UPDATE: There are quite a few comments criticising my review. I have done a 2nd channel video explaining. th-cam.com/video/5vbg8QEZXfY/w-d-xo.html Also, the battery terminals being close to the case is not a thing, I was wrong about that, see the update video. The biggest gripe is that this product does not meet it's 100W specification, not even close. I showed and explained this MULTIPLE TIMES in the video. I went to quite some effot to show and explain this, yet some people are still not happy that I can still like the product. If you are expecting the 100W capability as claimed then *DO NOT BUY THIS IRON* Can I be any clearer?
Dave, no one is upset that you like this product. It's okay to like a product that has shortcomings. What is not okay is supporting and promoting a company and product that is being sold with blatantly false specifications and advertising. No matter how "likeable" a product is, no reviewer should EVER condone a company blatantly lying to customers about the specifications of a product. And yes, "recommending" something that doesn't even come anywhere close to its specifications is condoning that company and product. iFixit, a reputable and respectable company should NOT get a free pass to blatantly lie about specifications. Such anti-consumer behavior should ESPECIALLY not be tolerated by a "pro-consumer" company like iFixit.
@@AmericanLocomotive1 yeah, they should bring the number down to what it actually is. ad then 10w less, for headroom! they should also make mains version, and make it CHEAP. because for that money you can buy better irons. edit: forget price objection, iron without station should suffice.
@@AmericanLocomotive1 I do not "condone" bad marketing, I called them out for it MULTIPLE TIMES! I PINNED this comment. I did a whole 2nd channel video DOING MORE TESTING showing how it doesn't meet the 100W marketing claims. What more do you want me to do? Don't answer that question, I know what you want me to do, you want me to give it thumbs down and scream to the high heavens what a horrible company iFixit is. No, I will not, I've been doing reviews and ratings like this for close to 15 years. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last time people will complain about my rating. Sorry but you just have to deal with that.
@@EEVblog Nobody wants you to scream that iFixit is a horrible company. People want you to be a responsible reviewer, and properly call them out for misleading and false advertising. Saying you give a product a "thumbs up" and recommend it despite it not getting anywhere close to its specifications IS condoning anti-consumer behavior. You are telling your audience that you are okay with this product and its marketing. A good company like iFixit can do a bad thing - they should be held accountable and be properly called out for that specific action. It's not hard to say "I do not recommend this product until iFixit either fixes the problem with its output, or changes their marketing to reflect its actual power output". Imagine if Apple marketed a laptop as having 16GB RAM, but it only came with 8GB? How could ANY reviewer in good conscience recommend that product - even if it did have many good attributes? Any responsibly reviewer would immediately call Apple out on something like that. Look, ultimately, I don't care. It's your credibility that's going to take a hit - not mine.
@@AmericanLocomotive1 This.....Willing to bet that if this was Huawei or Xiaomi, Dave would have been ranting way past daylight about how these Chinese scumbags dare to claim 100 Watt output, while not meeting expectations.....So predictable.
I don't like that they felt to invent again a new soldering tip standard. This would be a much better product if they adapted it to JCB tips or TS100 tips (lots of soldering irons use those, not only the TS100) or something like that. Ideally, they'd put different irons on the market for different tip standards. And inventing their own new soldering tip standard, and then not meeting the power claims.....for a €250 iron you'd expect more. The design of the iron and powerbank is very nice though (assuming they solve that very close space to the internal contact points), it's nice that the top casing functions as a stand.
Right. Apart from the portability, which might be really useful for some, I don't really see what else this offers over a, say, good old Weller station for comparable money.
@@Arek_R. Is it really? Pretty sure those types of connectors don't meet a high enough level of invention to be worth a patent. Any relevant patents for the heated tips are probably also long expired.
@@MarianKeller depends on where you ask. The inventor of the mouse to control our desktop PC was a german guy who did not get a patent cause it was too ordinary tech back in the 60. Later some american got it - in the USA, but not in europe.
@@typxxilps if that is true his submission and rejection would still be on file and he'd be able to be granted it later if another patent authority granted it.
I like the product as a whole, but the fact that it requires proprietary tips and does not perform well at all are two things that are hard to forgive. I get the sense that they really had to rush this out, and that they are going to be paying dearly for that rush to market. A good product in two months is worth a lot more for your brand image than a bad product now.
From the review, it performs well except on things that require a larger tip with more thermal mass. The temperature lags compared to the readout, but actual soldering is fine.
@@Mikeydude001 For me not getting the claimed power into the tip is a deal breaker. It doesn't matter if I don't need it most of the time. If I buy an 100W soldering station, I expect it to deliver 100W when needed. From the measured numbers (and not only those but also the non-sizzling water) it looks more like a 40W station.
@@Melamamoduro I mean this genuinely, the only way to get past Hakko is to pay them homage. No company will reach the level of a Japanese company like Hakko without learning some respect, replicating their advances and reliability, and becoming excellent. If that means paying more to adopt a golden standard like Hakko tips, it has to be done. Otherwise you're just another non-Hakko brand that I don't care about.
Dave, I've been watching EEVblog for over 10 years, and I've always appreciated how you weren't afraid to trash review items sent in for free. However this product has some major issues you glosses over. You absolutely TRASHED the previous iron you reviewed for lying about temperature, lying about maximum delivered power, and having poor thermal design. This iron has ALL of those exact same flaws, yet you give it a pass. In the comments you said that iFixit claims not all tips can deliver 100w, when the tip in your review iron has 100w printed right on it! You could barely get HALF its rated power! Yes it's built well, yes it's built by a reputeable company, yes it's repairable - but none of that excuses the poor performance and outright marketing lies. This review is seriously not objective, and you're rightfully being called out in the comments by many.
This is something that has always slightly put me off a channel I should otherwise love. I don't feel like a lot of the strong opinions thrown around are fully justified or even consistent enough for someone with such a large influence. For example, as funny as it is to hear something described as being as solid as an outside toilet, if that description is applied only because of the brand name stamped on it, as it often is here, we're not approaching things objectively enough.
Yeahh, he trashed on the other soldering station for only coming with a brass wool, yet for this one which doesn't come with any, he said he'd like having at least a brass wool dude can't make up his mind
The Quick has a bad stand (for a bench iron), this has a decent one (for a portable). The Quick has no live display, this one does, but perhaps has an issue related to the thermal PID. The Quick power display never goes to 100%, this one does. The Quick setback sensor didn't work at all, the iFixit works perfectly. The Quick is designed as a benchtop station and doesn't have enough suitable tips. The iFixit is a portable iron and also needs some more tips. The Quick struggled to do basic soldering tasks, the iFixit performed them easily and repeatably. It was only "poor" on really big joint compared to a 130W high capacity tip JBC. One is a bench iron and I judged it as such, the other is a portable iron and I judged it as such. They are not equivalent and neither are the expectations. To flipantly compare the two reviews like you did is a mistake. I didn't "gloss over" the thermal capacity issue, in fact I did the opposite, I went to a lot of trouble to include and investigate a potential thermal PID issue. I mentiond several times the lack of high capacity tips. I did several different test demonstrating all this, the complete opposite of "gloss over". Basically I went to a lot of effort to point out the negative things in this review, yet somehow I'm biased? Bottom line is my conclusion is I *LIKE* this iron for various resons and will actually use it for it's intended purpose, it's going to replace my TS80 as my portable. I don't like the Quick and I would not use it, it won't be replacing anything, I'd rather use my 30 year old ancient Hakko 926. For a product I actually LIKE and will USE, am I'm suposed to give it a thumbs down? But you are correct about the 100W printed on the tip, I doesn't seem to be able to deliver that into a joint. Again, another thing I actually SHOWED instead of hid. And they should be rightfully called out for that. Do you know how easy it would be for me to hide the issues I found? But no, I didn't hide them, I showed them so you can make up your own mind if it's going to suit your needs.
@@Psyden5757 The Quick is a BENCH iron, the iFitit is a PORTABLE iron, the expectations for the stands are different. For the iFixit I was suggesting they might consider a bench stand option for those that do more bench work than portable. I don't expect a portable iron to come with a proper bench stand. And the iFixit, for a portable iron, is a very good stand.
I would expect nothing less from a company that sells parts to facilitate repair of 3rd party repair. It would be hypocritical of them not to include every measure to encourage repair. Takes you back to when circuit diagrams were available for most consumer electronics.
They used to. My HP 10529A and B&K Precision Model 552 logic comparators came with schematics, and it was standard for arcade games in the 1980s to have them in the operator's manual - Atari were good for that, and I've got _Gauntlet_ and _Asteroids Deluxe_ to hand here.
@@EEVblog Then advertise, brand and sell it as (what it actually currently, at the time of sale+ purchase, IS ) a 30W iron, for 270 bucks Edit: I forgot we are in 2024 and this is the Early Access period; the 100W is a paid DLC for next year. My bad. 7/10
The only available/compatible tips do not deliver the advertised wattage! The price tag is for that extra USB slot and overall convenience. Think of all the stripboard you could buy instead.
Nice case study article over at Intercreate about the design project including the ups and downs experienced throughout the whole process. Regards the cost, I was thinking it was expensive at first but I think that’s because we are spoiled with cheap Chinese products, and I think this is trying hard to be better than that. Best of luck to them.
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Nope, the price is on the high side. An electricians best friend, a Weller butane gas soldering iron costs about 70€. That's what you compete against in the blue collar sector (at least in my country).
You can manufacture it wherever you want i.e. put IC's on PCBs etc......but it's the design and control that matters, the results of which actually end up in the users hands.....IMHO. Have a look over at Intercreate and have a browse around.
it is expensive. it's a luxury range product for an iron and luxury range as power bank. it's not like ugreen etc didn't spend a lot on rnd. they do have the branding on their side to sell it though, but generally on the market you need to be better but not multiples in cost. i do have a wtf question about their marketing specs though, Dual-port 55 watt-hour power station, 8 hours of soldering without recharging, 100W 17v tip - and with which usb banks can you use if you just buy the iron? 20V 5 amp pd ones? like, they can publish all the case studies about why it was expensive to design and manufacture but that doesn't really change the reality for the consumer of it being a luxury priced product which shouldn't have deficiencies of any sort say with the temperature sensors etc. it's not a niche product where you can put significant amount of the design and engineering into the price and significant parts of the rnd wouldn't be something they're doing inhouse(the factory for the tips being same as for others etc)
@@lasskinn474 And just like any product the market will decide if it's a success or failure at the price point. I'm looking forward to getting some higher capacity tips for it, they said they are looking into it.
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That s right but on some facilities you need a hot work permit for using a gas soldering iron . To get one of this takes lot of time , so the USB powered soldering irons have a big advantage in these cases
I asked them if the tips are compatible with something and this was there response :" We looked hard at utilizing some of the existing tips out there. Unfortunately those tips aren't rated for the full 100 Watts of power that we're putting out, so being compatible with some of these legacy tips could be pretty dangerous". which is of course BS the JBC C245 tips are rated at 130W...
That must be the marketing department. Kyle himself told me and I quote: "It really can be a challenge to conduct the full 100W with the small tip we sent you."
@@EEVblog chould be, the response was from the ifixit instagram page. And I do not know who is behind that. Either way i find it a bummer that the tips are proprietary...
Admittedly I haven't finished the video yet, but one thing you seemingly didn't mention in the teardown is the fact that the battery pack looks to be made out of 18650 cells, meaning you can actually rebuild the pack relatively easily yourself if you have to! I was honestly expecting something like a thick LiPo battery in there, but no! That's yet another thumbs up!
But that's one of the main reasons this thing doesn't meet it's own specifications. It's supposed to deliver up to 100 watts in power but since it's using cheap off the shelf 18650 cells instead of a better power source. There's nothing to thumbs up for.
@@sarcomakaposi2054 If is not possible to have both, I would prefer to sacrifice a bit of performance if necessary if it means significantly better repairability in the long run, but that's just my opinion of course
@@redpheonix1000 i doubt the power limitation is linked to the 18650cells. plenty of affordable models w/ high amperage discharge on the market. i think i've used 30A 18650cells for a few power tool batt packs a few yrs ago.
