Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow)

Great products !!!

Update to original review: Ive pulled my old Weller back out of storage. The specific issue is that this Hakko isnt nearly as good for soldering quad copter power leads. The leads tend to be 12 or 14 gauge (I match the leads on the battery I intend to use). It is the ground wires that are most difficult because the circuit boards tend to have heavy ground planes. Sure, I can do the job with the Hakko, but it got annoying after the Nth time. That old Weller makes it fast and easy. Sadly, I hear that the new Wellers dont match up to the old ones. Other than those power leads, almost everything else I do is a lighter job for which the Hakko works fine. ------- Its amazing how the price of these things has changed over the years. This Hakko is replacing my 30 year old Weller. That old Weller doesnt have temperature adjustment and its one temperature was dropping. It was time for a replacement. This Hakko station does everything I want and that brass wool thing is great for tip cleaning. Still getting used to the adjustable temp though. Basically though. its a soldering iron. No surprises there. Flip the switch, it gets hot, melts solder, etc. No drama. The soldering iron is more like a pencil. No problem because it gets hot fast and gets the job done. If I were doing a lot of soldering - as in it were my job, Id have probably gotten another Weller but with adjustable temp. They are more industrial and my old one lasted me 30 years. Thats a strong recommendation. For now, though, I may solder for a few hours on the occasional weekend when Im assembling a quadcopter or arduino gadget. No need for the expensive industrial tooling.

It was fine but I ended up replacing it with a pinecil, which is less bulky, way more controllable, and has all sorts of cheap tips available.

I picked up one of these and the hand-held Hakko desoldering gun. I struggled to justify the expense over the cheaper import products out there. In the end, it was one of the things Im really glad I splurged on, both items are just a delight to use. Yes, the Hakko soldering station looks like a Fischer Price kids toy, but in the end I got over that annoyance and ordered the thing. The criticism on the interface and challenges of shifting temperature setting are not that big a deal, because Im not changing temperature all the time. Just keep read the instructions. Why do I love this thing? It heats up super fast, and then locks on to temperature. I have not verified the accuracy of the temperature, but Im assuming there is a circuit that monitors it. It takes just a few seconds, perhaps 15 to go from stone cold to 700 degrees and ready to go. The stand works well, the cord is soft so its easy to work with, and the tip that came with it is just about right for most things I need to do, though it would be a bit wide for micro sized things. This is one of those things that seems expensive until you use it. Its a power tool, and good power tools are really nice to have! Overlook the kiddie industrial design and you will appreciate this thing for how well it works.

