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Hi Lawrence, do you still have your 240V model Hakko FX-888D? If yes, could I ask for the value of the varistor soldered on the FX-888D P.W.B (fuse board on the transformer)?

A genuine hakko soldering station will come with tips that are solid copper (plated with chrome) and non magnetic except at the pointy end where they are intentionally plated with a small amount of iron. Most counterfeit or inexpensive off-brand soldering stations (including the cheapest "red line" equipment from Weller) come with tips that are solid iron from one end to the other, and you can easily tell the difference by use of a magnet. I conducted some tests of various tips on my channel. Iron has poor heat transfer material compared to copper, Which means it may take so long to solder connections that you can damage circuit boards; And the iron tip's being pharaoh magnetic can also set up electric currents in the circuit board and possibly damage sensitive components. If your iron has cheap steel or iron tips in it, change them over to high quality name brand tips that are made of copper and the performance will improve. (PS, The reason that Hakko and other quality tips made of copper have iron plating at the pointy end is because bare copper would easily be dissolved and eaten away by molten solder and flux; the iron plating will wet to the solder but resists being dissolved).

I have one that when I reset it now I only get 450°

Thanks for this, was worried mine was counterfeit, its real, just with a broken heating element 😅

Thank you. What a relief to have several checks. Have an awesome day

I'll never buy anything on eBay that's solid chances are you're either broken or not working. buy good products from the manufacturer. buy once cry once.

0:41 you can tell by the box by the position of the hakko logo, as well as the shape of the station; the fake one's logo is situated further down and the station has more of a curve on the left side of it. thanks so much for this video!

I just bought one in Nov 2023 (not from ebay or aliexpress). The only differnce I see i the smaller sticker on the bottom. I doesnt look like the on in this video but it's much smaller than the on the real one. The rest of the details are the same as the real one in this vid.

How to spot the fake?? Easy.. the price is giving it away. 10/10 would buy fake one any day.

I am in the UK and I am looking at buying one of these very soon. I can see why people are tempted to buy them cheaply from eBay etc because they are very expensive here in the UK when compared to elsewhere for some reason. For example, the going rate for a Hakko FX-888D on Amazon UK is currently around £179. That equates to roughly US $223 or AU $350. If I buy the same thing via Amazon UK but it's shipped from Amazon US then it'll only be £133 including shipping to the UK and that comes with a Hakko 599B tip cleaner thrown in as well, but it's no good because the power connector and voltage are wrong. If it ships from Amazon EU then it's something like £127 with the correct voltage but the wrong power connector. I guess I'll just have to suck it up and pay the rip-off UK price for it, but even if it comes directly from Amazon I'm still wary that it may be a fake. Hopefully your video should help me spot one if it is, although I'm sure their fakery has probably improved somewhat in the 6 years since you posted it. Thanks.

Looks legit, if they are fake they would be using cheaper PCB boards with horrible soldering job, I'm guessing they are for different markets and you bought one made for a different country.

I think the T18 tip that ships with the genuine FX888D is a little larger than the clone. I don't have the ability to confirm but believe the fake ships with old 900M tips that also have a chamfer near the mating point with the heater element. So you need to take out the tip to confirm this. Please post measurements with calipers/micrometer if you have one of each.

No "in-video" commercials.. You RoCk!

I found you don’t need to dismantle your newly purchased Hako in order to identify it as real or fake. Get a bright torch with a nicely focussed beam and shine it through the vents on the top of the casing. You will need to move the beam about slightly to get the angle right to illuminate the interior. Look very closely through the vent gaps, and if your Hako is genuine you will see the green ‘daughter-board’, albeit somewhat blurred. If you don’t see this then of course you have a fake.

Lol if u can't open the box ..u can at least smell the box it comes in

I heard somewere it's not a fake but simply an official version for the chinese marked. BTW I have used one of them for 5 years, worked perfectly good.

Differences may occur depending on the year of production and the country of production.

nice video but . anyone noticed the cable of the gun is a different color?.the fake is black and the original Grey? and the one on sell in Amazon come exactly like the fake one looks...so you said you buy yours in element 14. but we need the link of the web to see the difference of your and the Amazon....so please write the link if the web to. buy it

TH-camrs: "Here's how to tell the difference between a counterfeit" Counterfeiters: "Thanks for the knowledge! We'll take any advice to improve our fakes we can get."

