I haven’t used one in a while, but several employers back I used a Hakko 951 for small scale production work. Love that station. I’ve used Metcal, Weller, and JBC, and this one is my favorite. It just seems to have the power and control you want, right when you need it. I might be a little biased because the Hakko rep introduced me to the hoof tip, which I had never considered before. It’s now my favorite tip for about 90%of soldering applications.
1 Like
The FX-951 is a decent iron. Its weakness when compared to the fancier ones (e.g. JBC) is that it cannot as easily dump gross amounts of heat. This becomes important if you are working with direct connections to ground planes – thermal relief on pins is inadvisable in RF and high-speed.
I have an FX-951 at home, but I am thinking about replacing it with one of these JBC compact stations (see below). It is double the price of a 951, but in this case I actually think it is more than twice as good. That is almost never the case – usually with expensive tools you are chasing marginal added value.
https://www.jbctools.com/cdes-precision-soldering-assistant-station-product-1531.html
1 Like
Wow! That looks nice. Colored profiles and the works. It looks like that station is able to send 150W to the pencil? That’s phenomenal!
1 Like
To give an example of marginal added value per cost, the JBC station I really want is the Nano Rework Station. There’s one at the office lab. To be honest, I’ve never loved rework tweezers, but I do love the Nano pencils and tips, and these are unique to this $1600 station. Even so, it’s basically impossible to justify the $1000 premium.
I replaced the Hakko FX-951 I have at home with the compact JBC station. I’m really happy with my decision so far. I think the JBC performs much better in terms of heat delivery. I can’t remember the numbers off the top of my head, but the Watts at the tip was WAY higher. I also find the pencils to be much more maneuverable.
1 Like
OH MY! Thread derailer… i-Extruder. How well does it really work for you? Can it do really small pads for a CSP BGA? Watched Dave’s first look of it but this might be a good alternate to screens which can be hard to use and clean up for smaller boards.
Keith
With some tuning of the suckback, paste thinning with flux, and experience, yes, you can do BGA pads, although it’s not my typical large BGA strategy.
My typical large BGA strategy is:
- get out the leaded paste for such special times
- mix it 50/50 with flux
- paint it over the whole footprint.
- hit it with hot air, without the part
- let it solidify, and clean
- add flux
- put the part on top
- More hot air.
2 Likes
FWIW - I mostly do CSP with flux-only soldering. I have success with this on both ENIG & HASL finish boards. If doing a HASL boards this sounds in some ways similar to this strategy!
1 Like
Yes, this is my current strategy as well (unless I have StencilQuiks available as they are more reliable). But if it could do that minute of an application, then it could probably do anything. I am also not talking about large packages as I avoid via-in-pad applications. But there are some smaller parts with creative CSP BGA packages out there that don’t require via-in-pad.
The thing is pricey but very compelling…
Thanks,
Keith
I just bought one. I have a CNC machine, so a simple XY output from Altium could be used to let the CNC apply the solder
Busy as a bee, that is probably far out in the future when I get time to do that. Maybe the OpenPnP has made a plugin
If you can afford a Metcal, get one. It’s in a different league. The heating capacity is just insane. I have one at work and it’s my goto iron. Keep in mind that you’ll also want some different tips.
The JBC tools are also great. I would get a Metcal over it, but JBC might be better if you want a large setup. I love how the stands keep the cables off the table and they heat quickly.
These are all expensive options. My home bench is space constrained, so there I have a Yihua 899d. Very compact with good iron and hot air built in. Reasonable price and you can get some extra tools for your budget, such as an MHP30 http://www.miniware.com.cn/product/mhp30-mini-hot-plate-preheater/ that will do wonders for any job requiring a lot of heat. And it’s tiny!
Jensa - Which one? That Hakko FX-951?
Keith
Hakko != Metcal.
A Hakko is on par with a Weller in terms of quality. They are not innovative by any means, but they are great tools that last long. My first soldering iron was a Weller I had for 5+ years. It’s since been used in a local hackerspace for another 8 years and still has the original tip thanks to never using a wet sponge, but rather using copper curls to clean.
At work we have the Metcal MX52xx https://store.metcal.com/en-us/shop/soldering-desoldering/soldering-desoldering-systems/mx-series/ with tweezers and a handpiece. We also have hot air from Metcal. This setup is about $1500 new, but we got it from a prototyping workshop that went bankrupt. We have 8-9 tips for it and that also adds to the cost. 2 seconds heat up time and it can melt anything the second you touch it.
2 Likes
SREMTCH 60W Soldering Iron is a top-performing cheap soldering iron, uses quick-heating ceramic element, features a convenient on and off switch, ergonomic grip with non-slip silicone and power/temperature indicator light. But no storage bag included.