I had fun getting my desolder station all figured out. I bought a used Hakko 471 (from 1992 made in Japan). A new old stock Hakko 809 gun. A $20 dehumidifier from the 90's which I harvested the compressor from as a vacuum source. Put it all together and I know have an industrial grade desolder station. It's so fun to use.
I bought this thing and tried using it today to desolder my 1040STe TOS 1.4 chips to replace them with sockets and put in TOS 2.1 chips, and to replace three soldered 0 ohm resistor jumpers with three actual jumper terminals with jumpers. First time in my life I've ever done any desoldering. It worked like a charm! I'm impressed! It was the easiest thing in the world and it worked the first time I tried! Thank you for your review, you weird fellow geek! :)
This is an excellent device. Just got it yesterday. I was struggling with the C64C short board, especially ground connections. I didn't have problems with C128 I refurbished recently using a manual pump and wick, but in retrospective, with this thing it would still have saved me a lot of time and effort. The board in the C64C is so thick or the ground copper areas are so large that you need a really beefy iron to even solder them, let alone empty the holes to insert new components / sockets. With this thing it was a breeze. I actually resorted to using it to solder some of the components because my fairly decent Yihua 995D (75W, hakko heater element) was inadequate (heating the board using hot air helps a bit). Very good purchase I must say. Money well spent.
A great to hear. I still use mine ever day. I recently replaced the hand piece with a new one because the original one started clogging up more regularly. You definitely have to clean it thoroughly after use so it doesn't get blocked. Other than that, it is still one of the most useful tools I own. And I also use it for soldering from time to time if my elderly Weller doesn't provide enough power. :)
I been using a Hakko 808 for many years, I bought the ZD-915, maybe two years ago, I test it and leave on the shelf for no reason, I buy tools for testing and retun to the same as always. I think this tool is a very good option if you are in budget. Best Regards.
Jan, thanks for this video. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of these for quite some time, and after seeing how effortless it was for you to desolder those connectors, I've just ordered one.
I bought this exact model a couple of months ago, I haven't had the time to use it yet, but after seeing this demo, it seems like a great buy! Danke Jan Beta
Danke für diesen Review - Jahrelang hab ich mit Entlötlitze und einer Federpumpe gekämpft. Schnauze voll, jetzt brauche ich eine Entlötstation! Die Angebote wirkten mir "zu billig", aber nach Deinem Review habe ich sofort zugeschlagen. :)
Thanks for this video... I have a lot of cap kits that I will need to go through. Pulling them manually is going be a nightmare... This looks like a dream, When just needing to clean pads, or pulling caps, this looks perfect, thanks for the review and test, I will be buying one of these... to go along with my budget Yotec 967 soldering station...
It arrived yesterday, worked a treat for the first 16 joints, then blocked solid. Had to wack the temp right up to max to clean out the nozzle section, then cleaned out chamber, that's a real pain to remove & refit, not quite enough movement available to pull off the chamber! Replacing it's a nightmare .Working ok again now, you really need to clean the nozzle after every four goes or so, or you'll be sorry! Still a very useful piece of kit, think I'll have to see if the chamber section can be improved? Otherwise great, pleased I got it.
Nice review. I've been eyeing a decent yet inexpensive desoldering gun like this for a while. Question: how often do the filters and tips need to be replaced? How bad is the maintenance in general?
Nice review, although, I don't like the "cheep" word on the title. Don't get carried away with the prices in the market, especially in north America everything is tripled priced compered to Europe pricing. I have this device (actually the OEM ZD-917, which is a double soldering and desoldering station) from 2009 from Europe (where I was living) and it was awesome! Never had a problem with it. Worked like a charm (as they say.) I believe this device is definitely a pro use long lasting equipment and lots of professionals and amateurs are very happy with it! I wanted to get one here in Canada but ZD stations are not been sold here. Although I found them in a couple of places and the price was 3 times higher. Eventually I desided to choose another brand [AOYUE] 701A++ in soldering & desoldering station (in a reasonable price of course) which is also good (plus with a couple of extras) but in my mind it will never replace my ZD station. I loved that station..
+A.J. Cobbs Oh, thanks for the info. I was not aware of the huge price differences. Bought it relatively cheap here a while ago. It's gotten a bit more difficult to get this exact model in Europe, too recently. I also think the price is a bit higher now. The station still works an absolute treat for me, too. I'm really happy with it.
I think the US model is ZD-985. What did you dislike about your Aoyue? They have a pretty good reputation, at least for a rather new Shenzhen company. ZhongDi is a really really old manufacturer.
I've always thought that one reason why things like power supplies cost more in the US than in Europe is because we have 120 V AC rather than 220 V. And, really, I'm only talking about cheap Chinese electronics. Once you get above the absolute cheapest price range, US and European prices are the same. For example, on Ali Express I priced out a bench supply. The 2 or 3 cheapest supplies were 220 V only, but beginning at about $20 more, supplies began to be available in either 120 or 220 for the same price. Going up a bit further in the price range, the supplies were auto-switching.
John, but the ZhongDi stations in question are not just some inner market Chinese item from Aliexpress, they have EU-compliant certifications and are carried in their 230V versions by major distributors like Farnell, as well as numerous smaller local European brands. Looking at the ZhongDi official page, they have 120V versions as orderable SKUs for both ZD-915 and ZD-985 and just about anything else driven by a transformer that you could possibly think of. It looks like simply in the USA nobody stepped up to make a bulk order, certify and sell the things, as they will be made to order. Probably once somebody starts, there will be a dozen importers just doing the same thing copycat style, as they will no longer need to certify anything, just refer to prior certification.
Waaaait a second, i was on the lookout for some replacement parts for my unit, and i just found something! Company called "MPJA" carries the ZD-915 with US voltage in the States, for $120, which isn't far off of how much it costs in Europe, and it also carries the rest of ZhongDi items.
saved about 70GBP myself getting one 2nd hand off a guy on Sphock, was almost brand-new only used a few times, really happy with my purchase, it's a duratool one but same model. Recommended.
Yes! It's a very good product for the price. I still use it a lot and it has never failed me (except it was clogged a few times but it was easy to clean).
Pro tip: A bit of steel wool in the chamber will save you a lot of filter replacements. I would have liked to see you demonstrate this on a double-sided pcb with metallized holes but I'm sure it will work well on those too (you just have to use the "wiggle and retreat" technique)
@@laoluu As long as you have the filter in there and +1 on the pro tip. I used to do use these types of stations while in the Marines working on avionics PCBs and this is what we used to use in the chambers...
If you have to repair one of these! Use rubber cloves, because the power supply is not service friendly and makes it harder to discharge the capacitors at 400 volts.
Does it work also on multilayer boards? For example, an ATX power connector from a mainboard? Such simple single-sided PCB one can rework without a solder pump, so what was the point of the video. I really hoped you will actually test it.
It works way better than a solder pump. I used it on multilayer boards and it holds up quite well. You have to get the timing and temperature right and I usually add some flux when working on more difficult stuff. I usually do retro computer and vintage audio repairs so I am not that experienced with more modern boards though.
