During some temp and calibration troubleshooting, I spoke to our regional Hakko vendor, who's also a distributor for JBC. They told me you have to goop a really chunky blob of solder onto it when measuring temp using these sensors, and that it's the same for JBC (and Pace) too - to get any actual useful readings. These cartridges can overshoot and bounce around _a lot_ when not doing so, because even the tiniest of pulse, ripple or noise can cause significant temp deltas when there's practically nothing there to sink heat. IIRC he compared it loosely to revving your engine in neutral in your driveway, while expecting results and readings as if it was on a dyno. And st least from my own subsequent testing the way he told me to, it _seems_ this was good, honest and fruitful information. By adding a big'ol glob of solder, it _somewhat_ simulates a small but realistic load. And the temp results from that will also be much closer to those performed in actual soldering use. Those are IMO the most _useful_ readings to have and calibrate (by), especially if your work has very tight tolerances and require rigid validations. My own testing and sample group does no strong statistics make, but at least anecdotally, among roughly 25 T15 (same as T12), T30 and T9 Hakko and C210 and C245 JBC cartridges, the vendor suggested method was confirmed accurate with repeatable results, by sticking small sacrificial thermocouples into flowing solder joints, for comparison to the "tip thermometer" readings with a big glob of solder applied. This also explains why these "tip thermometer" sensors are sold cheap and in 10-packs; they are considered highly sacrificial and disposable. Because you commonly only get 2-3 readings before it's done for when completely enveloped in solder
This sort of thing would also explain why the errors in the measured values were all over the place, rather than in more of a straight line, as should be expected. There has to be an explanation for why the percentage error jumped around so much at different temperatures -- it's the same software control loop, the same sensor, the same heater. The differences have to be outside that set of factors, and for me, it leaves the conclusions a bit dicey.
If the iron is running PID control, which it seems to do, then how much thermal mass you have on that tip affects the response curve. They tuned it so it would overshoot a lot with light loads and quickly reach desired temperature at heavy loads like thermal PCB designs and huge metal connectors. I wouldn't call this accurate, but that's the nature of PID systems reacting differently to the "inertia" of the loads.
I have the same version as you and have been using it for the last few months and its FANTASTIC. Congratulations at getting to 100k subscribers, not bad for a NZ farmer.
Thanks a lot. I was looking at new iron to supplement my Hakko FX-888D. Was looking for looking for something inexpensive like KSGER T12. But I decided on this one. 2 days into using it, I am putting the Hakko on the aftermarket for sale. Already spent $250 in nice genuine JBC tips/cartridges. Can't believe how good this iron is. And yes, I used your affiliate link.
Update about Aixun T3A. Turned out it does support also T12 handles and tips. So you can use T3A station also with T12 tips which open doors to vast array of specialized T12 tips for affordable price. Good feature for many of us, because some specialized JCB-C245 compatible tips cost a little fortune. I now use T3A station with both T245 handle for C245 tips and T12 handle when I need T12-1401 and T12-1402 tips who in C245 equivalent have eye-watering price.
Awesome upload once again sir. Im homeless and trying to learn repairs. I did get the ts80 you did review but it is little to light for bigger ocb repairs. Money being really really tight. So these reviews are priceless to me. Thank you.
if you buyed the ts100 that would be have been the better solution for you . with the custom firmware is it awesome ! and MOSFET hack you can run it to over 3amperes !
@@drkastenbrot I don't think so! I have the ts100 over 2 years now and had no problems with the tips maybe you got a wrong one ! in TS 100 you can use the hakko tips be modification ! And again you must calibrate the tips the first time you using them ! AND IF YOU BUY QUICKO OR KSGER . I recommend the custom firmware for the quicko and ksger solderstation but you have attention if you buy on of them you need a SMT VERSION !
@@smithsjason2182 Im not saying its a bad iron, it is easily the best value iron available. But the extra cost of the ts80 and its tips has a reason. They are better tips with a better design and work especially well on small components with huge heatsinking pads. The TS100 is a more classical (Hakko) tip design, while the TS80 tips are quite similar to JBC.
@OP How can you be homeless but have a charged device with internet access and able to place and receive orders on amazon/e-bay? It just doesn't add up. I mean, the TS80P alone is ~$120 and considering you'd have to buy other items apart from the iron as well in order to make repairs, the total was probably too expensive for someone homeless. I'd imagine a homeless person at best could get the $20 bundle from amazon that has an iron, some solder, flux and other tools thrown in there. Sure it wouldn't be a good long term option, but it would be the available one and would definitely serve to do some repairs till you can buy a better setup.
great video. Nice to see some real world comparisons. I've been using "grandad's" iron for 35 years. My old Weller has never failed me. I've been interested in these new style irons but never was convinced I needed one. I see now the difference. I'll be upgrading but I doubt that whatever I buy won't be working 30 years from now. Nor will I be able to buy replacement parts as I can my old Weller. I guess soldering stations are disposable now, like everything else.
YES - my weller is well, er it is from (get this little joke, not on purpose, was a typo that made me laugh!) Anyway my Weller is from 1998! And it still works just fine. Now it is just for occasional hobby use but still, that is impressive. And it has a nice temp dial that has always helped me get the heat I needed to do any job that was on my bench... again very simple stuff. But lately I was thinking of getting a new one anyway since the tech is quite old and soldering heavy gauge wires to fat copper pads is really difficult to say the least. This looks like the winner to me so thank you for the introduction. Believe it or not the other iron that I still might get is the amazing TS-100! Yea, it looks like a toy but it can hang with some of the real big guns for real! Don't mock it until you try it, I had picked one up as I was traveling a lot for work but it got damaged along the way, which was a bummer because it was like magic on typical jobs. Some nice flux and bam - shiny silver fillets of goodness. Cheers!
