I'm sensing a Project Farm vibe during the product intro. 😁 Add: I'm in the same boat as another viewer and have had my run with hardware store specials and one decent Weller unit. That Ersa was really impressive, but geez, I don't solder enough to warrant the price.
I was just going to say that! I love Project Farm and Tom, so this was great! On a side note, I have a simple Weller WES51 and I love it. It doesn't have a digital display, but I felt I could save some money and didn't really need the display.
As a teenager I bought a Weller Magnastat. It was VERY expensive considering the money I had available for stuff like that. Now it is 35+ years later, I still have it and it still works great.
@@keldonator I bought one a few months back from HF. Ended up not being consistent with the heating and the solder ended up cooling on the tip and when I pulled it back, ruined a $300 circuit board by ripping the copper wiring out of a rare part.
Pro-tip for tinning larger wires: hold your tip to the end of the wire. This way it transfers heat directly to every strand and helps to ensure that solder gets into the core. It will seem like it’s taking longer at first, but ends up being faster. Also, love my Hakko, but it’s the only proper soldering station I’ve ever used.
@@nonam3007 and a bigger one on top: dont do like holding ur tip to the insulation, because there wont be any insulation after heating that wire. so bigger tip, like the diameter of wire and heating up by hitting core is the real deal.
My Pinecil is great! Got it last week for soldering away from a plug. I can run it from a fast charger in my car and was able to solder up speakers & trailer lights. No basestation, lots of features and really quick. I bet it will work great for when I build an fpv drone as well. Can't go wrong IMO
I was getting ready to buy a Pinecil when I saw this video, which convinced me that the Pinecil was just what I wanted. Thanks and BTW, continue mixing it up with different subjects. It's sometimes good to get away from 3D printers exclusively.
I love mine, works flawlessly, get one of the tips sets, the half moon works much better on thicker wires. Also it mentioned in passing, but you can hook it up to a battery pack of suitable wattage, meaning you can us it in the field and don't need wall power.
@@andrewhamop6665 I was part of the second production run, and from order time to receive was about a month give or take a week. It comes from China so I usually order stuff like that and it arrives when it arrives. I keep tabs on it if it seems like a sketchy company but this company is reliable just be patient and keep an eye on the tracking. If its longer that 2 months reach out to them there may be a shipping issue due to the current situation worldwide.
In 50 years of being involved with electronics, I've never had a good experience with Weller products. On the other hand, my first Hakko 936 is still up and running after over 20 years of service. My newer Hakko 888 has worked flawlessly over the last 8 years.
I do love my Pinecil. One thing to point out in case you did miss it, the Pinecil is based on/influenced by the TS100. it accepts TS100 tips which you might be able to source locally for cheaper than importing them if you have import tariffs
The Pinecil takes the same tips as the TS100. I know some Amazon vendors carry them, and you don't need to buy whole sets. I'm told they can also use tips for a higher end Hakko station, but it makes the whole iron quite a bit longer. The TS80(P) tips have better construction and design, and are more efficient, powerful, and accurate than the TS100 tips, but they are indeed pricier so you want to buy just the tips you want to use and take good care of them. The first iron I've had a ton of success with is a cheap Sparkfun non adjustable iron, which appears to be a knockoff of the Weller iron handle in this video. I threw away the iron from a cheaper Weller (which is an AC iron with a controller that limits the AC electricity going into the iron) and plugging in the Sparkfun iron into that.
yep Hakko T12 tips are longer but compatible with ts100 and pinecil and the t12 tip clones are cheap and comes in a wider variety of shape. It's a bit of a shame that those new gen hakko stations are not tested in the video because integrating the sensor inside the tip makes the temp more accurate and quicker to adjust by the station.
I upgraded from a cheapo 20€ iron to an ersa i-con pico last year, and I never regreted it: the super fast heat up times, super precise handle, feels like holding a pen, and the cable doesn't get in your way. it's amazing.
Totally. Also upgraded from an Ersa iron to the i-Con Pico last year. Such a pleasure to work with. Especially when working on smaller stuff like SMDs.
Two questions for you Ersa fans: Do you use the soldering iron of the pico? Or do you have an alternative? To me it makes the handle of the iron way too hot. (I'm talking about the cheap soldering iron holder that comes with the pico. Not the nicer one that comes with the nano. ) That's my biggest issue with the ersa. And yes, the fast heatup time is just amazing and perfect for me.
@@PenPeng Mine isn't hot. My guess you've cranked up the temperature bit too high. Personally I usually don't go above 315-325C (using 60/40 solder). Never changed tips for ~6years I have this station. Can't even think of other iron that could be more comfortable than this.
Used a cheap no name Amazon soldering iron for my first project. Absolutely hated it and thought I sucked at soldering with many failed solders after hours of use. Got a hakko station for Christmas and did some test solders and had them soldered and tight within minutes. Game. Changer.
22:34 actually the Ersa does kind of auto wake up from stand by once you touch a surface with the tip and heats up again from standby temp to set temp. Sensing and reheating is actually pretty fast (dep on your set standby temp). In fact can hardly remember using the button to wake at all.
This is true. I have one for a few years now. I'm just a bit shocked about the price hike...
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We're going to test that! Lol, nice callout to Project Farm. Thank you so much for making this video! I have been trying to decide on a soldering setup for, what, over two years!
I've used a Weller for decades and never had any problems. When you buy one, you can be fairly confident that replacement tips will be easy to find in the future. I used the iron professionally and don't see the need for a complicated interface.
Finding tips 10 years in the future is a bigger deal than people realize. If you go with any 'production' soldering iron company like Weller, Metcal, or even Hakko, you'll be able to get tips and heating elements well into the future, and can probably use the same parts from the past. I have a TS-100 I bought on a whim but never use it outside of soldering things outdoors, like in the car or working on antennas. The interface is fine, but it's a bit much. With my benchtop station the only time I need to touch the base is to turn the temp up or down a bit. I use the same solder and the tip holds the temperature really well, so I don't even need to change the temp very often. Just turn it on and by the time I'm set up it's ready to go.
I don't rate Weller very highly, they're okay for light use, but not for everyday soldering. Metcal is much more durable and almost impossible to break even with constant use for years.
@@hhin Exactly. We switched from Weller to Ersa at work, about 10 years ago. Never had any serious problems since then, and it is very comfortable to use and powerful enough. With the Wellers we had various software issues, the tip holders constantly breaking, etc...
I've had the hakko for years. I absolutely love it - rarely have heat power issues. I am on my second unit - I could not tell if the pencil or the base station was bad so just ordered a full one ( cost of each piece itself was more than the whole - I was afraid of murphys frowning on me )
the pinecil is basically a ts100 v2, same tips, can be powered over usb-c pd and the barrel jack, comes with ralim firmware by default and costs less than half, even with shipping. and you can get spare parts, unlike the ts100 (my case cracked once, gl finding replacements.)
@@gamerpaddy I own the TS100 and the pinecil and I can confirm that. I loved my TS100. I love my pinecil even more. However I've had an annoying problem with the pinecil, which I believe is 100% my fault : sometimes when the tip touches a PCB, the iron reboots and stops heating. I am 100% sure that's a grounding issue as when I tried it with my powerbank, it never happened. But somehow it never happened to my TS100 either. Using a powerbank with the pinecil is one of the things that make it so good to me. I know you can get the TS100 working with a battery, but I don't know much about DIY batteries and I don't really feel like messing around that. Meanwhile you can buy a USB C power bank from a shop (as long as it has power delivery) and it'll work well for a really long time. And it's so much cheaper than the TS100 ...
I settled on this Hakko one, it has 5 temperatures you can define and you do not need to fiddle with the temperatures as everybody suggests for some reason (I set mine in a range from 280 to 400). I have not touched manual temperature adjustment in years, just select one of the presets and start soldering. When compared with weller many years ago (which was more expensive), I just liked how solid hakko felt, all heavy steel casing despite the "plastic-like" look.
I also have the Hakko. It's in my price range and it has been a good performer for several years. Previous experience with Weller was not as good. Hakko meets my price/performance requirements. The Ersa is just too expensive for an occasional hobbyist station.
I have the Hakko, love it, and I have found nothing negative to say about it at all. It definitely has the best color. ... By the time we begin to reach it's thermal transfer limits on bigger targets, I have already moved over to my Weller 8200, anyhow. .... I loved this review, Thomas knows what's up.
I genuinely would recommend the Hakko FX-888D over the Weller if you want durability. I rarely see a weller 1010 in a lab where the Plastic nut on the iron hasn't broken after a few years resulting in the entire tip assembly getting as wobbly as a loose tooth. Having to wait till the iron is cold or using a plier on a metal nut is way better than a damaged iron.
I think it's important to point out that the Pinecil v2 now supports higher wattages which (I believe) should improve its ability to keep up with heat dissipation on larger copper wires or plates
One reason why I am keeping my TS80 - the silicone USB-C cable. The simplicity, lightweight nature of the soldering iron is OK, but the cable sells it for me. One needs to try to appreciate how big of a difference a cable can make.
You can get USB-C to 5.5mm jack cable with a converter to 20V for 10€. This cable is godsend. You can plug the TS100 to any USB-C charging port that supports QC 3.0
I actually swapped from a beefier Stannol soldering station to the TS80P and have zero regrets. It performs at least as well as the Stannol did of not better in my use, feels better in hand and has the silicone cable and the tip is closer to the handle too. The reason I bought it was that I have no dedicated spot to keep a soldering station at and lifting a whole station in and out of storage was annoying as heck. I definitely recommend flashing IronOS on it, it's super easy to do, the iron shows up as a usb drive on your computer and you just copy the firmware file there and you're done. It not only looks nicer but gives couple extra settings and apparently is more stable as well as I have not experienced any of those crashes Thomas talked about in the video. Edit: typo
So Pine64 also sells a silicone USB-C cable alongside the pinecil and it seems nice so far. Another thing missed on the pinecil is that it can run off of DC barrel jack (laptop charger), or off of USB C pd or qc3
pine64 sells a silicone usb c cable- i’m a huge fan of silicone cables, and it is literally one of only 3 that you can get- the others being the miniware which you can buy only with the ts80 or ts80 power supply, and an “allite” 100w cable, which is nice, but has to be bought either from amazon US or the chinese shopping websites. so the import fees are insane. pine’s is a steal in comparison and i’m buying more the next time i order from there
The FX-888D is not worth buying in my experience. It will get the job done, but it's so slow and loses heat so easily vs the TS100 or Pinecil that even once you have bought everything you need to make a proper station out of one of those portable irons, you are still ahead moneywise, and you can also take the thing with you and run it off a laptop charger, lipo battery, USB power bank, etc if you do fieldwork.
