Hello,
Up front I must mention I'm new to the whole "direct heating" soldering irons business. Being on a budget and after some research I settled on a chinese JBC station knock-off compatible with JBC T245 hardware with the intent of using genuine JBC tips.
Ordered this tip on aliexpress at a good price with the reason for the discount being it comes in a older style of packaging. Tip seems genuine, package is sealed, looks good but when trying to tin it for the first time a substantial area of the tip won't tin and the plating seems to be chipped (see pics).
Tinning was done using 63/37 tin/lead solder and without external flux. Tried "tip refresher" stuff on it without success. Wet sponge, brass whool, nothing works. To me this seems like a bad tip, the non-plated parts won't take solder at all so most of the tip surface is useless.
So before I ask for a refund, I wanted to validate with more knowledgeable people if this chipping is indeed a defect or the result of a mishandling on my part. But all I did is simply trying to tin the tip, hardly seems like bad handling...
Thanks in advance for any insights,
Joris
Up front I must mention I'm new to the whole "direct heating" soldering irons business. Being on a budget and after some research I settled on a chinese JBC station knock-off compatible with JBC T245 hardware with the intent of using genuine JBC tips.
Ordered this tip on aliexpress at a good price with the reason for the discount being it comes in a older style of packaging. Tip seems genuine, package is sealed, looks good but when trying to tin it for the first time a substantial area of the tip won't tin and the plating seems to be chipped (see pics).
Tinning was done using 63/37 tin/lead solder and without external flux. Tried "tip refresher" stuff on it without success. Wet sponge, brass whool, nothing works. To me this seems like a bad tip, the non-plated parts won't take solder at all so most of the tip surface is useless.
So before I ask for a refund, I wanted to validate with more knowledgeable people if this chipping is indeed a defect or the result of a mishandling on my part. But all I did is simply trying to tin the tip, hardly seems like bad handling...
Thanks in advance for any insights,
Joris
Last edited:
Yeah... I thought I would be clear since it is a genuine JBC tip. Makes me think reason for discount was not old style packaging but rather because it didn't pass JBC quality control...
Opened dispute, let's see what happens. What's bugging me is that I took care of dealing with an authorized JBC dealer that has a high 99% feedback and still got junk...
HANDIF SOLDERING Store
HANDIF SOLDERING Store
Last edited:
An update for reference if anyone experiences the same troubles as me on aliexpress. The seller first answer to the dispute was to refuse the refund. Incredible behavior for a so-called authorized JBC dealer given the detailed pictures I submitted to support my claim (the pictures in the opening post above).
Of course I refused that "solution", and the seller didn't respond back. The dispute is transferred to aliexpress itself when an agreement is not reached after a pre-determined delay (5 days); aliexpress then approved the refund. As of now I have not received the refund per se but if there are further problems I will report back here.
If I didn't get a refund I would have proceeded to open a claim with credit card provider. This affair quite cooled my enthusiasm towards aliexpress.
Of course I refused that "solution", and the seller didn't respond back. The dispute is transferred to aliexpress itself when an agreement is not reached after a pre-determined delay (5 days); aliexpress then approved the refund. As of now I have not received the refund per se but if there are further problems I will report back here.
If I didn't get a refund I would have proceeded to open a claim with credit card provider. This affair quite cooled my enthusiasm towards aliexpress.
Nigel, I tought about that, specifically how "compatible" the knock-off wand is with the genuine C245 tips in terms of temperature sensing. Only way to be sure would be to get one of them tip temperature meters that every self-respecting youtube reviewer owns. The supplied knock-off tips work fine, except that they are of somewhat useless shapes for me: super fine conical, "S" conical, knife... I think I'll try some of their bevel tips since they are known to work with their station, until I get said meter and properly check the station's temperature control over genuine JBC tips.
Hmm, unpleasant..... but not altogether unexpected. JBC: ''Don't believe us..... TRY IT!''. Trial, error, trial - error, various ''experimental techniques'' so on and so forth..... ''Don't believe in us''- exactly, except it's not funny. SomeJoe, by the way what is the cost chinese station and the soldering tip?
Hello Bate,
The station cost me 188 canadian pesos which is about 140$ US. It is about 1/6th the price of the entry JBC station here in Canada. It sells even lower now:
Aixun T320
It works well so far. That company previously made the T3A station which seemed well regarded on youtube channels, and there was a teardown of this T320 successor which showed sound construction. I took the kit with the 3 basic tips to try my hand first with the direct heating thing. A genuine JBC tip on amazon here will cost like 2/3 of the whole Aixun station, that's why I tied the aliexpress "deals".
