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Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

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Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#131

Post by talldayo »

cruffle_duffle wrote: post #76

Soldering is one of those things where the tools you use have a direct impact on the quality and enjoyment of the work. Shitty $20 soldering irons from Home Depot not only produce awful results but they are incredibly frustrating. I’m pretty sure most people who think they suck at soldering and hate it only feel that way because their tool sucks. A good quality soldering iron and high quality, thin solder make a huge…

You're correct that some soldering irons (especially uber-cheap ones) are shit, but Pinecil proves cheap can also be good. Past a certain point, soldering becomes a hobby about how dangerous you're willing to get to make things easier on yourself. You can swap out non-toxic solder for lead trace if you want a cleaner board; then there are high-wattage irons, board reflow/fluxing, and even all sorts of scale-specific hacks.

When you zoom out, I think home soldering is about as effective as it can reasonably get without fumigating your house.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#132

Post by alias_neo »

disiplus wrote: post #119
myrmidon wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For tools that you use regularly, it is sometimes worth it to take a step back, put the cost into an absolute perspective and then just get the thing if you know that it's well-made and you use it regularly, instead of getting a cheapish, price-optimized knockoff instead (my experience). I spent over 200$ on a glorified PCB holder and some probes (PCBite), which is in hindsight one of the most useful tools I own and…

Is this for professionals?. I need the soldering iron maybe 3 times a year. I'm ok throwing 100eur for something ok/good. But not 300.

It's hard to place exactly at its price point. At the full kit price it's approaching the cost of a mid-range Hakko soldering station which you can use all day every day.

I see this is a potential "better quality" portable option for a professional (than something like a Pinecil and a TS100), that might want to carry it around or use it when not at a desk, but the quality and performance remains to be seen (though I do trust iFixit).

At £240 in the UK, it's about 2.5x the cost of the Pinecil + Powerbank (which I already had). If I didn't have a Hakko soldering station and wanted something portable but capable to use fairly regularly, this seems like a good option.

For everyone else, if you already own a PD powerbank, the ~£25-30 (~£50 with a bunch of tips) for a Pinecil is _much_ more palatable.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#133

Post by kwiens »

tamimio wrote: post #99

It looks interesting. I know some people will start comparing it to workstation ones, but I personally always look for portability. A few times I would be in the field with my drones and I need something small, battery-powered, and good enough for a quick job. So maybe people with similar use cases will find it useful. The only thing that I would say would have been good to have is a phone app and connection over Blu…

Our goal here was to provide workstation-level performance in a portable form factor.

Phone configuration: I agree, that would be nice. If we can find a way to do it from a web browser on a phone, that's our preference. Otherwise we'll take a look at a native wrapper.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#134

Post by MostlyStable »

kwiens wrote: post #47
MostlyStable wrote: post #43

So is this iron competing mostly with other portable, USB c irons, or is there s case for it to also be someone's only, at home, soldering station iron?

It's on my workbench! We designed it as a soldering station that can replace the station on your workbench. The cap mounts to the battery pack. https://www.ifixit.com/products/fixhub-power-series-portable... You actually get a few more watts of power (104 W or so) if the hub is plugged into an AC charger (there's a third USB-C port on the rear).

Yes, I definitely got that it can be a pretty good workbench iron, I guess I was asking if the price/feature balance works out mainly for people who also need a good portable iron, or if it's still competitive if you are comparing it to non-portable stations as well.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#135

Post by LeifCarrotson »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #40

> The accelerometer detects when you pick it up and heats it back up. I don't want this. I would rather push a button and wait for a light to turn on. Automatic off, fine, I guess, though I don't love it and would never want to rely on it. Automatic on, no way.

Agreed. There's a place for open, smart tools. Some things want to have serial interfaces and sensors and so on, that will do a whole host of actions automatically.

Other times you just want the equivalent of a drill or toaster. Pull trigger, drill spins. Twist chuck or shift gearbox, it slips or changes speeds. Push toast down, it toasts, twist the dial if you want darker or lighter.

An on/off switch, a potentiometer or 7-segment and some buttons to set temp, and a nice, fast, powerful PID loop to control the temperature (with a 120V AC cable to make 100W all day not a problem) is all I want in a soldering iron. I have a combination soldering/hot air station that's almost 20 years old, it just always works.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#137

Post by timfsu »

luqtas wrote: post #95
cruffle_duffle wrote: post #76

Soldering is one of those things where the tools you use have a direct impact on the quality and enjoyment of the work. Shitty $20 soldering irons from Home Depot not only produce awful results but they are incredibly frustrating. I’m pretty sure most people who think they suck at soldering and hate it only feel that way because their tool sucks. A good quality soldering iron and high quality, thin solder make a huge…

dunno. my first ever soldering project was a handwired keyboard. i was popcorning when i finished. it was my first time using a mechanical switch keyboard too. not bad... 2° project, right after finishing the keyboard was soldering a PMW3360 sensor to someone's board from Github. it was a freaking blast on my 40W, 40 BRL (~ 8 USD) solder i still have it & i'm selling handwired keyboards at a very cheap price (made wi…

That's wonderful - I used to solder with a cheap iron until university. A nice iron gets a lot hotter, and it makes everything easier and faster. It may not matter for keyboards, but on a small PCB where everything is a few mm part, the precision of a good tip matters too.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#138

Post by ssl-3 »

kwiens wrote: post #67
alnwlsn wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the response! If true, this would make the experience more like a Metcal then. Very good iron. You must have your thermistor/thermocouple very close / inside the tip itself then, no? No doubts then on the tip quality - I've seen the rest of your stuff (good).

Yes, the thermistor is inside the tip. That's essential to getting good performance out of the algorithm. The instant that the iron detects that it's under load, it pours power into the heating element. That makes it feel and perform like a much more powerful iron. We're dynamically responding to the power load and flowing heat into the material.

...just as IronOS does on a Pinecil.

Re: Show HN: iFixit created a new USB-C, repairable soldering system

#140

Post by moffkalast »

anamexis wrote: post #41
moffkalast wrote: post #18

I always see these USB-C irons marketed a lot, but I've recently bought a travel iron that's the same form factor with adjustable temperature and all that jazz but just ends with an outlet plug for $16 and couldn't be happier with it tbh. Unless you're somewhere out in the wilderness, finding an outlet to do any on the road repairs is pretty trivial and you don't need to lug around a large heavy box that does grid to…

You don't need a "large heavy box," just a standard USB-C PD power brick. e.g. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1FZWT8M/

On one hand I agree that if everything you have uses PD, your laptop, your phone, your powerbank and a charger like that and it's powerful enough to handle it all then it probably makes sense to also have an iron that works with it and it's all interchangeable.

On the other hand we already have a standard power thing, it's called an outlet. And in practice you need to charge/use things in parallel so you'd need to carry around like four of these.

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