After dealing with cheap soldering stations for ages, i got a TS100 and i've been nothing but impressed with how powerful it is for the size. Perfect for hobby in my opinion.
Metcals (which are twice the price of anything here) heat the core with RF and rely on the Curie point to set the temperature. Net result: super fast and super stable to a fixed temp and super easy to swap hot. A possible downside to some people (outside of the obvious price issue) is that the tip determines the temperature: if you want to go to a different temp, you use a different temp. But for soldering normal things, they are fantastic.
The tip setting the temperature is also a benefit for production work where for consistency you want all the assemblers using the same temperature. The shop can enforce that by only providing one temperature type tip. My WESD-51 does that by having a control lockout that is toggled by touching a magnetic tool to the ESD symbol. But the production environment "feature" and reliability means that the Metcals have a production environment price tag...
Yes. Metcal acknowledges 2 patents in the design of that station. 1905 : Induction Heating (Metcal uses RF) 1959-1965 : Weller’s Curie Tips and Magnetic switching.
I only used lead free solder in my electronic education, was the first solder experience for me back then, and took 3,5 years. After that I begun to work where my predecessor was a totally fan of lead soldering, and I tried it too (he had few kg of solder left anyways), and damn its so much bether. I solder very often, at work and in my private workshop, in my opinion, if you do something really often it's totally worth it to do it comfortably and have as much fun as possible on that. You always need to wash your hands and have something to filter the fume is very important, but then it's not that dangerous...
I’ve used a lot of really cheap soldering irons. Stuff you get from the hardware store. I love using the Hakko. I like the display refresh speed, and I really like being able to start soldering in under 30s. I’ve been using irons that can take easily 2 minutes to heat up. I’m very surprised that given the ease of finding replacement tips, it still was the least impressive option. Given my experience with cheap irons, I was really blown away by the performance of the Hakko.
My experience with soldering gear is that you very much get what you pay for. I've been using an analog dial controlled Hakko for well over a decade. I love it. I learned on an ancient Weller station that I will some day inherit from my father because it's a Tank.
I had a hakko fx-888 (the analog one) and I miss it. I left it at a job somewhere (not using it for work, but forgot it there until after I'd switched jobs). I very much dislike the interface on the 888D. Changing temperatures around is a royal pain compared to just touching a knob. I love everything else about it though.
I've never really seen the Hakko refresh except during initial heat: at least mine appears to display the setpoint instead of the actual temperature as long as it's somewhat close.
I agree. I have a Hakko and I love it. Before that my primary iron was a Weller 35W pencil iron. I bought the Weller about 10 years ago after dealing with cheap Radio Shack firestarter irons my entire life and decided to splurge. The Weller is leaps and bounds beyond the old crummy irons with their anemic heaters and tips that oxidize and rot away after a few projects, but man, it sure takes forever to heat up. Like 5 minutes. Until then, you can't even tin the tip. I bought the Hakko about 5 years ago and it was a game changer. I never had a legit workbench so when I finally built one, I bought a benchtop station. I don't know how I lived without it. Hot tip changes aren't a big deal if you just use some pliers. The only thing to look out for is accidentally changing the calibration offset if you press and hold the wrong button to change the temperature. Judging by the color changes of the tips, I was trying to use it at well over 400C, thinking I was around the usual 185-190C. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why my solder joints weren't 'wetting'. It was because I was vaporizing the flux as soon as the solder touched the tip. I figured it out, reset to defaults, and it's been smooth sailing/soldering since.
The pinecil is also my favourite because i can power it from lots of different sourced with usb c pd becoming very common, i have a 65w lenovo power supply that cost me £5 and works perfectly, i also have a 100w power bank which i can use anywhere e.g. on the field for field repairs for my fpv drone. I've also seen people run the pinecil with the short 6ohm tips on 140w epr with a software update, and the heat up time is almost instant, which is insane. The short tips are really nice. I exclusively use the chisel as it transfers heat easier.
Great review! I have the Ersa i-Con Nano and love it! Heats up very fast, rich selection of tips available, and the handpiece with its flexible cable and short grip-to-tip distance is a joy to use. Never bothered with the SD-card, the default settings are good. Just turn it on and go, no fiddling with settings necessary.
Love the Project Farm vibe of this video. Would be nice if your sponsors upgrade you to some more professional soldering tools to compare too. Used Ersa and Weller in professional settings, and we now got a full JBC rework station (4-tools) for a new workspace that i have yet to test and compare. I was very impressed by the large choice of oddly shaped tips JBC offer. Metcal would be another big name that is probably more geared to professional use that would be interesting to compare.
JBC is much better in my opinion. I wish JBC was incldued in the review. By the way, hakko is Japanese. He didn't mention it unlike german ones he did. By the way, Pinecil has boost mode. Otherwise, it doesn't go full power. Not sure this review is done with boost mode too.
I'm an Industrial Maintenance Technician, and I had my company purchase the Weller 1010. I did enjoy it ONCE IT WAS ABLE TO MELT. Thinking about trying out the pencil. Honestly, I love the mobility of usb irons.
Soldering onto a large heat-dissipating surface (like a heated bed) is where the biggest difference can be noticed. It's almost impossible to do without a fast-heating iron with good thermal transfer.
The best Investment I've ever made, was when I bought the TS100 in the Set. Its really fast in heating up and also is able to solder larger areas or areas that disipate heat better than normal ones. Also due to the Lightweight design, its also really easy to solder precisly like with the TS80.
Having used the impressive Ersa iconpico(propably the best station for the money, except the tip nut breaks now and then), i can easily say my TS100 is the best by far(except the handle, which ersa is better).
This is crazy, I just purchased a Pinecil and some extra tips last night after doing a bit of research. I'm glad to have some reassurance that I made a good decision!
@@drmed92 Got to play with it a bit this weekend - the tip that it comes with works really well for most things, but you may also want a chisel tip if you're working with larger SMD components (it's compatible with pretty much any tip that works on the TS100) Overall, super happy with it. I ended up 3d printing an enclosure for it, too, where I can keep it and the tips once everything cools off after I'm done using it
I use the weller W1010 at work nearly everyday for atleast 8-9 hours for the past 10 months at 650°F. It is very durable, havent had 1 issue. It's easy enough to change out tips. Not really much else to say, if you're looking for a durable solder station around its price range, you can't go wrong.
I absolutely love my Weller. I have a different model compared to the one you tested. It is hot enough to solder within 20 seconds or so. I have used a lot of soldering irons in my life and this Weller is by far my favorite. Thanks for a great video comparing several different types.
Great comparison, thanks! Love my pinecil, one great benefit (maybe not for everyone) is that with a simple power supply (18v drill battery and adapter in my case) it can be completely portable with a very long runtime. 😀
I'm using a TS80 for around 2 years and i really love it. Bevor my TS80 i had a Ersa Station i bought in the mid 80'th :-) The best thing on the TS80 is, that you can also use it with a Powerbank... very handy outside ;-)
In 2015 I got myself a very sturdy CHF-LD48 soldering station from my local hardware store. It's built like a tank and works like a charm. A year later I ordered a set of spezial use tips for it, and yeah, it's been a great soldering station so far.
Pinecil + ToolkitRC P200 is an insanely small and versatile setup. The P200 doubles as an incredibly small variable power supply with an additional USB-C out that's perfect for powering the Pincecil (the pine store also sells high temp silicone USB-C cables that pair the two wonderfully).
We used metcal irons when I first started my job 16 years ago so I bought one for personal use. Having your fingers so much closer to the tip than the others really improves your control. I’m so much more confident with a metcal than I am with anything else.
RIP Sanjay. Throughout December, I'll be donating 1€ for every 1.000 views on the channel (on any video) to charity in Sanjay's honour th-cam.com/video/l3iMB7_B4lY/w-d-xo.html
Got myself a "digital" Weller station when they came out some 20 years ago or so. Still going strong and consumables are available everywhere... I've had a few portables but they never last. Right now I have a dremel gas powered for my garage and it's pretty good even for automotive use.
Very fond of my Metcal soldering iron, wouldnt change away from that for anything these days. Quick to solder, short reach so nice to use and generally bombproof (mine was already second hand workshop sell off style when I got it). Tempted to look into a Pinecil for portable soldering now though ...
I have several soldering stations. And the one I go to when I have to do a lot of soldering is the Metcal. It is such a pleasure to use! It is also the only one I have with tweezers. It is not cheap though. My second choice is the XYtronic LF-3000. Strangely enough, as it is one of those Hakko kind-of-clones. For the money it is hard to beat.
Bought a used MX-500 on e-bay 10 years ago. Even for present days won't change it even to MX-5000, nor any other brands. Who try Metcal once, won't change it :) Bought a bunch of used and new tips of prefered types for surplus, and seek for prefered models on e-bay once in 3-6 months. In "Service laboratory" use mode MX-500 tips works from 1/2 to 2-3 years, depending of type of needed jobs. P.S. Bakon 950D with 5-10 different T13/T12 cheap chinese tips for portative use is my choice for last 5-6 years :)
I’m shooting out some love for the Ersa. I love that it only needs little space on the desk, the ultra-flexible cable, the short iron itself, ultra fast heat up and response times. The software profiles are nice and helpful, but why managed via microSD and desktop software (does this even run on current OSs?) - and not on the device itself - can only be explained by late 2000s marketing department requirements, assuming today it would get IoT and an app to it for similar unnecessary reasons, lol. Anyhow rocking this iron now for nearly a decade and happy with it like day one.