First, let me describe how I use this, for reference. Im not even a hobbyist, but simply needed to quite getting bogged down in the middle of making the simplest of home electronics repairs and having piles of unfinished projects build up all over the place. The height of my technical skill is custom-building HTPCs (Home Theater PCs), which I wouldnt sell if Id soldered any electronics components in them, BTW. Also, Ive done a bunch of fun stuff like adding fans to home wi-fi routers, installing my headset into my XBox 360 controller (yes, so I dont lose it--Im THAT BAD), and routine laptop DC jack repairs (that one, for paying clients, with 100% cust. satisfaction in over 5 yrs.). So, my perspective on this unit comes from a 100% utility viewpoint--to the true hobbyist (like many reviews Ive read on this item), that makes me not much better than the grandma who goes out to Lowes to buy a hammer to hang some family photos. Overall, I like the unit--yup, sure wish wed gotten a better color combo for the U.S. production unit than something that looks like a toy, but how many people are using a soldering station made in the same colors as their high school colors? I mean, its not like were asking for red, white and blue here, Hakko--maybe something like, ohhh, basic-black? (GAH!) Past that...who cares? Really? It works as good as everybody agrees it does; I couldve used less hype than some reviewers give it for its speedy warm-up times, though. My last soldering iron was/is a Black & Decker WPS18MP that heated up much faster, even to lower temps. So, why did I even buy this one? Thank you for asking! The B&D used a ridiculous tip system that plugged in with 1/8 mini stereo-type-plugs which were both difficult to find online, AND >$10 apiece. Mine had needed replacing for more than a year, and when the single original tip for it died recently, Id had no luck in finding any local or online source that made it realistic to continue using it. This unit has tips that are easy to find anywhere, including some pretty good looking generic-ish ones--heck, they even threw in a little sheet telling me what other model tips would work with this one, adding to the collection comfortingly, I might add. THIS SECTION REVISED AFTER MONTHS OF USE (revisions in CAPS--sorry) Regarding the warm-up times and temps of the Hakko FX-888, I found them to be entirely quick enough, yet rather routine, considering its size. Aside from the rubber lip in the wand-base, I also like the build of the thing--pretty solid, the wand base solid metal powder-coat. WHUUUUT? WHAT WAS I THINKING?! IT HEATS UP TO 900°F IN UNDER A MINUTE, TRUTHFULLY; SORRY, NO IDEA WHAT POSSESSED ME...MAYBE I WAS BLACKING OUT MYSELF. The controls are very easy to use--just dial up your temp, and basically, if thats not hot enough...turn it to eleven...it makes that next temp in a minute or so...mine reached the highest temp setting in around two minutes. Oddly, my very first job required 750°F, nearly 80% of its highest temp...and this was for a personal shaver repair, so I wonder how truly useful this thing will be on hi-temp stuff Ive been wanting to do, like motherboard cap replacements and more crucial stuff. IN MORE THAN 10 SEPARATE HI-TEMP JOBS, ALL REQUIRING 900°F, EASY...ITS NEVER FAILED TO PRODUCE THAT TEMP IN WELL UNDER A MINUTE, AND IM CONFIDENT EVERY JOB TURNED OUT BETTER--THE BEST I COULD DO, FOR HAVING THIS STATION. I LOVE THIS THING--IF I WERENT (SEMI) NORMAL, AND HAPPILY ATTACHED TO MY GIRLFRIEND, ID GO ON DOWNTOWN AND MAKE THINGS FINAL BETWEEN MYSELF AND MY LIL HAKKO UNIT HERE. One final Yeesh on the color...I kept expecting Rainbow Brite to walk in and start barking orders for me to finish my job on time. IM NOT NOTICING THE COLOR ANY MORE--IT NEVER REALLY MATTERS ANYWAY, RIGHT? MY PARENTS WOULD GET USED TO MY MARRYING A PURPLE/GOLD, JAPANESE-MADE LIL HOTTIE LIKE THIS, SO WHY WAS I SO WORRIED?

My old Weller and Radio Shack irons took forever to heat and seldom reached high enought temperature even with a clean and tinned tip. This heats up fast and holds an adequately high temperature.

Using an iron almost everyday and 2 cheap-o irons broke. Decided to get a nice iron and heard good things about the TS-101 but just seemed like it would be better as an iron you don’t use all the time so I bought the Hakko. My goodness this thing is amazing. The flexibility of the cord was the first thing I noticed as the cheap-o cords are very ridgid. Heats up within 10 seconds. The name brand tip is amazing and evenly wets vs the cheap-os. The stand for the iron is all metal and solid. This thing is amazing.

Not a soldering guy, but I wanted to try my hand at a semi advanced job attaching a ribbon cable to an smb to an n64. Used my 20$ soldering iron...BIG MISTAKE. completely botched the job, my iron wasnt able to keep a consistent temperature and my cheap solder immediately stuck many legs together. Tried to save it but ended up reading more about the appropriate tools. Well... a few practice rounds later with the dead n64 an it so crazy how different using this soldering iron is. Expensive, but holy moly does it do a good job and Temps are amazingly stable.

This unit works perfect for my need. Heats up quickly and I never have a problem with it.

I went through 2 cheap soldering stations that lasted a few months before they failed. This was highly recommended by a knowledgeable Utuber and I am still impressed after owning one since 2018. I dont understand the complaints about the user interface as it is very simple and easy to use. Only thing I can think of is some of the reviews are for a different product, something that is pretty common here, as this doesnt have a touch screen and the controls are separate up/down buttons to change temp and an on/off rocker with on the side - how can that be hard to use? I dunno. I have yet to need to change the tip and I use mine a few times a week. If you want a good iron soldering station this is it, period.