Desoldering station recommendations?

Vendest

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Hi guys,

I have damaged countless pads and traces using my soldering iron to remove smt and dip chips.
Time to get a proper tool so I need suggestions on which desoldering station to pick.
My budget is roughly $150

Checking at eBay and some seem to combine hot air and vacuum pump.

Thanks
 

Atro

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If you don't do it properly, you will still damage pads with that tool.

It's way easier that sucking pumps tho. But extra care is needed while using it.
Use an hot air station for SMD's.
 

massimiliano

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I know it may be out of your budget but the Hakko FR-300 desoldering gun is *awesome*...way beyond cheap stations..
 

JoeAwesome

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I know it may be out of your budget but the Hakko FR-300 desoldering gun is *awesome*...way beyond cheap stations..

Fry's or some other place had it for nearly (?) half price a few months ago, so it can drop to a better price.
 

Vendest

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Using Hakko FX-888-D soldering station and I am quite satisfied with it.
Price for Hakko FR-300 is twice my budget but at the end of the day I'd rather have something that can last longer.
That one doesn't seem to work with hot air though.
As mentioned by Atro hot air seems easier to work with.
 

massimiliano

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Using Hakko FX-888-D soldering station and I am quite satisfied with it.
Price for Hakko FR-300 is twice my budget but at the end of the day I'd rather have something that can last longer.
That one doesn't seem to work with hot air though.
As mentioned by Atro hot air seems easier to work with.

I also have the FX-888-D in combo with the FR-300, best buy of 2016... but yeah I'm not dealing with SMD :(


IMG_9547.jpg
 

Xian Xi

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I rarely ever use my hot air station and when I do, it takes way too long to do. I'd rather just use chipquik since it's way faster and I can reuse it too. Trust me, just get the FR-300. I have an 808 and it has problems but the FR-300 is it's successor and improved a lot of things.
 

Xian Xi

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And looks like it's only $220 shipped from some sellers.
 

shadows

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Is the thermal performance and suction on the fr-300 that much better compared to the 808?
 

NEO G-TRON

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I also have the FX-888-D in combo with the FR-300, best buy of 2016... but yeah I'm not dealing with SMD :(


View attachment 44262

Been looking to get a legit setup like this one. Found this combo on Ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hakko-FR-30...729060?hash=item2804f30c24:g:QFgAAOSwY45USWFt Been wanting to re cap the rest of my Arcade monitors chasis lately. Hate using the old school solder sucker. Time to pass on the old 30 watt Radio Shack iron and scoop this one up if the price seems good for the combo.
 

mainman

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What I use
Aoyue 8032A++
HAKKO 394
Hakko 474
AY050-Aoyue-8032A-font-b-portable-b-font-font-b-hot-b-font-font-b-air.jpg
Hakko-3021_394-01_DV_WebXL.jpg
C2694607-01.jpg
isotip-65731_7904_DV_WebXL.jpg
 
Last edited:

Atro

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I'm using this one and I absolutelly love it.

to0613_1.jpg

Goes up to 480コ Celcius and has a strong suction. Easy to maintain so far.
 

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Vendest

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Thanks for sharing!
Will revise the budget and probably get a FR-300.
 

Vendest

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I have received the Hakko FR-300 today and put it to work immediately. I am blown away!
Really thankful to the group here for helping me make the right choice.
The (minor) drawback is the 100v only power supply which requires in my case a step down transformer.
I have set the thermostat to 400C/750F to desolder couple of wires and it worked perfectly fine.
Any recommended temperature setting before desoldering smd or dip?
 

massimiliano

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Glad you like it!My suggestion is to get a couple of tips with different diameter then you are good for everything! (no clue about SMD as I'm not usually messing with it, but I saw few videos about a low temp desoldering alloy, XianXi has the name)
 

mainman

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Glad you like it!My suggestion is to get a couple of tips with different diameter then you are good for everything! (no clue about SMD as I'm not usually messing with it, but I saw few videos about a low temp desoldering alloy, XianXi has the name)

Chipquik is to expensive and messy for what it does. I only use it in circumstances where the pcb is just to densely populated with small SMT to risk the desoldering wand. A good hot air rework station is by far the best method to use to remove components
 

Hairy Otter

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View attachment 44277

When you have friends who are geniuses, and care enough to send the very best.

I looked to buy this bad boy, but it's way out of our budged at $1,475.98 + $12.49 shipping
I settled for the Xytronic Rework Station LF-8800 for 300€.
I use the PACE station at my job so I can compare the two, but I am happy with the one I bought. The only difference I notice is that the Xytronic is faster at the desired temperature and the suction is much quieter.
 

Xian Xi

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I looked to buy this bad boy, but it's way out of our budged at $1,475.98 + $12.49 shipping
I settled for the Xytronic Rework Station LF-8800 for 300€.
I use the PACE station at my job so I can compare the two, but I am happy with the one I bought. The only difference I notice is that the Xytronic is faster at the desired temperature and the suction is much quieter.

I had a Xytronic LF-7000 and loved it. Had no problems with it other than the desoldering wand got hot after extended use but it made sense that it would.
 

Hairy Otter

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I had a Xytronic LF-7000 and loved it. Had no problems with it other than the desoldering wand got hot after extended use but it made sense that it would.

The Xytronic LF-8800 has nice sleep and auto off feature. After 20 minutes of idleness the wands go into sleep mode and another 20 minutes it turns off. If you take the solder wand out of its stand it automatically turns on and in a matter of seconds it's back at working temperature. For the desolder iron to wake up you need to press the suck button. You can also shut off the wands separately at will. So when I'm soldering and don't plan to desolder stuff I leave the desolder wand off. The auto off feature has saved me a lot money both by burned solder tips and energy cost. I tend to forget shutting the station off after an evening of fun. I often found my previous solder station the next day (some times after e few days) still at working temperature, thankfully it didn't start a fire.
 

Vendest

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Glad you like it!My suggestion is to get a couple of tips with different diameter then you are good for everything! (no clue about SMD as I'm not usually messing with it, but I saw few videos about a low temp desoldering alloy, XianXi has the name)

I was checking on different tips available but I do not understand the difference between N50-01 and N50-03 which are both 0.8mm.
The one packaged with the Hakko FR300 is N50-04 (1mm)
Also I don't think a diameter bigger than 1mm will be necessary. What is your view on this?
Each tip is about $20

Edit: Found the information about the different tips on the English instructions manual

tip.png
 
Last edited:

brizzo

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Another China made desoldering station you consider is the "ZD-985" station. They are available under a few brand names, but it is based on Hakko. There is a review about them on EEVBlog, bought one last year and it's good for when I don't want to run my compressor.
 

massimiliano

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I was checking on different tips available but I do not understand the difference between N50-01 and N50-03 which are both 0.8mm.
The one packaged with the Hakko FR300 is N50-04 (1mm)
Also I don't think a diameter bigger than 1mm will be necessary. What is your view on this?
Each tip is about $20

Edit: Found the information about the different tips on the English instructions manual

View attachment 45216

I'd go for the N50-06 so to have the stock (small) and the larger one for everything too big...
 
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