I believe it was meant for soldering workshops where the employer doesn't trust his employees to use the right temperatures. From my own experience I know that soldering pros tend to use way higher temperatures than recommended and later no-one knows why certain heat sensitive components have such a high failure rate.
I love this whole comparison, great work. As an german electric engineer teaching a whole production line regulary how to solder, I love every good video. Internally I was shouting „include a JBC station“, I know it‘s pricy but world class leader in every case you testet. The tiny irons you tested are cheap mobile copies of it.
As i commented somewhere here, there is still the JBC "Weidinger Edition" analog Station, it is around 240€ incl. VAT, which is expensive, but still way cheaper than the next "best" option from them!
I solder things maybe 3 times a year but I love my Pinecil. It replaced a 40 year old thing that my dad gave me, that barely melted butter let alone solder, especially lead free. It's so useful to be able to power it from a USB power pack and not need to be near a wall power outlet.
I'm glad the Weller 1010 was at the top of the list. I love mine. it is easy to use and I just really like the way it feels and looks. Nice to know it holds up against it's competitors.
I've been soldering for about two decades by now. The pinecil is by far my favourite soldering iron i've used in all those years and I've come across many in different makerspaces, electronics labs and workplaces. The biggest advantge of the pinecil is in its name: it's not much bigger than a pencil and you can always carry it with you EDC-style. This in and of itself is already an unbeatablw quality if you ask me. the fact that you can run it off of almost anything just sweetens the deal.
Personally, I use Weller WD1 stations primarily, but did get a couple Hakko T12 clone stations recently to use on the move. I will say, the Weller WD1 with a WMP 65 watt pencil iron is a much shorter grip to tip iron than most I've worked with, and looks much like the Ersa handpiece's distance.
There’s an Aussie bloke making portable soldering stations that attach to any power tool battery, you have to buy your battery specific one, but they’re awesome!
Hi Thomas, there is a great alernative for the hobbiest. This iron outperfoms almost all irons. It's called the ksger soldering station. There service is great and they have awesome tips. For 50 euro's you can't go wrong. The only thing I am missing is a T12 iron for brass inserts.
I love my PineCil... Bought a cheap adjustable power supply with barrel jack and adaptors for bench soldering work and hobby uses (never know what Voltage you need next), I have phone chargers that can run it on USB Type C, and a 12V 6A Lithium battery pack for portable field use. None of the others heat up as fast, they use more power, and they can't even be used as a portable/packable unit, without a substantially larger power cell, generator, or 120/220VAC outlet nearby. Personally, I am VERY happy that I went with PineCil, considering the price, performace, portability, and practical usability. Way better than the butane torch soldering iron I had for "just in case" solder repairs... Who wants to fire up a torch to melt metal, in confined spaces, like in a car, under the dash? With the Pine unit, I can power it from the car battery or my Lithium pack, and be so much safer
Wow, this is the first review of soldering irons that’s actually properly done. The only note I have is that measuring reflective surfaces with a thermal camera isn’t the most accurate but at least it’s the same test for all tips. I was on the fence about getting the Weller or Pinecil but the pinecil seems like a no-brainer for me at this price. Also, others have already said it but you really have a project farm style to your videos lol.
I love my TS80, I use it almost daily as a electric technician. Paired with a powerful Battery bank Makes it great for on the go and IMO a must have for any field technician. It’s saved my butt more than once! I would HIGHLY recommend flashing a different firmware to the TS80. It fixed most of my issues.
I recently got myself a JBC soldering station (CD-2BQE), that is pretty expensive (370€ for the station + 100€ for all the tips I need). It also uses direct heated tips and heats up super fast (about 3-4s from 0 to 320). I really love the station, but at that price it only makes sense, if you solder a lot.
Yep, JBC is the best system in the world and blows these away. The tips are quite expensive though and I was hoping I could adapt one of the TS100 tips to work with the driver unit, but it is not possible.
I still use the 120V no name solder pencil my parents gave me 1970s when I was in High School. Thanks for the video. I have been thinking for some time about getting a USB pencil iron. I will certainly consider the Pinecil when I do.
I've now built 15 FPV quadcopters using 2 Pinecil irons. One with a standard pointy tip and one with a bigger chisel tip for larger joints. I have never wanted or needed a bigger or more powerful iron in the process of building these drones. I highly recommend the pinecil soldering iron!
Funnily enough, while listening to this, I was soldering with my cheapo "Tuloka 701c" soldering station. It has a LED dot-matrix style readout, temp memory, rotary controller, coil holder and basic spots to put your flux and metal wool. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of Hakko clone, but I didn't have to pay the Hakko tax for it, it works and I'm happy. It heats up quick too! Good job you made a video detailing different soldering stations. I think a lot of us who may not have touched soldering before eventually get into it through modding and maintaining our 3D printers. Soldering has also sparked an interest in me for brazing, so my next few projects will involve brazing some custom metal frames for house projects.
I googled like a year ago and found out that the ksgear 12 was a steel for the price at that time. The t12 tips are cheap (4$ per tip) and very capable. An oled screen with everything what heart desires displayed. Even individual tip calibration. The silicon cable and small form factor is awesome for storing. Would recommend to anyone.
Yep, I bought one over my Ersa because the price for some more rare tip models have become silly for the Ersa (like 50€ ). And the KSGER T12 ist just perfect, there's no reason for paying more.
I absolutely agree! I work in my lab full time, mostly focused on component level board repair for industrial clients. And when clients need it….I specialize in test equipment repair, calibration, and other metrology related tasks. I love my test equipment and tools like my children. And I REALLY love some of my expensive soldering stations. I wasn’t expecting the KSG ER to come anywhere close to the more expensive gear. But it does! Been using them for a few years now, 12 hours a day six days a week. I have several, And always have at least 1 or 2 stations powered on when in the lab the KSGER T12 has REALLY impressed me. For About $50… it performs 95% as good as irons/stations in my lab. Most of which cost 10 to 20 times more!
I have a Ksger T12 too and I absolutely love it... It uses the newer genaration of Hakko tips(T12) and they the clone tips are VERY cheap and even the OEM tips are not too bad, and there is a huge selection of them. I got a 10 or 15 variety pack when I first got mine and it only scratches the surface of the tips available! I had also always had a little desire for one of the TS100s or TS80s for portable use though, but hated that they each used different tips, and the older TS100 had a better selection. Also the TS80 was better in some ways but worse in others than the TS100. They were both rather expensive too. Then the Pinecel came out with the best features of both at 1/4 to 1/3 the price, and I did not even hesitate. I now have one of the best bench top irons and the best portable, and if I REALLY need to 'pour on the heat' I have a (very) cheap butane powered iron to do BIG jobs with. He REALLY needs to get a Ksger T12 and some more TS100 tips for the Pinecil and do a followup on this as only having the tiny tip for the Pincel put it at a MAJOR disadvantage against the others!
@@jamesraykenney how long is your butane powered iron already working for you? I have gone through some models, including expensive vendors like Weller, and they all died way too fast, like at about 100 times of use at max! I am searching for an alternative and better gas powered iron for some time now ..
@@jamesraykenney TS100 and Pinecil can actually use T12 tips, they are just a lot longer. But people have made grip extensions for both. They become a little more top heavy with them but are still very nice for making those portable irons even more versatile.
I can confirm the Wella iron's durability. We have always used Weller irons in our instrumentation department. They are switched on all day, every day and sometimes not switched off overnight! It is very rare that they require a new heating element. The tips last a long time unless we have to use an acid based fluxed solder as we do with K type thermocouple wires. We have never had a base unit fail and I am still using a 30 year old station!
Easy Choice. The Ersa is not only a great tool for the job, its also a quality build that will last you a very long time. I am still using my Ersa Digital 2000A + Power Tool from over 20 years ago. I use it regularly and its still perfect. I added the micro tool later for SMD work and the long life tips last a really long time.
Surprisingly, the Ryobi 18v soldering station is really nice. I got it for soldering on vehicles/trailers, but now it's my main iron. It can run off AC too. It heats up fast and doesn't used a ton of battery. The only drawback is there's no temp readout. Also, I don't know if it's worth full MSRP, but that's that what refurbished sales are for.
Some time ago I treated myself on the JBC CD-2BQF soldering station. It's a bit more expensive than the stations in your review, but it properly dwarfs them all. It has 130Watt, heats up from cold to the set temperature in 2seconds, it has a nice solid quality base station, which incorporates the iron-holder. Yes, it's roughly 500 dollar. It was the best money I ever spent.
I absolutely agree! I work in my lab full time, mostly focused on component level board repair for industrial clients. And when clients need it….I specialize in test equipment repair, calibration, and other metrology related tasks. I love my test equipment and tools like my children. And I REALLY love some of my expensive soldering stations. I wasn’t expecting the KSG ER to come anywhere close to the more expensive gear. But it does! Been using them for a few years now, 12 hours a day six days a week. I have several, And always have at least 1 or 2 stations powered on when in the lab the KSGER T12 has REALLY impressed me. For About $50… it performs 95% as good as irons/stations in my lab. Most of which cost 10 to 20 times more!
Got my Pinecil earlier in the year. Works so well for pretty much any small stuff. Does chug a bit as like you said with bigger. I had only one issue with your test on it and that was the changing of the tip. At 20:18 you said you needed to do both front and back screws. You only need to do the front.
