I’ve been doing solder work for 30 years. Just got a pine64. I’m excited to have a new machine that won’t keep me tethered to ac power. Game changer for a service tec.
@@robertmarzoev it is surprisingly cool. I have never had a problem with holding the iron when operating at 280-350°C which is the range I usually operate at.
@@zzxd7720 both will happily work with OEM C245 cartridges. The Sequre S99 needs a firmware upgrade, introducing an "Auto" mode, to avoid having to manually throttle the power output or choose a lower PD voltage.
Amazing overview! Our FixHub Smart Iron detects when you're drawing heat and automatically boosts the power output. It's cool to see that in action speeding up your Christmas tree assembly! That was our goal. Can't wait to see what more people think.
@@kyle_wiens any modern soldering iron with cartridges containing a thermocouple, e.g Hakko T12, JBC C115/210/245, Metcal, Pace, will actively control the power using a PI/PID controller algorithm for a fast and accurate temperature control.
Wait, I don't understand, you can set sleep time for the pinecil and I think mine is somewhere between 10-30s. You don't want the tip to instantly shut off while working, at least I don't. It also lets you know when it's hot or not, literally the temperature is on the display.
It all depends. Yes, you can adjust settings on things, but most people don't do that (especially beginners) so I'm testing things at defaults as most people will experience. But consider this: the iFixit iron is much quicker to cool down, even out of the box. But it also is much faster to heat up, in mere seconds. So on the one hand, when I set it down, I'm less likely to have an accident and burn myself or something else. But with that super fast heat up time, I finished the project in this video FASTER than the other irons. That's the best of both worlds. Hope that helps you understand.
@@anoraker I mean, if you're spending this much on a portable soldering iron, are you really a beginner? At my job we switch between leaded and unleaded solder and those need different temps, bit tricky with this without the big battery.
@@Drinkyoghurt Absolutely, a lot of people get into something by buying "the best first" to help shorten the learning curve. Agree on setting temperature as a difficulty without the battery (iFixit is working on the option to plug into your phone and set it, but that's still not great). But for a lot of people, that's not a need. Definitely is for your situation, but it's not so common. This was a choice... not sure it was 100% correct, but I get it.
I can't justify the price of the battery but I do want a stand to dock the iron and change the temperature. If there was a smaller cheaper station made (that could hopefully fit into a pro tech toolkit) I'd be more likely to buy it.
@@anoraker tbh, I thought that the Ifixit kit was the very first one of its kind, if I'd known others were out there, I would have shopped around properly. I bought the $300 full toolset because I wanna learn to solder, but my current iron is too bulky for me to actively want to use (I also bought all 6 other tip types, which came super early, and I'm currently staving off the urges to stick them into audio jacks around the house to see what happens). It's really great to know that my future iron will be amazing compared to the other 2 I would have come across.
@@ydiadi_ Lots of people don't own power bricks. If you don't need one (or you bought one of the early ones and it was garbage) why buy one? As for USB-C cable, you say that like USB-C hasn't been a mess and Apple hasn't only recently started to release devices that support it. Who doesn't own a USB-C cable? Most my iPhone friends. And even among the people that do, most of them have short cords that aren't very flexible and definitely aren't the kind of thing you want powering a super hot iron.
45 second heat up time on the Pinecil? I have a Pinecil and it it takes less than 5 seconds or so to heat up(320 c). I think amps on your USB C brick are important for proper heating. Mabey 5 amps at 100w. I bought a cheap ONN brick with these specs (5 amps listed is probably more like 4 in actual performance)and it works great for me! Good to see more of these fast heating soldering setups though.
It does all depend on the power brick you're using yes, and I was using the most powerful brick I have (a GAN charger no less, with plenty of amps). But even at its absolute fastest, the Pinecil is slower than the iFixit iron. That's not to say the Pinecil doesn't have its own advantages, which I think I covered in this pretty well. It's not like I said, "no one should buy this."
@anoraker I would like something portable to replace my butane irons but I need something that can stay hot. That Pine64 and ts101 have been on my list
As I mentioned in the video, I specifically tested irons that previous commenters requested when I did a full review of the iFixit iron. No one mentioned the SEQURE S9 in that video... so that's why I didn't test it. I could probably spend the rest of eternity doing these comparison tests based on everything on the market... and yeah that's tempting, I admit, lol.
sure, but this wasn't about "competition for Pinecil." The Pinecil isn't competition for the FixHub either. This was about comparing specific irons requested by viewers in a previous video.
It's probably not best to judge an iron based on what tip it came with... Usually, you order the tips you need and throw away the cone shaped one in the package.
