If you're looking for hakko, I'd check the fx950 if you're in region, or the 951 for NA.

I do agree though that you should really look into good solder, flux and desolder wick at the least too since when you're starting or experimenting mistakes happen and rework is just much more manageable.

However, if I were to buy again, I'd probably go with TS100 (cheaper, seems to have a larger user base, cheaper tips and XT60 connectors are pretty flexible for DIY and simpler than USB-C) or Pinecil (cheaper in general and users are rabid fans).

EDIT: from the IronOS page, it seems that the TS100 is no longer recommended...

"Please note that Miniware started shipping TS100's using cloned STM32 Chips. While these do work with IronOS, their DFU bootloader works terribly, and it is hard to get it to successfully flash larger firmware images like IronOS without timing out. This is the main reason why the TS100 is no longer recommended."

However, a reflow oven is sooo much easier. I use a Controleo 3 modified toaster oven. It sounds hacky but it really works great. There's not a better solution for the small size at any price.

describes jbc

this article describes some of the brands and how they work:

https://habr.com/en/articles/451246/

it breaks down the tech levels of each of the brands.

What's unclear to me - even with the github repo - is if the newer TS80 TS100 pinecil soldering irons use the high-end technology even if they use the tips.

A little pricier, but I got a Hakko desolder gun this year and I've really appreciated it.

The Miniware-style portable irons aren't quite as good, but they're incredibly convenient because they'll run from a USB-PD power bank or a surplus laptop PSU. A portable kit that fits in a laptop bag and costs under $100 isn't dramatically worse than a high-end soldering station for most applications.

For SMD work, the most important tools that you haven't mentioned are alcohol swabs and flux. When you're dealing with tiny pads and fine pitches, there's very little margin for poor wetting - you need scrupulously clean and generously fluxed surfaces to get a reliable fillet.

There are also a variety of inexpensive temperature-controlled hotplates available from AliExpress, which are excellent for simple reflow soldering or pre-heating a board with a lot of copper. It's not absolutely necessary if you have a toaster oven with a trustworthy thermostat, but preheating makes a lot of jobs vastly easier and less risky.

It also means that the actuation temperature varies with room temperature and airflow in the room.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256803576447342.html

This blows everything sold at Microcenter or at this price point out of the water - ~$100 is a pretty cheap entrypoint compared to the FX888 that has been touted for decades.

/Metcal owner

> This is like saying you should buy lifting shoes, a belt, a pair of gloves and bands before you go to the gym for the first time.

No, that's like saying "buy the gear that doesn't crush your genitals for cycling first".

I don't think you understand just how shitty experience is with the cheapest soldering irons

And since I didn't see it mentioned I recommend starting with leaded solder (and good ventilation always).

For a beginner, a soldering station or a high-tech iron is absolutely not necessary. You just need a non-garbage iron, some decent quality lead-rosin solder and a decent amount of flux (cheap rosin would do). Nevertheless, having high-end tools will make things much, much easier and simpler. But at the same time, I believe you'll get a great training if you learn things the hard way.

The fact that it can be done does not make it particularly convenient or easy, especially for a novice (my friend was pretty experienced with electronic assembly by then).

It could be just faulty, or it could be a mistake on your end.

Edit: Reading the other comments, it seems I'm mistaken about this.

Lifting isn't a good analogy. Learning guitar is a better analogy.

Sure, you can learn on a $100 guitar, but it's gonna suck. And, it's going to impair learning to play guitar. The action is going to be high and stiff. The frets are liklely to be finished badly and the fret ends are going to be sharp. The pickups are going to be crappy. The finish is going to either be thick or non-existent. The tuners will probably not hold tune through a single song. Strings will buzz because alignment is off.

A $500 guitar, however, likely won't have any of those issues. The action will be lower. The frets will be finished properly and the fret ends will be filed off. The tuners will hold tune for weeks--your strings stretching will be your only tuning issue.

The difference between a $100 and a $500 guitar is like night and day. The guitar becomes enjoyable rather than something to be worked around.

To start with, the fact that the manufacturer includes the instruction set and address space size before the heat-up time makes me pretty skeptical. I get that its hackable, and that's cool and all, but as with all "smart things", I care about the "thing" part way more than the "smart" part. I can implement a PID controller in about 20 minutes (maybe an hour if I need to bit bang the pwm output) on any number of microcontrollers; that's the easy part.

Also, the USB-C power supply is going to be nothing but a headache. I already have drawers and drawers of usb cables that can't handle the current I want to use, now I need to keep careful track of my soldering cable, which only performs at 60W over USB (and at best 90W using a barrel jack supply)? And the iron doesn't even come with a power supply, so you have to go source that too. It may be $40 for the iron, but then its another $10-40 for the power supply, plus (as you say) an appropriate stand, brass sponge, etc, etc. Suddenly, the dedicated station like the (very affordable Hakko FX888D-23BY) starts to look pretty good.

The pinecil seems like a good thing to keep in your crash bag, but it feels a bit like refusing to buy a power drill because your swiss army knife has a screw driver.

My criticism is that, as a first soldering iron, you shouldn't have to have a bunch of background knowledge just to know what parts are missing. They should at least sell a kit with all that stuff.

I guess that's fair for someone who is completely new to the world of electronics such as teenagers or older people who just never really did a lot of tech stuff.

But for many tech-y people without a soldering iron the Pinecil is fine; I don't currently own a soldering iron and I've never really been into electronics, but the Pinecil would be brilliant for me because 1) I know about tech-y stuff in general, and 2) I do know the basics of electronics and how to solder. I think this probably applies to most of the sad losers on HN who don't own a soldering iron.

In general Pine64 is explicitly aimed at hobbyists and people who "know what they're doing" rather than the mass market.

Now that USB-PD triggers, and ESP32 Arduinos with USB-C exist, I think it makes a lot of sense just to use them for almost everything.

I've not had any trouble using a random usb-c cable or laptop usb-c charger. But I recommend the pinecil silicone cable for $4 that won't get burnt.

It can use type-c _or_ a barrel-jack DC adaptor.

I think it's thoughtfully designed.

You can do perfectly decent work with a shitty 40w pencil iron, the tip included in the pack and sone Jaycar home brand wick.

But if you cheap out on the solder, or opt for lead-free when you don't know what you're doing, you're going to have an awful time. Would strongly recommend Multicore leaded, or at the very least something a bit thicker (~1mm) with rosin core. The thin stuff that requires external flux just isn't good for beginners. It's hard to work with and your repairs will degrade over a 1-2 year period.

(That said, I don't regret dropping $x00 on my FX-888 and FR-301 which have resurrected thousands of things between them; just don't think they're strictly necessary for someone just looking to fix some random item for the first time.)