I kinda disliked, that he gave the stations the advantage with the bigger tips, but the USB irons didn't get that advantage for the comparison. Would love to know if you add a bigger tip to the pinecil if you still have problems with the big wire 🤷🏻♂️
This is great! Definitely would like more relevant reviews like this for project things! Your analytical nature and experience in the field gives it more authority. A video on setting up a maker space or home budget project space would be great. Do you grab the Wiha flush cutters, or is the no name blue cutters that come with 3d printers work just fine?
Been using the same Weller WES51 for 20+ years , 10 to 20 times per year. Along with my Fluke 77 III , it has never failed me. Having quality tools pays dividends.
"It's clearly the best soldering station by far, but they forget to think about how to make a good product" is the weirdest (euphemistically speaking) verdict ever.
It's the best *performing* station, but the not the best. Just the same way you might prefer a Vauxhall station wagon over a Corvette for daily driving - the Corvette is obviously faster and prettier, but the Vauxhall actually fits your family and groceries for a week.
I am traveling daily for work and I've been using TS80 (previous generation) a lot with Power Bank. Best traveling soldering iron by far that I've used and you can do practically everything with it. Repair electronics (0603 and even 0402 SMD components, no probs with Pencil head) and soldering thicker wires with chisel tip, everything without problems and through power bank, giving you freedom like no other. I've also not encountered during these few years any of the crashing described in the video.
Bought a Zeny SMD Hot Air Rework Soldering Station for US $50 five years ago on Amazon that has served me faithfully so far. The hot air part is really handy for shrink wrap tubing. It is fully digital and uses separate red LED displays for the iron and the hot air, both of which can be run simultaneously.
I am a Weller fan - been using them since 1979 in professional settings. I bought a WES51 Digital just before they introduced their current 1010 model. I prefer the WES51 over the 1010 for the reason you cited - it has a smaller iron handle and screw-on tip holder. It also functions the same as their older units which were very basic and solid in function. The digital is a nice feature, and at the time of my purchase, Weller was selling off their stock at $120 USD per unit; a price I could not say no to. Oh, by the way Thomas, if tip life and good looking solder joints is important to you, never use those copper pads to clean a tip - Weller's only come with a sponge for just that very reason. That dull part on the tip is a coating - and when it is wore off it is just inducing trash into your hot soldering pool. This is the big difference between Weller tips and aftermarket tips; the other tips don't hold up as well as Weller tips do over time.
If you want really high end, you need to go JBC. I used many soldering irons in my life and those are just something else. They just don't care how large your mass is and I hardly have seen more then 20-30% usage even on large parts. The temperature stability is just superb. You can switch the tip in a second and the new one is heated up when you reach the part.
JBC and Metcal are basically black magic. But sadly the price tag reflects that as well. Though, they are both dipping their toes into more affordable market segments in recent years, though still quite expensive compared to anything in this video.
I've used professional stations made by Hakko, Weller, Metcal and others... For myself, I've bought a cheap Miniware TS100 kit (it comes with every tip available) and, with the right tip, can solder very big wire gauge. The "boost" feature is so brilliant that I can't believe that good stations doesn't have it. Plus it doesn't have the buggy software of the TS80. If you still want a station, I recommand buying a Metcal station. Their tip tells the station which temperature it needs to use and goes in sleep as soon you put it in the holder. Very easy to use and very powerful.
i love my pinecil, its small, cheap and work really really great, its also fast and i can power it with almost all my USB C charger, its been 1 year and im still happy of my purchase, i used in multiple time in convention to repair my stuff and friend stuff, definitly recommend it
glad i checked this video saw another youtuber get a pinecil and ordered one myself yesterday... after watching this video defiantly do not regret that decision as the stuff i plan on soldering won't require the extra thermal mass of the bigger stations
Weller soldering stations are the best, that's why we use them in avionics. You can use them all day every day and the hold up for years. If they do eventually break you can just send them in to get fixed under warranty. But for a hobbyist I would recommend the TS80 or TS100. Those little things are crazy good and pretty powerful, my wife even used one to do some stained glass soldering. They are especially good if you need to do mobile repairs or soldering on cars because you can run them off of a mobile battery pack as long as you have a high quality power bank.
The Pinecil is very impressive. Also it's cheap. I think it's perfect for someone like me who wants a decent soldering iron but a full soldering station is overkill for the ocasional repair job
I have a Hakko but is the FX951, I decided on getting it after years of watching Louis Rossmann videos and he was right, it is one of the best soddering irons out there, and with a FM2032 pencil it gives JBC a run for its money
It should be the same on the Pinecil, but on the TS100 you can leave the screw on the opposite side of the screen since it's not long enough to tighten the tip. I personally keep the screw on the screen side a bit loose so that it has contact with the tip, causing some friction but not enough to lock it in place. This allows to just pull out the tip and plop the new one without extra steps.
i love my pinecil and its just amazing for the prize. btw you only need to unscreew the screw on top to take out tip. and if you dont screw it back in fully, it is easily hotswappable and sits in well enough.
I am probably a bit late , looking at this metric ton of comments, but here it goes: I was at the samer decision making point for a station a couple of month a go. The ones you tested here were all contenders, but in the end, and what i would recommend both to you and others looking for something in this range, is something entirely else: a JBC "Weidinger Edition" analog Soldering Station. Not many know the name, but they are not some indy or china company (Industry supplying Company from Spain). And this is a "cheap" version you don't even see on their own homepage. But bear with me for a second: -It has a fine silicone cable which makes it easy to handle (looking at Weller here for their cheap shit household-like cable) -super fast heating times which i haven't measured because i just pick the iron up and "go" (i could ofc not check the display vs measurement since it only has an analog dial...) -i soldered 4² cables to big gold-plated terminals without any issues (and fast) -it automatically sends the iron into a "standby" temeperature as soon as you put it in the holder -it uses those more expensive but really awesome "all in one" tips, and let's be honest, usually 1-2 or max. 3 of those are enough for anything you do for a long time. -and last but not least: THAT ANALOG DIAL! Who the hell needs all those friggin' hard to set digital crap if you can just flick a dial to wherever you want in a split-second!? -240€ including German VAT - which is a lot, but still a far cry from the next best in their line-up And no, i am not getting anything for this. I am just really happy with it ;) Hope i could help those people struggling with the ups- and downs of the ones mentioned in the video!
I bought my first soldering iron from a budget hardware store, when I was chipping PS1s. Was awesome fun seeing the traces on a board ball-up, when you'd been a bit heavy-handed with something designed to solder pipes. Just imagine me as a crusty old-drunk in the corner of the bar, telling me that none of you even know you've been born, with these wonderful options :)
I'm sensing a Project Farm vibe during the product intro. 😁
Add: I'm in the same boat as another viewer and have had my run with hardware store specials and one decent Weller unit. That Ersa was really impressive, but geez, I don't solder enough to warrant the price.
Yep the "We're going to test that" Line took me from suspicion to laughter in an instance.
I was just going to say that! I love Project Farm and Tom, so this was great! On a side note, I have a simple Weller WES51 and I love it. It doesn't have a digital display, but I felt I could save some money and didn't really need the display.
Yeah had to check which channel I was on
It came to me as he said where the products are from. 🤣
@@WhiteG60 I got that vibe from "this product is made in China" etc.
The project Farm vibe is so strong with this one.
Almost a copy
I searched “ project farm soldering iron” and this was the first video lol
It's so good, the "Made in" parts could have been the same guy 😅
We’re gonna test that
It's the British version
As a teenager I bought a Weller Magnastat. It was VERY expensive considering the money I had available for stuff like that. Now it is 35+ years later, I still have it and it still works great.
I bought a harbor freight one about 15 years ago, it still works great too lol
@@keldonator I bought one a few months back from HF. Ended up not being consistent with the heating and the solder ended up cooling on the tip and when I pulled it back, ruined a $300 circuit board by ripping the copper wiring out of a rare part.
@@Dan-gj1hz u must have done something wrong there. dont try to do things like those again, because u have other specialitys like that.
After 43 years it is still my goto soldering tool. Heating elements are still available and I have a box full of different tips. No need to "upgrade".
great advice
Pro-tip for tinning larger wires: hold your tip to the end of the wire. This way it transfers heat directly to every strand and helps to ensure that solder gets into the core. It will seem like it’s taking longer at first, but ends up being faster. Also, love my Hakko, but it’s the only proper soldering station I’ve ever used.
This is what I do. I use the Weller W1010E at work everyday. Its great. I was using the Weller WES51, and for an older machine it works just as well.
Bigger pro tip: use a larger diameter tip for large diameter wire; instead of the tiny one shown in the video
@@nonam3007 and a bigger one on top: dont do like holding ur tip to the insulation, because there wont be any insulation after heating that wire.
so bigger tip, like the diameter of wire and heating up by hitting core is the real deal.
I just put some solder on the tip and that increases surface area and heat transfer by a lot.
My Pinecil is great! Got it last week for soldering away from a plug.
I can run it from a fast charger in my car and was able to solder up speakers & trailer lights. No basestation, lots of features and really quick. I bet it will work great for when I build an fpv drone as well. Can't go wrong IMO
I was getting ready to buy a Pinecil when I saw this video, which convinced me that the Pinecil was just what I wanted. Thanks and BTW, continue mixing it up with different subjects. It's sometimes good to get away from 3D printers exclusively.
I love mine, works flawlessly, get one of the tips sets, the half moon works much better on thicker wires. Also it mentioned in passing, but you can hook it up to a battery pack of suitable wattage, meaning you can us it in the field and don't need wall power.
@@CF_Sapper Hey I've got a question. How long did your Pinecil take to get shipped to you? I've been waiting for over a month and still no Pinecil. :(
@@andrewhamop6665 I was part of the second production run, and from order time to receive was about a month give or take a week. It comes from China so I usually order stuff like that and it arrives when it arrives. I keep tabs on it if it seems like a sketchy company but this company is reliable just be patient and keep an eye on the tracking. If its longer that 2 months reach out to them there may be a shipping issue due to the current situation worldwide.
