Hakko 888D

[4krow]

Well guys, it was bound to happen. I have owned the Hakko 888D for a couple of years now, and have mostly high praise for it. Recently however, the heat seems to 'wander' a bit. If the station starts out to solder the first 6 or so joints well, then the temp is dropping to a point that it takes more time to get the solder to even melt. A new wand is coming in the mail tomorrow, and probably not a moment too soon. If ever I have a question about soldering, THIS is the first place that I think to post a question. Any thoughts?

 

[mcandmar]

Another possibility is you have worn the coating off the tip making it harder to conduct heat.  It may be at the right temp internally, but just not able to transfer it out. Basically if its dark black in colour and hard to tin, it needs replaced.

 

[4krow]

Unfortunately, neither case is the case. But yesterday, the new part came in. MAN, what difference. I will take a look at the old iron just see if i missed something, but it would have to be pretty big to compare to the performance of the new iron.

 

[4krow]

Been using the new iron, and there is no comparison between the two. I think that a two year life is pretty short. I do solder a lot, but don't keep the iron on unless I am actually going to use it. I am thinking about a better station in the future. Any thoughts?

 

[4krow]

Might be a good time to chime in again about the Hakko 888D iron of mine. FWIW, it has been another 2 years, and guess what? Same problem as described above. Will order another part just like last time and see what happens. A new tip didn't solve the problem.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I had the same issue with mine.  The two button interface on the station actually makes it easy to throw off the calibration when you think you're increasing the temperature.

I would look at the manual and reset the tip calibration, then see if that solves your issue.

 

[Bonzo]

how about a Weller?

 

[4krow]

CB,

  That is a good idea. I will check the pdf file that you sent, and see if things are the way that I think they are.

  Should that not work out, I will likely be in the market for a NON digital unit that will last for many years. Good Lord, it's just an iron.... no passwords, corrections, time of day, etc needed!

 

[Paul Birkeland]

http://kb.hakkousa.com/KnowledgebaseArticle10599.aspx

 

[4krow]

Got the reset done, and it seems to be good. I am pretty much skeptical of such things, however, I will change back to the last tip that gave me trouble and see if there is a difference. The tip that I put on in the meantime is wider than I like to use, so it is not something that I am used to using in the first place.

  Thanks for the link, it helped.