Input on Hot Air Rework Station

[dezso]

Planing to buy a new Hot Air Rework Station, after my Hakko 850B finally died last week after 10 year of hard work!
Really don't want to spend another $700 for something pro tool, looking on e-Bay for a replacement and there is a few good looking unit out there.
Wondering if any of you have any experience whit this unit's, good/bad, pos-neg ?
If you own or owned one, and now its in the trashcan please reply asap.
Thanks

1- Hero 898D, ~$120 including shipping, replacement heaters, 10 replacement tip for s-iron, 4 nozzel.
2- ATTEN 858D, ~$60 including shipping, 3 nozzle.
3- GQ 5200, ~ $120 including shipping, replacement heater for both, 10 replacement tip for s-iron, 4 nozzle.
4- KADA 852AD+ ~$120 including shippin, replacement heaters, 10 replacement tip for s-iron, 5 nozzle.






 

[th_sak]

Hi, I own an ATTEN 858D+ and I can say it's very good for the money I spent for it. It just do the job that others do for more money. I recommend you to buy it. Also have a look at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vva2t21sOAs

[Sideshow Bob]

The Hakko brand on Ebay, and others also for that matter. Is often used by counterfeit scammers from China. They often sweeten the offer by offering a lot extra tips. Free of charge. But then you open the package you will find that equipment is counterfeit. And the extra tips are missing. If a offer is to good to be true. It most often is exactly that. Be very careful.

[pickit2]

I got a good deal from BlackJackSolderWerks.com
hot air, iron, and desolder gun, and spare elements. (after 2.5 years still not needed.)

one way I would/should have gone is halagen lamp for small surface mount devices. (as used in work place, so much easier)

[dezso]

I think gonna go with the 898D, anyone used that soldering iron?
My Hakko 941 soldering station also on its last life, getting harder to find T1 style tips since hakko discontinued.
The T1 tips was a genius design, every tip has it's own heating element and temp sensor.

[Parmin]

I think with all the hot air machine, the heat is generated on the handle, it is the air pump location that differes.

During the past few years I have sold HUNDREDS of soldering station similar to the top most (Saike 898D) picture,
mine is the XXXX 858D+ and 858D++, as with anything there are failed units, but they are roughly 1 in about 200 units sold.
They works great, even in industrial environment such as TV/communication system repair centers that require the unit to be on for 8 hours or more each day.

[dezso]

Purchase has been made 
898D+
Found a seller in my province $94 US for 2x iron heater, 1x hot air heater, 5x nozzle, 10x iron tip and shipping included.
Should have it here by next Tuesday, will update you guys how is running

[FTL]

I got together with a couple of people and bought the GQ unit from e-bay back in march.

With 11 units ordered, we got 'em for just over $80 each plus very reasonable shipping.

They seem to work well. They have a small air-pump in the main case and are resonably quiet. Make sure you remove the two transport screws to release the compressor so it can float on its suspension for less noise.

I've only used mine for probably about an hour and it has been fine. Several of the others in our group buy have put 10+ hours on theirs with no complaints.  I have not used the soldering iron portion since I prefer my Weller digital.

[dcsmrgun]

Sorry to bump an old topic, but I'm thinking about the KADA 852AD, just wondering if anyone's had the chance to try one firsthand since the last reply was posted?

I think at this price range they'll probably all be about the same, though I like the idea of the blower being located in the main housing rather than the gun itself.

[Brosske]

Hi all, i have a bakku 858D - good enough for repairing unstable VGA-chips once and a while ;-) - bought it on Ebay for about $100 6 months ago.


greetz

[mare69]

I have one simila "clone" for about 2 years now. No issues. Just be sure to get spare heater in the package.

[bigtoy]

The Kada looks very similar indeed to my Aoyue - they probably all come out of the same factory I'm sure. I've had no problems with mine.

