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Gonna upgrade to this, thanks for the review. looking forward to it. If anyone has a good equivalent iron recommendation - not pro but better than entry, shoot me a note! Looking at a couple of those while my ksger t12 holds me over and I sell my aoyue 3 way station.
 
Hakko FX888D
Second this. This was the first bit of serious soldering gear I bought to replace a "plug it in and it gets hot" iron and it made a massive difference to the quality of my work. It also started the "blue and yellow" addiction.

I could potentially upgrade to something that makes it a bit easier to hotswap tips, alternatively I just have to get chefs fingers!
 
Second this. This was the first bit of serious soldering gear I bought to replace a "plug it in and it gets hot" iron and it made a massive difference to the quality of my work. It also started the "blue and yellow" addiction.

I could potentially upgrade to something that makes it a bit easier to hotswap tips, alternatively I just have to get chefs fingers!
Yeah for switching tips it needs to cool down, although I did it ‘hot’ sometimes as well with some pliers ;)

Mine is silver by the way, didn’t dig the Fisher-Price theme when I bought it :P
 
I consider the 888D to be a good iron, but it is "entry level" and uses sort of old technology. I have switched to the FX-951: https://hakkousa.com/products/soldering/soldering-stations/fx-951-soldering-station.html

The main advantage is that the heating element is built in to the tip, so the "recovery" is faster and more consistent. The difference is noticeable. That's not to say the 888D is bad at all, but since you asked for a step above entry level, I think this may be more what you're looking for.

EDIT: Also just saw you're coming from a KSGER T12. I think an 888D would be a downgrade as the T12 uses the same tips/technology as the FX-951, it is basically the "imitation" version of a FX-951. If you haven't get some Hakko T15 tips for it (same as T12 which is just some Chinese designation for T15). A big part of good soldering equipment is in the tips.
 
The main advantage is that the heating element is built in to the tip, so the "recovery" is faster and more consistent. The difference is noticeable. That's not to say the 888D is bad at all, but since you asked for a step above entry level, I think this may be more what you're looking for.
This makes a pretty huge difference tbh.
I use a Aoyue INT2900 that I got 8-ish years ago which has tips with integrated heating elements and it is very nice. That's a discontinued model now though.
 
The one thing I really dislike about the FR-301 is that it doesn't have a timeout safety feature. If you think about walking away it's better just to shut it off. I am always scared of burning down my house :unsure:
 
Is that the JBC clone? I’m looking at grabbing one of those - not sure if I should go for a genuine JBC instead but looking at a few YouTube reviews the T3A seems to be pretty close and will fit original tips
It sort of a clone, not sure if its to any specific JBC model, but its can use real JBC tips, and they come with JBC clone handles. I ordered the T245 one to try it. Some of the features it has looks nice so giving it a shot. They have a T3B that uses finer tips, lower power, but the stand has that passthrough for the handle which is nice.
 
Had the N61-01 nozzle (the 0.6mm one for really tiny through hole stuff) oxidize on me today, could not get it re-wetted for the life of me. I ended up using N61-15 (3mm X 1mm for rectangular tabs) to finish the work successfully. Just put a big blob on to bridge a roughly 3X1mm area and hoovered it up. Kinda shocked how well it worked. Really small and fine pitched through holes though.
 
I can’t seem to find a seller that offers both the station and the stand as a package

@Derick2k did you get the stand?
 
I have an FR-301 and I really like it for what it is when I first started using it, but I hate the fact that the pump/motor is in the unit itself, cause if you let that thing slip a little you can end up damaging your board.

At the recommendation of one of the pros here I ended up getting a cheap knockoff, the ZD-985, It does the job well and no more motor shaking the desolder gun apart. Hell I think the legit Hakko might even fit it :D

^ This
Personally I would much rather have a station than a all in one gun. Though an all in one gun would be really great for versatility of field and bench desoldering. But if you are like me and spend the majority of all your soldering rework at a bench. I would would rather just have a station setup at my bench at all times. (You do lose bench space though)

I use a ZD-915 personally and it was a life changing experience when I got it several years ago, compared to using braid or a sucker.

It is a china tastic product though but the one I have runs very well just make sure you keep the thing clean as is with most of these desolder pump guns.

Recently I dropped the original gun on the ground and broke the nozzle but replacing the entire gun only, was 30 dollars compared to paying another 120 for a full station or the premium price of the hakko so thats another benefit of having a station instead of an all in one.
 
use a ZD-915 personally and it was a life changing experience when I got it several years ago, compared to using braid or a sucker.

I have one of those too, and the Hakko just does a much much better job for me. Heats faster, better suction, clogs less. Felt like a huge upgrade to move away from the ZD915.
 
Yeah unfortunately I had the same experience with a Chinese desoldering tool. Not sure if it was the ZD-915 but it was something similar (I think the same thing comes in a variety of model numbers/colors) and I ended up returning it. I have kinda sworn off Chinese gear aside from like super cheap stuff where nothing much can go wrong, for example I got a $20 Bakon 950D as a secondary T15 compatible station to use at my harness workshop (newer 950Ds don't ship with a T12/T15 compatible handle anymore though) and it does its thing with no complaints. I agree that something with an external pump would be nice to have but for me it's more of a weight/comfort concern, I've never felt like the vibration of the 300/301 could damage a board (or had it happen) and I'm not exactly careful with it. One day I'd like to upgrade to one of the stations that require shop air as I do have a small compressor at my bench (Senco PC1010N, great for stuff like fluid dispensers and presumably a desoldering tool, not so great for using as a duster because of the small tank).

If yours works well though, awesome. It's certainly a nicer "form factor" than an all in one tool.
 
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