I ordered mine a few days ago...can't wait to get it. Also ordered some OEM JBC tips from a US authorized vendor. Will be testing the clone vs OEM tips to see how they perform against eachother.
This is awesome for the price. I was considering a much more expensive ERSA iron but I only need it for light use so I think I'll be getting an AIXUN now.
I have a Weller soldering station that I purchased in 1984 that still works as well as it did when new. I used it the other day and had no issues. It seemed expensive at the time, but now that I look at my decision, I have no regrets.
I've had a couple of wellers since 20 years back. Try soldering on a large ground plane, or a high gauge wire. Impossible with the wellers. Thermal capacity is to low no matter of soldering type. Even though it says 50w on the soldering iron, that heat cant transfer fast enough to the tip when it's cooled down. The issue is the physical barrier between the heating element and the tip. This is solved with JBC (yes, I bought the DME-station), where the heater and tip is integrated in the same unit. Problem solved. Will never go back to weller. No professionals use those in a production environment. It's either jbc or hakko.
@@swebigmac100 I have a weller soldering gun with a higher capacity for the big jobs. Every tool has a range of uses. The work station if for fine work only. I have a range of tips and temperatures that I can select for a particular job, buy, you're right. Another thing I have found is adding extra flux, especially when using no-clean flux solders. I use the Alpha no-clean rosin flux. It does a great job.
The overshooting is happening due to the aggressive PID profile for heating that they implemented. You cannot have both instant heating and not overshooting. That said what mates is that PID resolves the overshooting immediately and regulates the temperature according to the profile. The only problem is that the PID is configured for the resistance that Aixun tips have, original JBC tips and most of the other clones have a totally deferent resistance implemented so there the overshooting could potentially be a problem.
I have burnt out a few tips already. (T245-A and T3A base). Heating is all in the tips and this little unit cranks the power in to them. Two of my tips (cheap import ones) are now open circuit and wont heat up at all. FYI I'm also using the latest firmware update and it still overshoots, they get cooked when first removing from the base station as the temp screams up. I also have a cheap 35W iron, a duratech TS-1380 and a little TS100 (my favorite).
I purchased based on this video. I couldn't be happier with the unit. It works incredibly well and also works with original JBC tips with is a huge plus.
there is a 1.25 firmware now that fixes the graph issues on the home screen. also we ordered in a dozen for the shop and 2 have really bad light bleed from the upper right corner of the display. a few others are a bit brighter there but those have a bright spot there. otherwise nothing to complain about with these
I really really like my Pinecil and use a solder gun for heavy jobs. My Pinecil heats up in less than 15 seconds. The Pinecil runs off of 12-20VDC so I have mine connected to an 18V Ryobi batttery.
Great video. I really appreciate the scientific way you approached measuring the performance. I just ordered the latest JCB CD-2BQF before seeing this video, but I had my eye on that for some time, already. Can't wait to use it!
Be nice to see the insides. The first thing I did when I got my KSGER t12 stations a few years ago was open them all up. They were surprisingly well-made inside come up with everything properly terminated, ground where it should and shouldn’t be, and everything was done properly although I did swap a few of the bigger shittier filter caps. And I think I added heat sink compound between one of the transistors and heat sink because it was dry and barely touching the heat sink. I haven’t touched my jbc or pace equipment very much at all since getting the KSGER irons. Not because the newer ones are a lot better or anything. But they are definitely on par. And I don’t have to worry about ruining a $50 tip or damaging really really expensive soldering equipment if I make a boo-boo mistake. That pace station when I bought it new was about $1200 for the all in one thing including the tweezers the hot air several different irons and desoldering pump. And I bought another one on the used market and it was still pretty damn expensive about five years ago. I really like the KSGER t12 stations. Even some of the cheaper basic ones are pretty nice I didn’t buy the basic ones I bought the ones with the big thick 10mm billet aluminum and engraved faceplate, aluminum machined torch handles, with the modern STM 32 hardware and software utilized with also the most up-to-date board revisions. . I think they run about 80 bucks delivered for the nicer ones like that. But you can get pretty much the exact same thing it just comes with a plastic handle, and a regular extruded aluminum case that also has a much smaller old screen on the front that’s harder to see. But they are about half the price running about 40 bucks apiece according to where you get them. Anyway… Would be cool to see the inside of the one in your video both brand-name and knock off and see how it compares.
I've had mixed experience with KSGER. I bought two stations from one store, slightly different versions, one new and one older. While older version worked fine, but the new one had two major issues. First, actual temperature was at least 50 C higher than that is set on the display. It melted solder even on minimum 200 C set. As I found out by reading forums, cause of the problem is that they put different opamp (I assume cheaper) with high offset voltage on a newer version. So I replaced it with ad8628, temperature error was gone. But after some time I started noticing that station was freezing from time to time. And once it froze and tip went red hot. I changed microcontroller to original stm32f103, fortunately I found firmware to flash it. Now it's working just fine, but it was quite an experience. But I'm thinking that even taking into account replacements I made It's quite good for it's price.
honestly I never expected that an electric iron would be able to take on pipe. I have soldered a sheet metal drain pain before but that was a tip that went onto an Acetylene tank fueled system and had a chonker of a tip.
