Review Ifixit Fixhub Portable Soldering Station Review: Take the heat with you

[Admin]

Ifixit takes the plunge into the world of soldering irons with a smart portable soldering station that brings the heat but at a cost.

Ifixit Fixhub Portable Soldering Station Review: Take the heat with you : Read more

 

[jayjr1105]

$300 is a bit steep when you can get Hakko and JBC clones anywhere from $50-100 or a Pinecil for $35. Yes the Pinecil will need a power source and some accessories but still, it's $35 to start with. No 2.4mm chisel tip is also a big letdown. I got excited when I first saw this but the price immediately popped my balloon.

 

[gggplaya]

The price is way to high, for a desktop iron for that price I'll get a Pace ADS200, in fact that's what we use at work. Goes from 0 to 400c in 3 seconds.

For travel, I use a Pinecil with a custom 3D printed case: https://makerworld.com/en/models/118986?from=search#profileId-128008

The Pinecil is amazing. For $26 + $11 shipping, you can't beat it. 65 watt iron that performs as well as most desktop irons because it uses a cartridge style tip that places the temp sensor closer to the very end of the tip which gives better closed loop heat control. It goes from 0 to 400c in 6 seconds. Beats out the Hakko FX888 that I used to use. It's also so cheap that I also keep 1 in my car just in case I have to help someone solder something at their house on a whim.

 

[dimar]

Does it come with 10 years warranty, including the battery?

 

[gggplaya]

Does it come with 10 years warranty, including the battery?

There's no battery, you use your own, any that are USB-C PD 3.0 compatible at 65watts will work. I use this cheap cuktech battery that I paid $25 for when it was on sale: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CS2MD9FP But also it uses a DC barrel jack as well, so some people use an 18v or 20v drill battery they have at home, or you can even run it directly to the 12v system in your car, albeit at a lower wattage. However, I'll always have a portable power bank because I travel often. I just have to make sure whatever I buy will power 65watts or more.

For the money, I can roll the dice, if it fails once a year for 10 years, the pinecil would still be cheaper.

 

[Lieutenant Barclay]

I almost ordered the $79 iron w/o the proprietary battery pack and good thing I read the details - w/o the iFixit battery, the only way to adjust the temperature is via web interface. That's ridiculous. And $250 for the kit seems ridiculous, too. Build quality seriously looks like the kit should be $79 and the iron should be $12. It's worse than Apple still shipping 8GB RAM - it's a blatant upsell just to get a basic feature.