>$250 >non-standard tip i'll stick to my t12. but some nice design decisions, i like the holder on the case and usb connector looks nice too. really like handle with usb interface. but i'll stick to my t12 for now, thanks.
Honestly kind of a disappointment. It doesn't give that much more capabilities compared to existing products. Hell, if you want a desk iron the JBC BT2 is cheaper (in europe, 260 euro vs 270 euro) and has similar capabilities to the CD-2 station shown in the video (which has a fancy screen). The only advantage the iFixit provides is portability, but if you want that a TS80/245/pinecil or dozens of other similar irons + battery bank provide the exact same solution for a MUCH Lower price. Although I have to say big thumbs up for the repair-ability, schematics and all that. Thats definitely a good reason to buy it.
The iFitit is designed to be a portable iron, so tryign to compare to any bench iron isn't fair IMO. But yes, as I mentioned, other irons provide way better bang-per-buck.
@@EEVblog That's fair enough. Perhaps I didn't articulate my point quite well. It wasn't meant as criticism of the video itself, rather the product. I approached this from the perspective of a consumer, who has ~300 euro to spend on an iron. Many people buy a 'portable' iron but just use it for bench use. What would discern this soldering iron from its competition? Thus considering either use case, a truly portable iron or a bench use one, in neither category it jumps out. In my eyes, for a product to be successful it has to: a - be cheaper than competition b - do things better than the competition or c - do something no one else is doing This product really doesn't do any of those. All things considered it has a fairly steep price they ask considering what it brings to the (portable) table.
I was also evaluating the JBC BT2, the problem is that the JBC tips are very expensive, could the I-CON NANO MK2 be an alternative ? The NANO MK2 has only 80 watts unfortunately.
@@CanaleTH-camGeneralista I have actually tried that particular iron. Its a great little unit, especially for SMT work, the handle is very comfortable in the hand and super lightweight, almost like holding a pen. But just like you probably expected, totally inept for use on large ground planes. More important than the wattage, I believe the nano is not a modern 'cartridge' type iron, rather the 'traditional' kind with heating element and thermocouple in the handle itself and a separate replaceable tip.
Yep, the changeable tips doesn't feel precise enough on mine. They are pretty loose and jiggle around quite a lot when fitted. If it wasn't magnetic, they would fall right out. Also, the finish on some of the tips started to chip after only a few times of use on tighter screws. Nevertheless, it gets the job done. The case quality feels very nice though.
There aren’t many cases where you’d want this over a Pincecil and a common power bank for a quarter of the price. A hundred watts over its seventy isn’t too big of a deal, the rest looks to be ergonomics and its otherwise more convenient form-factor. Most of the quality of life changes could be forwarded to the Pinecil without too much difficulty. Still waiting for the 200W XT60 lipo-powered T245 iron.
Tip: pinecil v2 has Bluetooth support, update the firmware then Google "joric pinecil Bluetooth client" It is a webui that allows you to see power usage, temp, and it allows you to change the set temp
Tip: pinecil v2 has Bluetooth support, update the firmware joric pinecil Bluetooth client It is a webui that allows you to see power usage, temp, and it allows you to change the set temp
Missed a trick with the encoder by making a flex PCB with some through hole pads at the encoder, and then a flex socket on the board to accept the flex. Probably cheaper than having somebody soldering 5 wires to each pot, and then into the board. You could even make a bespoke PCB to still fit the existing board, using pins.
I'd figure a separate "front panel PCB" just for the pot, a couple of XH2.5 connectors and a cable between them - all standard parts sans the PCB - would be even cheaper than making a flex, so here's some room for improvement :P
Is it the same kind of rubberized plastic that gets sticky in just a couple of years? I hate those things.... especially on tools you don't use everyday. I have some multimeter-cases that are like glue or soldering-iron that on the start looked nice but now are terrible to use. But nice to see Dave all wind-up over a soldering-tool again!
Whcih rubber are you refering to? the small fingerarea?.. that is likely just standard silicone/rubber I did not see any part that had that infamous velvetcoating that tend to degrade over time and often after like 5 years, into its petroleum component substances. Would have hoped by now. that the modern products that still are using that rubberized coating, have changed formula, so we don't see this degrading where it turns into a sticky mess. Didnt see any on this Ifixit iron that had it..powerbank seem to be mostly anodized.
Take a bit of baking soda, add a bit of water (you want a consistency of toothpaste) and then rub the rubber with it, let it dry, clean it off. Always worked for me. Some also seem to use gasoline instead, but haven't tried that yet.
@@Smaxx Just wanted to give the same advice. Baking soda is perfect for getting rid of those soft touch surfaces. Even "repaired" a 25 year old SLR that way.
Who is this for? RC people? The price of this thing seems a bit steep to me. With a sample size of exactly 1 the solder tips and thermal performance don't seem amazing, and I think that is the most important part of a soldering iron. Unfortunate, but they will have to work on that before anything else. I'm not sure if it was broken right out of the box, as you did seem to do some testing (7ish min mark) before taking it apart, or if that happened by taking it apart?
Just to touch on your question of "Who is this for?" I personally use a TS100 and a DIY adaptor to cordless tool batteries for audio/lighting system installs in commercial properties. Making up custom XLR/DMX cables 15ft up a ladder is much simpler not having to drag an extension cord around, just slip a battery in a pocket and off you go! Also helps for quick automotive electrical harness repairs here and there.
@@Wiresgalore Yes, but it has few, if any, advantages over other portable soldering systems. If portability is important there are numerous more portable competitors for a fraction of the price. The overall performance isn't impressive either and the tips are proprietary and more expensive than on other models, which is a bit ironic for a company that knocks Apple for using expensive and proprietary parts. At least Apple delivers on performance.
I'd say it's for mobile phone repair people on the go, not RC people. RC people usually want huge tips for doing big high current capacity connectors etc.
@@EEVblog For mobile repair, you need better temperature accuracy, stability and responsiveness, especially at the very tippity-tip. The Aixun stations are a no brainer for SMD work.
Pinecil also had its fair share of PID problems when it was new so it'll probably improve with newer firmware versions. Tho, I would probably still prefer something like pinecil and a chonker power pack tho. This is too expensive for what it currently does.
Please, the pinecil costs $50 (when you include shipping) $25 is the price if you go to the factory and steal one and leave behind a banger and a 5 out of courtesy Edit: People, if you hit add to cart and look at the total cost it will be double the listed price for the item
Lets be real, If it would be any other company you would say it a piece of s... Inaccuracy , not delivering power when most needed, you can only set the temp by connecting it to a computer (wtf) if you don't buy the overpriced station for the overpriced iron.
I like the fact that it doesn't have controls I can bump. If I'm using a portable iron I usually don't want to change the temp. YMMV, in which case buy another tool, plenty of them out there, and cheaper. It had no problem with any of the joints I tried that were suitable for that small tip.
@@EEVblog They should have made the battery pack & station 2 components, Battery powered is a bit overrated, a stand-alone station could be powered from USB or a laptop power supply. Not being able to change the temperature is just weird. What a strange design. Might as well paint it white and slap an Apple logo on it. 350 degrees is enough for everyone!
@@EEVblog can't you just set "buttons lock" on any iron with buttons control? set temperature, hit "lock", thats all. And you can change temperature easily if needed.
After watching the video, my favorite feature BY FAR is the tip cover. If I could stick my ts100 in my pocket I would. This next one may be controversial, but I actually prefer a non-locking connector. I'd rather drop the iron, have it disconnect from the cable, maybe ruin a tip when it hits the floor, and cool down rather than pull the whole cable with it and burn a hole in something. I can see the other side, though, because you could always drop the hot tip on yourself 😅
More expensive, lies about the temperature, doesn't perform thermally. The things you need in soldering iron, you know. Unless fixable by the firmware I see no reason to change from ts 80.
Thanks for the review! I might stick with the Pinecil V2 and a powerbank. The footprint seems smaller and the powerbank can be shoved in a pocket to keep a phone fully charged when traveling. Every electronics company and his dog seems to be jumping on the smart soldering iron bandwagon. I'm trying to wrap my head around how ifixit can justify 3x the price. But 3x compared to what? AU$100 doesn't get you much from Bunnings in terms of portable temperature controlled soldering irons with a battery pack. You can get a portable battery powered soldering iron for AU$104 WITHOUT temperature control, or you could get a temperature controlled soldering station with AC input for your desk for AU$106 WITHOUT portability. There seems to be a gap in the local market for a neat package like the FixHub (i.e. a portable temperature controlled soldering iron and a battery pack). But the average person may just buy a AU$30 soldering iron that plugs directly into a wall socket. Is the FixHub just for people with Gear Acquisition Syndrome?
If you arleady have a pinecil and it does what you want then no need to change really. One thing I liked about it that I mentioned is that it doesn't have an annoying screen and buttons on the iron itself, I like that it just plugs in to any battery and goes. As always, the market will determine the success or failure at the price point.
@@EEVblog I agree screens on the iron are annoying but IMO since it’s supposed to be a portable thing it would be much better than having to plug it in a desktop computer. It seems to me iFixit tried to design a portable iron but at the same time wanted to compete with bench ones, leading to a beautiful product that unfortunately doesn’t excel in neither categories
@@ionstorm66You can even get a plugin pencil iron with temperature control on the iron (With a dial.) for around the same price or less. Though, it's admittedly not the best.
Or people like me who don't quite have enough time or knowhow to really be sure about which product to buy, and are happy to pay more money for it to "just work". I feel like Australia is also in an odd spot where shops like jaycar and altronics only sell their homebrand irons, that aren't the greatest quality. I bought the top of the line iron from Altronics a few years ago when my $30 one broke and I thought "time to invest in a good iron". But it's mediocre at best. And it doesn't have a default temperature so I struggled for a good year with it being to low. I Googled what I should set it to and found lots of people saying "it depends on the melting point of your solder". So I set it to 10 or 20 degrees above that. Sometimes I'd raise it up to 300 c thinking "this is a bit naughty, but I'm sick of it not working". I'm only just finding out through this video that I probably should have it set to 350 degrees. That 1 page cheat sheet where it tells you the right temp for lead and lead free solder is worth the $500 alone. I've done electronics in high school, one class at uni, and watch eevblog for over 5 years. Yet I've still made this blunder. The price tag would be worth it for me to get an iron that doesn't trick me into making dumb mistakes, and wasting years of my life thinking I'm bad at soldering. Also I hope that this does get stocked in aussie stores. Even with its major flaws and borderline false advertising around wattage, I'd love to buy one with an Australian consumer law warranty.
You have to finally try TS101 & TS100 with IronOS (open source firmware) which makes these soldering irons extremely good, IMHO superior to iFixIt and much more betterer!! IronOS supports 2 modes of buttons locking: allowing boost & full lock, while maintaining full functionality, so you can't complain about buttons there. The only thing IronOS lacks at this point on TS101 is ability to use 100% of larger screen and currently uses ~2/3rds, which is fine. I personally have (for both) a very nice silicone USB-C to DC barrel jack cable with integrated PD 20V which is more than enough for mobile use but TS101 works fine up to 30V and supports 28V PD so it would be a very nice review to see.
I forgot i had ironOS! The boost functionality is the most important thing to me, I love heating up a whole area to a low temp and then holding a button for 2 seconds- solders perfectly! I use the flexible cable from an old macbook charger, the old "magsafe" ones
Certainly better than the Fnirsi HS-01, and those cost like 50$ today. Mine was worthless, the temperature indicator is all over the place, takes forever to heat up, incompatible with most chargers and is just how-ya-doing. I hope iFixit gets the birth-bugs ironed out because I love the fact the display has been put on the station itself and that it's entirely open with schematics and all.
Some of these comments are far to serious,its a soldering station...also been a subscriber for almost 10 years. Dave is a dam legend for sharing his vast experience and knowledge with us 😊
100W vs 65W, 5.3Ah vs ie.10Ah, USB-C with strain relief vs USB-C without strain relief or barrel jack that doesn't need one. FixHub = $250 vs TS101+Power bank (65W 10Ah ) ~= $85. I'd say FixHub it's totally not worth it.