[dipchip]

I have an X-Tronic 4000 (which is a US import of the GQ, I believe) bought from a US dealer.
It came with extra heater elements for the hot air and soldering iron units.
Having the air pump in the base unit is IMHO better than a fan in the hand unit.
My only complaint is... it's loud, but, works great on everything I've used it on.

--Chip

[Brosske]

PS : I realy don't believe in soldering with a hot-air station. The fan and heating element are not made for a lasting job. Use a classic Weller or other soldering station to solder...

greetz :-)

[Parmin]

I never bother to argue about commercial products.
OTOH, with these products I am way more familiar with them than most.
Not only I used sell these products in bulk, I also research ALL of them thoroughly before I took up dealership.

What you think as "a hot air pipe (no wires)" is in fact pipe with wires built in inside.
Think whatever you like...
but if you reckon you can convey 400+ degree celcius hot air in a little flexible plastic pipe
without BURNING the user by leaking heat outside the pipe, or damaging the pipe,
you might believe tooth fairy exist too.

You said that you have disassembled your station many times, and thus I smell bovine droppings.
Let me rephrase that.. I think you are FULL OF SHIT.

[millegps]

I have an atten 8586 which I paid about 100$ 1 year ago.It seems to be a clone of Saike 898D.

Of course it's not a professional tool, but I find acceptable for hobby

[icpart]

I have an atten 8586 which I paid about 100$ 1 year ago.It seems to be a clone of Saike 898D.

Of course it's not a professional tool, but I find acceptable for hobby

No they are not the same inside. They used similar iron but hardware is different.  I have BEB 898D which is clone of Yihua 898D but work with original pcb from Yihua. Also pcb and construction of  898D are with better quality compare to 8586. Also temperature control of these stations is not verry accurate. With soldering iron maximum work temperature in mine was 375°C, but with little modiffications I was able to expand temperature range of iron to real 480°C also temp indication of this chinese soldering stations is not real. Also 8586 use PIC MCU for control and the 898D used the Samsung MCU inside.
If you want something qualaity and functional and cheap go to DIY. I will do it certainly in the near future when I can. Just look on dangerousprototypes forum. There is two great projects about custom soldering station.

[Mworks]

I bought one of the  Yihua 8508Dfor about $50USD shipped on ebay.
The first week I was using it I started to smell something burning then a puff of smoke came out of the case.
It turns out the power switch was faulty and was arcing internally, it got hot enough to cause the switch casing to melt and the wire terminals to fall out.
Replaced the switch and all has been good for about 6 months of usage, no other complaints.

[Parmin]

The market is currently saturated with sub standard copies that lack of safety system and badly designed sensing system (to bypass the Intellectual Property issues).
A few years ago, only a handful of makers in the market, their price is higher but then their quality is also higher than the crap you get nowdays from every second wannabe sellers.

My advise is disconnect the mains power every time you are done using your soldering station.
Often a system sold with badly designed power train that may short and burn, all just so the cost can be cut down by another 50c.
Those bastards deserved to be skinned alive.

Caveat.

[mclinic]

hello mate

my advice is to get the 898d that is found the first picture u uploaded cause its stable as using 4 pieces in my work shop ( tested)
& lower in power consumption ( heater & fan work only when u lift the hand from the main machine ) .

kind regards

[jellybean442]

It's usually a good idea to keep the hot air and soldering iron separate, as it decreases the complexity of the overall system and tends to be more reliable. The bad thing about an "all-in-one" units is that a hardware failure on one part of the unit can prevent you from using the whole thing. This is from personal experience.

[vern]

I use a AOYUE 8032 Hot Air fan to heat the top of the board and simultaneously I heat the bottom of the board with a ATTEN 853A.
Both are really cheap but it works very well.
To remove BGAs from a multilayer with massive ground and VCC planes it is always best to heat both sides of the PCB, it is less stressful for the conponents.

[renesas13]

I use Pro'kit SS-989 include soldering and hot air.
To remove BGAs, FPGA.

[PICker]

My ATTEN 858D works very well for soldering and re-flowing purposes