Bundle Includes Soldering Station and CHP170 Cutter

Firstly let me begin by saying Ive been surrounded by discreet electronic components all my life as my father was an engineer, later on I followed in his footsteps. Ive been exposed to all sorts of irons over the past 30 or so years and have come to depend on two irons for all my soldering needs and thats Hakko and Weller. Both iron manufacturers have consistently proven themselves on my bench. What I like about the Hakko is you get a pretty high end quality soldering iron for a very fair price. There are an excellent assortment of high quality tips (though I use the Hakko T18-S7 more than any other tip). While I agree with several other reviewers that the controls on the FX888D are, to say the least, a little ambiguous their use is explained well enough in the manual to get you sorted. I recommend a quick skim through the manual in proper button usage before fiddling with it. Having said that.. It heats up quickly and maintains its temperature well. The cord from the base to the iron is long enough (over 4 feet) and flexible enough that it doesnt interfere with fine work, in addition the iron itself is comfortable and well balanced making it east to work with. The base is fairly compact that there should be no troubles finding room for it on your bench, and the fact it has a soldering iron stand apart from the base is also a huge plus. Along with the iron you get a sponge and a metal tip cleaning tool. They both accomplish essentially the same job, but the metal cleaning bundle doesnt effect your tip temperatures much at all when compared to the sponge & water. However there is room and need for both cleaning methods and its a wonderful perk by Hakko to include both options. The iron comes well packed and worked without a hitch since plugging it in and turn it on. There are many advocates for Weller or Hakko. Its my belief that generally I find that the products are so close in quality and workmanship as to not make any difference which you go with. But having said that, I think you get more bang for your dollar with Hakko and you wont be disappointed with this iron.

This purchase adds this 888 to several others we have. They are great products and we have no desire to search for an alternative. They are very robust, user friendly and super reliable. One of our 888s, about 2 years old had a heating element failure but to be honest it had been totally abused in a daily manufacturing environment. We have replaced that one with a more suitable Hakko offering designed for that specific application. I highly recommend Hakko products.

Instantly made go from really crappy solder skills to mediocre solder skills! Heats up fast, digital controls for more bling, solid stand. Whats not to love? Dont skimp on a cheap iron, especially if you are wanting to improve your skills. With a good iron youll find yourself wanting to use it more.

I think I got a knock off. It heats soldering points so slowly even on the highest setting. Next to a cheap Weller, this thing is borderline unusable. Too late to return :/

very good unit

the best

This is a great iron been flawless over the last few months.. great value would buy again

Got this after using the same kit at multiple conferences. Such an improvement from the plain old iron with no temperature control I was using before.

I shouldnt have waited so long to get a real soldering gun. After fighting with the cheap pencil style irons for years, I dont miss them. I am sure that good work can be done with cheap irons. But for me, I can finally solder. I bought a kit to assemble. After reviewing proper solder technique which can be found on the web and some practice, I am soldering components onto boards with ease. Next up are SMD,s. The tip that came with mine is a good all around general purpose tip. Proper tip maintenance is simple with copper wool in the stand.

Great product highly recommend