Well, the best what I found was a Russian video (could have been Polish though), where a guy tried to desolder the pins of a broken PCI-e connector from an AMD motheboard, and the station failed miserably. For 100Euros might work as a "toy" desoldering station, but in the inexpensive price range I guess there is no chance to get anything decent.
Here is an interesting review, but I do not speak Greekish. It is just a shame that I could not find a decent review either in English or German: th-cam.com/video/PBSwKepUcpw/w-d-xo.html
EEVBlog has an upboxing and demo at th-cam.com/video/Ft50m8UU5WQ/w-d-xo.html I have one of these and you can desolder from multilayer boards although as with any desoldering station you need to get the temperature and technique right. Flux can also help.
i have the jaycar australian version of this doovalacki. its OK. i found a piece of sponge works well as a filter at the back of the gun end. the thin sticks to clean out the inside of the tip are useful, mine has clogged a few times. watch for it spitting fire after its been cleaned out though. i've had mine for a couple of years now and its still going strong. was a bit exxy here in AU but everything is these days in this ripoff country.
Hi Greg. I already had the Jaycar TS-1390 soldering station and was looking at the TS-1513 but the price was a bit high for me. I found the ZD-915 on eBay on Monday and it was delivered on Wednesday - all up it was half the price of the Jaycar model. The negative is a lot of eBay sellers don't sell replacement parts - but the parts are cheap enough at Jaycar.
Yes, I had to clean mine a couple of times, too. Not too often though. Still highly recommended. It seems the prices vary quite a lot over time and (obviously) depending on where you are. I was thinking of using some kind of cotton pad for replacing the filter also. Should work fine, too, I guess.
good work John. Unfortunately Jaycar is not as 'good' as it used to be ... its rather expensive these days sadly and has lost that 'edge' that it used to have.
Nice video, thanks .One hour ago I bougt one for desoldering a circuitboard of a Jumo Logoscreen NT. Holes in the conducting tracks are really norrow, frustrating with a hand vac pump
I imagine this would be very good for replacing the analog sticks on a Dualshock or XBox controller. It took me like 2 hours with braid and an iron to remove one stick, this could probably do it in a minute.
This desoldering station looks great, much more reasonably priced compared to the HAKKO desoldering gun..... even though it works great on its own, just melting the solder and evacuate it, use liquid or paste flux over the solder joints, it will help ten fold when desoldering and make much quicker work of it.
I have two Hakko one 808 and one FR301, I bought one ZD-915 but I never use it. Two months ago I bought one Yihia 948 for Us$100 dollars, and works fantastic. For this price is the best option in the market. Best Regards.
+Kerry Wong I still use it very frequently and it works fine. The only thing you have to take care of is cleaning it from time to time. Mine was badly clogged with solder at one point and I had to use a second iron and some patience to get it to work again. Other than that I'd still highly recommend it!
I got myself one of these and was very disappointed by how much of a hard time I had using it. It wasn't until a few weeks later I watched a YT video about it and realised that for reasons that will forever be unknown to me I thought I didn't have to connect the air hose to the station. (Hard facepalms were made.) Looking forward to the next opportunity to use it correctly!
Nice review!!! I've come here looking for this desoldering gun after seeing someone it listed in someone else's kit. From what I've seen, I'm getting one :D
Thanks! Still highly recommended. I'm using it a lot. It sometimes clogs a bit but I guess if you clean it more regularly than I do it's not a problem at all. ;)
You can take apart the "pistol" part and clean out the solder. There's also some poky bits included to clean the canal from solder that might be stuck in there. You basically heat it up and poke out the liquid solder. Sounds harder than it is really. Teaching yourself this stuff is very rewarding (still learning myself every day). :)
Thank-you very much! I never took much care of electronics at school because I had problems with resistors. Couldn't get my head around the color bands so I was never that bothered with it. Now, around 30 years later, I still can't but I don't need to - online calculators make it so much easier. You're right, it is very rewarding especially when I repaired a load of PCB tracks for the first time and got my daughter's second-hand toy fully working, restored from the grave :D
This arrived today, and all seemed OK on initial switch on. Element heated up, and temp could be changed. However, when I pulled the trigger on the gun nothing happened (no pump noise). Checking continuity on the gun trigger to the connector showed that the switch was operating OK. SO, the cover had to come off. All looking good internally, but when I looked at the connections to the pump, one of the wires was not connected. I have now repaired that, but I'm NOT impressed with the build quality. The unit itself now works very well, I AM impressed with the functionality overall. Just the build quality lets it down.
Yeah, I heard about issues with the build quality from some people. It seems to be a good idea to open these up and have a look around for loose connections and the like before powering on. That said, I am still happy with the station and use it very frequently.
For the most part, yes. I just recently bought a replacement "gun" because that tended to get clogged up more and more often over time. Old one still works but is a little worn out I guess. I payed 25€ for the new one so that's okay after 2 1/2 years. Base unit got a bit noisier but still works great. :)
@@JanBeta Nice i just ordered one. Hows the fan doing? ...did you chage it? ...if so was it special size or something that use something else then PC DC fans?
@@JanBeta , the fan broke on mine within a year. The motor also got extremely loud. I opened it and found out that it was making a contact to side casing. A little bit of adjustment and a piece of rubber to to prevent it to make direct contact to case and it's quiet(er) again :D
Thanks, this looks like a good bit of kit, I'd love to get one. However, the CHEAPEST price I've found in the UK is £140 including delivery. I would be happy to pay £80 or £90 for this, but no more. You were very lucky to get it for only 80 Euros.
Yeah, the prices seem to be all over the place at the moment. Maybe it makes more sense to look for newer models ZD-XXXX stations. I think they are basically the same but in a new case. (Don't know if they are less expensive though...)
You definitely have to clean it after it got some use. Otherwise it will clog up pretty quickly. The cleaning process involves taking it apart and cleaning the parts, it's not that difficult once you get the hang of it. Still recommended. :)
Hello Jan, how are you? I want to know, now after some usage, do you still recommend this desoldering station? Does it pull out solderpads? I have bought some Amiga4000s that needs new ram sockets, thinking about buying the same station. Just want to hear if you still like this one, or do you recommend a more expensive model. My need for it is not big, you are welcome to check my Amigas at my channel, won’t link here offcourse 😄👍🏼 Thanks for your time, Retrocengo
Hello sir, yes, I still use and recommend this station. It clogs up a bit more frequently and you have to clean it after each session but otherwise it still works smoothly!
Jan Beta Hi Jan. I have send you a message via messenger on Facebook, about my Amiga 4000Dcr. Hope you’ll check it. Its these amigas: th-cam.com/video/pGt6eq8gg2I/w-d-xo.html
Hah! I was just scrolling through the comments to see if there was any follow-up on this station. Nice to see it is still working out for you, @Jan Beta
Wow, I was reading about how easy this thing is to plug up. And I got to say if I went as fast as you with my old Xytronic desoldering Station it would have been plugged by the second solderJoint. Some people have no idea what kind of a pain those old Xytronics are with the Pen style iron.
The ZD-915 does clog up sometimes. I basically clean it thoroughly after each session (or at least I try to remember doing it). I actually just bought a replacement handpiece because it clogged up quicker with age.
So I've got mine delivered just today (5/2018) :D I decided to buy it because of this video. Have to start somewhere, right? Once again thank you for all your work!