@@CF_Sapper Hi, did you order it from the pine64 website?
@@majidaskari8306 Yes, thats the only place I would order it from.
In 50 years of being involved with electronics, I've never had a good experience with Weller products. On the other hand, my first Hakko 936 is still up and running after over 20 years of service.
My newer Hakko 888 has worked flawlessly over the last 8 years.
I do love my Pinecil. One thing to point out in case you did miss it, the Pinecil is based on/influenced by the TS100. it accepts TS100 tips which you might be able to source locally for cheaper than importing them if you have import tariffs
It has the same screen layout too.
Thanks for pointing this out!
The Pinecil takes the same tips as the TS100. I know some Amazon vendors carry them, and you don't need to buy whole sets. I'm told they can also use tips for a higher end Hakko station, but it makes the whole iron quite a bit longer.
The TS80(P) tips have better construction and design, and are more efficient, powerful, and accurate than the TS100 tips, but they are indeed pricier so you want to buy just the tips you want to use and take good care of them.
The first iron I've had a ton of success with is a cheap Sparkfun non adjustable iron, which appears to be a knockoff of the Weller iron handle in this video. I threw away the iron from a cheaper Weller (which is an AC iron with a controller that limits the AC electricity going into the iron) and plugging in the Sparkfun iron into that.
yep Hakko T12 tips are longer but compatible with ts100 and pinecil and the t12 tip clones are cheap and comes in a wider variety of shape. It's a bit of a shame that those new gen hakko stations are not tested in the video because integrating the sensor inside the tip makes the temp more accurate and quicker to adjust by the station.
In what world are the TS80 tips more powerful than the TS100's ? TS100 is 70W vs 30W for the TS80, and the construction is really not better..
I upgraded from a cheapo 20€ iron to an ersa i-con pico last year, and I never regreted it: the super fast heat up times, super precise handle, feels like holding a pen, and the cable doesn't get in your way. it's amazing.
Totally. Also upgraded from an Ersa iron to the i-Con Pico last year. Such a pleasure to work with. Especially when working on smaller stuff like SMDs.
I have the nano and use it every day on my desk. Ersa probably has the best stations with the flagship i-con 2 being one on the beat on the market.
Two questions for you Ersa fans: Do you use the soldering iron of the pico? Or do you have an alternative? To me it makes the handle of the iron way too hot. (I'm talking about the cheap soldering iron holder that comes with the pico. Not the nicer one that comes with the nano. ) That's my biggest issue with the ersa.
And yes, the fast heatup time is just amazing and perfect for me.
@@PenPeng Mine isn't hot. My guess you've cranked up the temperature bit too high. Personally I usually don't go above 315-325C (using 60/40 solder). Never changed tips for ~6years I have this station. Can't even think of other iron that could be more comfortable than this.
Used a cheap no name Amazon soldering iron for my first project. Absolutely hated it and thought I sucked at soldering with many failed solders after hours of use.
Got a hakko station for Christmas and did some test solders and had them soldered and tight within minutes.
Game. Changer.
I purchased my Hakko a few years back and it has been a die hard consistent iron ever since. It’s been my favorite of all the irons I’ve owned.
Love my Hakko, best iron i have ever owned
Try a weller if you haven't.
Have you compared it to Ersa?
@@edinfific2576No, but I’m sure that’s a good brand too.
22:34 actually the Ersa does kind of auto wake up from stand by once you touch a surface with the tip and heats up again from standby temp to set temp. Sensing and reheating is actually pretty fast (dep on your set standby temp). In fact can hardly remember using the button to wake at all.
This is true. I've had the Ersa i-con nano for some years now and used it a lot. Great product, never had any regrets spending a bit extra.
This is true. I have one for a few years now. I'm just a bit shocked about the price hike...
We're going to test that! Lol, nice callout to Project Farm.
Thank you so much for making this video! I have been trying to decide on a soldering setup for, what, over two years!
Project Farm is the best. Good on Thomas.
I've used a Weller for decades and never had any problems. When you buy one, you can be fairly confident that replacement tips will be easy to find in the future. I used the iron professionally and don't see the need for a complicated interface.
Finding tips 10 years in the future is a bigger deal than people realize. If you go with any 'production' soldering iron company like Weller, Metcal, or even Hakko, you'll be able to get tips and heating elements well into the future, and can probably use the same parts from the past.
I have a TS-100 I bought on a whim but never use it outside of soldering things outdoors, like in the car or working on antennas. The interface is fine, but it's a bit much. With my benchtop station the only time I need to touch the base is to turn the temp up or down a bit. I use the same solder and the tip holds the temperature really well, so I don't even need to change the temp very often. Just turn it on and by the time I'm set up it's ready to go.
I don't rate Weller very highly, they're okay for light use, but not for everyday soldering. Metcal is much more durable and almost impossible to break even with constant use for years.
@@hhin Exactly. We switched from Weller to Ersa at work, about 10 years ago. Never had any serious problems since then, and it is very comfortable to use and powerful enough.
With the Wellers we had various software issues, the tip holders constantly breaking, etc...
I've had the hakko for years. I absolutely love it - rarely have heat power issues. I am on my second unit - I could not tell if the pencil or the base station was bad so just ordered a full one ( cost of each piece itself was more than the whole - I was afraid of murphys frowning on me )
I love my ts100. It's one of the best things I've spent money on in a long time. It's such a jump from a $10 iron that my ts100 is more than perfect.
100% this. I had a $90 Snap-On butane one before I bought the TS100. The TS100 is sooooo much better at a fraction of the cost.
the pinecil is basically a ts100 v2, same tips, can be powered over usb-c pd and the barrel jack, comes with ralim firmware by default and costs less than half, even with shipping. and you can get spare parts, unlike the ts100 (my case cracked once, gl finding replacements.)
@@gamerpaddy they are around t he same price these days.
@@user-yk1cw8im4h No Matter where i look its allways 60 bucks and Up for a ts100
@@gamerpaddy I own the TS100 and the pinecil and I can confirm that. I loved my TS100. I love my pinecil even more. However I've had an annoying problem with the pinecil, which I believe is 100% my fault : sometimes when the tip touches a PCB, the iron reboots and stops heating. I am 100% sure that's a grounding issue as when I tried it with my powerbank, it never happened. But somehow it never happened to my TS100 either.
Using a powerbank with the pinecil is one of the things that make it so good to me. I know you can get the TS100 working with a battery, but I don't know much about DIY batteries and I don't really feel like messing around that. Meanwhile you can buy a USB C power bank from a shop (as long as it has power delivery) and it'll work well for a really long time.
And it's so much cheaper than the TS100 ...
I settled on this Hakko one, it has 5 temperatures you can define and you do not need to fiddle with the temperatures as everybody suggests for some reason (I set mine in a range from 280 to 400). I have not touched manual temperature adjustment in years, just select one of the presets and start soldering. When compared with weller many years ago (which was more expensive), I just liked how solid hakko felt, all heavy steel casing despite the "plastic-like" look.
I also have the Hakko. It's in my price range and it has been a good performer for several years. Previous experience with Weller was not as good. Hakko meets my price/performance requirements. The Ersa is just too expensive for an occasional hobbyist station.
Mine died on me 😢
I have the Hakko, love it, and I have found nothing negative to say about it at all. It definitely has the best color. ... By the time we begin to reach it's thermal transfer limits on bigger targets, I have already moved over to my Weller 8200, anyhow. .... I loved this review, Thomas knows what's up.
I genuinely would recommend the Hakko FX-888D over the Weller if you want durability.
I rarely see a weller 1010 in a lab where the Plastic nut on the iron hasn't broken after a few years resulting in the entire tip assembly getting as wobbly as a loose tooth.
Having to wait till the iron is cold or using a plier on a metal nut is way better than a damaged iron.
I think it's important to point out that the Pinecil v2 now supports higher wattages which (I believe) should improve its ability to keep up with heat dissipation on larger copper wires or plates
One reason why I am keeping my TS80 - the silicone USB-C cable. The simplicity, lightweight nature of the soldering iron is OK, but the cable sells it for me. One needs to try to appreciate how big of a difference a cable can make.
You can get USB-C to 5.5mm jack cable with a converter to 20V for 10€. This cable is godsend. You can plug the TS100 to any USB-C charging port that supports QC 3.0
I actually swapped from a beefier Stannol soldering station to the TS80P and have zero regrets. It performs at least as well as the Stannol did of not better in my use, feels better in hand and has the silicone cable and the tip is closer to the handle too. The reason I bought it was that I have no dedicated spot to keep a soldering station at and lifting a whole station in and out of storage was annoying as heck.
I definitely recommend flashing IronOS on it, it's super easy to do, the iron shows up as a usb drive on your computer and you just copy the firmware file there and you're done. It not only looks nicer but gives couple extra settings and apparently is more stable as well as I have not experienced any of those crashes Thomas talked about in the video.
Edit: typo
I bought the ts100 and it's great, but if I were to buy again I'd probably get the ts80. I rarely if ever need the extra power.
So Pine64 also sells a silicone USB-C cable alongside the pinecil and it seems nice so far. Another thing missed on the pinecil is that it can run off of DC barrel jack (laptop charger), or off of USB C pd or qc3
pine64 sells a silicone usb c cable- i’m a huge fan of silicone cables, and it is literally one of only 3 that you can get- the others being the miniware which you can buy only with the ts80 or ts80 power supply, and an “allite” 100w cable, which is nice, but has to be bought either from amazon US or the chinese shopping websites. so the import fees are insane. pine’s is a steal in comparison and i’m buying more the next time i order from there
i picked up a pinecil when my TS100 died, not regretted the purchase yet, but the Hakko FX-888D is pretty nice
Can't run a Hakko straight from a tool battery like you can a TS100 style iron. Printed a nice adapter for both my kobalt and DeWalt batteries.
So if you use at least something like 20W, I can tell you it definitely seems to heat up faster than my Hakko.