Save some money by getting an equally sized power bank, a Pinecil v2, the complete tip set, the official silicone USB-C cable, a portable folding stand with brass wool and tons of solder. might even be the same overall packing size.
In that case why bothering in having a page to control the iron if you just buy the tip? I think having that and all the diagrams, 3D files and support is worth the price Nice little portable iron to have around
@@robertobrenes5283 i use 2-3 temp presets on my small irons to accommodate small gauge insulated wires, especially in tight spaces where i can't be super quick. one can tin a thin cable w/ a 400C tip by adjusting the 'dwell time' but in a tight space you're lucky if you don't damage insulation in 2 sec @ 330C.
Seeing your concern about the battery terminals being close to the casing, to me when its assembled the terminals are within the plastic end cap and unlikely to short
Cool little station. The thermal design could be better indeed, it's just wrong that it reports full heat up in 4 secs but it's not even there. Pity that it doesn't use T12 tips that are far more widespread and there's no risk you're left with nothing if the manufacturer discontinues them.
I love the T12 tips. My iron is battery powered with a Milwaukee M18 battery and is great for power and portability. Maybe not quite as pretty as the ifixit iron but I'd argue more functional. Also cheaper tips and not locked to one manufacture are important. Also I can adjust all my irons functions without a computer and swap batteries as needed to never be interrupted. The ifixit iron is a good idea but fell a bit short.
Great review Dave. But idk, I think I'll stick to my $40 chinese Quicko T12-952. It's 6 times cheaper, uses standard T12 Hakko tips, can be powered either from AC or any external DC power source (20V drill akupacks etc.), has much more settings in the menu and most importantly - it WORKS.
um . . . ok . . . i guess? but what about the video? did dave provide you with enough information to make an informed decision as to a potential purchase?
The C plugs a bit on the light and wobbly side for actual work, despite the screw cap. And there really should be three temperature presets. Battery life and replacement is the same misery as always. This thing looks more like a gimmick but OK if someone actually does mobile work on location and don't mind overspending.
Thanks for the review, Dave. You covered all the pertinent information, and answered questions I had as soon as I got the announcement from iFixit. It looks like it would work just fine, and I appreciate the design choices of having the battery bank double as a stand and the control panel and incorporating strain relief in on the iron. If the combo were priced around $150US, I'd even seriously consider buying it. However, at this price, I can't justify it. The price for just the iron isn't bad, but having to use a PC to set the temp is a non-starter. Even assuming they make it possible to use a phone to configure it, it still doesn't fly in my book.
I've been looking for weeks for a legit iron. I'm sick to death of soldering iron equivalents of the 6800mAh 18650. :( So I just bought a Pace ST25 with a PS-90 iron. I'm pretty sure they'll nail the multilayer thru-hole boards w/ internal ground planes that I'm dealing with. Many thanks to the chap who mentioned Pace!
This is obviously still in the prototype phase. Really like the approach of providing the documentation to allow easy repair and battery replacement before tossing it in the landfill. Nice to see if the base or iron goes bad the other part can be reused. I get the feeling this is a demonstration design to incorporate the beliefs of ifixit. The quality of the parts is good, reflected in the price
This iron was available for sale the day after Dave got his review done, he said so in the video. I assumed this was a prototype until he said it was for sale right now.
Not in the market for another portable soldering iron. However I purchased a USB iron several years ago forget if it was recommended by EEVblog or BigClive and was surprised it actually works. Only used it a few times but nice bit of kit.
I'm the type who'd buy this Ifixit iron, for the home-lab and keep my TS80 soldering on-the-go. But, this is just because the battery I use with my TS80 is hardly 2x3 inches. So I just shove it in my pocket. Plug the iron in, got it set to automatically turn on to 320C ( screen broke ages ago ) so I never use the buttons. and I can go crawl into awkward spaces like carts and solder wires behind panels and such with the battery simply in the pocket. The Ifixit it one though is looking good to me for living on my bench. Will fit in great with all the other little power supplies and stuff on the shelf. Great review though! Something to consider now xD
I love that they are trying to get into this market, but the market is already flooded with actually good cheap soldering stations. I've used a KSGER T12 for over 5 years now, with the additional 10 tips i bought it was a total of around 50€. It's 75W, but more than enough for what i've used it. They also sell a portable version that uses batteries from power tools to power it, you can get that + 2 batteries with quite a few more goodies for about the same price if not even less than the ifixit machine (or if you're tech savvy enough, make your own portable battery with fast charging, it accepts from 12-24v so you've got options) I am glad they are breaking through into this market, but price wise, they have a bit to go.
I would, if it were any good. But it's not, apart from maybe the visual design / consistency, it holds nothing over Pinecil v2 + a hefty USB-C powerbank while asking 3-4x the price.
@@sarcomakaposi2054 lmao! As they say, there is a sucker born every minute, They will flood TH-cam with it and they will sell more than we would like to admit.
This was a massive fail, with a ridiculous price to boot. Intentional anti-consumer choice creating a proprietary tip from the ‘right to repair’ company!
Now the question is, can you plug two of those irons in and still set them with the display? Then you can have a very nice portable station with fine and thick tip with no swapping - getting around the thermal couple limitation a bit. But if the cap is smoking after some use, maybe it’s not a great idea. Probably as the majority, I will stick with my pinecil for now. Other than being a neat and cool package, this doesn’t seem to have that much going for it at the moment.
Nice little solder station. The price point is a bit high for what it is imho. Nice that you pointed out the issue with solder points near the case. You wouldn't want to solder all day long with something like that, but rather have in your drawer at home or in your tools case for on the go. When you have to solder some wires on, fix a connector, etc. you bust this out and do it on your coffee table (when wife doesn't see it), and don't have to search for a plug when on field service. However, at this price I currently do not see the advantage over using like a ts 80, a pinecil, or similar with a powerbank.
Thank you Dave, I side with the other commenters. Actually need a portable soldering iron so I was very curious, but the custom tips and the price are dealbreakers. Should be 100$ less and use C245 tips. No need to reinvent the wheel (and I have a JBC at home, so would love to reuse them.)
Long time viewer here, long time lurker. You've taught me a great deal, Dave, but I will say this: this review lead me to cancel my preorder of this iron. It looks like a *lot* of trouble you went through, thermal characteristics are off, proprietary tips, and during the actual teardown of the battery bank itself, both me and my dad were cringing pretty hard at the EE/ID of those battery terminals. No fusing, no polarization of the connector, and the lack of mechanical allowances for those internal terminal solder joints make it a hard pass from me. Great that it's repairable, but that's a dang dangerous thing to have short to chassis like that. For that alone I can't go through with the order, I'm afraid. Have you looked at the JBC B iron yet as a comparison point?
Before I even watch this video I want to just get my chuckle in and say this is a rip off when cheap t12 stations and pinecil exist. It doesn’t even do anything crazy. A joke. Okay anyway
@@JustTryGambling I actually like that the iron has not screen or buttons, it's different to the other irons on the market. It doesn't sound this one is for you, so just buy somethign else. As always, YMMV.
@@EEVblog As someone who only uses the boost mode on my station and never change temperatures, I prefer this way of doing it. Very distraction free. And I heard this one is supposed to auto-boost when detecting a need for it. So unless you're someone who genuinely needs to change temperatures often, it's not a big deal.
It's the same price as a JBC station, I'll take the JBC any day. For something more portable the Pinecil or the Aixun T380 are both better options using more common tip standards. I don't mind the buttons and display on my TS80P, I would mind not being able to set the tip temperature without PC (although I'm sure it can be done with a serial port utility on android phones)
T380 is OK, but doesn't include batteries, and is for the smaller handles. Which is ironically what dave was saying this one is for (phone repairs, etc.). You don't want a monster handle like this for repairing phones.
Thanks for the review! ... But, as someone doing both station and portable soldering all the time, this fits only a fairly narrow use case window. It's not great as a portable solution - with TS-100 (and others) you don't need to even carry a power bank, because somebody around you will 90% have one. Or a charger. Or you probably have one for your phone. It's much more practical for an "EDC" use, and a built-in display/buttons are a reasonable compromise. It's not good as a desktop station, because it lacks most things stations have - a sponge, a solder spool (or two), a flux pen, a non-precision stand, spare tips, desoldering wick, etc. ... It would IMHO be a great product if they chose to dedicate the space inside the "station" to all this (plus alcohol / water bottle storage), instead of a battery. As it stands (or not), it just seems like a worse TS* experience (overall, I know button-less handle is nice on its own), .. with none of the desktop benefits.
The contrast with the last chinese iron video review is astonishing. Some of the same problems. But for one is real bad, and the other, oh you know, it is nice.
Dave you are being biased in this review. You should have reviewed it like you have received this product from a chinese manufacturer. Because for 250$ there are so much better options then this
I literally said it's not going to win any bang-per-buck awards. And I also said there are cheaper and better thermal options. Can't get less biased than that. Am I not still allowed to like a higher priced product?
They made the iron work independently of the station; $80 is a reasonable price, if I were in the market for one I'd get that, maybe even the station thingy to support iFixit cause they're cool. I'm willing to bet there's gonna be community made stations, which would make this potentially a better deal as a bring your own powerbank option.
@@xhivo97 Independently? Not very much. You need to connect it to a PC each time you want to set anything like temperature on it. That makes it pretty absurd product then.
@@FrozenHaxor Supposedly this does some boosting in firmware if it detects a big sudden drop in temps, to keep up. On my soldering station I've not changed the temperature once, just been using the boost when needed.
@@EEVblogno, u were way too forgiving with they way you went about the failures, i have watched you for many years and if this was any other company you would have been trashing this
Something like this would be totally ideal for my needs, dont solder much but when I do its usually oretty urgent. Sadly the cost prices it way outside of the range of someone like me. Hopefully it will come down soon.
Given the way it's acting, I suspect the power delivery is working off an active PID, so it already knows what it needs to keep power up in the pen, so it doesn't actually need to boost the power to 100%, it's just doing enough to control it. The dead time (the lag between the sensor and tip) is giving them some issues though. Also, the smarts are in the iron, so the power bank is merely receiving the information given to it from the iron. My guess is the iron is working fast enough that the data given to the power bank is also lagging in some aspects.
So because I had my doubt about this product using again another bespoke tip system that doesn't seem to deliver, I did the same test Dave did with that cup of water and monitor the power, but then with my TS100 soldering iron (ralink firmware) and the standard supplied ts100 tip. At 24V from my bench power supply (5A max), it beautifully stays between 2,85A and 3,09A (modulating every second, probably due to monitoring temperature). So that means it stays continuously between 68,4W and 74.2W when putting the TS100 tip in water. The TS100 just delivers what it says. Actually more as it's sold as 65W @ 24V, but it's between 68W and 74W. So as much as I like how this thing is build with all the aluminium etc (although there is no click on cleaner sponge which is a miss), the €270 price is just not justified. A bespoke tip system that is expensive ($20 per tip compared to $5-10 per tip for a TS100 tip) and a tip system that also doesn't deliver what it says....that is a fail. They should've gone with TS100 tips, or JBC tips or hakko tips or whatever. Ideally making different irons so that users can choose which tip system they'd prefer. Of course Dave can't recommend anything TS100 related because of his negative review back in the day. That review was pathetic, as he didn't understand the how the stand clicks in etc....
I currently use a pinecil with a dewalt 6ah tool battery, with a 3d printed adaptor/stand. This looks like a very nice, much more refined version of my setup, and I love it. I may have to pick one of these up. If they could only make a usb-c powered hot air gun...
It's just not delivering the promised power when needed, so the firmware needs work, but it's nice to see a high quality product and the price is understandable considering they intend it to be a lifetime product. Many people spend more than this over time to buy new cheap stations every year of two. However, it will still be a hard sell to many, including me, as there are now multiple USB-C options that only need a power bank to become just as portable as this and some of those even perform better in terms of tip power delivery.
