After seeing the $10 off coupon on $50 spend in the other thread I had a look for any good deals and discovered Dick Smith are currently selling their T-2200 Temperature Controlled Soldering Station for $52.89. Whilst there isn't any free delivery on this, it works out to $47.84 shipped with the code. Thought this deal was worthy of its own post.
This is a great price for a decent and reliable hobbyist soldering station. Maybe the cheapest I've seen it to date?
I had one and I was very happy with it for few years. Eventually I used a $150-$200 Hakko station and I was never able to go back. I ended up buying the Hakko station and the old DSE one is sitting in the shed.
The biggest problem with the DSE soldering station was that I was not able to find replacement tips. Different tip shapes suit different types of soldering… The DSE one came with way too big tip for smaller stuff.
Having said all that I consider myself a pro now so my advice may not be so good for the novices.
looks like it's been between $80 and $100 before. So + from me.
Would love to get one, as I often need things soldered. But remembering my old craft classes in school, I think I shouldn't. Vague memories of liquid metal everywhere except where it was supposed to go, the burning smell, the mortified teacher… I better stick to sticky tape and superglue.
I have both this DSE soldering station as well as a "Yihua 936" (it's a knock off a Hakko) from a previous deal. Of the two I prefer the Yihua which shipped with a much finer tip and just seemed to work better (personal preference I'm sure).
Replacement tips for the Yihua/Hakko are very common and only cost about $1 (or 10 assorted for $4.50). The DSE tip looked more like a Weller tip and are more expensive & harder to find the correct one.
Also have the hobbyking station and it works great . Also has a slightly more modern digital readout .
As a newb, I bought the hobby king model for under $30. Being a hakko knock off, tips are easy to come by - and cheap to buy. I successfully repaired a few things so far.
Thanks to CyberGenesys for posting for the link to hobby king model and the extra tips - well worth the purchase.
Yihua is $17.38 @ hobby king. How much would shipping cost?
@ddhytz: Postage has been $8.99 before from them. Make sure you have chosen the solder station with the Australian power plug, last I looked they only had the European and US in stock.
The yihua needs a new tip from brand new and getting one from jay car is $20 if you can't ascertain the size from ebay product photos.
Appreciate the ebay link for the right ones though,
Thanks for the hot tip!
Any tips labeled "Hakko 936" or "900M" should work, no need to judge by the photos. Was a dollar for a nice chisel tip, and something like $6 for a full set.
I have a YIHUA 936 - doesn't seem to melt the solder properly.
My office uses a WELLER unit, which works like a charm.
Dealextreme and Banggood have very good prices for HAKO stations, about $100 shippped.
the dealextreme hakko stations are not the real deal. they're supposed to be pretty decent, but they're clones/counterfeits.
While I understand you prefer the Hakko, saying an iron works better because it ships with a finer tip doesn't help people who don't want a finer tip. It completely depends on what type of soldering work you want to do. Finer tips lose heat more quickly, so it's detrimental to some types of soldering work and beginners doing through-hole work will have more problems heating component leads which can lead to poor solder joints. A replacement tip costs very little anyway, no point spending $50 more on an iron just so you get a finer tip that can be purchased separately for $1. Besides, I've desoldered SMD components with the standard large tip before (I wanted to clock-chip an old PC and couldn't wait for the new tips to arrive) so it's definitely possible, just takes patience.
I've found from experience that this DSE iron also fits some Hakko tips, confirmed by myself (Hakko 900M tips fit fine) and people on the EEVblog:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/dse-t2000-t2200-soldering-…
This deal is for a DSE T2200 which does not use the Hakko 900m tips (the DSE T1976 does though).
The T2200 uses a solid core tip with a flange at the tip end like this whereas the DSE T1976 are hollow like this (much like the Hakko 900m).
Easy way to tell the difference between a T1876 and T2200 soldering station is the T1976 has no temperature readout.
Ps. I don't prefer the Hakko, I prefer the $25 imitation of a Hakko. I suggest people save $25, buy the imitation, and spend $5 on an assorted tips pack. Total cost = $30
They both fit - I have both irons, and the hollow barrel inside the T2200 also fits the T1976 bit. But NOT vice-versa.
@greenie4242: That is very odd as all information I have seen points to the contrary. Unfortunately I don't have my DSE handy so I can't compare. I guess people who buy one will discover soon enough what tip they need.
@CyberGenesys: Argh… I was going to take photos to confirm but the tip just broke off inside the barrel… I forgot to heat it up before pulling on it. There must have been some solder or flux inside, sticking the tip to the barrel. I'll have to drill it out.
To be safe, measure the tip and barrel before ordering any new soldering iron tips. I don't want to waste people's time if I've been accidentally giving incorrect information. From memory, I found that Hakko 900M tips fit fine inside the T-2200, but I can't confirm it now until I fix mine. Please measure before ordering for yourself :)
@CyberGenesys: You're right, the 900M tip does NOT fit. Sorry about that.
I just did an eBay search for T2200, there's an Aussie seller with plenty of different styles of tip:
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_odkw=dse+t+2000&_osacat=0…
I've written a more detailed post below.
I've been waiting for years to get one of these, need to fix my Atari 2600. My inner geek will be completed.
