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Comment by alnwlsn | Hacker News Reader

Well done! I'm mostly a TS100 user, so I'm looking at it from that angle.

Why no boost button (unless I missed it)? That's the one on-iron UI feature I'd be missing - very useful for GND planes. I'm guessing its not a matter of rated power, but just the thermal resistance from the physical size of the tip which restricts heat entering into a heavily-heatsinked joint. Helpful to increase the iron temperature momentarily for such cases. Then again, I can't see heat transfer - happy to be told I'm wrong.

Is this your own tip design or is it the same as the TS80? Can't speak to the TS80 but I've found the TS100 tip quality to be somewhat lacking (I've had tips plainly break off before).

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It's our own design, although clearly inspired by those who came before.

I'm really happy with their quality, but you'll have to judge that for yourself.

We're handling the boosting automatically in software. When the iron detects that it's under load, it maxxes out the power to the tip. It's incredibly responsive.

You're right, where you want that is with high thermal mass objects like ground planes. The difficult part is getting enough of a thermal bridge onto the material to really let the iron rip. It can dump a lot of power into a joint.

Thanks for the response! If true, this would make the experience more like a Metcal then. Very good iron. You must have your thermistor/thermocouple very close / inside the tip itself then, no?

No doubts then on the tip quality - I've seen the rest of your stuff (good).

Yes, the thermistor is inside the tip. That's essential to getting good performance out of the algorithm.

The instant that the iron detects that it's under load, it pours power into the heating element. That makes it feel and perform like a much more powerful iron. We're dynamically responding to the power load and flowing heat into the material.

...just as IronOS does on a Pinecil.

The sensor for the Pinecil / TS100 seems to be located fully behind the tip though: https://web.archive.org/web/20221110163337/http://www.minids...

Indeed.

I guess we'll have to wait for an iFixit teardown to see how this new widget actually differs in internal construction.

Yeah, boost button was a huge step up when I got my TS100 and now I can't imagine ever buying a new iron without it.

Plus, not having the ability to quickly tune temperature settings on the iron itself seems like a step back as well.

I'd be happy to be proven wrong on these, as iFixit's screwdriver sets were one of those things I needed to use to understand the hype (and then promptly bought my own set), so maybe this is another case of subtle quality you have to see for yourself?

We spent a lot of time tuning it. We've found that temperature settings really aren't needed for most use cases as long as the heating algorithm is responsive enough.

But that may not be for everyone: With the Power Station, changing the temperature is fast and easy with the dial, so you can pick a workflow that works best for you. (You can also change the temperature with the web interface.)

Appreciate the response! I'm still not immediately sold (my TS100 is doing great and I can't justify replacing a perfectly acceptable iron), but I'll have to give it a try sometime because it does look really thoughtfully designed!

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