Buying a soldering station

tom66

Joined May 9, 2009
2,595
The problem is that the one I found requires input voltage of 110V, but I am in Europe and the input voltage is 220V...
If I buy a transformer will it be fine?
I believe Hakko make both 115/230V versions. You could use a step-down transformer but it'll probably cost you more than the European version.
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
The Fx-888 is a great little unit. We just replaced a bunch of old weller and hakko FP-102 units with these at work. For $80 USD you can't beat it. Great tips..very comfortable handle,etc..
My only complaint is there is no LED indicating its on.. There is an LED that indicates when its heating but when its up to temp you can't tell its on.
 

ErnieM

Joined Apr 24, 2011
8,377
I've never had an "official" Hakko iron, but I do use one that was made for their tips. As the tip is the working end I find they do a good job.

Personally using a step down transformer would be a deal killer for me.
 

samin

Joined Oct 14, 2011
32
I have also found a Weller WES51 station almost at the same price...
Which one would you choose?


I'm liking the Hakko more and more.

But Fyi, Both the Weller and the Hakko stations are ESD-Safe and come with the power unit, solder iron, stand, and one tip. The Hakko FX-888 is a 70W station with a rapid 30 second heat-up and the Weller WES51 is a 50W station with an auto shut-off feature.

Hope this helps you to make a choice :)
 

saturation

Joined Dec 21, 2008
22
Because of taxes, products can have very huge price differences between items found in the USA.

The Weller WES51 is nearly the equivalent of the FX888 in terms of reputation, but there are key differences in technologies but they matter very little as a soldering station: the WES51 is an analog workhorse as well as the 888, which is an upgraded 936, now discontinued but was very popular and heavily cloned. The WES51 has auto shut off and uses a nichrome heater, while the 888 uses Hakko's off-patent ceramic heaters. As far as heating characteristics they are about on par, including the quality of the spare parts.

Weller has manufacturing in the EU and thus don't get as heavily taxed as some other makers, e.g. Fluke or Agilent. You can probably find any Weller with better prices than Hakko in most of Europe [ other than Chinese no-name clones.]
 
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