The FX-888D is not worth buying in my experience. It will get the job done, but it's so slow and loses heat so easily vs the TS100 or Pinecil that even once you have bought everything you need to make a proper station out of one of those portable irons, you are still ahead moneywise, and you can also take the thing with you and run it off a laptop charger, lipo battery, USB power bank, etc if you do fieldwork.
lcd died or the whole iron? I needed an iron to swap mine, the "irony"
@@nicoful86 whole iron, let out the magic smoke, entirelyy fault
After dealing with cheap soldering stations for ages, i got a TS100 and i've been nothing but impressed with how powerful it is for the size. Perfect for hobby in my opinion.
Metcals (which are twice the price of anything here) heat the core with RF and rely on the Curie point to set the temperature. Net result: super fast and super stable to a fixed temp and super easy to swap hot. A possible downside to some people (outside of the obvious price issue) is that the tip determines the temperature: if you want to go to a different temp, you use a different temp. But for soldering normal things, they are fantastic.
The tip setting the temperature is also a benefit for production work where for consistency you want all the assemblers using the same temperature. The shop can enforce that by only providing one temperature type tip. My WESD-51 does that by having a control lockout that is toggled by touching a magnetic tool to the ESD symbol. But the production environment "feature" and reliability means that the Metcals have a production environment price tag...
Yes. Metcal acknowledges 2 patents in the design of that station.
1905 : Induction Heating (Metcal uses RF)
1959-1965 : Weller’s Curie Tips and Magnetic switching.
I only used lead free solder in my electronic education, was the first solder experience for me back then, and took 3,5 years.
After that I begun to work where my predecessor was a totally fan of lead soldering, and I tried it too (he had few kg of solder left anyways), and damn its so much bether. I solder very often, at work and in my private workshop, in my opinion, if you do something really often it's totally worth it to do it comfortably and have as much fun as possible on that.
You always need to wash your hands and have something to filter the fume is very important, but then it's not that dangerous...
I’ve used a lot of really cheap soldering irons. Stuff you get from the hardware store. I love using the Hakko. I like the display refresh speed, and I really like being able to start soldering in under 30s. I’ve been using irons that can take easily 2 minutes to heat up.
I’m very surprised that given the ease of finding replacement tips, it still was the least impressive option. Given my experience with cheap irons, I was really blown away by the performance of the Hakko.
My experience with soldering gear is that you very much get what you pay for.
I've been using an analog dial controlled Hakko for well over a decade. I love it. I learned on an ancient Weller station that I will some day inherit from my father because it's a Tank.
I had a hakko fx-888 (the analog one) and I miss it. I left it at a job somewhere (not using it for work, but forgot it there until after I'd switched jobs). I very much dislike the interface on the 888D. Changing temperatures around is a royal pain compared to just touching a knob. I love everything else about it though.
Finding Hakko parts just easy in the US i guess. Had trouble to find the iron after seen recommendations.
I've never really seen the Hakko refresh except during initial heat: at least mine appears to display the setpoint instead of the actual temperature as long as it's somewhat close.
I agree. I have a Hakko and I love it. Before that my primary iron was a Weller 35W pencil iron. I bought the Weller about 10 years ago after dealing with cheap Radio Shack firestarter irons my entire life and decided to splurge. The Weller is leaps and bounds beyond the old crummy irons with their anemic heaters and tips that oxidize and rot away after a few projects, but man, it sure takes forever to heat up. Like 5 minutes. Until then, you can't even tin the tip.
I bought the Hakko about 5 years ago and it was a game changer. I never had a legit workbench so when I finally built one, I bought a benchtop station. I don't know how I lived without it. Hot tip changes aren't a big deal if you just use some pliers. The only thing to look out for is accidentally changing the calibration offset if you press and hold the wrong button to change the temperature. Judging by the color changes of the tips, I was trying to use it at well over 400C, thinking I was around the usual 185-190C. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why my solder joints weren't 'wetting'. It was because I was vaporizing the flux as soon as the solder touched the tip. I figured it out, reset to defaults, and it's been smooth sailing/soldering since.
The pinecil is also my favourite because i can power it from lots of different sourced with usb c pd becoming very common, i have a 65w lenovo power supply that cost me £5 and works perfectly, i also have a 100w power bank which i can use anywhere e.g. on the field for field repairs for my fpv drone.
I've also seen people run the pinecil with the short 6ohm tips on 140w epr with a software update, and the heat up time is almost instant, which is insane. The short tips are really nice. I exclusively use the chisel as it transfers heat easier.
This reminds me so much of project farm!!! :) Love that chanel. You even have the same vocal tonality "the ____ is made in ______" lol :)
"We're gonna test that!"
Lol, yeah that's not a coincidence
@@lordratner yeah, after I got to the end, I realized that lol. :)
Haha I love his omage to project farm. There's no way he doesn't also watch the heck out of that channel.
Omg I wasn't the only one who felt that vibe eh? Lol.
Great review! I have the
Ersa i-Con Nano and love it! Heats up very fast, rich selection of tips available, and the handpiece with its flexible cable and short grip-to-tip distance is a joy to use. Never bothered with the SD-card, the default settings are good. Just turn it on and go, no fiddling with settings necessary.
Love the Project Farm vibe of this video.
Would be nice if your sponsors upgrade you to some more professional soldering tools to compare too. Used Ersa and Weller in professional settings, and we now got a full JBC rework station (4-tools) for a new workspace that i have yet to test and compare. I was very impressed by the large choice of oddly shaped tips JBC offer. Metcal would be another big name that is probably more geared to professional use that would be interesting to compare.
Nice but Tom should give credit if hes going to copy his phrases (We're gonna test that), etc.
@@orbitalair2103 If you watch to the end of the video he does give credit to Project Farm.
JBC is much better in my opinion. I wish JBC was incldued in the review. By the way, hakko is Japanese. He didn't mention it unlike german ones he did.
By the way, Pinecil has boost mode. Otherwise, it doesn't go full power. Not sure this review is done with boost mode too.
@@orbitalair2103 credit for using words in a certain order?
JBC is a totally another kind of budget
I'm an Industrial Maintenance Technician, and I had my company purchase the Weller 1010. I did enjoy it ONCE IT WAS ABLE TO MELT.
Thinking about trying out the pencil. Honestly, I love the mobility of usb irons.
Soldering onto a large heat-dissipating surface (like a heated bed) is where the biggest difference can be noticed. It's almost impossible to do without a fast-heating iron with good thermal transfer.
You get a large chisel tip and crank up the heat to max. My insane iron goes up to 600C in just few seconds. Gotta love the crazy Chinese engineering.
I agree. Having great power capacity like Ersa and Weller is crucial for effective and comfortable soldering, in my opinion.
Love Projectfarm. Immediately recognized the style.
The best Investment I've ever made, was when I bought the TS100 in the Set. Its really fast in heating up and also is able to solder larger areas or areas that disipate heat better than normal ones.
Also due to the Lightweight design, its also really easy to solder precisly like with the TS80.
Ts-100 is what I ended up using after 2 years of using multiple different devices for surface mount. Electrical engineer here!!
I've used a Weller station forever and was amazed at the TS100
Same here. Always used cheap stations, but the TS-100 is the best investment I've ever made in that regard.
I was pretty surprised not to see the ts100 in the lineup, I have to say.
Having used the impressive Ersa iconpico(propably the best station for the money, except the tip nut breaks now and then), i can easily say my TS100 is the best by far(except the handle, which ersa is better).
This is crazy, I just purchased a Pinecil and some extra tips last night after doing a bit of research. I'm glad to have some reassurance that I made a good decision!
Lol I did exactly the same
Update us on it Greg!
I'm tempted too 👀
@@drmed92 It should be here in a few days, I'll update when I get it and get the chance to test it out :)
@@drmed92 Got to play with it a bit this weekend - the tip that it comes with works really well for most things, but you may also want a chisel tip if you're working with larger SMD components (it's compatible with pretty much any tip that works on the TS100)
Overall, super happy with it. I ended up 3d printing an enclosure for it, too, where I can keep it and the tips once everything cools off after I'm done using it
ERSA is absolutely insane. I love their stuff... My oldest of their irons is from the 70s and it still works just fine.
I use the weller W1010 at work nearly everyday for atleast 8-9 hours for the past 10 months at 650°F. It is very durable, havent had 1 issue. It's easy enough to change out tips. Not really much else to say, if you're looking for a durable solder station around its price range, you can't go wrong.
I absolutely love my Weller. I have a different model compared to the one you tested. It is hot enough to solder within 20 seconds or so. I have used a lot of soldering irons in my life and this Weller is by far my favorite. Thanks for a great video comparing several different types.
Great comparison, thanks! Love my pinecil, one great benefit (maybe not for everyone) is that with a simple power supply (18v drill battery and adapter in my case) it can be completely portable with a very long runtime. 😀
I'm using a TS80 for around 2 years and i really love it. Bevor my TS80 i had a Ersa Station i bought in the mid 80'th :-) The best thing on the TS80 is, that you can also use it with a Powerbank... very handy outside ;-)
In 2015 I got myself a very sturdy CHF-LD48 soldering station from my local hardware store. It's built like a tank and works like a charm.
A year later I ordered a set of spezial use tips for it, and yeah, it's been a great soldering station so far.
Pinecil + ToolkitRC P200 is an insanely small and versatile setup. The P200 doubles as an incredibly small variable power supply with an additional USB-C out that's perfect for powering the Pincecil (the pine store also sells high temp silicone USB-C cables that pair the two wonderfully).
We used metcal irons when I first started my job 16 years ago so I bought one for personal use. Having your fingers so much closer to the tip than the others really improves your control. I’m so much more confident with a metcal than I am with anything else.
