ivan774•1mo agoProlific Poster

Just got burned on a cheap soldering station from an online store

Spent $45 on a no-name soldering station that crapped out after 3 weeks with a dead heating element, so has anyone else had better luck with the Hakko clones on Amazon?

3 comments

3 Comments

amy_west1mo ago

Oh man, I gotta disagree a little bit with @charles640 on this one... I've actually had pretty decent luck with the Hakko clones, at least for the money. The T12 stations are basically the same guts as the real thing for a fraction of the price, you just gotta buy the right one. Most of the time the heating element dies because of bad quality control on the cheap clones, but there's a couple sellers that use decent components... I've had mine running for over a year now with no issues. That said, if you're soldering every single day for work then yeah, save up for the real Hakko, but for hobby use the clones are totally fine.

charles6401mo ago

Ah man, that stings. I feel your pain, wasted money on junk like that before too. The Hakko clones are a gamble, some people get lucky but I'd rather save up for a real one.

aaronsullivan1mo ago

Have you tried looking at the aftermarket irons and tips separately? I had the same issue with a cheap soldering station a couple years back, the heating element just crapped out on me after a few months. I ended up grabbing a T12 handle and a separate power supply from a seller that had good reviews on the soldering forums. It cost me a little more than the super cheap kits but way less than a Hakko. Been running solid for over a year now with no issues. The tip selection is awesome too, I can swap between tiny stuff and bigger grounds pretty quick. Just gotta read the reviews closely before buying anything.