Decided to buy one of these after looking at this review but I can't get the station to change temperature? I've had it sitting for over 20 minutes and it's reached the default temp of 160c but I'm unable to adjust the temperature up / down and can't change the units from Celsius to Fahrenheit, possible I've received a dodgy unit or am I missing part of the set up procedure?
Tried desoldering a 6526 ic today from a broken breadbox with a very cheap regular desoldering kit (no vacuum pump, it's hand operated with a heating device around it) and most of the pins are still attached to a bit of tin (i poke the pins with a tiny screwdriver to see if they are still stuck). Does this thing work better and always get the soldering out or are there problems like this using 915 too, i.e. is it skill that is required or is it just that easy as you show it? With the thing i got i have to apply heat, push a button, remove to see if i actually heated up the tin (because my view is blocked) and then apply heat again if i missed. Bloody annoying so you may see why i'm considering something better. .
Yeah, desoldering can be a pain. The desoldering station really improves that. I rarely fail desoldering ICs nowadays. It's really as easy as I show it in the video. You still have to be careful of course and double check if everything came loose. Sometimes I have to add fresh solder or flux. Overall, this works way better (at least for me) than other methods I've tried (desoldering braid, desoldering pump).
I still use it a lot and it works fine. It blocks with solder quite often but if you clean it regularly, there aren't any problems. Still recommended. :)
As they say here that was, piss-easy... :) It means more parts can be salvaged also! This is my Next soldering gear item to purchase! Is there a newer model of this do you know? *PS* thanks for the review!
Might have to get one of these some time in the near future. Was recaping a C64C board tonight, the negative leads on the ground plane are a pain in the rear end. Started at 19:30 gave up around 04:30 with one lead on the large axial cap left :(. Think some of the original solder was lead free, hate working with that stuff.
Still available on Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B076GJKFHP/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A19GSHTT314PS3&psc=1 Sp-1010DrR Desoldering station €98.00 ( Not Incl P&P @ ~ €20)
Yeah, working on the newer C64 boards can be difficult. They are soldered way better than the old boards and the ground planes are huge (so you need a lot of heat to fully melt the solder). I've had some success with adding more flux/fresh solder before desoldering. Still can be tricky.
Hi , ist schon ne Zeit lang her, wie ist das Fazit heute? Möchte mir so ein Teil kaufen, bin aber nicht sicher wie es sich mit der Wartung, Reinigung so verhält. Düsen bestellen, entsopfen, kein Problem?
Kann ich immer noch empfehlen. Am besten so oft wie möglich reinigen (eigentlich nach jeder Benutzung). Ich habe mittlerweile die "Pistole" als Ersatzteil nachgekauft, weil die originale zwar noch funktionierte, aber immer schneller verstopfte mit der Zeit. Ansonsten funktioniert das Teil noch immer sehr gut und ist fast täglich im Einsatz. Ersatzteile gibt es auch haufenweise.
On a single face board with thin copper layer, every soldering stations will work fine. But, I would like to see what's happen on a computer motherboard !
ich gehe mal stark davon aus das du deutsch bist, benutzt du es Immer noch? hast du die Technik geändert oder benutzt du es immer noch so wie im Video?
I bought this one after I watched this video and it seemed to be working great, then last night when I was in the room it sparked really loud with a POP! And it threw a fuse. I was not using it at the time, I had just finished and it was sitting on the ON position with the iron in the cradle. Anyone know what problem these have? I have seen some references to these having some kind of defect with shorts or something. Anything I can do to fix it???
Hallo Jan, hast du die Station noch im Einsatz? Hast du damit irgendwelche nennenswerte Probleme gehabt? Überlege mir die auch mal zuzulegen (wollte mal einen C64 so, weit möglich, mit IC Sockeln versorgen), falls du damit noch zufrieden sein solltest.
Ja, die Station läuft immer noch täglich. Vor kurzem habe ich mir ein neues Handstück (also die „Pistole“) kaufen müssen, weil die alte zwar noch ging, aber immer schneller verstopfte. Reinigen muss man die eh nach jeder längeren Benutzung. Der Lüfter ist mittlerweile auch ein bisschen lauter geworden, ansonsten immer noch sehr empfehlenswert, das Teil!
excellent review, thank you. i was about to order the chinese 993 gun, but saw it had a few issues (blocking, overheating, DOA units). this one looks great and based on your review i'll order one! just curious if you opened it up to check wiring, earth, fuse etc. at all? i always do that with chinese mains units
+Joe Dall I still use it a lot. It also blocks from time to time but is easy to clean most of the times. The insides looked alright on mine. I heard that some people had loose wiring inside so it's a good idea to check. Only thing I "modded" is to put some pieces of rubber between the cooling fan and the case to make it a bit quieter.
wiggling the leads is necessary as it also helps cool the leads and allow any remaining solder to be removed. Unless your going to reuse that part (why would you?) most parts leads are made of steel and it would take some effort to weaken the lead. I used a Pace solder-station for my job working for the Navy, and we had to Have exhaustive training to be certified in circuit card repairs. Usually we didn't run across bent over leads for through the hole multilayered boards.. However if we did we would just clip off the leads and then remove the component then suck out the lead(s) with the solder sucker. A lot less work and less chance of damaging traces.
It's one of its main features! :D Btw, I think there are newer models of the same station that are way easier to get these days. Can't guarantee they are the same though but I think they are similar.
do you stil recomend it 2017 ? i need something like this because i have some caps i want to change from a pentium 3 but they wont come out with braid or a normal hand sucker
I've used it to remove caps from a motherboard - works very well. I had to start by adding some solder with a regular soldering iron so it was raised enough above the board to make good thermal contact with the desoldering iron bit. This task requires a powerful iron because the caps will be connected to a ground and power plane layer (often inside the board) which acts as a heat sink sucking heat out of the joint you are trying to heat up, but this desoldering iron manages that just fine.
I just bought one in ebay from herner-elektronik-shop, about 92 euros. The fan aperture is really garbage so I just cut the perforated metal out and exposed the flowpath. With a 47 ohm resistor there is plenty of airflow (much more than new) and the noise is much subdued. I did buy a 50mm fan wire finger guard from china for 70 cents, why not go all the way, eh? ;)
Yes, still going strong. The only downside to it is that you have to clean it pretty often. Otherwise it is absolutely recommended, especially for the price. :)
@@JanBeta Any Solder sucker will have a lot of cleanup, the more often you do that the less effort to clean next time. By the way On the Pace machines even though there the top of the line we always used a tube supplied brush, the chamber was glass instead of plastic. Soak it in ISO-propyl Alcohol, as it removes flux. On cleaning the heating tube we had wires plus very small gun type barrel wire brushes that we would drag back and forth inside the extraction hole to get any residue. The next thing after cleaning, there was a baffle to prevent solder from coming in contact with the filter. Our type was a piece of a flat piece of aluminum (like a Popsicle stick) that would just fit in the chamber, we would bend it into an "S" style to help prevent the solder for going to the filter. Now here's what really helped with cleaning, we would apply some oil or Vaseline to the baffle (in case of your sucker the round disk that covered the filter )and the inside of the chamber. Removing to solder was easy-peachy.