That is awesome! If only small welding equipment came in 2-i-n1 style! (oxy and arc). Sorry if this sounds weird.
is this good enough to replace capacitors on vcrs and modems/routers?
More than good enough.
Any cheaper options to do the job
what is a VCR?…lol
Great price ,but since my Hobbyking POS died, i find my $15 Jaycar soldering iron to be all i really need.
How much do they usually sell for? Could be a great gift for dad.
Save up, buy a Weller.
I suppose its a good deal if you want to burr home made sinkers.
Great Weller Model
They have been cranking out this model for years. I have one that has got to be 10 years old and still going. A good all round soldering iron. Not a high end one by any means but certainly capable with a little bit of practice.
I've got this iron and it's a good all rounder. The only downside is sourcing tips for it.
Picked up a Hako clone for $15 too from another deal. I prefer this iron purely because of the range of tips available and I also find it a bit nicer to use.
Smouldering hot price, nice find
No deal, buy a Hakko
Agreed. This thing looks at least 20 years old.
I have one nearly 30 years old.
I agree with CyberGenesys, I've used the DSE scope for every type of work possible with a soldering iron, and it's worked well. I'd previously spent hundreds of dollars on MiniScope and SuperScope irons and found that the barrels wore out very quickly. We also had a $400 Hakko at work but it worked just the same as the DSE unit next to it.
If you need extremely fine controlled tip temperatures you might want something that has a thermistor built into the tip, or an SMD reflow station, but that's fairly specific work. If you need one of those, you know you need one.
For somebody after an all-round bargain, this is a great bargain.
That's a fantastic price! I've been using two of these for about 17 years, and paid about the same price with a staff discount (from when I worked there many many years ago). They're both still going strong, very solid units. All the service staff at DSE (when they actually serviced stuff themselves) told me they'd tried everything, and these were just as good as the $300+ irons provided you look after the tip. I've soldered fine SMD components on computer motherboards, thick bullet connectors for car alternators, standard through-hole, and use the barrel to shrink heat-shrink. It does everything well. The tips are a little tricky to remove if you let solder drip down and build up inside the barrel, but that's going to happen with ANY iron if mistreated, not just this one.
According to DSE Answers:
A tip is a standard XYTRONIC XY404 or XY406. Google for XY404, it is available from electronic components retailers, will cost you $4.
http://answers.dicksmith.com.au/answers/8465-en_au/product/T…
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_odkw=XY406&_sop=15&_osaca…
I've bought plenty of different tips from eBay and DX. I even found some SMD reworking tips.
These fit fine:
http://www.dx.com/p/nickel-copper-angled-soldering-iron-tip-…
I just did an eBay search for T2200, there's an Aussie seller with plenty of different styles of tip:
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_odkw=dse+t+2000&_osacat=0…
They're a bit more expensive than the Hakko style but guaranteed to fit.
Correct dimensions for the T2200 are 5.2mm outside diameter, 28mm long, with a collar at the base of the tip:
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NjAwWDcyMA==/z/sowAAOxyuR5TYMbc/$_12.JPG
This eBay item has 11 tips, with fantastic diagrams also showing the XYTRONIC part numbers:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SOLDERING-IRON-STATION-11-Tips-fo…
Looks like I made a mistake before, the Hakko 900M tip does NOT fit this DSE T2200. Apologies for that, I forgot I had both the T2200 and T1976 in the same room, and I mixed up the tips in spare parts box. I think I was able to wedge a T1976 tip into the T2200, which is probably why it won't come out now! I've been using it for months without issue, but now it's stuck. I'll have to fire up the lathe and see if I can bore it out. Ooops…
I've been using one of these stations for almost 20 years. I would buy another one as a spare if is was not so dam reliable.
Ended up buying one as I've got a small project happening in a few weeks.
I read dick soldering station
Thanks OP! I was disappointed with the spare iron I recently purchased (http://goo.gl/w7BOH6) so this will hopefully do well.
I've had one of these for over 5 years. Great for the little side projects. Like others have said, the tip is not that fine, but good for general fixing up of resistors, caps and the like.
Good choice as a starting soldering iron.
The tips can also be replaced if you need a finer or an even larger tip. Good all-round iron.
Went to grab one and it's out of stock now.
Same here, temporarily out of stock..
Awesome! now I can brand my hoes at an affordable price
I hope you mean garden tools…
Would this one be able to take Hakko tips ?
http://www.gtmall.com.au/2-in-1-soldering-iron-smd-hot-air-g…
Note: I'm not 100% on this one
Looks like it uses the 907a soldering attachment (the same as the Yihua 936 which uses Hakko 900m tips). Googling tells me the 907a is used on the YH-825D (not '+'), I would think there is a very high probability that, yes, it will be able to take Hakko tips.
Edit: this eBay listing specifically mentions that it uses Hakko 900m tips
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281083332670
thanx a lot.
Ordered Thursday the 7th, delivered this morning, Friday the 8th. Thanks Dicky, (&OP).
I ordered on the 6th and my order is still awaiting fulfilment?
Great find and the reviews gives me more confidence on this. Just wondering as I'll be focusing soldering (novice!) on repairing game consoles and modding for RBG/AV outputs, would this kit be good to go along with it considering I'm starting from scratch?
http://www.dicksmith.com.au/tools-hobbyist/27-piece-servicin…
cheers
Rick