Having something not relying on power cord would be certainly nice for occasional use when that power cord is drag, or possibly plain impossible. But having pricy things just sitting around and especially "decaying" part isn't exactly enticing. Batteries simply aren't lifetime purchases and just time degrades them. Especially when lithium chemistry doesn't like sitting at high charge/cell voltage state, which accelerates aging/wear. (storage at full charge is for lead acid battery)
No bang-for-buck reward, no thermal capacity reward, an unsafe construction, *and* it was broken on delivery. The one main thing going for it at this point is the openness of its design. Which I'm all for, but probably warrants an "early beta beware of dragons" notice. Looks like most of the issues are solvable on the next iteration, and I wouldn't hold the bang-for-buck against them at that point.
@@sarcomakaposi2054 I get you, wrote the comment after watching first several minutes and later on, started reconsidering the idea and looking at other options.
I find it funny for high-current cables like battery terminals you would use a little soldering iron like this when I have found that it works even better using a torch like a basic propane torch or a Bernzomatic TS4000 or TS8000 series to preheat the solder and flux and just push the cable in. I guess it depends on what kind of battery terminals you're talking about as I am just thinking of the ones typically used in most automotive applications like for the 12 V lead acid batteries. I know you acknowledged some of the comments but one more in your video: For copious amounts of solder on ground planes like you demonstrated there, up to this point I would break out my Weller 220/260 W D550 soldering gun, a device that's equipped with a fairly chunky low-voltage high-current transformer that pumps 260 W max through a piece of 12 AWG solid copper wire to tackle that as I only had a simple Weller 25 W pencil form factor soldering iron. I am getting a new soldering station from Temu, we'll see how that goes as some are weary of product quality from said site but for around CA$60, I wouldn't complain.
Is there any chance to see JBC portable iron reviewed by you ? I'm influenced by JBC since I have one at home and complete repair station at work and I have to compare everything to this brand.
I don't think you're meant to put it back into the case with the battery connected. But it's still a valid point about those battery terminals being so tall.
I recommend something like a Ryobi soldering station. With replaceable, rechargeable batteries it would automatically be a better product than waiting for this thing to recharge. Not to mention Ryobi is a much lower price, and its batteries can be used with many other tools.
The lack of power delivery in the water while falsely displaying 370C is a deal breaker. It would have been nice to see the water test with the QUICK TS11. It will be interesting to see which company is quicker at fixing their issues.
I have a Weller Portasol Butane portable soldering iron I have had for 30 years. I can still get tips for it. It even came with a hot air tip for heat shrink tubing. Gas it up flick the flint and Bob's your Uncle. None of that microprocessor controlled rubbish. ;)
Thanks for the review! Definitely quite expansive compared to the chinese stuff, but I really like the open design. You just can't compete with these chinese crap prices, if you try to build your stuff somewhat rigid and maintainable. So a pretty decent product. Let's see if the repair market is willing to accept a premium on a portable iron for improved longevity.
I love it and want it! If only I hadn't already bought a M18 high output 8ah battery and the JMM Solutions soldering iron. Works great for me but this is such an amazing solution! Maybe once I get a bit more money this iFixit iron will magically appear in my kit lol. But it does have issues I would like to see fixed before then. Maybe a custom firmware will come out making it better.
£239 GBP... $249 USD... At current exchange rates... £239 @ $1.30 to the £1 = $311 $249 @ £0.77 to the $1 = £191 Now do people see how the USA has always price hiked goods to the UK. In simple terms, the USB Solder Station should be £191 and not £239.
35:00 - Something Dave seems to have missed - That iron is *working* plugged into a PC - that means standard USB 5v, probably limited to a couple hundred milliamps. It's not *fast*, but it's *working*, which is more than I think I've seen from a USB-powered iron before. Usually if they don't get their 20v you don't get any hot.
I've had no complaints about my "tip to grip" distance (no charge for that visual). It's official. I'm now a iFIXit FANBOY. Is it perfect? NO. But neither is every GF I've never had Cheers from So.Ca.USA 3rd house on the left (please call before stopping by)
I think this misses the mark for some people, as a complete package. I see it's a solid attempt, but strikes me as too proprietary in creating another tip standard and also expensive with the $170 base station to add controls if one does not care about the battery (if wall power is to assumed to be around or already have a battery on hand). I think a cheaper batteryless base for controls would have made sense as an option, though the battery did provide the mass to hold it down. The controls being on or off the iron is a preference thing at the end of the day, but I also view it as a mistake to omit it on the iron directly. The firmware could have had a setting for the on board controls, with "always on" and "always off" being assumed to justify which one people want for that preference, but also "only on in standalone" acting based on if it has external controls connected or not. IronOS's boost mode where you hold + for a secondary preset (typically higher) temperature is useful for that troublesome ground plane at times, is just missing by not having a single button on the iFixit iron. I think that the price for the iron and tips is a little steep for my taste, but that's the price where you get warranty and support for it, unlike the $30 Pinecil (v2 iron, plus cable) which leans on community support for the most part. For those that want the support side (or work in a business) and need the portability to be completely away from power, I think they can justify the kit price of it. For me personally, I can't as I don't really need the support angle and like to tinker.
Pinecil V2 just as capably, fraction of the cost (even factoring in cost of a battery) and more widely available tips ( even if it had worked only the TS80 used the jack plug design and has been mostly superseded by the TS101). Also no display/easy temperature adjustment is a deal breaker for me as I (and many hobbyists) also use them for inserting threaded inserts into 3D prints which needs a much lower temperature (agreed though that a button lock on many irons would be handy).
I think it is a great start for their first try, but the thermal issue is nuts. I hope it is just the actual tips being used since it should be easy for them to make a version 2. In general everything else about it is pretty good. Would have liked to see that knob and button being used in your video, so we could have seen what settings were available. One thing i am a bit scared about is the occidental bump the table, powers on the iron situration. I know from using my Weller WXMP it happens a lot unless you tweak the sensitivity. Also where is the "Soldering iron on the silicone cable" that you always do? Looking forward to somebody making some sort of adapter for it to support other tips. Would have been a way smarter choice to make it compatible with for example the TS80 tips. I also do agree with the others, you seem very overhyped. If it was a whole other vendor you would have gone nuts over the thermal issue for that price.
I suspect they just need to tweak the firmware a bit. Other early releases of USB irons have had similar issues and got fixed over time. Damn, you are right, I didn't actually film me using the knob, d'oh! Why did I not realise that during editing? And yep, completely forgot to try a cable burn test. I must have been having a bad day.
I feel it's a bit on the expensive price, at least, the aussie pricing is. The idea is to empower regular people to repair their own stuff, at the aussie price, it's basically sitting in the enthusiast pricerange. Drop the price by 200 and the product will start entering the amateur likely to repair a product once every few months at most.
I have a little "no-name" brand soldering station powered by a DeWalt tool battery. Digital control, OLED screen, replaceable iron tip, etc it isn't bad. It gets up to >800 degrees F and the batteries I know can output at least 100w. But I like this little soldering station as well. If I didn't already have the one I have.
The quality looks pretty good, but the 250 Yankee bucks price seems high, especially in light of the shortcomings of the tip performance. When I do field work, I’ve never tried to replace an SMD component. Probably 80% is relatively heavy work on connectors and the like. If I have to board repairs, I mostly do them on the bench under well controlled conditions. I might get interested if ifixit adds some higher capacity tips to their lineup.
I think all the criticism towards this review stems from iFixit's waning trust with their audience. Whether it be hostile business posturing towards a company that now makes a competing product, or the CEO having direct communications and input on the opinions of a reviewer likely to have huge influence on new product reception before the review is posted, they're not passing the sniff test anymore.
Seems to be a common problem with these "smart" irons that the display is programmed to show what they believe the user wants to see instead of the reality. They want to create an illusion of lightning fast warmup and rock solid temperature stability because that's what they advertise. Of course there's also the problem of the sensor being at the heating element away from the actual tip which causes the adjustment to lag as the temperature of the tip falls faster and rises slower than that of the sensor. A high capacity tip reduces these problems as it has more thermal mass and less thermal resistance so it's slower to cool and faster to heat which makes it easier to maintain temperature.
True, but if you want a really good iron you don't want that high capacity tip, it slows the feedback from the end of the tip back to the sensor. JBC kind of hacks their way around this by allowing the tip to overshoot.
UPDATE: There are quite a few comments criticising my review. I have done a 2nd channel video explaining.
th-cam.com/video/5vbg8QEZXfY/w-d-xo.html
Also, the battery terminals being close to the case is not a thing, I was wrong about that, see the update video.
The biggest gripe is that this product does not meet it's 100W specification, not even close. I showed and explained this MULTIPLE TIMES in the video. I went to quite some effot to show and explain this, yet some people are still not happy that I can still like the product. If you are expecting the 100W capability as claimed then *DO NOT BUY THIS IRON* Can I be any clearer?
Dave, no one is upset that you like this product. It's okay to like a product that has shortcomings. What is not okay is supporting and promoting a company and product that is being sold with blatantly false specifications and advertising. No matter how "likeable" a product is, no reviewer should EVER condone a company blatantly lying to customers about the specifications of a product. And yes, "recommending" something that doesn't even come anywhere close to its specifications is condoning that company and product.
iFixit, a reputable and respectable company should NOT get a free pass to blatantly lie about specifications. Such anti-consumer behavior should ESPECIALLY not be tolerated by a "pro-consumer" company like iFixit.
@@AmericanLocomotive1 yeah, they should bring the number down to what it actually is. ad then 10w less, for headroom! they should also make mains version, and make it CHEAP. because for that money you can buy better irons.
edit: forget price objection, iron without station should suffice.
@@AmericanLocomotive1 I do not "condone" bad marketing, I called them out for it MULTIPLE TIMES!
I PINNED this comment.
I did a whole 2nd channel video DOING MORE TESTING showing how it doesn't meet the 100W marketing claims. What more do you want me to do?
Don't answer that question, I know what you want me to do, you want me to give it thumbs down and scream to the high heavens what a horrible company iFixit is. No, I will not, I've been doing reviews and ratings like this for close to 15 years. This isn't the first time and it won't be the last time people will complain about my rating. Sorry but you just have to deal with that.
@@EEVblog Nobody wants you to scream that iFixit is a horrible company. People want you to be a responsible reviewer, and properly call them out for misleading and false advertising. Saying you give a product a "thumbs up" and recommend it despite it not getting anywhere close to its specifications IS condoning anti-consumer behavior. You are telling your audience that you are okay with this product and its marketing.
A good company like iFixit can do a bad thing - they should be held accountable and be properly called out for that specific action. It's not hard to say "I do not recommend this product until iFixit either fixes the problem with its output, or changes their marketing to reflect its actual power output". Imagine if Apple marketed a laptop as having 16GB RAM, but it only came with 8GB? How could ANY reviewer in good conscience recommend that product - even if it did have many good attributes? Any responsibly reviewer would immediately call Apple out on something like that.
Look, ultimately, I don't care. It's your credibility that's going to take a hit - not mine.
@@AmericanLocomotive1 This.....Willing to bet that if this was Huawei or Xiaomi, Dave would have been ranting way past daylight about how these Chinese scumbags dare to claim 100 Watt output, while not meeting expectations.....So predictable.
I don't like that they felt to invent again a new soldering tip standard. This would be a much better product if they adapted it to JCB tips or TS100 tips (lots of soldering irons use those, not only the TS100) or something like that. Ideally, they'd put different irons on the market for different tip standards.
And inventing their own new soldering tip standard, and then not meeting the power claims.....for a €250 iron you'd expect more.
The design of the iron and powerbank is very nice though (assuming they solve that very close space to the internal contact points), it's nice that the top casing functions as a stand.
It's legally problematic to rip off other's standards...
Right. Apart from the portability, which might be really useful for some, I don't really see what else this offers over a, say, good old Weller station for comparable money.
@@Arek_R. Is it really? Pretty sure those types of connectors don't meet a high enough level of invention to be worth a patent. Any relevant patents for the heated tips are probably also long expired.