I have one of these and I'm actually a little disappointed with it, especially when it comes to cleaning. The instruction manual implies that you can easily release a slider to remove the glass reservoir tube that the solder waste collects in but that is not the case whatsoever. You will have to dismantle the gun, 4 screws, to get the glass tube out. There is a spring inside that can be easily lost and it may take you more then one attempt to re-assemble it where there are no vacuum leaks. Also, there seems to be no place to get replacement parts, such as the tips, springs, silicone washers, or the glass reservoir tube. They give you three tips when you buy it and that's it.
I usually go with 350-370C for normal unsoldering. For huge ground planes I crank it up all the way. If you go too hot, traces are easily damaged, so be careful. I think ideal temperature settings may vary quite a bit from station to station because the sensor is probably not very accurate.
@@JanBeta I wondered why you dialed 300°C in your video?! It still seems to work. I think testing and own experience need to be build up. Just ordered through your link!
Yes, I use it all the time for ICs on old computers. Works very well for me. You still have to be careful to get all solder out but it's really easy to do compared to other methods I've tried.
Hi! I ordered SP-1010DR desoldering station. It's kind same looking devise as you introduced, but black. It arrived, but now I wonderer what kind of warning in manual is this: Caution: Make sure that the four screws which are used to fasten the Diaphragm pump are removed from the control system before use. Otherwise serious damages may be caused to the user and the system. What this warning means???
Ok, thanks for answer. I opened it, and there were 4 screw holes, but there were no screws. So I put the cover back and fired it up. There was no problem it and worked fine. :) Good machine for the price!
I noticed these are getting rare. I think the only place they are still available for really cheap is the UK at the moment. There's newer similar models replacing this one it seems. I'll have to look into that some time and update some links, I guess...
Hab mir das Teil jetzt auch gegönnt.... ANESTY ZD-915 Lötstation (126,59) die Edi-Tronic kostet sogar 129.95.Ist wahrscheinlich eh alles das selbe drin. Der interne Lüfter soll allerdings wohl Probleme machen da Er mit 18 statt mit 12 V befeuert wird. th-cam.com/video/2zr097eMff0/w-d-xo.html Ich werde wohl einfach nen 24V lüfter reinpflanzen und feddich.
+orange11squares This one works very well for me still. Using it quite a lot. Only thing I "modded" was to insert some rubber rings on the fan to make it a bit quieter. Looks quite well made (for the price) inside, too.
warum nur muss alles in englisch sein selbst wenn es aus deutschland kommt kann keiner mehr deutsch oder wie? gibt ja nich wenige die es in englisch machen also warum nich mal in deutsch es soll ja noch leute geben die kein englisch können sorry aber das musste mal sein echt frustrierend das
Tut mir leid, wenn dir die englischen Inhalte nicht gefallen. Ich mache das, damit ich ein internationaleres Publikum erreichen kann. Das macht das Ganze für mich sehr viel spannender. Da ist Englisch nun mal leider das naheliegendste. Ich hatte ursprünglich mal den Plan, einen deutschen Parallelchannel zu betreiben aber dafür fehlt mir leider die Zeit.
This is a piece of shit. I had it for 7 months and gun fell apart. Used it under 50 times. Junk. Good luck getting a replacement gun in the US when you need it.
Yes, I still use it nearly every day. I had to replace the "gun" part two times in the meantime though (one clogged up beyond fixing and on the other one the plastic cracked). Spare parts are easy to source and not hilariously expensive though. Still recommend the desoldering station!
I gotta ask for anyone else that bought one, do you hear a lil bit of a noise when you turn it certain ways? I got mine a couple of days ago, and noticed that when I was looking at it, when I was tilting it that it would make slight noises, but I'm assuming that's just wires inside moving around. I did check it for ground as well, the tip is grounded and funnily enough, almost all the screws in the case are grounded and show continuity as well, except for a few.
The fan got quite noisy in mine a while back and needs some time to run quieter. I think I‘m just going to replace it with a decent one sometime soon. Otherwise it was pretty silent from the start.
I had fun getting my desolder station all figured out.
I bought a used Hakko 471 (from 1992 made in Japan).
A new old stock Hakko 809 gun.
A $20 dehumidifier from the 90's which I harvested the compressor from as a vacuum source.
Put it all together and I know have an industrial grade desolder station. It's so fun to use.
I bought this thing and tried using it today to desolder my 1040STe TOS 1.4 chips to replace them with sockets and put in TOS 2.1 chips, and to replace three soldered 0 ohm resistor jumpers with three actual jumper terminals with jumpers. First time in my life I've ever done any desoldering. It worked like a charm! I'm impressed! It was the easiest thing in the world and it worked the first time I tried! Thank you for your review, you weird fellow geek! :)
This is an excellent device. Just got it yesterday. I was struggling with the C64C short board, especially ground connections. I didn't have problems with C128 I refurbished recently using a manual pump and wick, but in retrospective, with this thing it would still have saved me a lot of time and effort. The board in the C64C is so thick or the ground copper areas are so large that you need a really beefy iron to even solder them, let alone empty the holes to insert new components / sockets. With this thing it was a breeze. I actually resorted to using it to solder some of the components because my fairly decent Yihua 995D (75W, hakko heater element) was inadequate (heating the board using hot air helps a bit). Very good purchase I must say. Money well spent.
A great to hear. I still use mine ever day. I recently replaced the hand piece with a new one because the original one started clogging up more regularly. You definitely have to clean it thoroughly after use so it doesn't get blocked. Other than that, it is still one of the most useful tools I own. And I also use it for soldering from time to time if my elderly Weller doesn't provide enough power. :)
Yan, just a quick tip: wiggling on the pin before you desolder it helps
I've got mine yesterday, oh man I wish I had bought this tool years ago.
I been using a Hakko 808 for many years, I bought the ZD-915, maybe two years ago, I test it and leave on the shelf for no reason, I buy tools for testing and retun to the same as always.
I think this tool is a very good option if you are in budget.
Best Regards.
Jan, thanks for this video. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of these for quite some time, and after seeing how effortless it was for you to desolder those connectors, I've just ordered one.
I bought this exact model a couple of months ago, I haven't had the time to use it yet, but after seeing this demo, it seems like a great buy! Danke Jan Beta
Just picked one up… can't wait to get started with it.
I need this to work on my Commodore 64's. Will buy one next week.
I've been looking at these for a while, now seeing it in action it's a must have, just ordered one. Thanks for your video.
Same here man. I need a vacumm one vs the hand pump one i have. This review made me buy one..lol
Danke für diesen Review - Jahrelang hab ich mit Entlötlitze und einer Federpumpe gekämpft. Schnauze voll, jetzt brauche ich eine Entlötstation! Die Angebote wirkten mir "zu billig", aber nach Deinem Review habe ich sofort zugeschlagen. :)
Thank you Deutschelaender Christopher Walken, excellent review!
Haha, glad you liked it. ;)
Bruh...I’m dead... was spot on haha
Thanks for this video... I have a lot of cap kits that I will need to go through. Pulling them manually is going be a nightmare... This looks like a dream, When just needing to clean pads, or pulling caps, this looks perfect, thanks for the review and test, I will be buying one of these... to go along with my budget Yotec 967 soldering station...
