this may be an old topic, but I wanted to add two things:

1. JBC recently launched the *almost* dream soldering irons of this thread, marketed as B-iRON series. Battery powered et all.
But they are of the small ones (for 210 & 115 series catridges) and propably intented for bench use (put back on stand for recharging shots on breaks between soldering sessions).


2. I just found on ebay some (no affiliation whatsoever) soldering stations from various sellers using Makita 18V battery. They don't seem to support JBC handles tho. I wish they supported T245.
for example:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/313925897037?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D241587%26meid%3D9d766950d7294ab9bd430366745fd549%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D274622984590%26itm%3D313925897037%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv11WebTrimmedV3MskuAspectsV202110NoVariantSeedKnnRecallV1&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A3139258970379d766950d7294ab9bd430366745fd549%7Cenc%3AAQAHAAABMMFr2e4EmAnM%252ByHZkULYKDIJ4L66fOjNL0iupgt%252BzO1%252F3AE1t3mNirUYB96NktMCicMagiS6mbeTl0xquGODv9lhzeIo08QSWwCvlAaVUs7SguPPfcqYzz%252FFzD5Sv%252FRv7UiPFtFD38sc3fRmCx5Tq7UIlMRzSX1oJW0USTLmiwa29Ddfp78BeSTQZhnqBcvgvISxq%252FA6ajoc7JPC8EciPGRxcii7kQAbx50xx0Ug7Zvko75dRNzv%252BmIT%252F60R8ZK%252F6DtBzaf0qi01VdQndsw%252BZWDxPdNFt1DUonTMgiV0c%252BM2QRf7%252BLImI1DaTZMC0pBZoLMKiz57LXX41WUB0EcViUDWZ1e9cC0xq1noiufysmpBxRv3uU4e9nulW%252Blulc0BGQvmUDN0z5FaLa2bY99viVI%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2047675

[thm_w]

Ok, this may be an old topic, but I wanted to add two things:

1. JBC recently launched the *almost* dream soldering irons of this thread, marketed as B-iRON series. Battery powered et all.
But they are of the small ones (for 210 & 115 series catridges) and propably intented for bench use (put back on stand for recharging shots on breaks between soldering sessions).

Yeah its basically intended for bench use. The battery in the handpiece itself very small:

TOOL
Output peak power 24 W
Battery Li-Ion 7.4V / 180mAh
Charge Time 40 minutes

CONSOLE
Screen Size 7" (1024 x 600px)
Connectivity Bluetooth 4.2
Battery Lithium 2500mAh

Surprised they are doing ~18C discharge from that tiny cell (~3A).
And the base does have a 2500mAh battery too.. interesting.

2. I just found on ebay some (no affiliation whatsoever) soldering stations from various sellers using Makita 18V battery. They don't seem to support JBC handles tho. I wish they supported T245.
for example:

Lots of JBC or T12 stations have a DC input jack, 12-24V.
So you can take a Makita or other battery, buy or make the connector, and then plug that in.

[SteveyG]

Ok, this may be an old topic, but I wanted to add two things:

1. JBC recently launched the *almost* dream soldering irons of this thread, marketed as B-iRON series. Battery powered et all.
But they are of the small ones (for 210 & 115 series catridges) and propably intented for bench use (put back on stand for recharging shots on breaks between soldering sessions).

The B-Iron is a bizarre product. I tested it (not at my lab, otherwise I would have recorded it), but you can solder continuously for around 5 minutes before the battery is near 0% and you need to return it to the stand for AC charging. With even moderate soldering speeds returning the iron to the base at regular intervals you quickly deplete the battery. It's not particularly powerful and the battery is not user replaceable. I don't understand the market for it. 

[SiliconWizard]

This new JBC toy really looks like a crap product. I don't get it either. The only thing going for it is the idea of a cordless handle. Yeah, the cord can occasionally be a slight annoyance. But the drawbacks (very low peak power, very low operating time on a single charge and recharging on stand not fast enough to really make it possible for long soldering sessions) basically make it almost useless. Also, it's chunkier and heavier than the handles of the corded ones, which makes it a lot less comfortable.

So yeah, dunno. Probably there *is* a market for that kind of irons, problem is the implementation. Problem being that current battery technology prevents that from being a really usable product.