I can guarantee it is leagues better. Frankly, I won't solder anymore unless it is with a direct-heat iron. They heat up instantly, cool down quickly, provide far better thermal transfer, and are much more comfortable to hold.

Don't brush off what I'm saying before you try a direct-heat iron (Hakko sells them, Pace does, and JBC is the gold standard). They are usually expensive from the big names, but even a Pinecil direct-heat iron for $30$ would be many times better than non-direct-heat irons.

Is the OP one a direct heat iron?

Yes. The easiest way to tell is the soldering "tip" is much more than a tip. It's a cartridge. [1]

[1] https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/review-ifixits-fixhub-may-be...

Oh man, I don't need to hear this. When I got my FX-888 I was blown away by the difference between it and the cheapo Radio Shack style one I had muddled through with as a teen. And now, for only $200 or so, I can get something that's another step change?

I don't even know when I last soldered and that's still tempting at a deep-seated nerd level.

I can't recommend a Pinecil enough. It's cheap as chips and basically has all the best features of other irons I've used. No complaints, I've half a mind to stockpile them and hand them out as gifts to nerd-inclined friends.

$30? $30?!

You got me. Pinecil is en route. Thanks for the recommendation!

Enjoy! Best hidden feature is the Bluetooth connectivity that lets you dial in precise controls from your phone or browser. It's definitely a keeper, and doubles as "that one RISC-V thing I own" when your nerd friends drop by.

Me too, I used to think I hated soldering, until I tried a proper solder station in a shop, but for the amount of repairs I do, I couldn't justify spend 200 in something like that, but this PINECIL sounds like a great middle ground.

It's pretty nice. The key is to have a high enough wattage USB that you can feed it over 50w for a quick heatup, in my experience. I use a fast charger brick I bought for my phone and it works like a charm.

This is the key question.

Oh yeah, it will be MUCH better, not even close. And I own a Hakko. The new wave of USB irons is incredibly better

I am, it should be noted, _fucking terrible_ at soldering. But my TS-101 actually gives me hope. I'm so happy with it.

(It's also incredibly, incredibly useful for heat-set inserts, because you get to decide really precisely how long they will take to insert!)

Hakko fx888 is a good quality iron but quite outdated tech. The biggest downside is it doesn’t measure the temperature at the tip, but at the heater.

When I first bought mine I tried to adjust the temperature in what felt like the natural way to do so, without rtfm first of course.

Then I quickly learned that I had adjusted the temperature calibration. I reverted what I had done but now I am not confident about the temperature its operating at, at all. Seems a terrible interface design.

Yep I did that too.

I recalibrated by using the thermocouple on my multimeter.

That's not my biggest problem though - my biggest problem has just been keeping tips tinned properly. I've succeeded once, but it constantly feels like a struggle.

I found that brass wool works better at keeping tips tinned. A sponge removes all the solder and you have to quickly tin the tip immediately after wiping, otherwise it oxidizes. Wiping with brass wool leaves a thin layer of solder on the tip.

Also keeping the tip at moderate temperature range helps avoid oxidation - most manufacturers recommend to never exceed 400 C. JBC recommends to not exceed 370 C.

Hope this helps.

Can you suggest an alternative please?

In the hakko line, fx-951 is the step-up which uses a heater and sensor in the tip (t15/t12 tips).

The alternative, for a hobbyist, would be something like this new iFixit iron, the Pinecil, Miniware TS80/TS100 or one of the variety of chinese irons from amazon and Aliexpress that take Hakko T12 tips (Quicko and similar).

On the high-end, professional side, it's JBC and Metcal. Expensive.

I recommend https://eleshop.eu/jbc-bt-2bqa-soldering-station.html

The handle is so light! Active tips! Heats up in 2 seconds. Goes to standby mode when you put away the handle to save the tips.

There's even a lighter compatible precision handle that you can buy.

Luke Gorrie posted a bunch of Twitter threads where he compare the sizes of soldering handles. Can't find it now but https://github.com/lukego/soldering might lead you to them.

Here's the photo of different soldering handles: https://x.com/lukego/status/1308366430849716226/photo/1

I upgraded to a Pace ADS200 and it’s dope.

I'm a ADS200 fan, too. Bought one recently after way too many years of using a 30W Weller. Having a big choice of tips is nice. As a bonus, it's made in the US. I've been able to tackle projects that I'd never have even thought of trying with the old soldering iron.

For affordable, semi-professional grade equipment, it is hard to beat Quick. I have Quick 202d + Quick 861dw. The tips on 202d are integrated with thermocouples and heating is indirect but inductive, which strikes a nice balance between the price of the tips (3x more affordable than cartridge tips) and performance (heats just like cartridge tips). The handle is light and has short grip-to-tip distance. I still use the original tips I bought a few years ago, so they last. I always soldered lead free and I’m shocked people on the internet find lead free hard. Some even said I must be nuts to solder lead free at 600-650F.