@@MarianKeller depends on where you ask. The inventor of the mouse to control our desktop PC was a german guy who did not get a patent cause it was too ordinary tech back in the 60. Later some american got it - in the USA, but not in europe.
@@typxxilps if that is true his submission and rejection would still be on file and he'd be able to be granted it later if another patent authority granted it.
I like the product as a whole, but the fact that it requires proprietary tips and does not perform well at all are two things that are hard to forgive. I get the sense that they really had to rush this out, and that they are going to be paying dearly for that rush to market. A good product in two months is worth a lot more for your brand image than a bad product now.
All popular tips are owned by Hakko, they probably didn't wanted to pay royalties or Hakko said no.
That is my thinking as well. One has to get things right on the release of a product.
From the review, it performs well except on things that require a larger tip with more thermal mass. The temperature lags compared to the readout, but actual soldering is fine.
@@Mikeydude001
For me not getting the claimed power into the tip is a deal breaker. It doesn't matter if I don't need it most of the time. If I buy an 100W soldering station, I expect it to deliver 100W when needed. From the measured numbers (and not only those but also the non-sizzling water) it looks more like a 40W station.
@@Melamamoduro I mean this genuinely, the only way to get past Hakko is to pay them homage. No company will reach the level of a Japanese company like Hakko without learning some respect, replicating their advances and reliability, and becoming excellent. If that means paying more to adopt a golden standard like Hakko tips, it has to be done. Otherwise you're just another non-Hakko brand that I don't care about.
Dave, I've been watching EEVblog for over 10 years, and I've always appreciated how you weren't afraid to trash review items sent in for free. However this product has some major issues you glosses over.
You absolutely TRASHED the previous iron you reviewed for lying about temperature, lying about maximum delivered power, and having poor thermal design.
This iron has ALL of those exact same flaws, yet you give it a pass. In the comments you said that iFixit claims not all tips can deliver 100w, when the tip in your review iron has 100w printed right on it! You could barely get HALF its rated power!
Yes it's built well, yes it's built by a reputeable company, yes it's repairable - but none of that excuses the poor performance and outright marketing lies.
This review is seriously not objective, and you're rightfully being called out in the comments by many.
100%. I like supporting small, western businesses. But this a very unfair review compared with the Quick.
This is something that has always slightly put me off a channel I should otherwise love. I don't feel like a lot of the strong opinions thrown around are fully justified or even consistent enough for someone with such a large influence. For example, as funny as it is to hear something described as being as solid as an outside toilet, if that description is applied only because of the brand name stamped on it, as it often is here, we're not approaching things objectively enough.
Yeahh, he trashed on the other soldering station for only coming with a brass wool, yet for this one which doesn't come with any, he said he'd like having at least a brass wool
dude can't make up his mind
The Quick has a bad stand (for a bench iron), this has a decent one (for a portable).
The Quick has no live display, this one does, but perhaps has an issue related to the thermal PID.
The Quick power display never goes to 100%, this one does.
The Quick setback sensor didn't work at all, the iFixit works perfectly.
The Quick is designed as a benchtop station and doesn't have enough suitable tips. The iFixit is a portable iron and also needs some more tips.
The Quick struggled to do basic soldering tasks, the iFixit performed them easily and repeatably. It was only "poor" on really big joint compared to a 130W high capacity tip JBC.
One is a bench iron and I judged it as such, the other is a portable iron and I judged it as such. They are not equivalent and neither are the expectations. To flipantly compare the two reviews like you did is a mistake.
I didn't "gloss over" the thermal capacity issue, in fact I did the opposite, I went to a lot of trouble to include and investigate a potential thermal PID issue.
I mentiond several times the lack of high capacity tips. I did several different test demonstrating all this, the complete opposite of "gloss over".
Basically I went to a lot of effort to point out the negative things in this review, yet somehow I'm biased?
Bottom line is my conclusion is I *LIKE* this iron for various resons and will actually use it for it's intended purpose, it's going to replace my TS80 as my portable.
I don't like the Quick and I would not use it, it won't be replacing anything, I'd rather use my 30 year old ancient Hakko 926.
For a product I actually LIKE and will USE, am I'm suposed to give it a thumbs down?
But you are correct about the 100W printed on the tip, I doesn't seem to be able to deliver that into a joint. Again, another thing I actually SHOWED instead of hid. And they should be rightfully called out for that. Do you know how easy it would be for me to hide the issues I found? But no, I didn't hide them, I showed them so you can make up your own mind if it's going to suit your needs.
@@Psyden5757 The Quick is a BENCH iron, the iFitit is a PORTABLE iron, the expectations for the stands are different. For the iFixit I was suggesting they might consider a bench stand option for those that do more bench work than portable. I don't expect a portable iron to come with a proper bench stand. And the iFixit, for a portable iron, is a very good stand.
Circuit diagrams too, that is absolutely brilliant ! I wish more manufacturers did that.
I would expect nothing less from a company that sells parts to facilitate repair of 3rd party repair. It would be hypocritical of them not to include every measure to encourage repair. Takes you back to when circuit diagrams were available for most consumer electronics.
They used to. My HP 10529A and B&K Precision Model 552 logic comparators came with schematics, and it was standard for arcade games in the 1980s to have them in the operator's manual - Atari were good for that, and I've got _Gauntlet_ and _Asteroids Deluxe_ to hand here.
13:00 did you notice it says "Do not open" 🤔
The water + power meter test is the key here.
50w momentary PEAK out of a 100w advertised power delivery. 👎
iFixit told me the current small tip designs available are not capable of the full 100W. They will be working on some higher capacity ones.
@@EEVblog Then advertise, brand and sell it as (what it actually currently, at the time of sale+ purchase, IS ) a 30W iron, for 270 bucks
Edit: I forgot we are in 2024 and this is the Early Access period; the 100W is a paid DLC for next year. My bad. 7/10
The only available/compatible tips do not deliver the advertised wattage!
The price tag is for that extra USB slot and overall convenience. Think of all the stripboard you could buy instead.
@@EEVblog But the tip has 100W written on it and the product page says "This tip is constructed to withstand 100W power output"
@@IcecalGamer Exactly
Nice case study article over at Intercreate about the design project including the ups and downs experienced throughout the whole process.
Regards the cost, I was thinking it was expensive at first but I think that’s because we are spoiled with cheap Chinese products, and I think this is trying hard to be better than that. Best of luck to them.
Nope, the price is on the high side. An electricians best friend, a Weller butane gas soldering iron costs about 70€. That's what you compete against in the blue collar sector (at least in my country).
You can manufacture it wherever you want i.e. put IC's on PCBs etc......but it's the design and control that matters, the results of which actually end up in the users hands.....IMHO.
Have a look over at Intercreate and have a browse around.
it is expensive. it's a luxury range product for an iron and luxury range as power bank. it's not like ugreen etc didn't spend a lot on rnd.
they do have the branding on their side to sell it though, but generally on the market you need to be better but not multiples in cost. i do have a wtf question about their marketing specs though, Dual-port 55 watt-hour power station, 8 hours of soldering without recharging, 100W 17v tip - and with which usb banks can you use if you just buy the iron? 20V 5 amp pd ones?
like, they can publish all the case studies about why it was expensive to design and manufacture but that doesn't really change the reality for the consumer of it being a luxury priced product which shouldn't have deficiencies of any sort say with the temperature sensors etc. it's not a niche product where you can put significant amount of the design and engineering into the price and significant parts of the rnd wouldn't be something they're doing inhouse(the factory for the tips being same as for others etc)
@@lasskinn474 And just like any product the market will decide if it's a success or failure at the price point. I'm looking forward to getting some higher capacity tips for it, they said they are looking into it.
That s right but on some facilities you need a hot work permit for using a gas soldering iron . To get one of this takes lot of time , so the USB powered soldering irons have a big advantage in these cases
I asked them if the tips are compatible with something and this was there response :" We looked hard at utilizing some of the existing tips out there. Unfortunately those tips aren't rated for the full 100 Watts of power that we're putting out, so being compatible with some of these legacy tips could be pretty dangerous". which is of course BS the JBC C245 tips are rated at 130W...
well, neither is the tip they designed. they pulled a sony with proprietary storage.
Apparently the small tips can not even deliver 100w as it is.
That must be the marketing department. Kyle himself told me and I quote: "It really can be a challenge to conduct the full 100W with the small tip we sent you."
@@EEVblog Printing 100W all over the product and those tips somehow wasnt all that challenging tho :(
@@EEVblog chould be, the response was from the ifixit instagram page. And I do not know who is behind that. Either way i find it a bummer that the tips are proprietary...
As an amateur/novice, this comes across as both super friendly and yet not pandering to a lowest common denominator - love iFixit!!
Admittedly I haven't finished the video yet, but one thing you seemingly didn't mention in the teardown is the fact that the battery pack looks to be made out of 18650 cells, meaning you can actually rebuild the pack relatively easily yourself if you have to! I was honestly expecting something like a thick LiPo battery in there, but no!
That's yet another thumbs up!
I loved to see that too!
I saw that, but I also noticed it seems to be a 3S2P pack with no balancing connector?
But that's one of the main reasons this thing doesn't meet it's own specifications. It's supposed to deliver up to 100 watts in power but since it's using cheap off the shelf 18650 cells instead of a better power source. There's nothing to thumbs up for.
@@sarcomakaposi2054 If is not possible to have both, I would prefer to sacrifice a bit of performance if necessary if it means significantly better repairability in the long run, but that's just my opinion of course
@@redpheonix1000 i doubt the power limitation is linked to the 18650cells. plenty of affordable models w/ high amperage discharge on the market. i think i've used 30A 18650cells for a few power tool batt packs a few yrs ago.
>$250
>non-standard tip
i'll stick to my t12. but some nice design decisions, i like the holder on the case and usb connector looks nice too. really like handle with usb interface. but i'll stick to my t12 for now, thanks.
Honestly kind of a disappointment. It doesn't give that much more capabilities compared to existing products. Hell, if you want a desk iron the JBC BT2 is cheaper (in europe, 260 euro vs 270 euro) and has similar capabilities to the CD-2 station shown in the video (which has a fancy screen). The only advantage the iFixit provides is portability, but if you want that a TS80/245/pinecil or dozens of other similar irons + battery bank provide the exact same solution for a MUCH Lower price.
Although I have to say big thumbs up for the repair-ability, schematics and all that. Thats definitely a good reason to buy it.
Yeah, the Weidinger Edition is great, but with a tip it's closer to 300€ after taxes.
The iFitit is designed to be a portable iron, so tryign to compare to any bench iron isn't fair IMO. But yes, as I mentioned, other irons provide way better bang-per-buck.
@@EEVblog That's fair enough. Perhaps I didn't articulate my point quite well. It wasn't meant as criticism of the video itself, rather the product.
I approached this from the perspective of a consumer, who has ~300 euro to spend on an iron. Many people buy a 'portable' iron but just use it for bench use. What would discern this soldering iron from its competition? Thus considering either use case, a truly portable iron or a bench use one, in neither category it jumps out.
In my eyes, for a product to be successful it has to: a - be cheaper than competition b - do things better than the competition or c - do something no one else is doing
This product really doesn't do any of those.
All things considered it has a fairly steep price they ask considering what it brings to the (portable) table.
I was also evaluating the JBC BT2, the problem is that the JBC tips are very expensive, could the I-CON NANO MK2 be an alternative ? The NANO MK2 has only 80 watts unfortunately.
@@CanaleTH-camGeneralista I have actually tried that particular iron. Its a great little unit, especially for SMT work, the handle is very comfortable in the hand and super lightweight, almost like holding a pen. But just like you probably expected, totally inept for use on large ground planes.
More important than the wattage, I believe the nano is not a modern 'cartridge' type iron, rather the 'traditional' kind with heating element and thermocouple in the handle itself and a separate replaceable tip.
I would not describe iFixIt tools as "extremely good" the screwdriver set I have from them is about on par with what you can get from a dollar store.