Where you got handle rubber fitters at 7:28? I haven't them and dressing the handle turned into a little nightmare. Teared first rubber while tried. Succeeded only at second time when found that it is possible to roll the rubber over the handle. Ouch.
Would have been interesting to see the comparison (especially heat up times and the "raw power") with a Pinecil V2 with a short tip (6.2 Ohm vs. 8 Ohm for the old ones).... Especially since I'm currently owning a TS-100, Pinecil V1 and soon also a V2 (I already have the new tips) and other older irons... But I must say this unit also seems interesting due to it potential raw power. Yes I probably have an unhealthy obsession soldering irons. I blame it on having a 25W iron as a "kid", the kind where you change the tip temperature by adjusting the temperature of the universe or actually using the bloody thing.
Do you have the V2 already? Am wondering about the TS101 or the Pinecil V2. Leaning to the V2, but availability of the 101 is better in my part of the world. And the TA101 feels good in hand. Could not check the Pincecil V2 yet. Any thoughts?
Can this unit be run from both 110V and 220V? Since I have seen that they sell a "110V" version and a "220V" version, or is it only one unit that handles both voltages ?
Yes it can solder some beefy stuff but not as well as it should with the available power. The overshoot would suggest that either firmware control or build of the tip is not rigt.
Anyone having trouble using original JBC tips on this station? I wonder if the original tips didn't damage it. I bought the station and immediately ordered tips from TME. I only tested the ones from aixun and switched to the original JBC. The station has been operating less than two weeks and has died. In an extensive topic on evvblog, a user wrote that the station "buzzes" when heating the original JBC tips, and when using those from aixun, the "buzz" does not occur. Has anyone logged a problem like this?
Wonderful video! Can we hope for a tear down some time? I worry that these cheap knock off irons may pose a fire hazard or not have proper fusing + grounding.
i do not understand the aliexpress page ^_^ if I order the T245 new Series, does that include the stand and everything? man, they do not know how to give clear information.
I have been using a JBC at my work for the last 8 years or so. At home I still have my (old) cheap Ayoue 936 after 15 years. I use both extensively. From a practical point of view, I personally don't get the temperature tests and calibration. I basically never really even look at my temps. Very quickly you get a feel for how things solder. Or when it's to hot or to cold. Obviously the JBC is nicer, but on a daily practical (!!) basis I consider it more luxury than anything else. The tips of the JBC last a bit longer although they are also 4 times more expensive so that kind of cancels out again.
14:25 That's not happening because the station is not recalling the previously calibrated values, but just because it does that. The values match exactly just because the station now uses the previously set calibration to heat the iron to a particular temperature, so, it assumes that whenever it thinks it heats the iron to let's say 100 degrees, its temperature is actually 100 degrees. And if it's not, then it has to know how much off it is compared to the current (=the previously calibrated) nominal temperature, not how much it's off to some initial or previously calibrated value, which it's not using anymore to control the heating.
In the last 45 yrs i have used either weller or Antex & they are ok, however, 10 yrs ago i inherited in a MetCal which is the best thing ever. I think its made in California & the psu is in fact a high frequency psu !!! Bizzare.
I'm currently happily using my TS80P for bench PCB work. Gotta say the first thing that took my eye was that really nice stand! I wonder how it would work (or not) as a TS80P stand?
Thanks for the review. (Also a rural nzer) Looking at the newer T3B . You reviewed 245 handle but many of the bundles offer the 115 and 210 handles. What's the difference?
Hold it mate 0:45 where did you get that LCD lens & helping hands set? I need a link lol that looks too cool I want one! And also, any difference between T245 & T3 or its just a tip?
I would have used the affiliate link in this case, but I think this is the first time I've bought something before you showed it off. Good review. I'm considering now the T3B as a second unit for finer soldering work (NT115/T115), but wondering if I can use genuine WS140 (micro wirestripper) AT420 (micro tweezers). If the firmware was opensourced it would get a lot more improvements and attention when you have trust in how the code works. Non windows installation would also be a huge improvement. ie Don't make installer binary for platforms allow for trusted existing tools to install and update the firmware. Other issue I got was I didn't get the fancy new stand with mine. :-(
What is the difference between T3A and T3B ? I have a chip yihua 936 and i'm thinking of upgrading, those stations really do seem to be a good choice. Also I don't know if I should go for the T12 tips or the ones from JBC (245?)
Very nice looking. I wonder if you could use the DC output port as a DC input port? Get 50W out of it with a 12V car battery, which could be good in a pinch on the go. Now I’d like to see a cheap temperature calibration sensor that doesn’t require calibration out of the box.
I made myself a chelenge to make from normal speaker with wire a wireless bluetooth speaker and since you know something about low voltage i want to ask you something. Is my chelenge possible to complete??
About the Firmware Update Tool: Windows SmartScreen's source of complaint is not that the publisher is unknown. I run loads of "Unknown Publisher" software at work without setting of SmartScreen. That being said, it could still be a false-positive, I had quite a few of those too (also having publisher info which I assume means it's signed). After all AV is just a fancy word for Magic Voodoo feelgood vibes for the compliance auditor.