I think it's totally fair to judge the tip it came with... that's the manufacturer's choice after all, and some people may not bother to replace them right away (maybe never, some people are like that). This is impressions out of the box using them right away.
I bought the TS80 and and another blue one. I used them for a month then bought a HAKKO 951 SOLDER STATION. I don't even know what happened to my TS80P. Forgotten and discarded. My recommendation is get either the Hakko 951 soldering station and get a good few good tips or the HAKKO FX 888 D. SMDS 👉🏻951, thru hole 👉🏻 FX 888D. Really small smds I'd probably go with the hakko micro pen. Or maybe a similar type of soldering station like a YIHUA 995D or similar. I soldered thousands of bigger and mid sized SMDs using the 951 and it's a great iron. I've got the FA-430 extractor fan which like the HAKKO stuff it's friggin expensive but yeah it works really well. The 951 is good for most of the stuff I've solder. The only issue is its not good enough for the bigger work. Ideally a bigger more powerful iron with more grunt is needed. Still it's rare that I need a more powerful iron.
Kind of an odd question, but is there any chance you could compare efficacy of the three irons while trying to solder roughly 8awg copper wire? I've been shopping for a portable iron to do field repair/retermination on coaxial lines, namely LMR400 and RG214, but I can't find an example of a comparative heat load to determine which (if any) iron is viable, or if I must continue to lug around my own soldering station. Thank you for this review!
I’ve been doing solder work for 30 years. Just got a pine64. I’m excited to have a new machine that won’t keep me tethered to ac power. Game changer for a service tec.
Two other good soldering irons that use JBC C245 cartridges and is powered by USB-C are:
- Alientek T80P (from US$ 40).
- Sequre S99 (from US$ 35).
Good day. Can you tell me from your experience how much the Alientek T80P heats up in the holding place?
Do any of them work with a standard JBC C245 cartridge? I got one called L245P, and it refuses to turn on with a C245 shovel cartridge.
@@robertmarzoev it is surprisingly cool. I have never had a problem with holding the iron when operating at 280-350°C which is the range I usually operate at.
@@zzxd7720 both will happily work with OEM C245 cartridges. The Sequre S99 needs a firmware upgrade, introducing an "Auto" mode, to avoid having to manually throttle the power output or choose a lower PD voltage.
@@mortenhattesen Thanks a lot :-)
Amazing overview! Our FixHub Smart Iron detects when you're drawing heat and automatically boosts the power output. It's cool to see that in action speeding up your Christmas tree assembly! That was our goal. Can't wait to see what more people think.
Isnt that what a iron is supposed to do anyway?
@@kyle_wiens any modern soldering iron with cartridges containing a thermocouple, e.g Hakko T12, JBC C115/210/245, Metcal, Pace, will actively control the power using a PI/PID controller algorithm for a fast and accurate temperature control.
"slowclap"
Wait, I don't understand, you can set sleep time for the pinecil and I think mine is somewhere between 10-30s. You don't want the tip to instantly shut off while working, at least I don't. It also lets you know when it's hot or not, literally the temperature is on the display.
It all depends. Yes, you can adjust settings on things, but most people don't do that (especially beginners) so I'm testing things at defaults as most people will experience.
But consider this: the iFixit iron is much quicker to cool down, even out of the box. But it also is much faster to heat up, in mere seconds. So on the one hand, when I set it down, I'm less likely to have an accident and burn myself or something else. But with that super fast heat up time, I finished the project in this video FASTER than the other irons.
That's the best of both worlds. Hope that helps you understand.
@@anoraker I mean, if you're spending this much on a portable soldering iron, are you really a beginner? At my job we switch between leaded and unleaded solder and those need different temps, bit tricky with this without the big battery.
@@Drinkyoghurt Absolutely, a lot of people get into something by buying "the best first" to help shorten the learning curve.
Agree on setting temperature as a difficulty without the battery (iFixit is working on the option to plug into your phone and set it, but that's still not great).
But for a lot of people, that's not a need. Definitely is for your situation, but it's not so common. This was a choice... not sure it was 100% correct, but I get it.
This is a great video...thank you. I was bouncing between all three of these, leanig towards the iFixIt and you sealed the deal.
Buying the ifixit is just a silly decision tbh, you could get a professional, modern soldering station for it's price. Not worth it all in any way imo
I got the fnirsi hs-01, around $35 from aliexpress without the type C charger. Came with 6 tips.
Already comes with a cover for the tip.
I can't justify the price of the battery but I do want a stand to dock the iron and change the temperature. If there was a smaller cheaper station made (that could hopefully fit into a pro tech toolkit) I'd be more likely to buy it.
That's honestly a good point. The stand is nice to have, and would make a great standalone option.