RIP Sanjay. Throughout December, I'll be donating 1€ for every 1.000 views on the channel (on any video) to charity in Sanjay's honour th-cam.com/video/l3iMB7_B4lY/w-d-xo.html
It breaks my heart hearing of the passing of someone with so much passion, hurts in my soul.
Got myself a "digital" Weller station when they came out some 20 years ago or so. Still going strong and consumables are available everywhere... I've had a few portables but they never last. Right now I have a dremel gas powered for my garage and it's pretty good even for automotive use.
Very fond of my Metcal soldering iron, wouldnt change away from that for anything these days. Quick to solder, short reach so nice to use and generally bombproof (mine was already second hand workshop sell off style when I got it). Tempted to look into a Pinecil for portable soldering now though ...
Bought a used Metcal years ago and I've always loved it. Thought I might get a TS-80 for the portability eventually
I have several soldering stations. And the one I go to when I have to do a lot of soldering is the Metcal. It is such a pleasure to use! It is also the only one I have with tweezers. It is not cheap though.
My second choice is the XYtronic LF-3000. Strangely enough, as it is one of those Hakko kind-of-clones. For the money it is hard to beat.
@@Haakkon if you just want portability TS100 over TS80 personally
I love my Metcal PS-800.. Still going strong after 15 years.
Bought a used MX-500 on e-bay 10 years ago.
Even for present days won't change it even to MX-5000, nor any other brands.
Who try Metcal once, won't change it :)
Bought a bunch of used and new tips of prefered types for surplus, and seek for prefered models on e-bay once in 3-6 months.
In "Service laboratory" use mode MX-500 tips works from 1/2 to 2-3 years, depending of type of needed jobs.
P.S. Bakon 950D with 5-10 different T13/T12 cheap chinese tips for portative use is my choice for last 5-6 years :)
Used a Weller at work and now I'm spoiled with soldering irons. The cable is so heat resistant and soft it heats up in seconds too. Incredible quality
I’m shooting out some love for the Ersa. I love that it only needs little space on the desk, the ultra-flexible cable, the short iron itself, ultra fast heat up and response times. The software profiles are nice and helpful, but why managed via microSD and desktop software (does this even run on current OSs?) - and not on the device itself - can only be explained by late 2000s marketing department requirements, assuming today it would get IoT and an app to it for similar unnecessary reasons, lol. Anyhow rocking this iron now for nearly a decade and happy with it like day one.
I believe it was meant for soldering workshops where the employer doesn't trust his employees to use the right temperatures. From my own experience I know that soldering pros tend to use way higher temperatures than recommended and later no-one knows why certain heat sensitive components have such a high failure rate.
I love this whole comparison, great work. As an german electric engineer teaching a whole production line regulary how to solder, I love every good video. Internally I was shouting „include a JBC station“, I know it‘s pricy but world class leader in every case you testet. The tiny irons you tested are cheap mobile copies of it.
As i commented somewhere here, there is still the JBC "Weidinger Edition" analog Station, it is around 240€ incl. VAT, which is expensive, but still way cheaper than the next "best" option from them!
"We're gonna test that." Love it. Kind of hope Project Farm also does one of these, but with the soldering stations available in the US, such as PACE.
Pace, metcal are professional soldering stations that costs over $500
I solder things maybe 3 times a year but I love my Pinecil. It replaced a 40 year old thing that my dad gave me, that barely melted butter let alone solder, especially lead free. It's so useful to be able to power it from a USB power pack and not need to be near a wall power outlet.
I'm glad the Weller 1010 was at the top of the list. I love mine. it is easy to use and I just really like the way it feels and looks. Nice to know it holds up against it's competitors.
I've been soldering for about two decades by now. The pinecil is by far my favourite soldering iron i've used in all those years and I've come across many in different makerspaces, electronics labs and workplaces.
The biggest advantge of the pinecil is in its name: it's not much bigger than a pencil and you can always carry it with you EDC-style. This in and of itself is already an unbeatablw quality if you ask me.
the fact that you can run it off of almost anything just sweetens the deal.
Personally, I use Weller WD1 stations primarily, but did get a couple Hakko T12 clone stations recently to use on the move.
I will say, the Weller WD1 with a WMP 65 watt pencil iron is a much shorter grip to tip iron than most I've worked with, and looks much like the Ersa handpiece's distance.
There’s an Aussie bloke making portable soldering stations that attach to any power tool battery, you have to buy your battery specific one, but they’re awesome!
Hi Thomas, there is a great alernative for the hobbiest. This iron outperfoms almost all irons. It's called the ksger soldering station. There service is great and they have awesome tips. For 50 euro's you can't go wrong. The only thing I am missing is a T12 iron for brass inserts.
agreed
you can also get similar models that straight up use JBC tips and then blow everything here out of the water.
@@tommihommi1 jbc tips?
@@gst8248 JBC, the company that makes the best "no compromise" soldering stations which the TS80 etc took a little inspiration from.
ah thanks
I love my PineCil... Bought a cheap adjustable power supply with barrel jack and adaptors for bench soldering work and hobby uses (never know what Voltage you need next), I have phone chargers that can run it on USB Type C, and a 12V 6A Lithium battery pack for portable field use.
None of the others heat up as fast, they use more power, and they can't even be used as a portable/packable unit, without a substantially larger power cell, generator, or 120/220VAC outlet nearby.
Personally, I am VERY happy that I went with PineCil, considering the price, performace, portability, and practical usability. Way better than the butane torch soldering iron I had for "just in case" solder repairs... Who wants to fire up a torch to melt metal, in confined spaces, like in a car, under the dash? With the Pine unit, I can power it from the car battery or my Lithium pack, and be so much safer
Wow, this is the first review of soldering irons that’s actually properly done. The only note I have is that measuring reflective surfaces with a thermal camera isn’t the most accurate but at least it’s the same test for all tips.
I was on the fence about getting the Weller or Pinecil but the pinecil seems like a no-brainer for me at this price.
Also, others have already said it but you really have a project farm style to your videos lol.
I love my TS80, I use it almost daily as a electric technician. Paired with a powerful Battery bank Makes it great for on the go and IMO a must have for any field technician. It’s saved my butt more than once!
I would HIGHLY recommend flashing a different firmware to the TS80. It fixed most of my issues.
I recently got myself a JBC soldering station (CD-2BQE), that is pretty expensive (370€ for the station + 100€ for all the tips I need). It also uses direct heated tips and heats up super fast (about 3-4s from 0 to 320).
I really love the station, but at that price it only makes sense, if you solder a lot.
Yep, JBC is the best system in the world and blows these away. The tips are quite expensive though and I was hoping I could adapt one of the TS100 tips to work with the driver unit, but it is not possible.
I still use the 120V no name solder pencil my parents gave me 1970s when I was in High School. Thanks for the video. I have been thinking for some time about getting a USB pencil iron. I will certainly consider the Pinecil when I do.
I like the Ersa for the tip design - it is really good for fine SMD work.
True and you can swap hot tips in less than 10 seconds without tools.
I've now built 15 FPV quadcopters using 2 Pinecil irons. One with a standard pointy tip and one with a bigger chisel tip for larger joints. I have never wanted or needed a bigger or more powerful iron in the process of building these drones. I highly recommend the pinecil soldering iron!
Excellent analysis!
..personally I love Ersa 😌, used to solder a lot in the past..
Funnily enough, while listening to this, I was soldering with my cheapo "Tuloka 701c" soldering station. It has a LED dot-matrix style readout, temp memory, rotary controller, coil holder and basic spots to put your flux and metal wool. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of Hakko clone, but I didn't have to pay the Hakko tax for it, it works and I'm happy. It heats up quick too! Good job you made a video detailing different soldering stations. I think a lot of us who may not have touched soldering before eventually get into it through modding and maintaining our 3D printers. Soldering has also sparked an interest in me for brazing, so my next few projects will involve brazing some custom metal frames for house projects.
I googled like a year ago and found out that the ksgear 12 was a steel for the price at that time. The t12 tips are cheap (4$ per tip) and very capable. An oled screen with everything what heart desires displayed. Even individual tip calibration. The silicon cable and small form factor is awesome for storing.
Would recommend to anyone.
Yep, I bought one over my Ersa because the price for some more rare tip models have become silly for the Ersa (like 50€ ). And the KSGER T12 ist just perfect, there's no reason for paying more.
I absolutely agree! I work in my lab full time, mostly focused on component level board repair for industrial clients. And when clients need it….I specialize in test equipment repair, calibration, and other metrology related tasks.
I love my test equipment and tools like my children. And I REALLY love some of my expensive soldering stations. I wasn’t expecting the KSG ER to come anywhere close to the more expensive gear. But it does! Been using them for a few years now, 12 hours a day six days a week. I have several, And always have at least 1 or 2 stations powered on when in the lab
the KSGER T12 has REALLY impressed me. For About $50… it performs 95% as good as irons/stations in my lab. Most of which cost 10 to 20 times more!
I have a Ksger T12 too and I absolutely love it... It uses the newer genaration of Hakko tips(T12) and they the clone tips are VERY cheap and even the OEM tips are not too bad, and there is a huge selection of them. I got a 10 or 15 variety pack when I first got mine and it only scratches the surface of the tips available!
I had also always had a little desire for one of the TS100s or TS80s for portable use though, but hated that they each used different tips, and the older TS100 had a better selection. Also the TS80 was better in some ways but worse in others than the TS100. They were both rather expensive too.
Then the Pinecel came out with the best features of both at 1/4 to 1/3 the price, and I did not even hesitate.
I now have one of the best bench top irons and the best portable, and if I REALLY need to 'pour on the heat' I have a (very) cheap butane powered iron to do BIG jobs with.
He REALLY needs to get a Ksger T12 and some more TS100 tips for the Pinecil and do a followup on this as only having the tiny tip for the Pincel put it at a MAJOR disadvantage against the others!
@@jamesraykenney how long is your butane powered iron already working for you? I have gone through some models, including expensive vendors like Weller, and they all died way too fast, like at about 100 times of use at max! I am searching for an alternative and better gas powered iron for some time now ..