Hi your video on buck boost converter was great bit green on these My question is I have 3 40ah 3.5 lithium cells if I installed booster to 12.6 it works out roughly 12a Where is running appliance of 12v appliances would be 4a So does that mean it would use 3 times as much power out of battery If that makes sense
It is a shame that the Aixun does not seem to be available on Amazon. I'm not fond of waiting 6 to 8 weeks, the currently quoted time in your affiliate links. I did find others who were quoting 3 to 4 weeks with air shipment. That still seem a bit too long. I'm thinking of going with the KSGER T12 station that I can have in 1 to 3 days from Amazon. On the other hand, for a bit less money, I can go with the older technology Weller WE1010na which is NOT made in China, is very reliable, and genuine OEM tips are also readily available for about $7 each.
Your affiliate link expired! Also in your video you mentioned that it is 4 times less expensive than the premium station. Is this still the case? they seem to be around 100 Euros and 250 Euros respectively.
5:3916:00 TIP: if you ever need to translate chinese or japanese, use google translate for mobile phone and camera view to point to text and translate automatically in real time...
Is the JBC far better then the hakko's 888D/FX951 and weller's ? ( new ). Also where would you recommend a good value microscope soldering station? like yours
8:06 I would say that no it doesn't. That's ignoring the outrageous overshoot on the Aixun, which isn't something that shouldn't be ignored. Your shots showed the JBC to have no such issue. Aixun needs to work on their PID control software. If it overshoots initially, then it will probably also have problems when the thermal resistance of what you're touching changes i.e. when you touch it to a workpiece. An interesting product and seems good for the price, but I'm not going to sell my JBC and buy an Aixun. I get that later on you did a separate test about overshoot, but my point is that overshoot and accuracy aren't completely independent factors. I don't mean to sound overly critical; I'm just worried that it would dump way too much heat into something sensitive, even if only for a second or two.
Great video thank you! I bought one along with the power supply and they got delivered this week. The process to upgrade the firmware didn't work for me though. It came with firmware version 1.26 and the software was already in English after I installed it. It did aske me to do a software upgrade which only worked after I started the software as administrator. The installed the FT232 serial driver (also as administrator) and plugged in the unit but the software doesn't detect it at all. Windows make a sound after I plugg it in so it must have detected something. I'm not sure how to proceed from here.
Interesting and throughout test. I checked Taobao for the 焊台 T3A and compare to other T12 stations they are like at least double the price (~ around RMB 700). There are other brands below 300 - and the JBC clone stand will add another 150 or so. OK, now you argue that it's fun to work with nice tools. Well, I agree ;-) One questions: I solder only lead-free 290-350°C - how long your tips last and is there a difference between JBC T12 and the China clones?
"Design inspiration" is quite the understatement, I'd say.
During some temp and calibration troubleshooting, I spoke to our regional Hakko vendor, who's also a distributor for JBC. They told me you have to goop a really chunky blob of solder onto it when measuring temp using these sensors, and that it's the same for JBC (and Pace) too - to get any actual useful readings. These cartridges can overshoot and bounce around _a lot_ when not doing so, because even the tiniest of pulse, ripple or noise can cause significant temp deltas when there's practically nothing there to sink heat. IIRC he compared it loosely to revving your engine in neutral in your driveway, while expecting results and readings as if it was on a dyno. And st least from my own subsequent testing the way he told me to, it _seems_ this was good, honest and fruitful information.
By adding a big'ol glob of solder, it _somewhat_ simulates a small but realistic load. And the temp results from that will also be much closer to those performed in actual soldering use. Those are IMO the most _useful_ readings to have and calibrate (by), especially if your work has very tight tolerances and require rigid validations.
My own testing and sample group does no strong statistics make, but at least anecdotally, among roughly 25 T15 (same as T12), T30 and T9 Hakko and C210 and C245 JBC cartridges, the vendor suggested method was confirmed accurate with repeatable results, by sticking small sacrificial thermocouples into flowing solder joints, for comparison to the "tip thermometer" readings with a big glob of solder applied.
This also explains why these "tip thermometer" sensors are sold cheap and in 10-packs; they are considered highly sacrificial and disposable. Because you commonly only get 2-3 readings before it's done for when completely enveloped in solder
This sort of thing would also explain why the errors in the measured values were all over the place, rather than in more of a straight line, as should be expected. There has to be an explanation for why the percentage error jumped around so much at different temperatures -- it's the same software control loop, the same sensor, the same heater. The differences have to be outside that set of factors, and for me, it leaves the conclusions a bit dicey.
If the iron is running PID control, which it seems to do, then how much thermal mass you have on that tip affects the response curve. They tuned it so it would overshoot a lot with light loads and quickly reach desired temperature at heavy loads like thermal PCB designs and huge metal connectors. I wouldn't call this accurate, but that's the nature of PID systems reacting differently to the "inertia" of the loads.
I have the same version as you and have been using it for the last few months and its FANTASTIC. Congratulations at getting to 100k subscribers, not bad for a NZ farmer.
Did you have a previous iron ? Was the step up that noticeable ?
Thanks a lot. I was looking at new iron to supplement my Hakko FX-888D. Was looking for looking for something inexpensive like KSGER T12. But I decided on this one. 2 days into using it, I am putting the Hakko on the aftermarket for sale. Already spent $250 in nice genuine JBC tips/cartridges. Can't believe how good this iron is. And yes, I used your affiliate link.