I just picked one up on Amazon. Haven't used it yet but the gun is light in the hand and unit is solid.
Thanks, Jan. Since I can no longer afford something like Ersa soldering gear, Chinese products will have to do. Good to see it does the job.
It arrived yesterday, worked a treat for the first 16 joints, then blocked solid. Had to wack the temp right up to max to clean out the nozzle section, then cleaned out chamber, that's a real pain to remove & refit, not quite enough movement available to pull off the chamber! Replacing it's a nightmare .Working ok again now, you really need to clean the nozzle after every four goes or so, or you'll be sorry! Still a very useful piece of kit, think I'll have to see if the chamber section can be improved? Otherwise great, pleased I got it.
Nice to watch the review of your soldering station after seeing it in your videos, i thought it would be much more expensive.Great video Jan :)
Thank you!
Just bought one and watched your video first.
A better test is to de solder a two layer board. It does look good though. Good review.
Nice review. I've been eyeing a decent yet inexpensive desoldering gun like this for a while. Question: how often do the filters and tips need to be replaced? How bad is the maintenance in general?
Nice review, although, I don't like the "cheep" word on the title.
Don't get carried away with the prices in the market, especially in north America everything is tripled priced compered to Europe pricing.
I have this device (actually the OEM ZD-917, which is a double soldering and desoldering station) from 2009 from Europe (where I was living) and it was awesome! Never had a problem with it. Worked like a charm (as they say.) I believe this device is definitely a pro use long lasting equipment and lots of professionals and amateurs are very happy with it! I wanted to get one here in Canada but ZD stations are not been sold here. Although I found them in a couple of places and the price was 3 times higher. Eventually I desided to choose another brand [AOYUE] 701A++ in soldering & desoldering station (in a reasonable price of course) which is also good (plus with a couple of extras) but in my mind it will never replace my ZD station. I loved that station..
+A.J. Cobbs Oh, thanks for the info. I was not aware of the huge price differences. Bought it relatively cheap here a while ago. It's gotten a bit more difficult to get this exact model in Europe, too recently. I also think the price is a bit higher now. The station still works an absolute treat for me, too. I'm really happy with it.
I think the US model is ZD-985.
What did you dislike about your Aoyue? They have a pretty good reputation, at least for a rather new Shenzhen company. ZhongDi is a really really old manufacturer.
I've always thought that one reason why things like power supplies cost more in the US than in Europe is because we have 120 V AC rather than 220 V. And, really, I'm only talking about cheap Chinese electronics. Once you get above the absolute cheapest price range, US and European prices are the same.
For example, on Ali Express I priced out a bench supply. The 2 or 3 cheapest supplies were 220 V only, but beginning at about $20 more, supplies began to be available in either 120 or 220 for the same price. Going up a bit further in the price range, the supplies were auto-switching.
John, but the ZhongDi stations in question are not just some inner market Chinese item from Aliexpress, they have EU-compliant certifications and are carried in their 230V versions by major distributors like Farnell, as well as numerous smaller local European brands. Looking at the ZhongDi official page, they have 120V versions as orderable SKUs for both ZD-915 and ZD-985 and just about anything else driven by a transformer that you could possibly think of. It looks like simply in the USA nobody stepped up to make a bulk order, certify and sell the things, as they will be made to order. Probably once somebody starts, there will be a dozen importers just doing the same thing copycat style, as they will no longer need to certify anything, just refer to prior certification.
Waaaait a second, i was on the lookout for some replacement parts for my unit, and i just found something! Company called "MPJA" carries the ZD-915 with US voltage in the States, for $120, which isn't far off of how much it costs in Europe, and it also carries the rest of ZhongDi items.
saved about 70GBP myself getting one 2nd hand off a guy on Sphock, was almost brand-new only used a few times, really happy with my purchase, it's a duratool one but same model. Recommended.
Yes! It's a very good product for the price. I still use it a lot and it has never failed me (except it was clogged a few times but it was easy to clean).
Pro tip: A bit of steel wool in the chamber will save you a lot of filter replacements.
I would have liked to see you demonstrate this on a double-sided pcb with metallized holes but I'm sure it will work well on those too (you just have to use the "wiggle and retreat" technique)
Me too. Double sided are a real pain. I would also like to know if may I damage anything if I suck in flux?
@@laoluu As long as you have the filter in there and +1 on the pro tip. I used to do use these types of stations while in the Marines working on avionics PCBs and this is what we used to use in the chambers...
If you have to repair one of these! Use rubber cloves, because the power supply is not service friendly and makes it harder to discharge the capacitors at 400 volts.
Oh, good to know. I had a brief look inside to check ground connections etc but didn't see that. Thanks!
Measure of the desoldering tips is incorrect: 1mm dia hole means 1,5 and more. In my case, bougt it in Germany.
Does it work also on multilayer boards? For example, an ATX power connector from a mainboard? Such simple single-sided PCB one can rework without a solder pump, so what was the point of the video. I really hoped you will actually test it.
It works way better than a solder pump. I used it on multilayer boards and it holds up quite well. You have to get the timing and temperature right and I usually add some flux when working on more difficult stuff. I usually do retro computer and vintage audio repairs so I am not that experienced with more modern boards though.
Well, the best what I found was a Russian video (could have been Polish though), where a guy tried to desolder the pins of a broken PCI-e connector from an AMD motheboard, and the station failed miserably.
For 100Euros might work as a "toy" desoldering station, but in the inexpensive price range I guess there is no chance to get anything decent.
Here is an interesting review, but I do not speak Greekish. It is just a shame that I could not find a decent review either in English or German:
th-cam.com/video/PBSwKepUcpw/w-d-xo.html
EEVBlog has an upboxing and demo at th-cam.com/video/Ft50m8UU5WQ/w-d-xo.html I have one of these and you can desolder from multilayer boards although as with any desoldering station you need to get the temperature and technique right. Flux can also help.
I have just purchased this, I am waiting for delivery
i have the jaycar australian version of this doovalacki. its OK. i found a piece of sponge works well as a filter at the back of the gun end. the thin sticks to clean out the inside of the tip are useful, mine has clogged a few times. watch for it spitting fire after its been cleaned out though. i've had mine for a couple of years now and its still going strong. was a bit exxy here in AU but everything is these days in this ripoff country.
Hi Greg. I already had the Jaycar TS-1390 soldering station and was looking at the TS-1513 but the price was a bit high for me. I found the ZD-915 on eBay on Monday and it was delivered on Wednesday - all up it was half the price of the Jaycar model. The negative is a lot of eBay sellers don't sell replacement parts - but the parts are cheap enough at Jaycar.
Yes, I had to clean mine a couple of times, too. Not too often though. Still highly recommended. It seems the prices vary quite a lot over time and (obviously) depending on where you are. I was thinking of using some kind of cotton pad for replacing the filter also. Should work fine, too, I guess.
good work John. Unfortunately Jaycar is not as 'good' as it used to be ... its rather expensive these days sadly and has lost that 'edge' that it used to have.
Jan I tried tissue which didn't seem to work too well. a piece of sponge really seemed to do the trick for me!
Thanks! Going to try the sponge then. :)
Nice video, thanks .One hour ago I bougt one for desoldering a circuitboard of a Jumo Logoscreen NT.