@@jamesraykenney TS100 and Pinecil can actually use T12 tips, they are just a lot longer. But people have made grip extensions for both. They become a little more top heavy with them but are still very nice for making those portable irons even more versatile.
I can confirm the Wella iron's durability. We have always used Weller irons in our instrumentation department. They are switched on all day, every day and sometimes not switched off overnight! It is very rare that they require a new heating element. The tips last a long time unless we have to use an acid based fluxed solder as we do with K type thermocouple wires. We have never had a base unit fail and I am still using a 30 year old station!
Wait, Project Farm is actually European? Meant as a compliment. Solid video with great use of a solid standardized testing method.
Easy Choice. The Ersa is not only a great tool for the job, its also a quality build that will last you a very long time. I am still using my Ersa Digital 2000A + Power Tool from over 20 years ago. I use it regularly and its still perfect. I added the micro tool later for SMD work and the long life tips last a really long time.
I love the pinecil, a true engineering marvel and running a RISCV processor!
Surprisingly, the Ryobi 18v soldering station is really nice. I got it for soldering on vehicles/trailers, but now it's my main iron. It can run off AC too. It heats up fast and doesn't used a ton of battery. The only drawback is there's no temp readout. Also, I don't know if it's worth full MSRP, but that's that what refurbished sales are for.
Wasn't aware of the Pinecil, or the value it has compared to the cheapo irons I've been using. Thanks for doing this!
Some time ago I treated myself on the JBC CD-2BQF soldering station. It's a bit more expensive than the stations in your review, but it properly dwarfs them all.
It has 130Watt, heats up from cold to the set temperature in 2seconds, it has a nice solid quality base station, which incorporates the iron-holder.
Yes, it's roughly 500 dollar. It was the best money I ever spent.
Why am i getting such strong Project Farm vibes?
I absolutely agree! I work in my lab full time, mostly focused on component level board repair for industrial clients. And when clients need it….I specialize in test equipment repair, calibration, and other metrology related tasks.
I love my test equipment and tools like my children. And I REALLY love some of my expensive soldering stations. I wasn’t expecting the KSG ER to come anywhere close to the more expensive gear. But it does! Been using them for a few years now, 12 hours a day six days a week. I have several, And always have at least 1 or 2 stations powered on when in the lab
the KSGER T12 has REALLY impressed me. For About $50… it performs 95% as good as irons/stations in my lab. Most of which cost 10 to 20 times more!
Got my Pinecil earlier in the year. Works so well for pretty much any small stuff. Does chug a bit as like you said with bigger.
I had only one issue with your test on it and that was the changing of the tip. At 20:18 you said you needed to do both front and back screws. You only need to do the front.
I kinda disliked, that he gave the stations the advantage with the bigger tips, but the USB irons didn't get that advantage for the comparison.
Would love to know if you add a bigger tip to the pinecil if you still have problems with the big wire 🤷🏻♂️
@@ized88 Think the testing is mainly what you get out of the box.
Great job! I've had the hakko for years and it's been a solid workhorse. No complaints at all. Thanks for the video!
This is great! Definitely would like more relevant reviews like this for project things! Your analytical nature and experience in the field gives it more authority.
A video on setting up a maker space or home budget project space would be great. Do you grab the Wiha flush cutters, or is the no name blue cutters that come with 3d printers work just fine?
Been using the same Weller WES51 for 20+ years , 10 to 20 times per year. Along with my Fluke 77 III , it has never failed me. Having quality tools pays dividends.
project farm got a different accent all the sudden ;)
I'm getting a strong Project Farm vibe from this video. Not sure if that's on purpose or not but both channels are great so, it's a good thing!
"It's clearly the best soldering station by far, but they forget to think about how to make a good product" is the weirdest (euphemistically speaking) verdict ever.
It's the best *performing* station, but the not the best. Just the same way you might prefer a Vauxhall station wagon over a Corvette for daily driving - the Corvette is obviously faster and prettier, but the Vauxhall actually fits your family and groceries for a week.
I am traveling daily for work and I've been using TS80 (previous generation) a lot with Power Bank. Best traveling soldering iron by far that I've used and you can do practically everything with it. Repair electronics (0603 and even 0402 SMD components, no probs with Pencil head) and soldering thicker wires with chisel tip, everything without problems and through power bank, giving you freedom like no other. I've also not encountered during these few years any of the crashing described in the video.
hakko stations look like a toys lol
Bought a Zeny SMD Hot Air Rework Soldering Station for US $50 five years ago on Amazon that has served me faithfully so far. The hot air part is really handy for shrink wrap tubing. It is fully digital and uses separate red LED displays for the iron and the hot air, both of which can be run simultaneously.
I am a Weller fan - been using them since 1979 in professional settings. I bought a WES51 Digital just before they introduced their current 1010 model. I prefer the WES51 over the 1010 for the reason you cited - it has a smaller iron handle and screw-on tip holder. It also functions the same as their older units which were very basic and solid in function. The digital is a nice feature, and at the time of my purchase, Weller was selling off their stock at $120 USD per unit; a price I could not say no to.
Oh, by the way Thomas, if tip life and good looking solder joints is important to you, never use those copper pads to clean a tip - Weller's only come with a sponge for just that very reason. That dull part on the tip is a coating - and when it is wore off it is just inducing trash into your hot soldering pool. This is the big difference between Weller tips and aftermarket tips; the other tips don't hold up as well as Weller tips do over time.
If you want really high end, you need to go JBC. I used many soldering irons in my life and those are just something else. They just don't care how large your mass is and I hardly have seen more then 20-30% usage even on large parts. The temperature stability is just superb. You can switch the tip in a second and the new one is heated up when you reach the part.
JBC and Metcal are basically black magic. But sadly the price tag reflects that as well. Though, they are both dipping their toes into more affordable market segments in recent years, though still quite expensive compared to anything in this video.
I've used professional stations made by Hakko, Weller, Metcal and others... For myself, I've bought a cheap Miniware TS100 kit (it comes with every tip available) and, with the right tip, can solder very big wire gauge. The "boost" feature is so brilliant that I can't believe that good stations doesn't have it. Plus it doesn't have the buggy software of the TS80.
If you still want a station, I recommand buying a Metcal station. Their tip tells the station which temperature it needs to use and goes in sleep as soon you put it in the holder. Very easy to use and very powerful.
i love my pinecil, its small, cheap and work really really great, its also fast and i can power it with almost all my USB C charger, its been 1 year and im still happy of my purchase, i used in multiple time in convention to repair my stuff and friend stuff, definitly recommend it
glad i checked this video saw another youtuber get a pinecil and ordered one myself yesterday... after watching this video defiantly do not regret that decision as the stuff i plan on soldering won't require the extra thermal mass of the bigger stations
Weller soldering stations are the best, that's why we use them in avionics. You can use them all day every day and the hold up for years. If they do eventually break you can just send them in to get fixed under warranty. But for a hobbyist I would recommend the TS80 or TS100. Those little things are crazy good and pretty powerful, my wife even used one to do some stained glass soldering. They are especially good if you need to do mobile repairs or soldering on cars because you can run them off of a mobile battery pack as long as you have a high quality power bank.
The Pinecil is very impressive. Also it's cheap. I think it's perfect for someone like me who wants a decent soldering iron but a full soldering station is overkill for the ocasional repair job
I have a Hakko but is the FX951, I decided on getting it after years of watching Louis Rossmann videos and he was right, it is one of the best soddering irons out there, and with a FM2032 pencil it gives JBC a run for its money
It should be the same on the Pinecil, but on the TS100 you can leave the screw on the opposite side of the screen since it's not long enough to tighten the tip. I personally keep the screw on the screen side a bit loose so that it has contact with the tip, causing some friction but not enough to lock it in place. This allows to just pull out the tip and plop the new one without extra steps.
i love my pinecil and its just amazing for the prize. btw you only need to unscreew the screw on top to take out tip. and if you dont screw it back in fully, it is easily hotswappable and sits in well enough.
I am probably a bit late , looking at this metric ton of comments, but here it goes:
I was at the samer decision making point for a station a couple of month a go. The ones you tested here were all contenders, but in the end, and what i would recommend both to you and others looking for something in this range, is something entirely else:
a JBC "Weidinger Edition" analog Soldering Station.
Not many know the name, but they are not some indy or china company (Industry supplying Company from Spain). And this is a "cheap" version you don't even see on their own homepage. But bear with me for a second:
-It has a fine silicone cable which makes it easy to handle (looking at Weller here for their cheap shit household-like cable)
-super fast heating times which i haven't measured because i just pick the iron up and "go" (i could ofc not check the display vs measurement since it only has an analog dial...)
-i soldered 4² cables to big gold-plated terminals without any issues (and fast)
-it automatically sends the iron into a "standby" temeperature as soon as you put it in the holder
-it uses those more expensive but really awesome "all in one" tips, and let's be honest, usually 1-2 or max. 3 of those are enough for anything you do for a long time.
-and last but not least: THAT ANALOG DIAL! Who the hell needs all those friggin' hard to set digital crap if you can just flick a dial to wherever you want in a split-second!?
-240€ including German VAT - which is a lot, but still a far cry from the next best in their line-up
And no, i am not getting anything for this. I am just really happy with it ;)
Hope i could help those people struggling with the ups- and downs of the ones mentioned in the video!
I got the TS-100 a few years ago for ~$50, best purchase I have made.
Depends on your requirements I suppose but for my radio hobby use I have used the same Antex XS 25w iron for around 20 years, still works great.
I bought my first soldering iron from a budget hardware store, when I was chipping PS1s.
Was awesome fun seeing the traces on a board ball-up, when you'd been a bit heavy-handed with something designed to solder pipes.
Just imagine me as a crusty old-drunk in the corner of the bar, telling me that none of you even know you've been born, with these wonderful options :)