Update about Aixun T3A. Turned out it does support also T12 handles and tips. So you can use T3A station also with T12 tips which open doors to vast array of specialized T12 tips for affordable price. Good feature for many of us, because some specialized JCB-C245 compatible tips cost a little fortune. I now use T3A station with both T245 handle for C245 tips and T12 handle when I need T12-1401 and T12-1402 tips who in C245 equivalent have eye-watering price.
The station itself determines what type of handpiece is connected, or does it have to be selected manually?
@@riderm.d.1461 Station itself.
@@KrotowX Thanks
Thanks for this video. I order myself the full set.
It was Total: € 191,23 with tax and shipping from AliExpress to norway. But hey, it's worth it.
My AIXUN T3A/T245 just arrived - purchased based on your review. It is awesome. Thanks so much for highlighting this excellent product! :-)
Awesome upload once again sir. Im homeless and trying to learn repairs. I did get the ts80 you did review but it is little to light for bigger ocb repairs. Money being really really tight. So these reviews are priceless to me. Thank you.
if you buyed the ts100 that would be have been the better solution for you .
with the custom firmware is it awesome !
and MOSFET hack you can run it to over 3amperes !
@@smithsjason2182 the ts100 has much worse tips with slower temperature control
@@drkastenbrot I don't think so! I have the ts100 over 2 years now and had no problems with the tips maybe you got a wrong one ! in TS 100 you can use the hakko tips be modification !
And again you must calibrate the tips the first time you using them !
AND IF YOU BUY QUICKO OR KSGER . I recommend the custom firmware for the quicko and ksger solderstation but you have attention if you buy on of them you need a SMT VERSION !
@@smithsjason2182 Im not saying its a bad iron, it is easily the best value iron available. But the extra cost of the ts80 and its tips has a reason. They are better tips with a better design and work especially well on small components with huge heatsinking pads. The TS100 is a more classical (Hakko) tip design, while the TS80 tips are quite similar to JBC.
@OP How can you be homeless but have a charged device with internet access and able to place and receive orders on amazon/e-bay? It just doesn't add up. I mean, the TS80P alone is ~$120 and considering you'd have to buy other items apart from the iron as well in order to make repairs, the total was probably too expensive for someone homeless. I'd imagine a homeless person at best could get the $20 bundle from amazon that has an iron, some solder, flux and other tools thrown in there. Sure it wouldn't be a good long term option, but it would be the available one and would definitely serve to do some repairs till you can buy a better setup.
Being fair I was looking for a soldering station.
Thanks for testing, now i know what to buy.
great video. Nice to see some real world comparisons. I've been using "grandad's" iron for 35 years. My old Weller has never failed me. I've been interested in these new style irons but never was convinced I needed one. I see now the difference. I'll be upgrading but I doubt that whatever I buy won't be working 30 years from now. Nor will I be able to buy replacement parts as I can my old Weller. I guess soldering stations are disposable now, like everything else.
YES - my weller is well, er it is from (get this little joke, not on purpose, was a typo that made me laugh!) Anyway my Weller is from 1998! And it still works just fine. Now it is just for occasional hobby use but still, that is impressive. And it has a nice temp dial that has always helped me get the heat I needed to do any job that was on my bench... again very simple stuff.
But lately I was thinking of getting a new one anyway since the tech is quite old and soldering heavy gauge wires to fat copper pads is really difficult to say the least. This looks like the winner to me so thank you for the introduction. Believe it or not the other iron that I still might get is the amazing TS-100!
Yea, it looks like a toy but it can hang with some of the real big guns for real! Don't mock it until you try it, I had picked one up as I was traveling a lot for work but it got damaged along the way, which was a bummer because it was like magic on typical jobs. Some nice flux and bam - shiny silver fillets of goodness. Cheers!
I still have a working Weller iron from 1976!
Just on or off, no temperature control. Only replaced the tip once.
I ordered mine a few days ago...can't wait to get it. Also ordered some OEM JBC tips from a US authorized vendor. Will be testing the clone vs OEM tips to see how they perform against eachother.
Please send and link where you order the OEM tips from JBC I am in South Africa
Thanks. I made my decision after your film. The 20th in row T3A(245) review i watched. Thumbs up as usual.
This is awesome for the price. I was considering a much more expensive ERSA iron but I only need it for light use so I think I'll be getting an AIXUN now.
Ordered mine when you published this, just arrived very excited
Ordered one Aixun T3A, so really looking forward to comparing it with my KSGER T12 :)
I have a Weller soldering station that I purchased in 1984 that still works as well as it did when new. I used it the other day and had no issues. It seemed expensive at the time, but now that I look at my decision, I have no regrets.
I've had a couple of wellers since 20 years back. Try soldering on a large ground plane, or a high gauge wire. Impossible with the wellers. Thermal capacity is to low no matter of soldering type. Even though it says 50w on the soldering iron, that heat cant transfer fast enough to the tip when it's cooled down. The issue is the physical barrier between the heating element and the tip.
This is solved with JBC (yes, I bought the DME-station), where the heater and tip is integrated in the same unit. Problem solved. Will never go back to weller. No professionals use those in a production environment. It's either jbc or hakko.
@@swebigmac100
I have a weller soldering gun with a higher capacity for the big jobs. Every tool has a range of uses. The work station if for fine work only. I have a range of tips and temperatures that I can select for a particular job, buy, you're right.
Another thing I have found is adding extra flux, especially when using no-clean flux solders. I use the Alpha no-clean rosin flux. It does a great job.
Which station is it??
