hakko vs. weller

[Brian Donaldson]

I think that they know and don't give a $hit. It's a bottom line money decision. They can boost their earnings by shipping out $hit and get their bonuses and options. Next quarter the compatition will do the same and the customers will have to settle for $hit product A or $hit product B.
Most of the big box consumers don't know the difference and they are the bulk of the sales.

[1audio]

As I pointed out elsewhere Metcals are a dream to use. I have several now, most from eBay. I could not justify a new one.

I have used Weller and Ungar over the years and watched as they both degraded their quality. They are now the same company. And this is all driven by the consumer.

The consumer today does not want to pay for the quality he expects. . .and has no way to judge the quality he buys. The purcase decision is made on apperances and reputation. So to be a success in the mass market you need a good name (and with the health of our economy those are cheap) and good packaging and presentation. The quality issue at a mass merchandizer is more one of return rate than any real quality evaluation or measure. How many Wallmart consumers return TV's because the colors are off?

Back to quality soldering irons, Weller has been serving a retail market for the last 10 years (manufacturing in large scale went overseas) so they have been chasing the price curve. Metcal has a solid market in the medical and aerospace industries (If you were assembling pacemakers would you even think about cutting corners?) As such they have customer that will pay for the technology. And those customers are either upgrading or crashing and the excess inventory comes on the market.

Hakko is serving the Asian manufacturing market so they have more pressure to make quality products.

[A3rd.Zero]

OOO, have you seen this?

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/

Milo

[Brian Donaldson]

I wouldn't expect much for 20 bucks. You would be better off putting that 20 with about 10 others and buy a real iron.

[wytco0]

Has anyone seen the Weller WHS40D Digital Solder Station ??

I think it may be newish? not sure if its any good ?

http://www.brewstersbatteries.co.uk/...ler_whs40d.gif

[tpenguin]

I'd like to introduce another name into the mix. Pace makes some very good industrial soldering/rework stations and their line seems to cover all the features and accessories you can get from a Hakko station. I personally use a station that's about 10 years old that I got really cheap from a good friend of mine who owned a pager sales/repair business. He had 8 in his store, which were left on continuously for 8+ hours every day, and the tips lasted for months if they were properly maintained (except the very fine needle tips, but they lasted quite a while also, unless you dropped them). Mine is still going strong, and has a very accurate temperature control, and heats up to any temperature up to ~950°F (510°C) within 45 seconds, and I have never had the tip cool off no matter what I tried to solder. Their new products are supposedly even better. The only downsides are that their tips are very expensive, and you can only buy them from a handful of distributors in packs of 5 (except for the really expensive tips for large SMT ICs), which tend to cost over $30, depending on the tip you want. I find this annoying because I can't buy a "variety pack" of 5 tips, and if I only want one or two, I still have to buy 5. The plus side, I suppose, is that 5 tips would last for years for most hobbyists. I just thought I'd throw in a plug for Pace to let you know that Hakko and Metcal aren't the only options for high-quality stations.

[beerguy0]

"Most professionals swear by the Metcal."

"At somewhere between a grand or or two I wonder why"

Our company has used Hakko for most of the 15 years I've been here, but we are upgrading in both Manufacturing and Engineering to Metcals. Between my two main benches, I have a Hakko 928 (dual iron), Hakko 936, and two Metcals.

One reason Metcal irons are popular in industry is that there is no temperature to adjust (or mis-adjust, as the case may be). Delicate traces and pads can be destroyed by too hot of an iron. The tip you install in a Metcal determines the temperature. Also, there is no need to calibrate the iron. For ISO 9000, calibration of irons in a headache. The more irons, the bigger the headache.

Having used them side-by-side, I can truthfully say that a Hakko can't hold a candle to a Metcal, when you really need heat. The project I'm working on now is a 10 layer PWB, with 2 oz. Cu top and bottom, 1 oz Cu internal layers, and all with no thermal webbing anywhere. It's virtually impossible to do anything with the Hakko, no matter what tip you use or how high you crank it.

That being said, for the average DIY'er, the Hakko is probably the way to go. Good selection of tips, reasonably priced. If you can find a Metcal cheap, I would certainly go for it.

Cheers,

bg

[peranders]

Originally posted by metebalci
Do you recommend hakko 936 or weller wes51 ? Hakko is a little cheaper than weller.

I have Weller WS-51 and WS-81 at work and they lasts forever, almost. The WS-51 is model 1990 or someting, good professional equipment for everyday use.

You can also get spare parts, important!

[jhead]

I've been useing a Hakko 918 iron for the last 15years on a regular bassis with only 1 tip raplacement and it still works like a charmI also have a Permax QRVP station I've had for 15yrs also and it still works great

[jmateus]

It's funny that you guys talk so vehemently about Weller.
I couldn't resist to add my two cents. I have not but bad
experiences with Weller, unfortunatly.
And here I am with two broken Weller solder stations not
to repair because one of them was repaired (?) and it didn't
last six months, it's broken again...
I used to work for a big company (Sony) and the solder stations
were exclusively Wellers whereas the desoldering ones were
Hakko. Every four to six months or so the Wellers were to be
replaced or repaired, the Hakkos would be on and on for years
with any problem. Does this say something about the Weller
quality?
And my two Wellers will be in my attic until I decide to throw
them off, it doesn't pay to pay at least $120.00 for the
repair where I can buy a decent Tenma for less than $60.00.