Yep, the changeable tips doesn't feel precise enough on mine. They are pretty loose and jiggle around quite a lot when fitted. If it wasn't magnetic, they would fall right out. Also, the finish on some of the tips started to chip after only a few times of use on tighter screws.
Nevertheless, it gets the job done. The case quality feels very nice though.
"I love the fact it has a knob on it!" ~Dave
There aren’t many cases where you’d want this over a Pincecil and a common power bank for a quarter of the price. A hundred watts over its seventy isn’t too big of a deal, the rest looks to be ergonomics and its otherwise more convenient form-factor. Most of the quality of life changes could be forwarded to the Pinecil without too much difficulty.
Still waiting for the 200W XT60 lipo-powered T245 iron.
Pinecil v2 is rated for 88w, with unofficial support for 28v which will push over 100w.
Tip: pinecil v2 has Bluetooth support, update the firmware then Google
"joric pinecil Bluetooth client"
It is a webui that allows you to see power usage, temp, and it allows you to change the set temp
Tip: pinecil v2 has Bluetooth support, update the firmware
joric pinecil Bluetooth client
It is a webui that allows you to see power usage, temp, and it allows you to change the set temp
Missed a trick with the encoder by making a flex PCB with some through hole pads at the encoder, and then a flex socket on the board to accept the flex. Probably cheaper than having somebody soldering 5 wires to each pot, and then into the board. You could even make a bespoke PCB to still fit the existing board, using pins.
I thought it’s probably just the prototype, I can’t see the production unit having the wires. Could be wrong though.
@@IanScottJohnston Yeah, I wouldn't rule out this changing.
I'd figure a separate "front panel PCB" just for the pot, a couple of XH2.5 connectors and a cable between them - all standard parts sans the PCB - would be even cheaper than making a flex, so here's some room for improvement :P
Is it the same kind of rubberized plastic that gets sticky in just a couple of years?
I hate those things.... especially on tools you don't use everyday. I have some multimeter-cases that are like glue or soldering-iron that on the start looked nice but now are terrible to use.
But nice to see Dave all wind-up over a soldering-tool again!
I don't know what type of rubber it is. iFixit will probbaly tell you if you ask.
Whcih rubber are you refering to?
the small fingerarea?.. that is likely just standard silicone/rubber
I did not see any part that had that infamous velvetcoating that tend to degrade over time and often after like 5 years, into its petroleum component substances.
Would have hoped by now. that the modern products that still are using that rubberized coating, have changed formula, so we don't see this degrading where it turns into a sticky mess.
Didnt see any on this Ifixit iron that had it..powerbank seem to be mostly anodized.
Take a bit of baking soda, add a bit of water (you want a consistency of toothpaste) and then rub the rubber with it, let it dry, clean it off. Always worked for me. Some also seem to use gasoline instead, but haven't tried that yet.
@@Smaxx Just wanted to give the same advice. Baking soda is perfect for getting rid of those soft touch surfaces.
Even "repaired" a 25 year old SLR that way.
Who is this for? RC people? The price of this thing seems a bit steep to me.
With a sample size of exactly 1 the solder tips and thermal performance don't seem amazing, and I think that is the most important part of a soldering iron. Unfortunate, but they will have to work on that before anything else.
I'm not sure if it was broken right out of the box, as you did seem to do some testing (7ish min mark) before taking it apart, or if that happened by taking it apart?
Yeah, for the price I expect something close to a JBC.
Just to touch on your question of "Who is this for?" I personally use a TS100 and a DIY adaptor to cordless tool batteries for audio/lighting system installs in commercial properties. Making up custom XLR/DMX cables 15ft up a ladder is much simpler not having to drag an extension cord around, just slip a battery in a pocket and off you go! Also helps for quick automotive electrical harness repairs here and there.
@@Wiresgalore Yes, but it has few, if any, advantages over other portable soldering systems. If portability is important there are numerous more portable competitors for a fraction of the price. The overall performance isn't impressive either and the tips are proprietary and more expensive than on other models, which is a bit ironic for a company that knocks Apple for using expensive and proprietary parts. At least Apple delivers on performance.
I'd say it's for mobile phone repair people on the go, not RC people. RC people usually want huge tips for doing big high current capacity connectors etc.
@@EEVblog For mobile repair, you need better temperature accuracy, stability and responsiveness, especially at the very tippity-tip. The Aixun stations are a no brainer for SMD work.
The power may be modulated at a higher frequency than the current meter can show without aliasing. So maybe that's why it jumps over the place.
Possible.
$250, no thanks. Dreaming!
At that price it better do the soldering for me... I agree, no thanks.
Temperature can be changed when you're either connected to the power bank or a pc by the way
NOTHING will beat the pine 64 pencil for 25$
Pinecil also had its fair share of PID problems when it was new so it'll probably improve with newer firmware versions.
Tho, I would probably still prefer something like pinecil and a chonker power pack tho. This is too expensive for what it currently does.
Please, the pinecil costs $50 (when you include shipping)
$25 is the price if you go to the factory and steal one and leave behind a banger and a 5 out of courtesy
Edit: People, if you hit add to cart and look at the total cost it will be double the listed price for the item
60€ last I checked in Europe as they got a 2 year warranty 😅
Outside Chinese T12 pens for
Can confirm.
You know you're down under when the pop section tops off
Lets be real, If it would be any other company you would say it a piece of s... Inaccuracy , not delivering power when most needed, you can only set the temp by connecting it to a computer (wtf) if you don't buy the overpriced station for the overpriced iron.
I like the fact that it doesn't have controls I can bump. If I'm using a portable iron I usually don't want to change the temp. YMMV, in which case buy another tool, plenty of them out there, and cheaper. It had no problem with any of the joints I tried that were suitable for that small tip.
What is the dial for on the front?
@@EEVblog They should have made the battery pack & station 2 components, Battery powered is a bit overrated, a stand-alone station could be powered from USB or a laptop power supply. Not being able to change the temperature is just weird.
What a strange design. Might as well paint it white and slap an Apple logo on it. 350 degrees is enough for everyone!
@@EEVblog can't you just set "buttons lock" on any iron with buttons control? set temperature, hit "lock", thats all. And you can change temperature easily if needed.
Yup this guy is biased
After watching the video, my favorite feature BY FAR is the tip cover. If I could stick my ts100 in my pocket I would. This next one may be controversial, but I actually prefer a non-locking connector. I'd rather drop the iron, have it disconnect from the cable, maybe ruin a tip when it hits the floor, and cool down rather than pull the whole cable with it and burn a hole in something. I can see the other side, though, because you could always drop the hot tip on yourself 😅
The iron is not going to cool down before it hits the floor. Plugged in or not, it's going to leave a big burn in the carpet.
I 3d printed a Milwaukee M12 adapter for my Pencil iron. Been using it for 2 years. Is extremely usefull for onsite repairs.
More expensive, lies about the temperature, doesn't perform thermally. The things you need in soldering iron, you know. Unless fixable by the firmware I see no reason to change from ts 80.
If you already have a TS80 and it's working for you then no need to get anything else.
@@EEVblogsure, but if you have NO iron, why get this instead of a ts80/100 or pinecil?
Thanks for the review! I might stick with the Pinecil V2 and a powerbank. The footprint seems smaller and the powerbank can be shoved in a pocket to keep a phone fully charged when traveling.
Every electronics company and his dog seems to be jumping on the smart soldering iron bandwagon.
I'm trying to wrap my head around how ifixit can justify 3x the price. But 3x compared to what? AU$100 doesn't get you much from Bunnings in terms of portable temperature controlled soldering irons with a battery pack. You can get a portable battery powered soldering iron for AU$104 WITHOUT temperature control, or you could get a temperature controlled soldering station with AC input for your desk for AU$106 WITHOUT portability.
There seems to be a gap in the local market for a neat package like the FixHub (i.e. a portable temperature controlled soldering iron and a battery pack).
But the average person may just buy a AU$30 soldering iron that plugs directly into a wall socket.
Is the FixHub just for people with Gear Acquisition Syndrome?
If you arleady have a pinecil and it does what you want then no need to change really. One thing I liked about it that I mentioned is that it doesn't have an annoying screen and buttons on the iron itself, I like that it just plugs in to any battery and goes. As always, the market will determine the success or failure at the price point.
@@EEVblog I agree screens on the iron are annoying but IMO since it’s supposed to be a portable thing it would be much better than having to plug it in a desktop computer.
It seems to me iFixit tried to design a portable iron but at the same time wanted to compete with bench ones, leading to a beautiful product that unfortunately doesn’t excel in neither categories
You can buy a power station with a 600w AC outlet for $200, then plug in a $50 soldering iron.
@@ionstorm66You can even get a plugin pencil iron with temperature control on the iron (With a dial.) for around the same price or less. Though, it's admittedly not the best.
Or people like me who don't quite have enough time or knowhow to really be sure about which product to buy, and are happy to pay more money for it to "just work". I feel like Australia is also in an odd spot where shops like jaycar and altronics only sell their homebrand irons, that aren't the greatest quality. I bought the top of the line iron from Altronics a few years ago when my $30 one broke and I thought "time to invest in a good iron". But it's mediocre at best. And it doesn't have a default temperature so I struggled for a good year with it being to low. I Googled what I should set it to and found lots of people saying "it depends on the melting point of your solder". So I set it to 10 or 20 degrees above that. Sometimes I'd raise it up to 300 c thinking "this is a bit naughty, but I'm sick of it not working". I'm only just finding out through this video that I probably should have it set to 350 degrees.
That 1 page cheat sheet where it tells you the right temp for lead and lead free solder is worth the $500 alone. I've done electronics in high school, one class at uni, and watch eevblog for over 5 years. Yet I've still made this blunder. The price tag would be worth it for me to get an iron that doesn't trick me into making dumb mistakes, and wasting years of my life thinking I'm bad at soldering.
Also I hope that this does get stocked in aussie stores. Even with its major flaws and borderline false advertising around wattage, I'd love to buy one with an Australian consumer law warranty.
You have to finally try TS101 & TS100 with IronOS (open source firmware) which makes these soldering irons extremely good, IMHO superior to iFixIt and much more betterer!!
IronOS supports 2 modes of buttons locking: allowing boost & full lock, while maintaining full functionality, so you can't complain about buttons there.
The only thing IronOS lacks at this point on TS101 is ability to use 100% of larger screen and currently uses ~2/3rds, which is fine.
I personally have (for both) a very nice silicone USB-C to DC barrel jack cable with integrated PD 20V which is more than enough for mobile use but TS101 works fine up to 30V and supports 28V PD so it would be a very nice review to see.
I forgot i had ironOS! The boost functionality is the most important thing to me, I love heating up a whole area to a low temp and then holding a button for 2 seconds- solders perfectly! I use the flexible cable from an old macbook charger, the old "magsafe" ones
Certainly better than the Fnirsi HS-01, and those cost like 50$ today. Mine was worthless, the temperature indicator is all over the place, takes forever to heat up, incompatible with most chargers and is just how-ya-doing. I hope iFixit gets the birth-bugs ironed out because I love the fact the display has been put on the station itself and that it's entirely open with schematics and all.
Don't buy anything that does not use C210 or C245 tips, everything else is second rate in comparison.
Some of these comments are far to serious,its a soldering station...also been a subscriber for almost 10 years.
Dave is a dam legend for sharing his vast experience and knowledge with us 😊
Hi, David, this video was a nice comparison review of JBC. I've never used JBC, but now I'm sold on it :)
Seems unnecessary/over priced. In what way is this any better than a TS100 and a USB PD power bank?
100W vs 65W, 5.3Ah vs ie.10Ah, USB-C with strain relief vs USB-C without strain relief or barrel jack that doesn't need one.
FixHub = $250 vs TS101+Power bank (65W 10Ah ) ~= $85.
I'd say FixHub it's totally not worth it.
@@dv5809 ts100 can run off other sources like a lipo battery, car 12v... too!
Save some money by getting an equally sized power bank, a Pinecil v2, the complete tip set, the official silicone USB-C cable, a portable folding stand with brass wool and tons of solder. might even be the same overall packing size.