Mine was a genuine one. But I think that is usually the case when buying from within the EU. Very strict laws on that!

they were both made in china but different companies and for sale in different countries

Man I just bought one of these on Amazon and I was worried about getting a fake, then I looked up the person who I was actually buying it from on there and it turns out they were a real authorized dealer. Then I learned about commingling, then I see this shit. I even ordered a T18 chisel tip for it off Amazon, because I can't find one anywhere else, now I'm hoping that isn't fake. Wish there was a way to tell the difference in fake tips or not *on top of waiting to see if my Amazon one is fake*

Thank you for the piece of mind I just got :)

Isn't the color of the power cord a give-away? And the label on the bottom is way different, right?

Mine was bought in 2013. It has the smaller label underneath but all other genuine features listed in this video - including the fuse board, same temperature control board, pliable soldering iron handle rubber, metal insert in the stand etc. Even same wire colors inside + ground sticker and also the flat screws mentioned. I would say that I think the both label types are possible over the years. Maybe the newer ones have the bigger style and more markings due newer EU (or other market ?) regulations or something which were not in effect earlier?

Thank you but sadly i watched this video 2 years too late. I'm honestly saddened that my iron is a fake. Thank you for making this as others can be spared from the same fate

Theres an obvious difference in the cord itself. Looks like the cord on the fake is black and the cord on genuine is grey and seems thicker.

Two different model numbers: "...06BY" vs. "...21BY".

The label size is not an indication. I have a genuine station, and the label is small. It does have the Hakko name and logo and CE mark, however, which the fake does not.

The Baby Jesus design of the Hakko makes faking it a sin, plus the pandemic and lockdowns make it harder to go down to the shops and buy a hotdog for lunch, even harder to eat it when wearing a face mask.

Once your Hakko is out of warranty and it shits itself forget about getting a circuit diagram for it... Hakko will NOT supply it because its confidential.... Lol really Hakko, its a frigging soldering iron and not a rocket you muppets. People don't waste your money on this overpriced junk. Hakko was great in the 90's but got money hungry

Perhaps Hakko should lower its price. Obviously if the counterfeit is so much cheaper and performing just as well, Hakko has been making too much profit.

Mine all checks out except the label which is small like the fake one, the insides are correct too

oh wow!

I bought mine in 2014 and my label on the bottom is small with a different safety certificate logo specifying it's the US. but everything else is as you say. So there may be some differences from year to year, from region to region

Thanks for that, just bought one and made sure it was genuine. Very nice unit.

I'm in love with that FAKE one😃

Wait, if they return you money for the fake and not letting you return it then aren't you getting the knock off for free? So in reality its 50% CHEAPER! LOL! Making me wonder if taking advantage of a knock-off selling jackass and getting one for free is the right idea, already got jacked by banggood trying to get a deal buying a digital iron with "great reviews" that died in 2 uses. (Handskit makes complete trash products!)

Hey man, I’m trying to find a real one for South America with a EU plug and 220v. Do you know where could I order one? Thank you so much in advance!

Just bought mine straight from their site. I'll check it over anyway.

How much was the fake and the real Hakko ??

I'm like oh noo. fortunately it checked out, whew!

Thanks for your comparison, I was about to buy this unit two times and both of them were fake.

Does it work the same or different

I can't believe this about Famous Hakko having his cousin, hahaha. I hope that cousin is as good as his own, FX888, let's see, .😊

Did you happen to measure the height of the enclosures. It may be just the lens but the fake looks a slight bit taller from the video. Also the yellow area on the fake appears to be a different width each side of the display.

One way to instantly tell. Look at the plug. The Genuine will have insulation on the Live and Neutral pins that conform to AU/NZ compliance law. The Fake wont have this.

i checked the element 14 and the price is ~$300 while locally i can get one for ~$130. what's the reasonable price for the genuine ones?

That grey sleeve grip on the fake iron is longer, covers the front knurled nut and is trimmed badly at each end

but the genuine cable say´s bahoing