Hakko FX888D-23BY Digital Soldering Station FX-888D FX-888 (blue & yellow)

ive always just used a walmart soldering iron, and they always work great for very generic use cases (e.g. soldering automotive wire). bought this for the heat control and finer-tip to work on soldering up proffie/arduino boards. the user interface isnt the greatest, but its not too difficult to understand. heats up crazy fast and solders like a freaking champ. 10/10 would recommend.

It was fine but I ended up replacing it with a pinecil, which is less bulky, way more controllable, and has all sorts of cheap tips available.

Bought a cheap iron on Amazon and immediately regretted it. Returned and purchased the HAKKO. Night and day. Solders like a dream and keeps a consistent temp. Using it for detailed pcb boards and basic circuitry; headers, sensors, you name it. This iron has exceeded all expectations and made me a lifelong HAKKO user. Absolutely recommend.

So I’ve used many soldering irons over the years, but never had a “nice” one. This thing is insane! Reaches 899f in under a minute, roughly 45 seconds. And the temperature hasn’t dipped one time over the time I’ve used it. The interface is super simple to set, it’s almost dummy-proof. Would highly recommend, this will be the last soldering iron you’ll ever purchase. It’s just so good.

We have two Hakko 936-12 irons, which we use in a daily production environment. The FX-888 is the updated replacement. Its smaller, but packs a bit more power than the 936. The handpiece is comfortable for day-long use and the new holder incorporates a slot for brass wool (better than a wet sponge), so you dont need a separate tip cleaner. Theres still a sponge plate for traditionalists. Hakko supplies both a sponge and a wad of brass wool. The thermostatic control is accurate and the iron heats quickly. More important, the more powerful 70W ceramic element brings the tip back up to temperature quickly when you heat a large surface, and the internal thermostat prevents overshoot. In other words, the Hakko maintains your chosen working temperature, making it easier to do clean, consistent work. Using brass wool to clean the tip causes less thermal shock than water does and theres essentially no thermal recovery time. The supplied screwdriver-shaped tip is small enough for standard printed-circuit board work and can also lay down enough heat to attach a braided ground to the back of a potentiometer. The silicone-coated cable on the handpiece withstands occasional accidental contact with the tip or barrel without damage. The brightly colored components are a departure from the usual somber black, looking like they could have been made by a toy manufacturer. Some have teasingly called it My First Soldering Iron, but its a quality tool that will likely last you a lifetime of hobby soldering or years of production work.

This station oozes quality. The material used for the iron holder and the control housing is top notch. The holder is solid metal and the control housing shell seems to be some type of plastic. It is built like a brick, and should withstand a good beating. While it does look a little Fisher-Price, the shade of blue is actually a bit darker when looking at it in person, so it looks better than in the picture. The build quality more than makes up for the color. The holder has two mating pieces, so you can clean inside it or replace the metal cleaning ball, then easily put it back together into a solid assembly. My only complaint would be the sponge. It could mate better with the holder for it, but maybe it will be better when wet. In any case, it shouldnt matter, as it doesnt take much pressure to clean a tip. It started up fine on the first try, and quickly heated the tip. It came with the chisel tip, the T18-D16, which is kind of small at 1.6mm in diameter, but it provides better heat transfer than a conical tip, and should be easy to work with in fairly tight board layouts. I might recommend buying a few larger tips for larger components, as I did. I look forward to working with it, seeing all the positive reviews. Your tip might smoke a bit on the first use, but that is normal, as they are usually coated with a protective layer for storage.

Ive been doing electronics work for a long time - both for fun and at radio stations and my home recording studio - and Ive used a lot of irons. Ive used mostly the pencil sort and not paid any attention to how worn the tip was and such, because Ive always thought of the extras more as frills, and if I can do surface-mount laptop motherboard repairs with a 25w Weller, why do I need anything else? Because it makes life easier, thats why, and I was an idiot. Sure, its not as portable, and I still have my pencil irons for when I have to reach into cabinet equipment, but on the whole I wish Id had one of these 10 years ago. Mostly I just love the speed; theres no wait to speak of for heat up or cool-down, you dont have to dive in and out super-quickly for temperature-sensitive components, and, most of all, I dont have to worry so much about some of that stupidly fragile (and heat-sensitive) insulation thats floating around out there in audio cables these days. I havent had to re-do a cable end due to insulation heat failure since I bought this iron, and I _very_ much like that. I put extra tips in the back behind the metal sponge, and it all just fits together nicely. Its a lovely little design. If you dont like the looks - and I think it looks fine, I dont know what people are complaining about - wait till its out of warranty and paint it. But buy it, regardless. Its a good little iron.

Sturdy well made unit and easy to use.

Trained on PACE gear, high reliability and multilayer pcb etc. ..but that is really expensive for what I need with hobby use. Solid, efficient - good kit. Basic, just the controller and iron. Ordered an AMAZING solder sucker to use with it.

I used to use Wellers professionally, but its been a long time, and so as a non-professional, Ive been using cheap crap for the little jobs Ive needed. I decided to splurge on this Hakko instead of a Weller mostly because theyre nearly identically placed in the market, but I have a bunch of heat set insert and other tips that will work on this Hakko without having to buy new ones. My god, how fast this heats! Its ready to go pretty much by time I get my jar of flux open. Im not sure what everyone is complaining about with the UI. Maybe the under 30 crowd thats only ever used touchscreens? Its a classic UI used on professional test equipment and industrial controls since the dawn of the microprocessor. If youve never used either of these types of equipment, it might be strange to you, but its certainly not hard to use. If youre over 30, its a bit nostalgic! I wish Id gotten this years ago.