Early T3A firmware didn't implement overshoot feature. It was the genuine JBC which introduced overshoot in the later version. T3A follows then.
The overshooting is happening due to the aggressive PID profile for heating that they implemented. You cannot have both instant heating and not overshooting. That said what mates is that PID resolves the overshooting immediately and regulates the temperature according to the profile. The only problem is that the PID is configured for the resistance that Aixun tips have, original JBC tips and most of the other clones have a totally deferent resistance implemented so there the overshooting could potentially be a problem.
I have burnt out a few tips already. (T245-A and T3A base).
Heating is all in the tips and this little unit cranks the power in to them.
Two of my tips (cheap import ones) are now open circuit and wont heat up at all.
FYI I'm also using the latest firmware update and it still overshoots, they get cooked when first removing from the base station as the temp screams up.
I also have a cheap 35W iron, a duratech TS-1380 and a little TS100 (my favorite).
Thank you, I was looking for this T3A tests for some time now, and I was expecting this exactly results.
SDG did some tests too on the T3A and T3B plus others
thanks for this review, I was looking for a new soldering iron. and this one has potential
I purchased based on this video. I couldn't be happier with the unit. It works incredibly well and also works with original JBC tips with is a huge plus.
Me2
there is a 1.25 firmware now that fixes the graph issues on the home screen. also we ordered in a dozen for the shop and 2 have really bad light bleed from the upper right corner of the display. a few others are a bit brighter there but those have a bright spot there. otherwise nothing to complain about with these
I really really like my Pinecil and use a solder gun for heavy jobs. My Pinecil heats up in less than 15 seconds. The Pinecil runs off of 12-20VDC so I have mine connected to an 18V Ryobi batttery.
Great video. I really appreciate the scientific way you approached measuring the performance. I just ordered the latest JCB CD-2BQF before seeing this video, but I had my eye on that for some time, already. Can't wait to use it!
Be nice to see the insides. The first thing I did when I got my KSGER t12 stations a few years ago was open them all up. They were surprisingly well-made inside come up with everything properly terminated, ground where it should and shouldn’t be, and everything was done properly
although I did swap a few of the bigger shittier filter caps. And I think I added heat sink compound between one of the transistors and heat sink because it was dry and barely touching the heat sink. I haven’t touched my jbc or pace equipment very much at all since getting the KSGER irons.
Not because the newer ones are a lot better or anything. But they are definitely on par. And I don’t have to worry about ruining a $50 tip or damaging really really expensive soldering equipment if I make a boo-boo mistake. That pace station when I bought it new was about $1200 for the all in one thing including the tweezers the hot air several different irons and desoldering pump. And I bought another one on the used market and it was still pretty damn expensive about five years ago.
I really like the KSGER t12 stations. Even some of the cheaper basic ones are pretty nice
I didn’t buy the basic ones I bought the ones with the big thick 10mm billet aluminum and engraved faceplate, aluminum machined torch handles, with the modern STM 32 hardware and software utilized with also the most up-to-date board revisions. . I think they run about 80 bucks delivered for the nicer ones like that. But you can get pretty much the exact same thing it just comes with a plastic handle, and a regular extruded aluminum case that also has a much smaller old screen on the front that’s harder to see. But they are about half the price running about 40 bucks apiece according to where you get them.
Anyway… Would be cool to see the inside of the one in your video both brand-name and knock off and see how it compares.
My KSGER needed an earth ground added to the case.
Lol do you also have an inability to not look whats inside every electronic item you get your hands on?
Steve from SDG Electronics did the teardowns
I've had mixed experience with KSGER. I bought two stations from one store, slightly different versions, one new and one older. While older version worked fine, but the new one had two major issues. First, actual temperature was at least 50 C higher than that is set on the display. It melted solder even on minimum 200 C set. As I found out by reading forums, cause of the problem is that they put different opamp (I assume cheaper) with high offset voltage on a newer version. So I replaced it with ad8628, temperature error was gone. But after some time I started noticing that station was freezing from time to time. And once it froze and tip went red hot. I changed microcontroller to original stm32f103, fortunately I found firmware to flash it. Now it's working just fine, but it was quite an experience. But I'm thinking that even taking into account replacements I made It's quite good for it's price.
honestly I never expected that an electric iron would be able to take on pipe. I have soldered a sheet metal drain pain before but that was a tip that went onto an Acetylene tank fueled system and had a chonker of a tip.
Where you got handle rubber fitters at 7:28? I haven't them and dressing the handle turned into a little nightmare. Teared first rubber while tried. Succeeded only at second time when found that it is possible to roll the rubber over the handle. Ouch.
I like the copper pipe test. It's an objective, repeatable test.
Would have been interesting to see the comparison (especially heat up times and the "raw power") with a Pinecil V2 with a short tip (6.2 Ohm vs. 8 Ohm for the old ones)....
Especially since I'm currently owning a TS-100, Pinecil V1 and soon also a V2 (I already have the new tips) and other older irons...
But I must say this unit also seems interesting due to it potential raw power.
Yes I probably have an unhealthy obsession soldering irons.
I blame it on having a 25W iron as a "kid", the kind where you change the tip temperature by adjusting the temperature of the universe or actually using the bloody thing.
Do you have the V2 already? Am wondering about the TS101 or the Pinecil V2. Leaning to the V2, but availability of the 101 is better in my part of the world. And the TA101 feels good in hand. Could not check the Pincecil V2 yet. Any thoughts?
