This is absolutely my favorite soldering iron ever. I use it for everything, and paid the money for a few JBC tips that meet all my needs. I actually made a DC to XT60 cable using a little USB-C breakout and just soldering to the + and - pads. I find that most USB-C PD power supplies get upset with the 8A current spikes and reset. Now I can feed it directly from a 4S battery and still get over 100W without having to find a power outlet for a USB-C PD power supply. It also allows me to use nice thin double silicone wire so that it is super flexible and light and doesn’t get in the way of me using the iron like thick USB-C cables sometimes do. Side note, that case it comes in, if you remove the foam on the bottom part, will perfectly fit an OmniFixo soldering plate/third hand thing, which I recommend that everyone buy, along with the rest of the accessories for the iron.
@@Djambo57The downside is that the AliExpress tips are relatively high resistance (I think 6Ohm). You will not get that 150W power output unless you get real JBC tips, which have something like 2.5Ohm resistance. And also the JBC tips are very high quality and in my opinion worth every penny.
But worth every penny and like he says in the video, you need to use the JBC ones to get a low enough resistance that you will see the 100+ Watts this thing can provide.
I was an early adopter of the TS100 and to be honest I was never happy with it - lots of early hype and glowing reviews but it had many flaws as you point out. I'm looking forward to trying this one with my JBC tips for portable work 👍
Nice review. I had these spare 20V DC, 11.5A, 230W laptop power bricks laying around. Perfect to fit an XT60 connector on for the S99. I like the S99 so much that I bought another one.
Yeah, people really need to stop recommending shitty TS100/101/Pinecil irons. They are old as fuck and there's so many better options out there now. Wasted £75 on a Pinecil/Power supply combo when I could've gotten this for a total of around £50. At least the pinecil is usable, but who wants an inferior, more expensive product?
@EmberRepairs I've been using the ts101 for a couple of weeks now, it's not a bad iron, I just wish there were smaller tips available. I'm probably gonna end up getting a sequre one or something similar just for the jbc tips and keep the miniware as a backup backup iron. So yes, definitely do stop recommending the miniware style irons. They're great, but there's better (i. e. more versatile) ones for less than half the price.
No doubt that new iron looks nice. But i have never had to unscrew the screw on my TS100, just set it snug-ish. And the TS101 got USB-C PD wich is nice. Never had a tip die on me either, but i might not use mine as much as you. Will deffo look in to the S99, looks sweet!
Hey, thanks for the comment! Maybe I just wasn't lucky with the TS100 haha... I gor the tips with the iron and half of them died after like a year or so but I do use the iron very often so maybe that's the difference...
It is day and night difference, if you can afford original JBC C245 tips. Didn't try C245 clones though. Works best with SlimQ F150 laptop charger, that has DC5525 output with 20V and 7.5A. And with USB-C chargers you have to limit its power to 70% in the menu, so not so nice...
Well, actually, after using them for a while, they are pretty good haha. It's just that I'm used to working with originals everyday but these really do work good and are a lot cheaper. You can definitely work with them out of the box, no need to buy others if you dont need other shapes
I was hoping this was going to be the Pinecil v3 that Pine64 has yet to give us. The power input side is a bit disappointing, especially with how long the USB PD 3.0 has been in usable spec, limiting the USB input source to 21v seems outdated, defaulting back onto a higher amp 21v plug (XT60, barrel jack, etc.) just furthers that this design is outdated. The update to C245 tips is nice, IIRC the C470 carts are physically compatible with the C245 receptacle, though I wish JBC would offer shorter carts. Maybe Pine64 will eventually come along with a Pinecil v3 that has a better PD spec, C245/C470 cart compatibility, and provides short tips like they do for the v2, all for the same reasonable pricing if not start being price competitive with these other brands. My only real complaint is with the interface, two buttons really isn't enough, having to hold a button or do a combination of held buttons for very basic functions is fairly annoying, especially when it's not that difficult nor increases the BOM by more than a few pennies to have a couple more buttons. I also wish someone would make tip adapters, both for the TS100 and C245 barrels, it seems like every time I get a new iron there's a different tip standard, and I have a backstock of older tips that can no longer be used without going back to an older soldering station.
Well this is the second time I'm hearing about Pinecil in the comments. I definitely have to take a look at this since I never saw it in person... It would be awesome to get higher voltage out of USB-C but in 99% of situations this 65W power supply is enough for me. The only time I used the XT60 adapter to get higher power was when I had to solder some huge 12AWG wires to big planes on my VESC controller. It would be doable with the 65W brick too but it would take longer
Well I never saw Pinecil in person but from pictures it looks pretty similar to the TS100. I'd say the S99 is a much better pick because you can use JBC tips which is really good. The tips are the main thing when soldering and JBC ones really are the best. Plus, it has crazy power and it's able to solder huuge solder planes without a problem
This is absolutely my favorite soldering iron ever. I use it for everything, and paid the money for a few JBC tips that meet all my needs. I actually made a DC to XT60 cable using a little USB-C breakout and just soldering to the + and - pads. I find that most USB-C PD power supplies get upset with the 8A current spikes and reset. Now I can feed it directly from a 4S battery and still get over 100W without having to find a power outlet for a USB-C PD power supply. It also allows me to use nice thin double silicone wire so that it is super flexible and light and doesn’t get in the way of me using the iron like thick USB-C cables sometimes do.
Side note, that case it comes in, if you remove the foam on the bottom part, will perfectly fit an OmniFixo soldering plate/third hand thing, which I recommend that everyone buy, along with the rest of the accessories for the iron.