Thanks for the review! Despite ergonomics, I am in for the Pine
A perfectly valid decision! The Pine honestly surprised me with how good it is at such a low price.
@@anoraker tbh, I thought that the Ifixit kit was the very first one of its kind, if I'd known others were out there, I would have shopped around properly.
I bought the $300 full toolset because I wanna learn to solder, but my current iron is too bulky for me to actively want to use (I also bought all 6 other tip types, which came super early, and I'm currently staving off the urges to stick them into audio jacks around the house to see what happens).
It's really great to know that my future iron will be amazing compared to the other 2 I would have come across.
Who in 2024 doesnt own a power brick and type c cable
@@ydiadi_ Lots of people don't own power bricks. If you don't need one (or you bought one of the early ones and it was garbage) why buy one?
As for USB-C cable, you say that like USB-C hasn't been a mess and Apple hasn't only recently started to release devices that support it.
Who doesn't own a USB-C cable? Most my iPhone friends.
And even among the people that do, most of them have short cords that aren't very flexible and definitely aren't the kind of thing you want powering a super hot iron.
@@anorakerguess it would still be cheaper then 250usd
What exact charger and cable did you use with Pinecil?
An Anker GaN charger and either a 3 foot or 6 foot USB-C cable from Anaker as well. Not sponsored by Anker, just happen to have those on hand.
45 second heat up time on the Pinecil? I have a Pinecil and it it takes less than 5 seconds or so to heat up(320 c). I think amps on your USB C brick are important for proper heating. Mabey 5 amps at 100w. I bought a cheap ONN brick with these specs (5 amps listed is probably more like 4 in actual performance)and it works great for me! Good to see more of these fast heating soldering setups though.
It does all depend on the power brick you're using yes, and I was using the most powerful brick I have (a GAN charger no less, with plenty of amps).
But even at its absolute fastest, the Pinecil is slower than the iFixit iron.
That's not to say the Pinecil doesn't have its own advantages, which I think I covered in this pretty well. It's not like I said, "no one should buy this."
my ts80p came with a very nice and flexible usb c cord.
Nice! ... mine did not.
My daily driver is PD210 from KSGR, best ergonomics for my hand period, and I had tried many.
My Pace ST25 works just fine. One at home and one at work.
That's cool! No need to buy new if what you have still works. It's just good to have options for anyone looking to get into soldering.
@anoraker I would like something portable to replace my butane irons but I need something that can stay hot. That Pine64 and ts101 have been on my list
I'm really surprised that you used the old TS80P (my old iron) and not the newer SEQURE S99 (my current one), I personally find it a huge upgrade.
As I mentioned in the video, I specifically tested irons that previous commenters requested when I did a full review of the iFixit iron. No one mentioned the SEQURE S9 in that video... so that's why I didn't test it. I could probably spend the rest of eternity doing these comparison tests based on everything on the market... and yeah that's tempting, I admit, lol.
TS101 is competition for Pinecil, not TS80p
sure, but this wasn't about "competition for Pinecil." The Pinecil isn't competition for the FixHub either.
This was about comparing specific irons requested by viewers in a previous video.
It's probably not best to judge an iron based on what tip it came with... Usually, you order the tips you need and throw away the cone shaped one in the package.
I think it's totally fair to judge the tip it came with... that's the manufacturer's choice after all, and some people may not bother to replace them right away (maybe never, some people are like that). This is impressions out of the box using them right away.
In my opinion, iFixit is more than worth the price, because it is seems to be less of a headache
I bought the TS80 and and another blue one.
I used them for a month then bought a HAKKO 951 SOLDER STATION.
I don't even know what happened to my TS80P.
Forgotten and discarded.
My recommendation is get either the Hakko 951 soldering station and get a good few good tips or the HAKKO FX 888 D.
SMDS 👉🏻951, thru hole 👉🏻 FX 888D.
Really small smds I'd probably go with the hakko micro pen.
Or maybe a similar type of soldering station like a YIHUA 995D or similar.
I soldered thousands of bigger and mid sized SMDs using the 951 and it's a great iron.
I've got the FA-430 extractor fan which like the HAKKO stuff it's friggin expensive but yeah it works really well.
The 951 is good for most of the stuff I've solder.
The only issue is its not good enough for the bigger work.
Ideally a bigger more powerful iron with more grunt is needed.
Still it's rare that I need a more powerful iron.
Kind of an odd question, but is there any chance you could compare efficacy of the three irons while trying to solder roughly 8awg copper wire? I've been shopping for a portable iron to do field repair/retermination on coaxial lines, namely LMR400 and RG214, but I can't find an example of a comparative heat load to determine which (if any) iron is viable, or if I must continue to lug around my own soldering station. Thank you for this review!