Holes in the conducting tracks are really norrow, frustrating with a hand vac pump
Hope it works as well for you as it (still) does for me!
Smashing Review thankyou
I'm jealous i want one now
I imagine this would be very good for replacing the analog sticks on a Dualshock or XBox controller. It took me like 2 hours with braid and an iron to remove one stick, this could probably do it in a minute.
This desoldering station looks great, much more reasonably priced compared to the HAKKO desoldering gun..... even though it works great on its own, just melting the solder and evacuate it, use liquid or paste flux over the solder joints, it will help ten fold when desoldering and make much quicker work of it.
I have two Hakko one 808 and one FR301, I bought one ZD-915 but I never use it.
Two months ago I bought one Yihia 948 for Us$100 dollars, and works fantastic.
For this price is the best option in the market.
Best Regards.
Hi Jan, How's the long term reliability of this desoldering gun?
+Kerry Wong I still use it very frequently and it works fine. The only thing you have to take care of is cleaning it from time to time. Mine was badly clogged with solder at one point and I had to use a second iron and some patience to get it to work again. Other than that I'd still highly recommend it!
Thanks Jan! I will keep it in mind.
I got myself one of these and was very disappointed by how much of a hard time I had using it. It wasn't until a few weeks later I watched a YT video about it and realised that for reasons that will forever be unknown to me I thought I didn't have to connect the air hose to the station. (Hard facepalms were made.) Looking forward to the next opportunity to use it correctly!
Haha, yeah, won't work too well without the suction. Thanks for sharing! Hope you find a suitable project soon. :)
Maybe you should have looked at the manual. Sometimes you can actually understand them.
Nice review!!! I've come here looking for this desoldering gun after seeing someone it listed in someone else's kit. From what I've seen, I'm getting one :D
Thanks! Still highly recommended. I'm using it a lot. It sometimes clogs a bit but I guess if you clean it more regularly than I do it's not a problem at all. ;)
How would you clean it? I've never owned one before and just teaching myself electronics so I can look after my retro computers.
You can take apart the "pistol" part and clean out the solder. There's also some poky bits included to clean the canal from solder that might be stuck in there. You basically heat it up and poke out the liquid solder. Sounds harder than it is really. Teaching yourself this stuff is very rewarding (still learning myself every day). :)
Thank-you very much! I never took much care of electronics at school because I had problems with resistors. Couldn't get my head around the color bands so I was never that bothered with it. Now, around 30 years later, I still can't but I don't need to - online calculators make it so much easier. You're right, it is very rewarding especially when I repaired a load of PCB tracks for the first time and got my daughter's second-hand toy fully working, restored from the grave :D
This arrived today, and all seemed OK on initial switch on.
Element heated up, and temp could be changed.
However, when I pulled the trigger on the gun nothing happened (no pump noise). Checking continuity on the gun trigger to the connector showed that the switch was operating OK.
SO, the cover had to come off. All looking good internally, but when I looked at the connections to the pump, one of the wires was not connected. I have now repaired that, but I'm NOT impressed with the build quality.
The unit itself now works very well, I AM impressed with the functionality overall. Just the build quality lets it down.
Yeah, I heard about issues with the build quality from some people. It seems to be a good idea to open these up and have a look around for loose connections and the like before powering on. That said, I am still happy with the station and use it very frequently.
Thanks for the video!
Is this still holding up after 3 years?
For the most part, yes. I just recently bought a replacement "gun" because that tended to get clogged up more and more often over time. Old one still works but is a little worn out I guess. I payed 25€ for the new one so that's okay after 2 1/2 years. Base unit got a bit noisier but still works great. :)
@@JanBeta Nice i just ordered one. Hows the fan doing? ...did you chage it? ...if so was it special size or something that use something else then PC DC fans?
@@JanBeta , the fan broke on mine within a year. The motor also got extremely loud. I opened it and found out that it was making a contact to side casing. A little bit of adjustment and a piece of rubber to to prevent it to make direct contact to case and it's quiet(er) again :D
Thanks, this looks like a good bit of kit, I'd love to get one.
However, the CHEAPEST price I've found in the UK is £140 including delivery.
I would be happy to pay £80 or £90 for this, but no more. You were very lucky to get it for only 80 Euros.
Yeah, the prices seem to be all over the place at the moment. Maybe it makes more sense to look for newer models ZD-XXXX stations. I think they are basically the same but in a new case. (Don't know if they are less expensive though...)
@booboyBL. Go on Ebay and search item number 351206055077 , £81. Or go to CPC Farnell online, £84
The JSM show. Thanks for that! I've now ordered one from eBay.
Nice review , just proves my identical model has a problem, much slower pump very speed poor suction. Thanks.
What about cleaning? Where does the sucked out solder go?
Might have to buy one!
Thanks for the review!
You definitely have to clean it after it got some use. Otherwise it will clog up pretty quickly. The cleaning process involves taking it apart and cleaning the parts, it's not that difficult once you get the hang of it. Still recommended. :)
Hello Jan, how are you?
I want to know, now after some usage, do you still recommend this desoldering station?
Does it pull out solderpads?
I have bought some Amiga4000s that needs new ram sockets, thinking about buying the same station.
Just want to hear if you still like this one, or do you recommend a more expensive model.
My need for it is not big, you are welcome to check my Amigas at my channel, won’t link here offcourse 😄👍🏼
Thanks for your time, Retrocengo
Hello sir, yes, I still use and recommend this station. It clogs up a bit more frequently and you have to clean it after each session but otherwise it still works smoothly!
Jan Beta Hi Jan. I have send you a message via messenger on Facebook, about my Amiga 4000Dcr. Hope you’ll check it.
Its these amigas:
th-cam.com/video/pGt6eq8gg2I/w-d-xo.html
Hah! I was just scrolling through the comments to see if there was any follow-up on this station. Nice to see it is still working out for you, @Jan Beta
Wow, I was reading about how easy this thing is to plug up. And I got to say if I went as fast as you with my old Xytronic desoldering Station it would have been plugged by the second solderJoint. Some people have no idea what kind of a pain those old Xytronics are with the Pen style iron.
The ZD-915 does clog up sometimes. I basically clean it thoroughly after each session (or at least I try to remember doing it). I actually just bought a replacement handpiece because it clogged up quicker with age.
Any chance you or someone can provide new/working links on where to buy this unit? Thanks, -Mark.
So I've got mine delivered just today (5/2018) :D I decided to buy it because of this video. Have to start somewhere, right? Once again thank you for all your work!
Nice! Hope it serves you well. Mine still works fine but seems to clog up slightly easier with age. Still use it a lot though. :)
How do you find this de soldering station? Do you remember this unit verses another one?
The smoke is the tip. It is supplied plugged with solder.
"Die Spitzen sind mit Zinn versiegelt und öffnen sich erst beim ersten Gebrauch"
@@MichaNiki-xw2mq haha now I understand these amazon comments if it is needed to bore the tips :) RTFM :)
Decided to buy one of these after looking at this review but I can't get the station to change temperature? I've had it sitting for over 20 minutes and it's reached the default temp of 160c but I'm unable to adjust the temperature up / down and can't change the units from Celsius to Fahrenheit, possible I've received a dodgy unit or am I missing part of the set up procedure?