Can this unit be run from both 110V and 220V? Since I have seen that they sell a "110V" version and a "220V" version, or is it only one unit that handles both voltages ?
Yes it can solder some beefy stuff but not as well as it should with the available power.
The overshoot would suggest that either firmware control or build of the tip is not rigt.
0:42 it is c245-966 tip ?
Anyone having trouble using original JBC tips on this station? I wonder if the original tips didn't damage it. I bought the station and immediately ordered tips from TME. I only tested the ones from aixun and switched to the original JBC. The station has been operating less than two weeks and has died.
In an extensive topic on evvblog, a user wrote that the station "buzzes" when heating the original JBC tips, and when using those from aixun, the "buzz" does not occur. Has anyone logged a problem like this?
That microscope looks really cool and useful for small solder work
As always and forever I love your work and especially your excellent presentation pedagogy
Thank you for sharing
That looked awesome! Great review
Good review. I came here to say that your voice is 100% identical with Jim Browning. (You can search his name in UA-cam).
What cartridge is being used when the copper pipe is being soldered?
Great review like the detail and the calibration issues.
you should try the pinecil. dirt cheap, can do 95W and is compact and USB-C and supports shorter tips that heat up almost instantly.
Schematix, your foam boot link is incorrect, it is the same link as the station (ie both links take you to the soldering station)
Thx for pointing that out. Link has been fixed :)
Just a suggestion for the power test. Use a wooden shunt between the copper pipe and the vice. Otherwise nice one.
What was that soldering tip you had at first for the 200 watt demonstration?
why the Handpiece holder seems to be from the T3B model ?
Best comparisons ever.
Wonderful video! Can we hope for a tear down some time? I worry that these cheap knock off irons may pose a fire hazard or not have proper fusing + grounding.
Which one do you recommend for general hobby, Aixun T3A, T3B or the miniware?
A great. Would like to see a video how you build the 5 pins connector on the back and put a round on/off swich on the front)
Massive parts must be soldered with massive tips and powerful soldering irons - the laws of heat transfer have not yet been canceled!
Why did you not do the tests after the firmware update? It might have fixed the issues
All we need now is a port of IronOS with options to tune PID values and this will be a best bang for a buck for a long time.
Hi thanks for the video. can original JBC 245 handles used as well? I have a spare t245 handle with some original tips on stock. Thanks
i do not understand the aliexpress page ^_^ if I order the T245 new Series, does that include the stand and everything? man, they do not know how to give clear information.
Brilliant loved the Fire bit
I have been using a JBC at my work for the last 8 years or so. At home I still have my (old) cheap Ayoue 936 after 15 years. I use both extensively. From a practical point of view, I personally don't get the temperature tests and calibration. I basically never really even look at my temps. Very quickly you get a feel for how things solder. Or when it's to hot or to cold. Obviously the JBC is nicer, but on a daily practical (!!) basis I consider it more luxury than anything else. The tips of the JBC last a bit longer although they are also 4 times more expensive so that kind of cancels out again.
Hi. Are the original JBC T245-A Handpiece is also compatible with this station or only JBC tips?
Any thoughts on the new T3AS? The aixuntech website has it featured.
14:25 That's not happening because the station is not recalling the previously calibrated values, but just because it does that. The values match exactly just because the station now uses the previously set calibration to heat the iron to a particular temperature, so, it assumes that whenever it thinks it heats the iron to let's say 100 degrees, its temperature is actually 100 degrees. And if it's not, then it has to know how much off it is compared to the current (=the previously calibrated) nominal temperature, not how much it's off to some initial or previously calibrated value, which it's not using anymore to control the heating.
@Schematix have you test the Aixun tips vs JBC? In the Video you used the JBC tips.
I have a KSGER T12 soldering station, can I use the T12 handle that came with it with the Aixun T3A?
handle missing a foam cover . : for that I will use a unusable very small girth peni ssleeve what came from aliexpress 😅 did not fit
In the last 45 yrs i have used either weller or Antex & they are ok, however, 10 yrs ago i inherited in a MetCal which is the best thing ever. I think its made in California & the psu is in fact a high frequency psu !!! Bizzare.
Can you use jbc original handle with T3A
I'm currently happily using my TS80P for bench PCB work. Gotta say the first thing that took my eye was that really nice stand! I wonder how it would work (or not) as a TS80P stand?
Thanks for the review. (Also a rural nzer) Looking at the newer T3B . You reviewed 245 handle but many of the bundles offer the 115 and 210 handles. What's the difference?
Hold it mate 0:45 where did you get that LCD lens & helping hands set? I need a link lol that looks too cool I want one! And also, any difference between T245 & T3 or its just a tip?
Looks like an Andonstar AD407 or AD409. There is also an affiliate link in the description, but that links only to "Andonstar".
I just bought one of these stations on your recommendation, I will let you know how I get one. Cheers from Ireland.
I would have used the affiliate link in this case, but I think this is the first time I've bought something before you showed it off. Good review. I'm considering now the T3B as a second unit for finer soldering work (NT115/T115), but wondering if I can use genuine WS140 (micro wirestripper) AT420 (micro tweezers). If the firmware was opensourced it would get a lot more improvements and attention when you have trust in how the code works.
Non windows installation would also be a huge improvement. ie Don't make installer binary for platforms allow for trusted existing tools to install and update the firmware. Other issue I got was I didn't get the fancy new stand with mine. :-(
What is the difference between T3A and T3B ?