@@dv5809 lets not forget this is a 30 watt iron with a 1 sec peak of 50watts
so in that case the ts100 is a wayyyyy better deal
So it's not just "chicken dinner", but a "chick AND dinner" :) Dave, you're openning a whole new level to this saying.
chick'n'dinner in short XD
The lack of screen and temp control on the iron isn't "simplistic", it's designed to sell the power pack. It's cynical.
In that case why bothering in having a page to control the iron if you just buy the tip?
I think having that and all the diagrams, 3D files and support is worth the price
Nice little portable iron to have around
Never had the issue with the TS100 that I randomly press buttons. Having the buttons and screen makes it a lot more useful in the field.
@@Beredro
I've never had that issue with my Pinecil either. Just like the TS I can plug it into just about any source and get to work.
@@robertobrenes5283 i use 2-3 temp presets on my small irons to accommodate small gauge insulated wires, especially in tight spaces where i can't be super quick.
one can tin a thin cable w/ a 400C tip by adjusting the 'dwell time' but in a tight space you're lucky if you don't damage insulation in 2 sec @ 330C.
The battery contacts that you were concerned about actually aren't near the metal case, they resided in the plastic end cap.
That's true, but he still has a very valid concern about if you connect the battery before sliding the PCB assembly into the case.
@@HwAoRrDk Indeed. Which maybe you're not SUPPOSED to do, but you have to consider end users doing stuff like that. So that needs to be fixed.
Seeing your concern about the battery terminals being close to the casing, to me when its assembled the terminals are within the plastic end cap and unlikely to short
Yep, I think that might be the case, I might be wrong on that.
Cool little station. The thermal design could be better indeed, it's just wrong that it reports full heat up in 4 secs but it's not even there. Pity that it doesn't use T12 tips that are far more widespread and there's no risk you're left with nothing if the manufacturer discontinues them.
I love the T12 tips. My iron is battery powered with a Milwaukee M18 battery and is great for power and portability. Maybe not quite as pretty as the ifixit iron but I'd argue more functional. Also cheaper tips and not locked to one manufacture are important. Also I can adjust all my irons functions without a computer and swap batteries as needed to never be interrupted. The ifixit iron is a good idea but fell a bit short.
Great review Dave. But idk, I think I'll stick to my $40 chinese Quicko T12-952. It's 6 times cheaper, uses standard T12 Hakko tips, can be powered either from AC or any external DC power source (20V drill akupacks etc.), has much more settings in the menu and most importantly - it WORKS.
Both of my Quicko T12-952 are 5 years old. Never fail me.
Dave's voice reminds me of a late night infomercial. Sham-wow.
um . . . ok . . . i guess?
but what about the video? did dave provide you with enough information to make an informed decision as to a potential purchase?
@@RobertoCarlos-tn1iq O yea, Dave's good I just like to give him a hard time. No worries.😁
I'll Definitely look into one.
The C plugs a bit on the light and wobbly side for actual work, despite the screw cap. And there really should be three temperature presets. Battery life and replacement is the same misery as always. This thing looks more like a gimmick but OK if someone actually does mobile work on location and don't mind overspending.
Thanks for the review, Dave. You covered all the pertinent information, and answered questions I had as soon as I got the announcement from iFixit.
It looks like it would work just fine, and I appreciate the design choices of having the battery bank double as a stand and the control panel and incorporating strain relief in on the iron.
If the combo were priced around $150US, I'd even seriously consider buying it. However, at this price, I can't justify it. The price for just the iron isn't bad, but having to use a PC to set the temp is a non-starter. Even assuming they make it possible to use a phone to configure it, it still doesn't fly in my book.
I've been looking for weeks for a legit iron. I'm sick to death of soldering iron equivalents of the 6800mAh 18650. :(
So I just bought a Pace ST25 with a PS-90 iron. I'm pretty sure they'll nail the multilayer thru-hole boards w/ internal ground planes that I'm dealing with. Many thanks to the chap who mentioned Pace!
They could have saved some mould design and manufacture cost by designing that plastic sled differently.
This is obviously still in the prototype phase. Really like the approach of providing the documentation to allow easy repair and battery replacement before tossing it in the landfill. Nice to see if the base or iron goes bad the other part can be reused. I get the feeling this is a demonstration design to incorporate the beliefs of ifixit. The quality of the parts is good, reflected in the price
This iron was available for sale the day after Dave got his review done, he said so in the video. I assumed this was a prototype until he said it was for sale right now.
That JBS iron is a beast. Amazing temp control and power!
Not in the market for another portable soldering iron. However I purchased a USB iron several years ago forget if it was recommended by EEVblog or BigClive and was surprised it actually works. Only used it a few times but nice bit of kit.
I'm the type who'd buy this Ifixit iron, for the home-lab and keep my TS80 soldering on-the-go. But, this is just because the battery I use with my TS80 is hardly 2x3 inches. So I just shove it in my pocket. Plug the iron in, got it set to automatically turn on to 320C ( screen broke ages ago ) so I never use the buttons. and I can go crawl into awkward spaces like carts and solder wires behind panels and such with the battery simply in the pocket. The Ifixit it one though is looking good to me for living on my bench. Will fit in great with all the other little power supplies and stuff on the shelf. Great review though! Something to consider now xD
Put an "O" ring around the handle, in the groove, to provide a stop for your hand to stop it slipping onto the iron and suffering a burn.
I love that they are trying to get into this market, but the market is already flooded with actually good cheap soldering stations. I've used a KSGER T12 for over 5 years now, with the additional 10 tips i bought it was a total of around 50€. It's 75W, but more than enough for what i've used it. They also sell a portable version that uses batteries from power tools to power it, you can get that + 2 batteries with quite a few more goodies for about the same price if not even less than the ifixit machine (or if you're tech savvy enough, make your own portable battery with fast charging, it accepts from 12-24v so you've got options)
I am glad they are breaking through into this market, but price wise, they have a bit to go.
350$ CAD, it's not an iFixIt, it's an iFuxIt, Who in their right minds would pay that much for a portable soldering iron.
Someone who needs a good (if it gets there) portable soldering iron. People pay thousands for desktop stations.
I would, if it were any good. But it's not, apart from maybe the visual design / consistency, it holds nothing over Pinecil v2 + a hefty USB-C powerbank while asking 3-4x the price.
You can't even adjust the temperature on this thing lmao
@@sarcomakaposi2054 lmao! As they say, there is a sucker born every minute, They will flood TH-cam with it and they will sell more than we would like to admit.
This was a massive fail, with a ridiculous price to boot. Intentional anti-consumer choice creating a proprietary tip from the ‘right to repair’ company!
Now the question is, can you plug two of those irons in and still set them with the display? Then you can have a very nice portable station with fine and thick tip with no swapping - getting around the thermal couple limitation a bit.
But if the cap is smoking after some use, maybe it’s not a great idea.
Probably as the majority, I will stick with my pinecil for now. Other than being a neat and cool package, this doesn’t seem to have that much going for it at the moment.
Nice little solder station. The price point is a bit high for what it is imho.
Nice that you pointed out the issue with solder points near the case.
You wouldn't want to solder all day long with something like that, but rather have in your drawer at home or in your tools case for on the go. When you have to solder some wires on, fix a connector, etc. you bust this out and do it on your coffee table (when wife doesn't see it), and don't have to search for a plug when on field service.
However, at this price I currently do not see the advantage over using like a ts 80, a pinecil, or similar with a powerbank.
Yes, it's a high price point that will not be for everyone.
Still got my old dremel propane soldering iron for mobile use.
But I love my JBC.
Once you got a JBC, it feels like your journey has come to an end.
Thank you Dave, I side with the other commenters. Actually need a portable soldering iron so I was very curious, but the custom tips and the price are dealbreakers. Should be 100$ less and use C245 tips. No need to reinvent the wheel (and I have a JBC at home, so would love to reuse them.)
Long time viewer here, long time lurker. You've taught me a great deal, Dave, but I will say this: this review lead me to cancel my preorder of this iron.
It looks like a *lot* of trouble you went through, thermal characteristics are off, proprietary tips, and during the actual teardown of the battery bank itself, both me and my dad were cringing pretty hard at the EE/ID of those battery terminals. No fusing, no polarization of the connector, and the lack of mechanical allowances for those internal terminal solder joints make it a hard pass from me. Great that it's repairable, but that's a dang dangerous thing to have short to chassis like that. For that alone I can't go through with the order, I'm afraid.
Have you looked at the JBC B iron yet as a comparison point?
Before I even watch this video I want to just get my chuckle in and say this is a rip off when cheap t12 stations and pinecil exist. It doesn’t even do anything crazy. A joke. Okay anyway
Forgot to mention you can’t change the temp without plugging it into a pc without the base! LMFAO!!!
@@JustTryGambling I actually like that the iron has not screen or buttons, it's different to the other irons on the market. It doesn't sound this one is for you, so just buy somethign else. As always, YMMV.
@@EEVblog As someone who only uses the boost mode on my station and never change temperatures, I prefer this way of doing it. Very distraction free. And I heard this one is supposed to auto-boost when detecting a need for it.
So unless you're someone who genuinely needs to change temperatures often, it's not a big deal.
It's the same price as a JBC station, I'll take the JBC any day. For something more portable the Pinecil or the Aixun T380 are both better options using more common tip standards. I don't mind the buttons and display on my TS80P, I would mind not being able to set the tip temperature without PC (although I'm sure it can be done with a serial port utility on android phones)
T380 is OK, but doesn't include batteries, and is for the smaller handles.
Which is ironically what dave was saying this one is for (phone repairs, etc.). You don't want a monster handle like this for repairing phones.
"I'm gonna have a quiet minute in the corner"! Classic Dave quote. Lol
Thanks for the review! ... But, as someone doing both station and portable soldering all the time, this fits only a fairly narrow use case window.
It's not great as a portable solution - with TS-100 (and others) you don't need to even carry a power bank, because somebody around you will 90% have one. Or a charger. Or you probably have one for your phone. It's much more practical for an "EDC" use, and a built-in display/buttons are a reasonable compromise.
It's not good as a desktop station, because it lacks most things stations have - a sponge, a solder spool (or two), a flux pen, a non-precision stand, spare tips, desoldering wick, etc. ... It would IMHO be a great product if they chose to dedicate the space inside the "station" to all this (plus alcohol / water bottle storage), instead of a battery.
As it stands (or not), it just seems like a worse TS* experience (overall, I know button-less handle is nice on its own), .. with none of the desktop benefits.
The contrast with the last chinese iron video review is astonishing. Some of the same problems. But for one is real bad, and the other, oh you know, it is nice.
See my extensive reply to this exact same question elsewhare in the comments. You are comparing apples and oranges.
You are the only reviewer I really believe
and yet he passes this unit that cant even output half of its rated power for more then 1 sec
Dave you are being biased in this review. You should have reviewed it like you have received this product from a chinese manufacturer. Because for 250$ there are so much better options then this
I literally said it's not going to win any bang-per-buck awards. And I also said there are cheaper and better thermal options. Can't get less biased than that. Am I not still allowed to like a higher priced product?
They made the iron work independently of the station; $80 is a reasonable price, if I were in the market for one I'd get that, maybe even the station thingy to support iFixit cause they're cool.
I'm willing to bet there's gonna be community made stations, which would make this potentially a better deal as a bring your own powerbank option.
@@xhivo97 Independently? Not very much. You need to connect it to a PC each time you want to set anything like temperature on it. That makes it pretty absurd product then.
@@FrozenHaxor Supposedly this does some boosting in firmware if it detects a big sudden drop in temps, to keep up.
On my soldering station I've not changed the temperature once, just been using the boost when needed.
@@EEVblogno, u were way too forgiving with they way you went about the failures, i have watched you for many years and if this was any other company you would have been trashing this
Something like this would be totally ideal for my needs, dont solder much but when I do its usually oretty urgent. Sadly the cost prices it way outside of the range of someone like me. Hopefully it will come down soon.