Oh, it seems like you got a dodgy one. Normally you should be able to adjust temperature right after you turn the station on.
I'm in North America so Shipping would have to be available out here whether it comes from Europe or North America. Thanks -Mark.
Tried desoldering a 6526 ic today from a broken breadbox with a very cheap regular desoldering kit (no vacuum pump, it's hand operated with a heating device around it) and most of the pins are still attached to a bit of tin (i poke the pins with a tiny screwdriver to see if they are still stuck).
Does this thing work better and always get the soldering out or are there problems like this using 915 too, i.e. is it skill that is required or is it just that easy as you show it? With the thing i got i have to apply heat, push a button, remove to see if i actually heated up the tin (because my view is blocked) and then apply heat again if i missed. Bloody annoying so you may see why i'm considering something better.
.
Yeah, desoldering can be a pain. The desoldering station really improves that. I rarely fail desoldering ICs nowadays. It's really as easy as I show it in the video. You still have to be careful of course and double check if everything came loose. Sometimes I have to add fresh solder or flux. Overall, this works way better (at least for me) than other methods I've tried (desoldering braid, desoldering pump).
That looks much better than the cheap version Hakko FR-300 one that I got...
I still use it a lot and it works fine. It blocks with solder quite often but if you clean it regularly, there aren't any problems. Still recommended. :)
As they say here that was, piss-easy... :) It means more parts can be salvaged also! This is my Next soldering gear item to purchase!
Is there a newer model of this do you know?
*PS* thanks for the review!
You can go even cheaper nowadays with WEP 948, which is basically 1:1 to this?
Yup, I think it’s basically the same unit with a slightly different exterior.
Might have to get one of these some time in the near future. Was recaping a C64C board tonight, the negative leads on the ground plane are a pain in the rear end. Started at 19:30 gave up around 04:30 with one lead on the large axial cap left :(. Think some of the original solder was lead free, hate working with that stuff.
Still available on Amazon
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B076GJKFHP/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A19GSHTT314PS3&psc=1
Sp-1010DrR Desoldering station
€98.00 ( Not Incl P&P @ ~ €20)
Yeah, working on the newer C64 boards can be difficult. They are soldered way better than the old boards and the ground planes are huge (so you need a lot of heat to fully melt the solder). I've had some success with adding more flux/fresh solder before desoldering. Still can be tricky.
Just placed an order for one today. On the way from Germany :)
Any chance you can update links to this unit or if necessary the replacement unit? -Mark
Hi , ist schon ne Zeit lang her, wie ist das Fazit heute? Möchte mir so ein Teil kaufen, bin aber nicht sicher wie es sich mit der Wartung, Reinigung so verhält. Düsen bestellen, entsopfen, kein Problem?
Kann ich immer noch empfehlen. Am besten so oft wie möglich reinigen (eigentlich nach jeder Benutzung). Ich habe mittlerweile die "Pistole" als Ersatzteil nachgekauft, weil die originale zwar noch funktionierte, aber immer schneller verstopfte mit der Zeit. Ansonsten funktioniert das Teil noch immer sehr gut und ist fast täglich im Einsatz. Ersatzteile gibt es auch haufenweise.
Jan Beta danke , dann werd ich mir die mal in die Schweiz bestellen.
On a single face board with thin copper layer, every soldering stations will work fine. But, I would like to see what's happen on a computer motherboard !
Watch my computer videos then. I’ve been using the station for lots of repairs since I got it.
ich gehe mal stark davon aus das du deutsch bist, benutzt du es Immer noch?
hast du die Technik geändert oder benutzt du es immer noch so wie im Video?
I bought this one after I watched this video and it seemed to be working great, then last night when I was in the room it sparked really loud with a POP! And it threw a fuse. I was not using it at the time, I had just finished and it was sitting on the ON position with the iron in the cradle. Anyone know what problem these have? I have seen some references to these having some kind of defect with shorts or something. Anything I can do to fix it???
Uh, that's not cool. I heard some similar units had issues with the internal ground wiring. Maybe that's the issue with yours, too?
Hallo Jan,
hast du die Station noch im Einsatz?
Hast du damit irgendwelche nennenswerte Probleme gehabt?
Überlege mir die auch mal zuzulegen (wollte mal einen C64 so, weit möglich, mit IC Sockeln versorgen), falls du damit noch zufrieden sein solltest.
Ja, die Station läuft immer noch täglich. Vor kurzem habe ich mir ein neues Handstück (also die „Pistole“) kaufen müssen, weil die alte zwar noch ging, aber immer schneller verstopfte. Reinigen muss man die eh nach jeder längeren Benutzung. Der Lüfter ist mittlerweile auch ein bisschen lauter geworden, ansonsten immer noch sehr empfehlenswert, das Teil!
@@JanBeta Super...
Danke für deine schnelle und ausführliche Antwort. :)
excellent review, thank you. i was about to order the chinese 993 gun, but saw it had a few issues (blocking, overheating, DOA units). this one looks great and based on your review i'll order one! just curious if you opened it up to check wiring, earth, fuse etc. at all? i always do that with chinese mains units
+Joe Dall I still use it a lot. It also blocks from time to time but is easy to clean most of the times. The insides looked alright on mine. I heard that some people had loose wiring inside so it's a good idea to check. Only thing I "modded" is to put some pieces of rubber between the cooling fan and the case to make it a bit quieter.
I have to own one of these. Desoldering is the biggest pain in the ass.
Thanks for the review but maybe practice soldering and removing components a bit more delicately without wiggling them and weakening their leads.
wiggling the leads is necessary as it also helps cool the leads and allow any remaining solder to be removed. Unless your going to reuse that part (why would you?) most parts leads are made of steel and it would take some effort to weaken the lead. I used a Pace solder-station for my job working for the Navy, and we had to Have exhaustive training to be certified in circuit card repairs. Usually we didn't run across bent over leads for through the hole multilayered boards.. However if we did we would just clip off the leads and then remove the component then suck out the lead(s) with the solder sucker. A lot less work and less chance of damaging traces.
Hello,
Where did you buy this desoldering station?
Thanks.
+Juan Ángel If I remember correctly, it came from German Amazon.de. There are quite a few models of this that are all the same or similar internally.
Ok.
Thanks
ohh .....It Beeps love that comment hehe :) good one Jan well Now i just have to find one of these who ships to Sweden
It's one of its main features! :D Btw, I think there are newer models of the same station that are way easier to get these days. Can't guarantee they are the same though but I think they are similar.
i got mine shipped to Sweden, bought it on ebay, if you want more details contact me.
do you stil recomend it 2017 ? i need something like this because i have some caps i want to change from a pentium 3 but they wont come out with braid or a normal hand sucker
I still recommend it. It works a lot better than braid or hand suckers usually.
I've used it to remove caps from a motherboard - works very well. I had to start by adding some solder with a regular soldering iron so it was raised enough above the board to make good thermal contact with the desoldering iron bit. This task requires a powerful iron because the caps will be connected to a ground and power plane layer (often inside the board) which acts as a heat sink sucking heat out of the joint you are trying to heat up, but this desoldering iron manages that just fine.
