Sainsmart Pro32 / MiniDSO TS100 smart soldering iron questions....

[Dr. Mario]

Alright, I got tempted by Sainsmart Pro 32 soldering iron, and ended up buying it.

However, I am rather curious, have any of you electronics junkies used this soldering iron, and how good it have been to you guys?

And, lastly, if you have some custom firmware you guys have built from scratch for TS100 and its equivalents (original source codes are kind of less than intelligible, even Chinese characters are unreadable on my Linux computer, apparently - and I hardly understand Chinese anyways, having studied Japanese may be little to no help for me in reading Chinese words. :sick2: ), would you mind sharing?

 

[Dr. Mario]

Also, Mod(s); thanks for moving this question to the appropriate forum topic.

 

[kaptain_zero]

I have not used one.... I've looked at the 60W version briefly on Ebay, but other than that.... no.

In fact, I'm looking forward to hearing your experience. I've stuck with Hakko units myself, the cheap ones being cheap but usable, but it also appears that I have more money that brains!

As for Linux and Chinese.... I don't know what the problem is.... Chinese characters should display properly if you have the correct fonts enabled.


Sainsmart is NOT a premium supplier. I've bought stuff from there, but only when I can confirm it's OK to buy, and the last item I purchased was fine, but the wave soldering was questionable.


As in most things.... cheap is cheap, it's never high quality at low price, but it may be acceptable.

Wishing you all the best of luck.

Christian

 

[Dr. Mario]

I do agree that Sainsmart is not a premium seller, however, since I am not always forgivable with my tools, I figured that going cheaper for some tools may be okay, as long as there's provisions like grounded tip for soldering iron (emphasizing "some").

I decided that getting this soldering iron would be great for when some portability is really needed, not to mention temperature control being beneficial for tip life expectancy (I still have a problematic Tandy / Radio Shack soldering iron that really like to destroy the tips by overheating it - to the point I can see the Infrared light from the tip). I may also have to write a firmware for specialized soldering reflowing profiles so I don't go through the tips at alarming rate like that "Eater of The Soldering Tips" I have...

On a side note, Hakko do make some decent soldering irons, however sometimes I wish they'd have the options of soldering irons powered by Lithium-ion battery as I have used similar 4x AA soldering iron before, that stuff eats batteries for breakfast.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

I've never tried any of these portable soldering irons as I always figured that a portable iron wouldn't be able to heat up to flow the solder just right. Almost every video I've watched with people doing mods or fixes of some thing or another I don't see the solder really melting and flowing smoothly. Many of what I see the end result is what I would consider a cold solder joint.

I have a 30 year old Weller iron with its original tip that still works great. I also have a Weller soldering station with adjustable temperature - best purchase I've made for soldering.

I prefer a HOT iron to get the job done fast. Heats up the spot with the solder, melts it quick, and the job is done. If you spend too much time heating the solder point then there is a lot of heat transfer into whatever you are working on and that can damage components further along.

I find my best work gets done quick and clean at 830 degrees F. Don't know if these portable units can get to and/or maintain that level of heat.

 

[Dr. Mario]

Apparently, I have been seeing the trend that running the soldering iron hot will ruin the tip - even now Weller says that too. So, now that I see that temperature control is now a must if I want my irons to last much longer - I'd have to stay at 250 - 280 Celsius which will still melt most solders even Lead-free ones, just so the tip's coating don't get destroyed. Running tip beyond 350 degrees will also make fluxes a bit more exciting and eat the tip inside-out, from what Weller's "Coping with Lead-free" book says. That also makes Lead-free soldering a bit less pleasant experience - unless you know its melting point which is usually around 220 - 280 Celsius.

As for portable soldering iron, it depends on wattage - hell, most cheap ($10) soldering irons run as hot as some decent portable high voltage (12V to 30 Volts) soldering irons, so I don't think I would see a problem with Pro 32 as long as I maintain it properly. It's usually the low-voltage portable soldering irons that sucks the most.

 

[ShineOnYouCrazyDiamond]

Interesting 350 C is about 662 F. I run about 150 degrees hotter than that. Now who knows how accurate the temp measurement really is - it's a dial with a digital readout, but at least the electronics do keep it constant. I've tried to solder in the 700 F range on my iron and I feel it takes too long to melt the solder and the work heats up to an uncomfortable extent.

 

[kaptain_zero]

*ANY* chemical reaction speeds up with a rise in temperature. Soldering tips run at higher temps to make up for cheap design by attempting to have more heat in the thermal mass of the tip to overcome a solderjoint that wicks away heat will kill the tips sooner. A JBC soldering station takes the correct approach by keeping the correct temperature and instantly turns on the heater in the tip to combat loss of tip temperature due to a large joint.

