I have a Hakko 936 ESD which I bought new and have used for well over 20-25 years. Only issue with it, other than the occasional tip(s), was my cat chewed thru the cord. A Hakko rep sent me a new iron/cord assembly at N/C, and I fixed the chewed one so have that as a spare (with its heating element).
If I were to buy a new one, I've heard nothing but great things about Metcal, so it would probably be one of those (MX500?). I also have the iron that came as part of a chinese hot air station, which appears to be somewhat of a Hakko knock-off. POS, don't use it.
If I were to buy a new one, I've heard nothing but great things about Metcal, so it would probably be one of those (MX500?). I also have the iron that came as part of a chinese hot air station, which appears to be somewhat of a Hakko knock-off. POS, don't use it.
Companies do everything for brand building except making it possible to repair.
There pros and cons to that. Consumer protection has gone so far that a manufacturer can be held responsible for a failing device. Even if the device was subject to non-qualified repair. When it does not become a claim, it least it is advertised on social media. And that is sadly the other side of consumer organizations pressing too hard on manufacturers to act responsibly and sell quality devices instead of junk.
So the reaction of manufacturers is to make it impossible to repair (or even open) their devices. If it fails within warranty or within a reasonable period of time they will replace or sometimes repair it. If it is beyond that tough luck for you.
I strongly disagree with that manufacturer's policy. But I also strongly disagree that manufacturers can be held responsible for anything. There is no reasonable attitude anymore. From either side.
It is not for nothing that the earth drowns in its waste problem. Nothing is being repaired, but thrown away and purchased again. Mind you, most of what is thrown away has still 95% or more good components. Some wise guys even say that it is better not to repair anything which is electric. The new device is so much better that the energy savings due to progress in technology compensate for the environmental damage of producing the new device.
Recycling is just some symptom fighting. The real problem is that devices have to be thrown away because they can't be repaired.
Political comments removed. JP please confine yourself in the future to technical discussion and leave out the politics.https://www.diyaudio.com/community/help/terms/
I think the digital control and displays are mostly about giving the end user the illusion of control. Most of them just show the set point. In a mission critical environment you'd have a thermometer for measuring the tip temperature.
Tom
An even better practice would be to get an ESD compliant iron ... or use a wrist strap ... or both.
Tom
Maybe I just had a leaking one or a bad PE connection then. I kept a few and can test again. Ersa is good stuff to work with but soldering irons connected directly to 230V are best not used on sensitive electronics was what I learnt of it. The Multitip is also not specified as ESD safe.
What I do miss very much is my Den-On SC-7000 desoldering tool. Died when I removed the tip.
What I do miss very much is my Den-On SC-7000 desoldering tool. Died when I removed the tip.
Last edited:
I had a shop full of earlier Weller irons and I grew to hate them. I still have a couple I think. I did like the 12 VDC one for mobile use.
They went through switches and heaters. Many and often.
I bought a Solomon (the OEM for Pro's Kit). They sent me the schematic years later and I rebuilt it and still use it. Later I bought a few KSGER stations from AliExpress, and these are fantastic irons. I won't buy another expensive iron from any source given how good these are. The Solomon was bought before 1998 and is still going strong, and it is still repairable.
They went through switches and heaters. Many and often.
I bought a Solomon (the OEM for Pro's Kit). They sent me the schematic years later and I rebuilt it and still use it. Later I bought a few KSGER stations from AliExpress, and these are fantastic irons. I won't buy another expensive iron from any source given how good these are. The Solomon was bought before 1998 and is still going strong, and it is still repairable.
The MX-500 has outputs for two hand pieces. I use that to switch between an iron and a pair of hot tweezers. If you don't need that feature, you could consider the SP-200. That is available for less and has only one output.
Tom
I had to change soldering irons because the bits for the old one were no-longer available... Perfectly servicable after several decades.
I have a Weller TCP that I bought second-hand in the early 1990s. It's (quite a lot) tatty, so I bought a brand-new TCP in about 2010. It's gone through a number of switches. Wellers are nothing like the quality they used to be; you want an old one. There's a reason they were the standard iron in the 80s, 90s etc.
Agreed. Once they started going through switches, they never stopped. I was going broke supporting 10 stations in use everyday. Heaters started going, that's when I called it and switched stations. What a joy when a switch shorted, I lost a station to that when one of my guys left it on over lunch. Thermal in the transformer thankfully opened, the entire hand unit was scorched too.
Yes I agree, I was trying not to stir the kettle 🙂
Like the old AT computers that had an led display of the processor speed.
Oh look, i can change the jumpers and make the display say '99' instead of '33'
I've looked at Metcals, etc, but the sad reality is, until the old Hakko dies, I just have absolutely no need to upgrade what works fine.
Ain't broken. Don't fix.
I would still be using my Weller TCP had I not been wanting hot tweezers and found that MX-500 at a pretty steep discount.
Tom