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Vent: I went with a cheap soldering station instead of a Hakko and it cost me a job

Had a rush repair on a Pioneer receiver last Tuesday, needed to reflow some bad joints on the main board. My old Weller finally died so I grabbed this $40 station off Amazon with the glowing red tips. Big mistake. The temp control was way off, maybe 50 degrees too low, and the tip oxidized after 10 minutes. I spent an extra 45 minutes fighting with it and still left a few cold joints. Customer came back the next day saying the left channel dropped out again. Had to redo everything with a borrowed Hakko from a buddy and it took 15 minutes total. Anyone else tried to save money on a soldering iron and ended up paying double?
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hall.nora
hall.nora10d ago
Wait, glowing red tips? Like the tip was actually glowing red hot? That's terrifying, that means the thing was way over temp too, not just cold. How does that even pass as a real soldering tool?
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casey393
casey39310d ago
Those red glow tips usually mean the ceramic element is cracked and shorting out.
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