I can't afford a JBC and so I have to settle for an inexpensive (relatively) Hakko station. Unfortunately, the Hakko cannot keep up with the demands of difficult soldering and so the only option is to crank up the heat to hope you can get through the job quickly enough to avoid damage to whatever it is you are soldering. This does have several negative effects, it oxidizes and *eats* the tip faster, it also overheats the solder, causing a less than perfect solder joint. A JBC iron will simply keep it's tip very near the correct temperature, allowing for a great solder joint in the absolute minimum amount of time. As soon as you place the iron in it's holder, the iron goes to sleep and the tip temperature drops to about 150C, but rises back to 350C in about 2 seconds when the iron is removed from the holder. This maximizes the lifespan of the tip (up to 5 times longer).

But... the cost of a JBC is simply not affordable to me, so I choose the best iron I can afford and go with quality tips for it. In the case of Hakko, I buy my tips from a Hakko dealer... they cost $10 to $15 or thereabouts, each. I can purchase Hakko tips on Ebay for $2, but they are NOT genuine Hakko, but rather poorly made counterfeit tips. They have poor heat transfer, do not last and frankly are not worth the savings.

Be happy we have iron coated tips today... when I first started dabbling in electronics, plain copper tips were the norm.... those things would get eaten by the tin in the solder and I was constantly filing and reshaping the tip..... but in a short amount of time, the tip would need to be replaced.

As far as lead free solder... no thank you! It's crap for what I do.... 60/40 or the eutectic 63/37 is what I stick with.

Your iron will be fine, it won't be a JBC, but then again, you didn't pay $350+ for it either.

 

[Dr. Mario]

I'd buy JBC and / or Hakko hot air SMD rework / soldering iron hybrid(s) for professional rework, however, for prototyping and hobbyist usage, it will be okay. I keep cheap stuff to myself, usually because I can figure out how to fix them, of course. As for Chinese stuff, I'd trust genuine Hakko replacement part more, and it fits in some soldering iron in the SMD rework station, so it shouldn't be a problem for me, and mod would be worth it - I will have to do mods on mine soon, as the soldering iron handle feels flimsy.

As for measurement accuracy; the simple thermopile is used therein, so any voltage drop or inductive crosstalk will definitely ruin your day. The voltage measured therein is very tiny - about 48 - 122 millivolts. Others just a bog standard high temperature thermistor. So, YMMV, of course, which is why calibration is very important. Some cheap stuff (like Pro 32) has temperature calibration, apparently, not that $80 boat anchor. :shrug:

As for soldering temperature, it depends on what the "wetting" coating the soldering iron tips are composed of, the better they are, the longer they last - decent ($$$) Lead-free soldering irons tend to have better stuff.

 

[Dr. Mario]

Got the soldering iron, and configured the firmware the way I wanted (via config.txt for now), and I will be giving it a trial in a few days when I get the iPod replacement battery (because it already smell like electrolytes already so I elected to buy a replacement) while I am at the screen replacement, and it's old enough to require soldering job.

 

[Dr. Mario]

The Pro32 soldering iron performed pretty well for its price - which I decided to use recently as wiring in my HID spotlight was bothering me. I set it to 260 Celsius (for old-school Lead-Tin solder), to redo some wiring for the digital multimeter in my HID spotlight (and ziptied most wires in the spotlight so it makes it easier to replace the bulb whenever it is necessary). No more excessive melted wire insulators, nor crispy, burnt wires which I always get with older Radio Shack soldering iron. Which is a good sign.

 

[kaptain_zero]

Happy to hear it worked out for you!

 

[Dr. Mario]

It is certainly a decent temperature-controlled soldering iron on the cheap. However, I'd like to put up a FYI - soldering tip isn't cheap - $12 - 14 a pop (around £10 for the folks across the pond), so use it as appropriately (ie. not forcing things along).

And, it also have battery voltage alarm so it is a decent soldering iron to have in a RC repair kit too.

 

[kaptain_zero]

I just did a quick skim on Ebay, the TS100 tips can be had for US$8.30 each, shipped from one seller in China. I see at least 7 different tips, and these tips include the heating element AND temp sensor I would assume. That is reasonably priced, if they last.

Edit: I decided to check on some power supplies you could use for it. There's plenty of choices under $15 on Ebay.

 

[Dr. Mario]

As for PSU choice, I agree. It's what makes it pretty nice to have because of its compliant towards most power supplies. You can even plug it straight into the car battery via cigarette plug cord no problem.

I will look into buying whole kit of tips as I'd need them for a few different soldering job.