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

I purchase my Hakko 888D August 3, 2013. It is simply the best soldering tool I have ever used. Heats quickly, and maintains its temperature very well it makes assembling stuff like PL-259s a snap. The adjustable temperatures are are real nice you can dial it in from, 120 to 899 degrees F. So what ever soldering situation, and alloy of solder you have it covered. There is a large variety of tips and others have told me they last for years of much heavier use then I will ever give mine. A very important thing in how the manufacturer supports their products. My 888D took a plucked goose dive off of the bench, it shattered the plug, and cracked the front panel skin. I thought I was going to have to purchase a new one but a check at the Hakko USA website revealed they have all of the necessary parts to repair it. I called their customer support line and the phone was quickly answered and Mary took my ordered for the replacement parts. The front panel skin was temporally out of stock. I was told they would be restocked around the 2nd week of March. I received the parts I ordered that where in stock in just a couple of days. I waited until the start of he 2nd week and used Hakko-USAs live chat line and asked and was told the parts where indeed in stock and was told to call. I did so and the phone was quickly answered and I was able to order the front panel skin which arrived well packaged in just a couple of days. When I took the control unit apart the quality of its design and construction was notable. A high quality control board, with quality parts, large and heavy transformer not at all a cheapy. A real nice touch is the length of the point to point wiring to the plug is much longer then is necessary which makes installing its replacement very easy. The repair was straight forward and the Hakko is once again in service. The worst part of the repair was being forced to use a crummy old Weller pencil.

I bought one of these to use at home -- at my workplace we have JBC soldering irons and I can say without a doubt that this Hakko doesnt compare. The interface is annoying, but you really only need to input your desired settings once and then you can forget about it. It takes a little while to heat up but nothing too unreasonable. My main complaint is that it feels very cheap. The iron itself feels light and hollow and the iron only came with one tip, which is a little to large for most of the small soldering work I do. Ive noticed that it also has a hard time heating up joints that are grounded -- or really anything with a lot of heat capacity. Overall it works fine but its nothing super impressive. Id recommend that you order a few extra tips because it only comes with one.

I see that you are in the review section, youre probably on the fence about this purchase. So was I.... I did the same thing that you are doing now, reading the reviews. I still wasnt sure it was worth the money, after all, you can get a simple soldering iron for less than 20 bucks at home depot right? Let me tell you.... I have never experienced a soldering iron heat up from room temperature to 750 degrees as fast as this one does. The temperature is stable, the iron itself is balanced and easy to manipulate. The temperature is easily set and will stay stable on this one. I have never had an issue with it. Best of all, you dont have to turn it on and wait for it to heat up. It heats up in about 8 seconds from room temp to operating temp. I use it on all kinds of projects from Ham radio stuff (antennas, electronics etc) to motor controllers and battery BMS. Pull the trigger you wont be sorry you did.

This is very affordable and high quality! Dont hesitate to buy this, its very quick! Very happy with this purchase, my only regret is I didnt buy this years ago. Live and learn yeah?

This soldering station is a dream! Coming from a cheapie Radio Shack station, the difference is night and day. It reaches full temperature (650 f) in under 10 seconds and more importantly it stays hot while using it. People complaining about the lack of analog controls havent spent the time to properly set the iron up. Its designed to be used with presets. For example, I have 3 presets: 650, 700, and 750. Cycling between them is extremely easy. Having a digital display to show you what temp the iron is is really nice too. Spend 5 minutes to set your iron up before you complain about it! The soldering iron stand is 100% ceramic and metal. I expected most of it to be plastic, but its not so you dont have to worry about melting anything accidentally. The brass sponge is extremely effective at cleaning the tip. I havent used the wet sponge yet. The power control base unit is super sturdy and just the right weight to not move around during use. The cord for the soldering pen is extremely flexible and stays out of the way. Also to note that my iron came with a fine chisel tip, which I actually prefer. Some might prefer a round tip (but you shouldnt really) so be aware of that and order a replacement tip. Altogether, this is the perfect iron for any level of skill or experience. At work we have very high end ($600+) stations and in my opinion this is every bit as good. There isnt a thing I would improve about it. Its rare to find a flawless consumer product, and this truly is one.

This is my first soldering station and I may have burnt myself lightly (completely my fault haha), but it gets the job done amazingly, even with my unsteady hands.

Paul Carlson of “Mr. Carlson’s Lab” uses one. Mark from “Blueglow Electronics” uses one. 90% of every EE video I see has an FX888D in the background. That’s enough of an endorsement. I bought one and love it. Temperature control is not as bad as everyone claims. It heats up quickly and adjusts the newly-set temperature quickly. The grip is wonderful. It’s such an improvement over any Weller. I *do* wish the iron stand/holder had more heft to it but that’s about it.

I love this soldering iron, it heats in less than 15 secs and the quality is very good. Im not a professional but I using the soldering station very often and this one is the best you can get for the money. Hakko is one of the best brands on the market.

This should be everyones 1st iron. Well built, aesthetically pleasing, ergonomic, powerful and accurate. This would have made my journey into to soldering a lot smoother and more enjoyable had it been around when I started. Night and day from the cheap irons. Maybe the programming needs an instructional video watched, but Youtube has plenty of how to videos out there. This setup will handle any casual or hobbyists tasks with ease. It really is a quality soldering station. Tips are cheap enough, but the included 1.6 x 10mm chisel will handle 90% of jobs, and last a long time if taken care of. Watch a few tip care and maintenance videos and this will be the only station most will ever need. Parts are easy to acquire and cheap to replace if necessary. This also performed better than the Weller WE1010 head to head. Warmed up quicker, held temp better, and has less recovery headroom than the Weller. Cheaper too.....!

Trained on PACE gear, high reliability and multilayer pcb etc. ..but that is really expensive for what I need with hobby use. Solid, efficient - good kit. Basic, just the controller and iron. Ordered an AMAZING solder sucker to use with it.