Before you buy, check the price of replacement tips. Outrageous!
Depends on which brand you are going for... You can get the tips for 5€ a piece on Ali, and if you take care of them, they can last a really long time
probably beacuse they are JBC tips which are the industry standard and will probably outlive you
@@Djambo57The downside is that the AliExpress tips are relatively high resistance (I think 6Ohm). You will not get that 150W power output unless you get real JBC tips, which have something like 2.5Ohm resistance. And also the JBC tips are very high quality and in my opinion worth every penny.
But worth every penny and like he says in the video, you need to use the JBC ones to get a low enough resistance that you will see the 100+ Watts this thing can provide.
I'd be really interested in making the soldering stand shown at 6:46; where can I learn more?
I was an early adopter of the TS100 and to be honest I was never happy with it - lots of early hype and glowing reviews but it had many flaws as you point out. I'm looking forward to trying this one with my JBC tips for portable work 👍
Yes, TS100 was driving me crazy haha
Nice review. I had these spare 20V DC, 11.5A, 230W laptop power bricks laying around. Perfect to fit an XT60 connector on for the S99. I like the S99 so much that I bought another one.
Totally agree, I wanted to get the AiXun T320 at first but the S99 is just so good haha.. It's so small yet powerful
I wish I had known about this when I ordered my ts 101p last week 😅
Yeah, people really need to stop recommending shitty TS100/101/Pinecil irons. They are old as fuck and there's so many better options out there now. Wasted £75 on a Pinecil/Power supply combo when I could've gotten this for a total of around £50. At least the pinecil is usable, but who wants an inferior, more expensive product?
@EmberRepairs I've been using the ts101 for a couple of weeks now, it's not a bad iron, I just wish there were smaller tips available. I'm probably gonna end up getting a sequre one or something similar just for the jbc tips and keep the miniware as a backup backup iron. So yes, definitely do stop recommending the miniware style irons. They're great, but there's better (i. e. more versatile) ones for less than half the price.
No doubt that new iron looks nice. But i have never had to unscrew the screw on my TS100, just set it snug-ish. And the TS101 got USB-C PD wich is nice. Never had a tip die on me either, but i might not use mine as much as you.
Will deffo look in to the S99, looks sweet!
Hey, thanks for the comment! Maybe I just wasn't lucky with the TS100 haha... I gor the tips with the iron and half of them died after like a year or so but I do use the iron very often so maybe that's the difference...
It is day and night difference, if you can afford original JBC C245 tips. Didn't try C245 clones though. Works best with SlimQ F150 laptop charger, that has DC5525 output with 20V and 7.5A. And with USB-C chargers you have to limit its power to 70% in the menu, so not so nice...
Super cool review I wanted to get TS101 but bought this one instead, thank you
Thank you so much for watching and enjoying the content -demure
what would you rate the tips that comes with it out of 10 compare to JBC tips which cost an arm and leg.
Well, actually, after using them for a while, they are pretty good haha. It's just that I'm used to working with originals everyday but these really do work good and are a lot cheaper. You can definitely work with them out of the box, no need to buy others if you dont need other shapes
Can you check if the problem of 100V at the tip when using a power brick has been fixed?
100V at the tip?? I'm first time hearing about this. How did you measure it?
Is this compatible with C210 tips as well?
Hi! It is not, but there are more sequre irons, and one of those does support the smaller tips...
I was hoping this was going to be the Pinecil v3 that Pine64 has yet to give us. The power input side is a bit disappointing, especially with how long the USB PD 3.0 has been in usable spec, limiting the USB input source to 21v seems outdated, defaulting back onto a higher amp 21v plug (XT60, barrel jack, etc.) just furthers that this design is outdated. The update to C245 tips is nice, IIRC the C470 carts are physically compatible with the C245 receptacle, though I wish JBC would offer shorter carts. Maybe Pine64 will eventually come along with a Pinecil v3 that has a better PD spec, C245/C470 cart compatibility, and provides short tips like they do for the v2, all for the same reasonable pricing if not start being price competitive with these other brands. My only real complaint is with the interface, two buttons really isn't enough, having to hold a button or do a combination of held buttons for very basic functions is fairly annoying, especially when it's not that difficult nor increases the BOM by more than a few pennies to have a couple more buttons. I also wish someone would make tip adapters, both for the TS100 and C245 barrels, it seems like every time I get a new iron there's a different tip standard, and I have a backstock of older tips that can no longer be used without going back to an older soldering station.
Well this is the second time I'm hearing about Pinecil in the comments. I definitely have to take a look at this since I never saw it in person... It would be awesome to get higher voltage out of USB-C but in 99% of situations this 65W power supply is enough for me. The only time I used the XT60 adapter to get higher power was when I had to solder some huge 12AWG wires to big planes on my VESC controller. It would be doable with the 65W brick too but it would take longer
I'm curious how it compares to the Pinecil.
Well I never saw Pinecil in person but from pictures it looks pretty similar to the TS100. I'd say the S99 is a much better pick because you can use JBC tips which is really good. The tips are the main thing when soldering and JBC ones really are the best. Plus, it has crazy power and it's able to solder huuge solder planes without a problem
now i wish i didnt spend $80+ on a ts80p 2 years ago haha
Haha yeah, I still can't believe you can get this little iron for $24
did he say "only" $24 for tip?
Only $24 for the iron!
Damn.. can't beat that. How much are the tips?
Hey, I've sent you e-mail! :)