I would not use the word "cheap" I would use the word "inexpensive"... With that said, I just ordered one.
I just bought one in ebay from herner-elektronik-shop, about 92 euros. The fan aperture is really garbage so I just cut the perforated metal out and exposed the flowpath. With a 47 ohm resistor there is plenty of airflow (much more than new) and the noise is much subdued. I did buy a 50mm fan wire finger guard from china for 70 cents, why not go all the way, eh? ;)
Haha, nice idea. I might do the same to my station, too. I always wanted to replace the fan with a better one anyway.
May I ask you about if you still use / like that tool?
Yes, still going strong. The only downside to it is that you have to clean it pretty often. Otherwise it is absolutely recommended, especially for the price. :)
@@JanBeta Hello!! may i ask how many joints i should be able to get on this thing before i have to clean it?
@@JanBeta Any Solder sucker will have a lot of cleanup, the more often you do that the less effort to clean next time. By the way On the Pace machines even though there the top of the line we always used a tube supplied brush, the chamber was glass instead of plastic. Soak it in ISO-propyl Alcohol, as it removes flux.
On cleaning the heating tube we had wires plus very small gun type barrel wire brushes that we would drag back and forth inside the extraction hole to get any residue. The next thing after cleaning, there was a baffle to prevent solder from coming in contact with the filter. Our type was a piece of a flat piece of aluminum (like a Popsicle stick) that would just fit in the chamber, we would bend it into an "S" style to help prevent the solder for going to the filter. Now here's what really helped with cleaning, we would apply some oil or Vaseline to the baffle (in case of your sucker the round disk that covered the filter )and the inside of the chamber. Removing to solder was easy-peachy.
@@JanBeta Cleaning after every use is mandatory for every desoldering gun if you want it to function right
I have one of these and I'm actually a little disappointed with it, especially when it comes to cleaning. The instruction manual implies that you can easily release a slider to remove the glass reservoir tube that the solder waste collects in but that is not the case whatsoever. You will have to dismantle the gun, 4 screws, to get the glass tube out. There is a spring inside that can be easily lost and it may take you more then one attempt to re-assemble it where there are no vacuum leaks.
Also, there seems to be no place to get replacement parts, such as the tips, springs, silicone washers, or the glass reservoir tube. They give you three tips when you buy it and that's it.
You need to practice taking the tube out and putting it back in. You don't need to take the gun apart. Takes me less than a minute to clean it
What temperature would you recommend desoldering at with this station?
I usually go with 350-370C for normal unsoldering. For huge ground planes I crank it up all the way. If you go too hot, traces are easily damaged, so be careful. I think ideal temperature settings may vary quite a bit from station to station because the sensor is probably not very accurate.
Thank you!
@@JanBeta I wondered why you dialed 300°C in your video?! It still seems to work. I think testing and own experience need to be build up. Just ordered through your link!
Hi! Is it safe to desolder DIP ICs?
Yes, I use it all the time for ICs on old computers. Works very well for me. You still have to be careful to get all solder out but it's really easy to do compared to other methods I've tried.
Thanks for feedback! :)
Hi! I ordered SP-1010DR desoldering station. It's kind same looking devise as you introduced, but black. It arrived, but now I wonderer what kind of warning in manual is this: Caution: Make sure that the four screws which are used to fasten the Diaphragm pump are removed from the control system before use. Otherwise serious damages may be caused to the user and the system.
What this warning means???
+saarike Mine didn't have that warning, so I don't really know. Probably there's some marked screws you have to remove on the case to 'free' the pump.
Ok, thanks for answer. I opened it, and there were 4 screw holes, but there were no screws. So I put the cover back and fired it up. There was no problem it and worked fine. :) Good machine for the price!
saarike Ah, cool that it worked! Hope the device serves you as well as mine does for me. :)
Thanks!
Thanks for information! I opened the case and notised, that the screws were already removed. I plugged the device to power and it worked perfectly. :)
Nice bit of kit.
It is! Still works like a charm. It clogs sometimes but is really easy to clean most of the times.
4:10 YES! Remove the plastic film!
i still have my plastic film on :P
I finally found one for $119.00 U.S. and free shipping . :-)
I noticed these are getting rare. I think the only place they are still available for really cheap is the UK at the moment. There's newer similar models replacing this one it seems. I'll have to look into that some time and update some links, I guess...
480 is a good upper limit.
Beyound that and you are technically not "soldering" and have officially entered the realm of "brazing"
Scorching PCBs!
How much the cost were I buy it mail id please
Hab mir das Teil jetzt auch gegönnt.... ANESTY ZD-915 Lötstation (126,59) die Edi-Tronic kostet sogar 129.95.Ist wahrscheinlich eh alles das selbe drin.
Der interne Lüfter soll allerdings wohl Probleme machen da Er mit 18 statt mit 12 V befeuert wird.
th-cam.com/video/2zr097eMff0/w-d-xo.html
Ich werde wohl einfach nen 24V lüfter reinpflanzen und feddich.
Good
it looks really nice, better than the Chinese S-993A desoldering gun who has problems with temperature sometime.
+orange11squares This one works very well for me still. Using it quite a lot. Only thing I "modded" was to insert some rubber rings on the fan to make it a bit quieter. Looks quite well made (for the price) inside, too.
Desoldering stations are specialized tools. Like solder tweezers. Buy a hot air solder instead and learn to use solder wick.
I have a hot air station and solder wick. The desoldering station is way better for the stuff I mostly work on (80s/90s through hole).
warum nur muss alles in englisch sein selbst wenn es aus deutschland kommt kann keiner mehr deutsch oder wie? gibt ja nich wenige die es in englisch machen also warum nich mal in deutsch es soll ja noch leute geben die kein englisch können sorry aber das musste mal sein echt frustrierend das
Tut mir leid, wenn dir die englischen Inhalte nicht gefallen. Ich mache das, damit ich ein internationaleres Publikum erreichen kann. Das macht das Ganze für mich sehr viel spannender. Da ist Englisch nun mal leider das naheliegendste. Ich hatte ursprünglich mal den Plan, einen deutschen Parallelchannel zu betreiben aber dafür fehlt mir leider die Zeit.
LoL messy desk. No, your desk is clean compared to mine.
wow that's cheap!
This is a piece of shit. I had it for 7 months and gun fell apart. Used it under 50 times. Junk. Good luck getting a replacement gun in the US when you need it.
Hi Jan! Is it still working? Thinking of getting one myself.
Yes, I still use it nearly every day. I had to replace the "gun" part two times in the meantime though (one clogged up beyond fixing and on the other one the plastic cracked). Spare parts are easy to source and not hilariously expensive though. Still recommend the desoldering station!
I gotta ask for anyone else that bought one, do you hear a lil bit of a noise when you turn it certain ways? I got mine a couple of days ago, and noticed that when I was looking at it, when I was tilting it that it would make slight noises, but I'm assuming that's just wires inside moving around. I did check it for ground as well, the tip is grounded and funnily enough, almost all the screws in the case are grounded and show continuity as well, except for a few.
The fan got quite noisy in mine a while back and needs some time to run quieter. I think I‘m just going to replace it with a decent one sometime soon. Otherwise it was pretty silent from the start.