"Here's a mailbag item I haven't opened yet." Proceeds to show the item out of the package. 🤣🤣
I know what you meant, it was just funny to me. 🙃
Given the way it's acting, I suspect the power delivery is working off an active PID, so it already knows what it needs to keep power up in the pen, so it doesn't actually need to boost the power to 100%, it's just doing enough to control it. The dead time (the lag between the sensor and tip) is giving them some issues though. Also, the smarts are in the iron, so the power bank is merely receiving the information given to it from the iron. My guess is the iron is working fast enough that the data given to the power bank is also lagging in some aspects.
So because I had my doubt about this product using again another bespoke tip system that doesn't seem to deliver, I did the same test Dave did with that cup of water and monitor the power, but then with my TS100 soldering iron (ralink firmware) and the standard supplied ts100 tip.
At 24V from my bench power supply (5A max), it beautifully stays between 2,85A and 3,09A (modulating every second, probably due to monitoring temperature).
So that means it stays continuously between 68,4W and 74.2W when putting the TS100 tip in water. The TS100 just delivers what it says. Actually more as it's sold as 65W @ 24V, but it's between 68W and 74W.
So as much as I like how this thing is build with all the aluminium etc (although there is no click on cleaner sponge which is a miss), the €270 price is just not justified.
A bespoke tip system that is expensive ($20 per tip compared to $5-10 per tip for a TS100 tip) and a tip system that also doesn't deliver what it says....that is a fail.
They should've gone with TS100 tips, or JBC tips or hakko tips or whatever. Ideally making different irons so that users can choose which tip system they'd prefer.
Of course Dave can't recommend anything TS100 related because of his negative review back in the day. That review was pathetic, as he didn't understand the how the stand clicks in etc....
I currently use a pinecil with a dewalt 6ah tool battery, with a 3d printed adaptor/stand. This looks like a very nice, much more refined version of my setup, and I love it. I may have to pick one of these up. If they could only make a usb-c powered hot air gun...
It's just not delivering the promised power when needed, so the firmware needs work, but it's nice to see a high quality product and the price is understandable considering they intend it to be a lifetime product. Many people spend more than this over time to buy new cheap stations every year of two.
However, it will still be a hard sell to many, including me, as there are now multiple USB-C options that only need a power bank to become just as portable as this and some of those even perform better in terms of tip power delivery.
Having something not relying on power cord would be certainly nice for occasional use when that power cord is drag, or possibly plain impossible.
But having pricy things just sitting around and especially "decaying" part isn't exactly enticing.
Batteries simply aren't lifetime purchases and just time degrades them.
Especially when lithium chemistry doesn't like sitting at high charge/cell voltage state, which accelerates aging/wear. (storage at full charge is for lead acid battery)
Firmware won't fix bad hardware, they need to fix the tip manufacturing quality.
My old mobile phone was very advanced - it actually has a soldering iron tip jack.
that boot issue was perhaps a safety feature triggered by those accidental battery terminal shorts, idk
Well designed iron. Well done.
I love my T12 mini with tips for $30.
No bang-for-buck reward, no thermal capacity reward, an unsafe construction, *and* it was broken on delivery. The one main thing going for it at this point is the openness of its design. Which I'm all for, but probably warrants an "early beta beware of dragons" notice. Looks like most of the issues are solvable on the next iteration, and I wouldn't hold the bang-for-buck against them at that point.
Nice, just been looking for a compact soldering station for my desk to play with electronics. It looks like a good alternative to Aixun T380 for me 🙂
I can see from afar the wagon of dissapointment hurling towards you.
@@sarcomakaposi2054 I get you, wrote the comment after watching first several minutes and later on, started reconsidering the idea and looking at other options.
Interesting connector on the tip. I wonder what would happen if you used an aux extension lead 🤔
I find it funny for high-current cables like battery terminals you would use a little soldering iron like this when I have found that it works even better using a torch like a basic propane torch or a Bernzomatic TS4000 or TS8000 series to preheat the solder and flux and just push the cable in. I guess it depends on what kind of battery terminals you're talking about as I am just thinking of the ones typically used in most automotive applications like for the 12 V lead acid batteries.
I know you acknowledged some of the comments but one more in your video: For copious amounts of solder on ground planes like you demonstrated there, up to this point I would break out my Weller 220/260 W D550 soldering gun, a device that's equipped with a fairly chunky low-voltage high-current transformer that pumps 260 W max through a piece of 12 AWG solid copper wire to tackle that as I only had a simple Weller 25 W pencil form factor soldering iron. I am getting a new soldering station from Temu, we'll see how that goes as some are weary of product quality from said site but for around CA$60, I wouldn't complain.
It’s much too expensive, and too powerful. 60W or even 20W would have been fine for most of what iFixit fixes.
Is there any chance to see JBC portable iron reviewed by you ? I'm influenced by JBC since I have one at home and complete repair station at work and I have to compare everything to this brand.
They haven't approached me.
@EEVblog The FNIRSI you showed is compatible with JBC T245 tips
I don't think you're meant to put it back into the case with the battery connected. But it's still a valid point about those battery terminals being so tall.
And once again I comment without watching the next 5 seconds of video...
I recommend something like a Ryobi soldering station. With replaceable, rechargeable batteries it would automatically be a better product than waiting for this thing to recharge. Not to mention Ryobi is a much lower price, and its batteries can be used with many other tools.
The lack of power delivery in the water while falsely displaying 370C is a deal breaker. It would have been nice to see the water test with the QUICK TS11. It will be interesting to see which company is quicker at fixing their issues.
I have a Weller Portasol Butane portable soldering iron I have had for 30 years. I can still get tips for it. It even came with a hot air tip for heat shrink tubing. Gas it up flick the flint and Bob's your Uncle. None of that microprocessor controlled rubbish. ;)
Thanks for the review!
Definitely quite expansive compared to the chinese stuff, but I really like the open design. You just can't compete with these chinese crap prices, if you try to build your stuff somewhat rigid and maintainable. So a pretty decent product. Let's see if the repair market is willing to accept a premium on a portable iron for improved longevity.
I love it and want it! If only I hadn't already bought a M18 high output 8ah battery and the JMM Solutions soldering iron. Works great for me but this is such an amazing solution! Maybe once I get a bit more money this iFixit iron will magically appear in my kit lol. But it does have issues I would like to see fixed before then. Maybe a custom firmware will come out making it better.
£239 GBP...
$249 USD...
At current exchange rates...
£239 @ $1.30 to the £1 = $311
$249 @ £0.77 to the $1 = £191
Now do people see how the USA has always price hiked goods to the UK. In simple terms, the USB Solder Station should be £191 and not £239.
It's possible that ifixit is using a distributor in the UK, hence the extra. But yeah its definitely weird that its about £50 more.
This is going in my arsenal of soldering equipment right away.
35:00 - Something Dave seems to have missed - That iron is *working* plugged into a PC - that means standard USB 5v, probably limited to a couple hundred milliamps. It's not *fast*, but it's *working*, which is more than I think I've seen from a USB-powered iron before. Usually if they don't get their 20v you don't get any hot.
I've had no complaints about my "tip to grip" distance (no charge for that visual). It's official. I'm now a iFIXit FANBOY. Is it perfect? NO. But neither is every GF I've never had Cheers from So.Ca.USA 3rd house on the left (please call before stopping by)
I think this misses the mark for some people, as a complete package. I see it's a solid attempt, but strikes me as too proprietary in creating another tip standard and also expensive with the $170 base station to add controls if one does not care about the battery (if wall power is to assumed to be around or already have a battery on hand). I think a cheaper batteryless base for controls would have made sense as an option, though the battery did provide the mass to hold it down. The controls being on or off the iron is a preference thing at the end of the day, but I also view it as a mistake to omit it on the iron directly. The firmware could have had a setting for the on board controls, with "always on" and "always off" being assumed to justify which one people want for that preference, but also "only on in standalone" acting based on if it has external controls connected or not. IronOS's boost mode where you hold + for a secondary preset (typically higher) temperature is useful for that troublesome ground plane at times, is just missing by not having a single button on the iFixit iron.
I think that the price for the iron and tips is a little steep for my taste, but that's the price where you get warranty and support for it, unlike the $30 Pinecil (v2 iron, plus cable) which leans on community support for the most part. For those that want the support side (or work in a business) and need the portability to be completely away from power, I think they can justify the kit price of it. For me personally, I can't as I don't really need the support angle and like to tinker.
Pinecil V2 just as capably, fraction of the cost (even factoring in cost of a battery) and more widely available tips ( even if it had worked only the TS80 used the jack plug design and has been mostly superseded by the TS101). Also no display/easy temperature adjustment is a deal breaker for me as I (and many hobbyists) also use them for inserting threaded inserts into 3D prints which needs a much lower temperature (agreed though that a button lock on many irons would be handy).
I think it is a great start for their first try, but the thermal issue is nuts. I hope it is just the actual tips being used since it should be easy for them to make a version 2.
In general everything else about it is pretty good. Would have liked to see that knob and button being used in your video, so we could have seen what settings were available.
One thing i am a bit scared about is the occidental bump the table, powers on the iron situration. I know from using my Weller WXMP it happens a lot unless you tweak the sensitivity.
Also where is the "Soldering iron on the silicone cable" that you always do?
Looking forward to somebody making some sort of adapter for it to support other tips. Would have been a way smarter choice to make it compatible with for example the TS80 tips.
I also do agree with the others, you seem very overhyped. If it was a whole other vendor you would have gone nuts over the thermal issue for that price.
I suspect they just need to tweak the firmware a bit. Other early releases of USB irons have had similar issues and got fixed over time.
Damn, you are right, I didn't actually film me using the knob, d'oh! Why did I not realise that during editing? And yep, completely forgot to try a cable burn test. I must have been having a bad day.
I feel it's a bit on the expensive price, at least, the aussie pricing is.
The idea is to empower regular people to repair their own stuff, at the aussie price, it's basically sitting in the enthusiast pricerange. Drop the price by 200 and the product will start entering the amateur likely to repair a product once every few months at most.
"Please, iFixIt, continue sending me toys to review!"
Yea, because Dave deserves it 🙂
I have a little "no-name" brand soldering station powered by a DeWalt tool battery. Digital control, OLED screen, replaceable iron tip, etc it isn't bad. It gets up to >800 degrees F and the batteries I know can output at least 100w. But I like this little soldering station as well. If I didn't already have the one I have.
The quality looks pretty good, but the 250 Yankee bucks price seems high, especially in light of the shortcomings of the tip performance. When I do field work, I’ve never tried to replace an SMD component. Probably 80% is relatively heavy work on connectors and the like. If I have to board repairs, I mostly do them on the bench under well controlled conditions. I might get interested if ifixit adds some higher capacity tips to their lineup.
Looked at it before getting the TS 101.
There is definitely a large price difference.
@@benargee I do have one of their tool kits ,So i do not mind paying for quality but not at that price. Too much for me. Prob a solid item.
Why not the Pinecil? It supports more power protocols.
I think all the criticism towards this review stems from iFixit's waning trust with their audience. Whether it be hostile business posturing towards a company that now makes a competing product, or the CEO having direct communications and input on the opinions of a reviewer likely to have huge influence on new product reception before the review is posted, they're not passing the sniff test anymore.
Seems to be a common problem with these "smart" irons that the display is programmed to show what they believe the user wants to see instead of the reality. They want to create an illusion of lightning fast warmup and rock solid temperature stability because that's what they advertise.
Of course there's also the problem of the sensor being at the heating element away from the actual tip which causes the adjustment to lag as the temperature of the tip falls faster and rises slower than that of the sensor. A high capacity tip reduces these problems as it has more thermal mass and less thermal resistance so it's slower to cool and faster to heat which makes it easier to maintain temperature.
True, but if you want a really good iron you don't want that high capacity tip, it slows the feedback from the end of the tip back to the sensor.
JBC kind of hacks their way around this by allowing the tip to overshoot.
I guess you worked it out pretty nicely: Is it decent? Yes. Is it 250 bucks decent? No.