Ersa I-CON Nano or Pace ADS200?

[phil303]

My workplace offers a pretty generous benefit for purchases related to personal education and I find myself with a couple grand of basically free money that can go to something I'm learning. Since I've been learning electronics for the past year or so and discovered I really love it, it's time to upgrade the workbench! Right now, I'm focusing on a new soldering iron.

I find myself debating between the Ersa I-CON Nano or Pace ADS200, which are in the same price range. I haven't seen a comparison video of the two yet, perhaps because the Pace is a relative newcomer as I understand it, but would love to get your opinions. For the time being, I'll be using this for mostly through-hole but I'm learning how to make PCBs right now, and eventually I'd like to use it for SMD work as well.

[phil303]

Just going to give this one more shot in case it was missed by someone in the know.

What would you buy if you had to choose between the two?

[CrazyTiger]

Both the station are good, they have some sort of quick change of tips, but the Pace ADS-200 does not require you to screw and unscrew the collar like the Ersa.
Also have a look at the tip price and availability, i know Pace is widely available, not sure about Ersa in the US.

My Suggesting if you have the budget,why not get an used Pace MBT350 soldering station, it has 3 channels and the tips are cartridge type like the Ersa and ADS-200. The cartridge is relatively cheap. Best part you will get a Soldering Iron, Desoldering Hand Piece and a Soldering Tweezer, this should last you for ages.

If you are really lucky, sometimes the MBT350 turns up at Ebay from about 400-500 USD, though now the price is about 1k

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pace-Soldering-Station-MBT350-WITH-2-HANDLES-AND-TIPS-PLUS-TESTED/303042771252?epid=1003989546&hash=item468ec1b934:g:zs0AAOSwKV9cTgma

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pace-8007-0454-MBT350-Multi-Channel-Solder-TD100-SX-100-MT-100/152240675205?hash=item2372405985:g:OIIAAOSwzoRZfChQ

I have been using MBT-350 at work and the older MBT-250 at home, the only issue I ever found with the MBT350 is the desoldering hand piece gets clogged faster than the older MBT250s but all desoldering iron does that.

[phil303]

Thanks for your response! I should have clarified, I'm not looking to use the whole budget on just the soldering iron. I'll likely be updating my power supply next and I'd also like to buy a rework station and waveform generator. So trying to strike a balance with all the various pieces I need on the bench. The MBT350 looks pretty nice but I think out of my price range.

I'm leaning toward the pace right now for no other reason than it fits my aesthetic a bit more. Not the greatest reason but they'll probably both do the job for a newbie like myself for years to come.

[jpb]

I have the Ersa icon nano and I'm very happy  with it but as it is my only soldering iron I can't really give you a comparison.

I went for it because it was ESD safe and a reasonable price and the other people recommended Ersa as a good make. I bought mine in March 2013 (six years ago) and have had no problems or reason to regret my purchase. I was comparing it against a cheaper Hakko at the time of my purchase - I didn't consider more expensive irons like JVC ones as these were beyond my budget.

Here is the post I made when I decided on it back in 2013:

What are the soldering stations you've had so far, by the way?

I haven't. I've just used a couple of Antex irons which are really too under-powered in these days of lead-free solder.

I finally decided yesterday to go with the Ersa i-CON nano over the Hakko 888D despite the higher price.

My reasons were :
1.) Appearance and build - the Hakko is a fun shape but looks a bit plasticky even on the stand which I understand is painted metal. The Ersa looks pretty solid.
Both are nice and compact.
2.) Heating technology - the Ersa has the sensor at the end of the heating element near the point of the tip and heats up in 9 seconds, the Hakko is a bit slower (closer to a minute
I understand) and I don't think the sensor is as near the iron tip (though I may be wrong on that).
3.) I like the fact that you can see both the target and actual temperature on the Ersa display. The Hakko can only show one or the other (though it does have an LED to show when it is at temperature I think).
4.) I was impressed with the willingness of the Ersa guy to respond to my e-mails and the detail he went into even though I was just buying a low-end station as an individual and not a big company purchasing a new assembly line. To be fair, Dancap responded promptly to my e-mails and I didn't try e-mailing Hakko direct, but I've recently had some bad experiences e-mailing a couple of Japanese companies (Iwatsu and Advantest) neither of whom responded at all.
5.) Hakko only have one agent in the UK and in Europe I only know of one in Holland and each agent is restricted to their own country. Ersa should give me more choice of supplier in future. (This is not a major consideration as Dancap have been in business supplying Hakko to the UK for years so I don't think they are likely to go away.)

All in all it was a very difficult decision but as they are both good irons (from what people report) I perhaps should have just tossed a coin.

[Gary.M]

I switched to an I-Con Nano about six months ago. It is great. Plenty of power, the tips are easy to change. Also I'm finding the tip life to be superb.

Sent from my MI 8 using Tapatalk

[DimitriP]

perhaps because the Pace is a relative newcomer as I understand it,

Pace has been around for while now.
Pehaps the only reason they are not being discussed as much is ....price.

My Suggesting if you have the budget,why not get an used Pace MBT350 soldering station, it has 3 channels and the tips are cartridge type like the Ersa and ADS-200. The cartridge is relatively cheap. Best part you will get a Soldering Iron, Desoldering Hand Piece and a Soldering Tweezer, this should last you for ages.

If you are really lucky, sometimes the MBT350 turns up at Ebay from about 400-500 USD, though now the price is about 1k

^^^ What he said

So if you have "free money", spend it on PACE !

[phil303]

perhaps because the Pace is a relative newcomer as I understand it,

Pace has been around for while now.
Pehaps the only reason they are not being discussed as much is ....price.

Oh, for clarity, I just meant that particular model but understood on the rest of your post.