The station cost me 188 canadian pesos which is about 140$ US. It is about 1/6th the price of the entry JBC station here in Canada. It sells even lower now:
Aixun T320
It works well so far. That company previously made the T3A station which seemed well regarded on youtube channels, and there was a teardown of this T320 successor which showed sound construction. I took the kit with the 3 basic tips to try my hand first with the direct heating thing. A genuine JBC tip on amazon here will cost like 2/3 of the whole Aixun station, that's why I tied the aliexpress "deals".
The substitution effect..... Yes SomeJoe, this makes perfect sense, but.... some times problems arise. Sometimes. But why JBC soldering station? I would think twice before ordering that. They have nightmare prices for soldering tips. It makes more sense to go with Hakko for DIY option. Tips are cheaper. All logical suggestions can be defeated by Quicko T12 - 942 mini soldering station + DC linear power supply unit + T12 Quicko soldering tips. Base on my personal experience - JUST UNBEATABLE COMBO! On top of that, cheap. Think about it, you will not regret.https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32839523934.html?pdp_npi=4@dis!BGN!BGN 92.00!BGN 48.76!!!50.02!26.51!@2101e62517067309839443398ef675!10000002010599217!sh!BG!0!&spm=a2g0o.store_pc_allItems_or_groupList.new_all_items_2007586013081.32839523934
Last edited:
Bate,
I was shooting for the ubiquitous toy-like Hakko FX-888 but after reading the 1-star and 2-star negative comments on amazon as I usually do to make an opinion on products, I was less tempted. There was an uncomfortably high problem rate - I guess they don't make them like they used to. Plus watching videos I was not impressed with its ergonomics.
So for the same price there was this knock-off that had good reviews, sound built quality, was direct-heating and came with the compatibility with JBC tips and wands.
As my projects get more fancy and dense, with difficult-to-heat ground plane connexions and heatsink pours, I needed more robust stuff. Direct-heating seems the way to go and so far I enjoy the fast heating for quick and clean solder joints.
Why JBC? Honestly, for years I've used simple soldering irons and the classic triac-controlled WL100 Weller station and wanted the good stuff - At least for the tips, as Real deal JBC tips last reportedly much longer than anything else. But I must confess I came very close to buying the genuine JBC station and it's not impossible a "from me to me" gift appears under the Christmas tree at some point.
Still I'll check out some reviews of the product you linked, thanks for that.
I was shooting for the ubiquitous toy-like Hakko FX-888 but after reading the 1-star and 2-star negative comments on amazon as I usually do to make an opinion on products, I was less tempted. There was an uncomfortably high problem rate - I guess they don't make them like they used to. Plus watching videos I was not impressed with its ergonomics.
So for the same price there was this knock-off that had good reviews, sound built quality, was direct-heating and came with the compatibility with JBC tips and wands.
As my projects get more fancy and dense, with difficult-to-heat ground plane connexions and heatsink pours, I needed more robust stuff. Direct-heating seems the way to go and so far I enjoy the fast heating for quick and clean solder joints.
Why JBC? Honestly, for years I've used simple soldering irons and the classic triac-controlled WL100 Weller station and wanted the good stuff - At least for the tips, as Real deal JBC tips last reportedly much longer than anything else. But I must confess I came very close to buying the genuine JBC station and it's not impossible a "from me to me" gift appears under the Christmas tree at some point.
Still I'll check out some reviews of the product you linked, thanks for that.
IME a real JBC is hard to beat. I find it so much better than all the Weller "industrial" stuff I've used for decades.
The tips are expensive (as they also contain the heater and the sensor) but dependable and this instant on-the-fly switching of tips is pure joy.
DIY is more fun with better tools but it will always be a trade-off. You still have to treat them well, solder tip coatings, regardless of tip size, are mechanically fragile by design.
Indeed !
Not to mention the superb range of JBC tip shapes, and most special ones are not much more expensive than the basic ones. There are tips that can solder a SMD chip package in a single operation and even a mini solder pot. Then there are the SMD tweezer wands... These are much too specialized for my needs but I got my eye on the drag-soldering ones that I would like to try some day.