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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

#281

Post by bsder »

neuralRiot wrote: post #259
Animats wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cheaper and easier to get a USB microscope and look at a laptop screen than to peer through a binocular microscope. I've used only lead-free solder for a decade. Get the good stuff with some silver in it and it's not difficult.

I have 2 vision engineering Mantis and I have yet to see a video system that can rival it to work under it, no lag, “real” 3D vision (you can move your head to see behind magnified objects). The only things I miss sometimes is more magnification and a camera port to take pictures/ videos. As per soldering iron I could write a book, I had Hakko, Pace, Metcal, Weller, Ersa and to me the best experience is with JBC alth…

As much as I'd love to try your suggestions, they're very expensive even in that space.

From what I can see, the Mantis microscopes are in the $3500+ range and the JBC stuff is similarly expensive.

Most hobbyists would cringe at the price of buying a Thermaltronics soldering iron and that's like 5x cheaper. However, I can at least conclusively demonstrate the vast difference between something like that and a Hakko right in front of a person.

This stuff is like the difference between a $100 guitar, a $500 guitar, and a $2000 guitar. The difference between the $100 and the $500 one is obvious to almost everybody. The differences between the $500 and $2000 one won't be obviously noticeable until you get a lot of experience.

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

#282

Post by wvenable »

BugsJustFindMe wrote: post #253
wvenable wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have something like this on a TS100 and it works fine. You set it down for a while because you're still soldering but you need to move stuff and it reduces the heat. Then you pick it back up and by the time you've gotten to part it's already back up the temp. How is that worse than it just being full temp the whole time?

It's just unnecessary complexity and another thing that can go wrong. I know when I'm using it and not using it. I don't need the device to guess. The device guessing doesn't actually improve my life in any way. And it's going to guess wrong a lot of the time. Automatically turning on and off both have unsafe failure modes that lead to it being on unexpectedly (it turns back on when I don't expect it to, and it doesn…

In the case of the TS100 it doesn't turn off, it just cools down.

I've never had it guess wrong -- my hand isn't so steady that it will turn off while I'm using it. If it's on and on the table, it is still visibly ON so this is just extra safety if it's a little bit cooler.

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

#283

Post by _pigpen__ »

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…

>a $40 roll of thin gauge solder (which will last the rest of your life)

I dunno, I'm 56 and I'm about to finish the roll I bought as a teenager. (Albeit bought in pre-RoHS times.)

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

#284

Post by plasticeagle »

This device seems perfectly insane.

I have two Quecoo soldering stations : https://www.quecoo.com/products/quecoo-t12-956-soldering-dig...

They're very cheap, they heat up just as quickly as any other induction iron. They are very repairable. They come with multiple tips, which are cheap to replace.

They don't contain expensive batteries or pointless USB-C WebSerial-based interfaces. You turn them on. They heat up. I've had mine for years, so they're reliable too.

iFixIt have a laudable mission generally, but this product will be an expensive failure.

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

#285

Post by throwgfgfd25 »

manoweb wrote: post #262
FuriouslyAdrift wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be interesting to see how this stacks up to a good entry level iron like the Hakko FX-888DX. https://hakkousa.com/fx-888dx.html

Oh yeah, it will be MUCH better, not even close. And I own a Hakko. The new wave of USB irons is incredibly better

I am, it should be noted, _fucking terrible_ at soldering. But my TS-101 actually gives me hope. I'm so happy with it.

(It's also incredibly, incredibly useful for heat-set inserts, because you get to decide really precisely how long they will take to insert!)

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

#287

Post by johnwalkr »

I have been a huge advocate of the pinecil and haven't used anything else in years. It's just so easy to grab my pinecil and temporarily use my laptop's power supply for the iron, or use a mobile battery, instead of moving myself and the things I am working on to the location of my soldering station. These look like upgrades compared to pinecil:

- comfier grip

- shorter tip length and presumably a more solid feel (the pinecil's mechanical interface to the tip is pretty loose-feeling)

- higher power over usb-c (actually can't think of a time I've needed more than 60W for hobby stuff, but I can imagine use cases like large ground planes)

- storage cap (this is a major improvement for working in a temporary, tight space)

All of these would be worth the price increase over pinecil, but unfortunately I think the lack of on-iron temperature settings is a dealbreaker. The pinecil in my toolbag is practically the size of a sharpie and works with my existing usb-c cables and batteries with no extra space taken up, and the killer feature (portability) is broken once you need a proprietary battery or a laptop to change temperature.

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

#288

Post by plasticeagle »

Animats wrote: post #208
kurthr wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think for simple through-hole stuff, this should be fine. However, so much stuff now requires SMT reflow and a hot air wand (and likely a binocular microscope) that except for home builds and power electronics, I rarely use an actual iron. As you say, it's so much easier to get good solder joints (especially for the fine stuff like QFN/BGA) with lead blends and flux, that having a vent hood is likely required as we…

It's cheaper and easier to get a USB microscope and look at a laptop screen than to peer through a binocular microscope. I've used only lead-free solder for a decade. Get the good stuff with some silver in it and it's not difficult.

I have a cheap binocular microscope at home, and solder most everything underneath it. A USB microscope is much lower resolution, and the image lags. They're pretty terrible.

At work I get to use a very very expensive Olympus binocular microscope. It is extraordinarily good, but at about 60k it costs more than a car.

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

#289

Post by kwiens »

johnwalkr wrote: post #287

I have been a huge advocate of the pinecil and haven't used anything else in years. It's just so easy to grab my pinecil and temporarily use my laptop's power supply for the iron, or use a mobile battery, instead of moving myself and the things I am working on to the location of my soldering station. These look like upgrades compared to pinecil: - comfier grip - shorter tip length and presumably a more solid feel (th…

Thanks for the feedback! The storage cap indeed makes a huge difference when you have to do something quickly and then put the iron away.

In our testing, we rarely need to change temperatures. I think our algorithm does a better job of responding to the power load and flowing heat into the material than other irons. Of course, if you're changing solder then you'll need to change the temperature setting.

We built the web interface with mobile in mind. We just need a mobile browser that supports web serial. Someone else posted a WebUSB polyfill, and I'm going to check that out tomorrow.

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

#290

Post by dmonitor »

KingOfCoders wrote: post #155
kwiens wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The LED on the iron turns orange once it reaches your target temperature. It glows purple while it's heating, and blue when it's safe to touch.

How cultures are different across the globe, I would have used RED for hot, orange for heating and green for safe (instead of orange, purple and blue - love purple though!)

I would settle for red while hot and yellow while heating, but keep blue for safe (for colorblind reasons as mentioned by other commenter)
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