I have a chip yihua 936 and i'm thinking of upgrading, those stations really do seem to be a good choice. Also I don't know if I should go for the T12 tips or the ones from JBC (245?)
Very nice looking. I wonder if you could use the DC output port as a DC input port? Get 50W out of it with a 12V car battery, which could be good in a pinch on the go.
Now I’d like to see a cheap temperature calibration sensor that doesn’t require calibration out of the box.
It's just connected straight to the output of the power supply, so it would probably work.
@@aptsys i doubt the screen and control board will run at 12v
I made myself a chelenge to make from normal speaker with wire a wireless bluetooth speaker and since you know something about low voltage i want to ask you something.
Is my chelenge possible to complete??
My only complaint with my Hakko T12 clone is how plastic and cheap the handle feels, This will definitely be on my radar for my next iron.
About the Firmware Update Tool: Windows SmartScreen's source of complaint is not that the publisher is unknown. I run loads of "Unknown Publisher" software at work without setting of SmartScreen. That being said, it could still be a false-positive, I had quite a few of those too (also having publisher info which I assume means it's signed).
After all AV is just a fancy word for Magic Voodoo feelgood vibes for the compliance auditor.
How do you know it's a false positive though?
Hi your video on buck boost converter was great bit green on these
My question is I have 3 40ah 3.5 lithium cells if I installed booster to 12.6 it works out roughly 12a
Where is running appliance of 12v appliances would be 4a
So does that mean it would use 3 times as much power out of battery
If that makes sense
Thank you for sharing such a detail review.
Thanks for the video and the links Nice job all kidding aside💯
Thanks for the review.
My pleasure!
It is a shame that the Aixun does not seem to be available on Amazon. I'm not fond of waiting 6 to 8 weeks, the currently quoted time in your affiliate links. I did find others who were quoting 3 to 4 weeks with air shipment. That still seem a bit too long.
I'm thinking of going with the KSGER T12 station that I can have in 1 to 3 days from Amazon. On the other hand, for a bit less money, I can go with the older technology Weller WE1010na which is NOT made in China, is very reliable, and genuine OEM tips are also readily available for about $7 each.
You should test out the AIFEN A9 PRO 2023 Edition is thing is a beast.
Thank you for video. Is it soldering iron holder compatible between this two stations? Connectors are the same?
Hi mate, do the jbc handle work with aixun station?? I'm thinking about buy a set of jbc AM120 hot tweezers and hopefully save some bucks. Thanks!!
Your affiliate link expired!
Also in your video you mentioned that it is 4 times less expensive than the premium station. Is this still the case? they seem to be around 100 Euros and 250 Euros respectively.
5:39 16:00 TIP: if you ever need to translate chinese or japanese, use google translate for mobile phone and camera view to point to text and translate automatically in real time...
One welding station can meet your different welding repair needs-AIXUN T3A Intelligent Soldering Station
is Aixun t3A better than ksger t12 when use it with t12 Irons?
Amazing test, congrats
Is the JBC far better then the hakko's 888D/FX951 and weller's ? ( new ). Also where would you recommend a good value microscope soldering station? like yours
I wonder how this compares to sparkyBG's unisolder.
What’s the cost of the entire setup as of today? A snapshot in time Jan 2022?
8:06 I would say that no it doesn't. That's ignoring the outrageous overshoot on the Aixun, which isn't something that shouldn't be ignored. Your shots showed the JBC to have no such issue. Aixun needs to work on their PID control software. If it overshoots initially, then it will probably also have problems when the thermal resistance of what you're touching changes i.e. when you touch it to a workpiece. An interesting product and seems good for the price, but I'm not going to sell my JBC and buy an Aixun. I get that later on you did a separate test about overshoot, but my point is that overshoot and accuracy aren't completely independent factors. I don't mean to sound overly critical; I'm just worried that it would dump way too much heat into something sensitive, even if only for a second or two.
Would you recommend the bst-933b/UD-1200 or the aixun t3a?
Great video thank you! I bought one along with the power supply and they got delivered this week. The process to upgrade the firmware didn't work for me though. It came with firmware version 1.26 and the software was already in English after I installed it. It did aske me to do a software upgrade which only worked after I started the software as administrator. The installed the FT232 serial driver (also as administrator) and plugged in the unit but the software doesn't detect it at all. Windows make a sound after I plugg it in so it must have detected something. I'm not sure how to proceed from here.
I really enjoy your videos 👍🏼🏁💯🍻
Which version of this iron is the best?
Hello, how about opening the station (disassembly) for a review of the internal build quality? I am curious about longevity of the Chinese device.
It's generally built OK. The power supply is fairly generic, but nothing unsafe about it. I did a teardown of this and the T3B.
@@sdgelectronics i watched your video, great work there, thanks!
Awesome review. Gonna get one.
Interesting and throughout test. I checked Taobao for the 焊台 T3A and compare to other T12 stations they are like at least double the price (~ around RMB 700). There are other brands below 300 - and the JBC clone stand will add another 150 or so.
OK, now you argue that it's fun to work with nice tools. Well, I agree ;-)
One questions: I solder only lead-free 290-350°C - how long your tips last and is there a difference between JBC T12 and the China clones?
Is this one preferable to the oft recommended Hakko 888?
What about the vice?
Wow, I have also the Jabe UD-1200 clone one that works very well but I am going to order this one too...
Can we use a genuine JBC T245 handle with this station ?