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Comment by dlevine | Hacker News Reader

I paid ~$100 for my Hakko FX888D, and have had had that for almost 10 years. Looking on the Internet, the price hasn't gone up much. Not sure whether this (for $250 including the power supply) is a class above that. The repairability is a definite plus (assuming parts continue to be available for many years), and all the nerdy features are also cool, but not sure how useful they will be in the real world.

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It will almost certainly be a class up, if only because it uses integrated tips that combine heating element, temperature sensor, and tip itself into a single element, rather than having thermally bulky and inefficient interfaces like the FX888d's replaceable separate tips. So you get faster heating and more accurate temperature control.

But there's the rub: there are a TON of USB-C irons that use integrated tips, and most are cheaper than this new iFixit iron, so you can get that class improvement for the same price as your Hakko station, so I'm curious if their improvements are a big enough step up from _those_ irons to justify the price.

On the flip side wouldn't that make replacement tips much more expensive? On my old Hakko station I've replaced the tips several times but the element and sensor seems to be going strong.

Yes, it makes tips more expensive. However, for the about of improvement in performance, I think it is worth it. I use Hakko T15 tips and they are about $20 each. Cheaper Chinese compatible toys are available and probably are good enough, but I don't replace yours frequently enough to care to find out.

They're more expensive, but they tend to last longer (at least for JBC & this new iFixit iron since they lower temperature when not in use), allow much nicer more precise temperature control, and often can have significantly more power output and/or thermal mass (depending on the particular tip). JBC tips in particular can be changed while still hot, one-handed, thanks to their iron holders having a tip puller & holder built-in.

The delta in price isn't that different. Legit Hakko tips for FX888/903/907 are ~$7-10 each. Legit Hakko tips for T12/T15 are only $12-20 apiece. Twice as much, sure, but how many tips do you really go through? We're talking probably sub-$30 over many years in cost delta, for some significant advantages.

Legit JBC tips are closer to $20-40, but those are just a different price tier and much more premium. You can also get knockoff/clone JBC tips for $10 pretty easily, and in my experience they work just fine.

The FX888 is an older style iron where the tip and heating element are separate components, the newer generation (such as this iFixit one) have the tip, heater and temperature sensor integrated as a single component which allows them to regulate the tip temperature much faster and more accurately. Hakko does make irons of that type now but they're very expensive, up in the $500 range.

Another benefit of the newer style irons is the tip can usually be hot-swapped (literally while it's still hot) without having to unscrew anything, you just need something insulating to pull the tip out with.

It's worth noting that with some practice you can unscrew the hot metal tip holder with pilers, flip the tip out into a tray, drop the new cold tip in, and screw it all back using the pliers in 30 seconds or so.

Only $80 for the iron itself though, compatible with any USB-C PD power supply.

The pinecil is $25.

Visiting US shop pinecil is 26$: https://pine64.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-solde...

EU shop? 65 Euros... https://pine64eu.com/product/pinecil-smart-mini-portable-sol...

The difference is surprising. Digging deeper, the US shop does not include shipping or taxes. To get an idea, I tried for CA and that already adds $12. That's already $38 without custom tax and VAT.

Maybe some EU regulation in action that forces to put price up-front without "hidden costs" so one can compare prices more efficiently (within EU).

As another 888 owner, I'm not moved.

As plenty of folks have said, the FX-888D is an "older" design in the sense that the heating element and tip are separate components. But, that isn't to say that this layout is obsolete - it's still very common and Hakko (among others) still makes new irons using the same system.

Given that iFixit's design uses a TRS jack as a tip mount, you can safely assume there will never be a hook tip for this particular iron, and wide chisels are probably out of the question too. That makes this iron a non-starter for me, but it all depends on your use case.

What doesn't depend on your use case is the use of a USB port as a power source. Sure, it makes sense for consumer products where compatibility trumps all. But, its fragile contacts and lack of shear strength mean that this isn't just a soldering station that's easy to fix, it's a station that you're going to need to fix.

The way I see it, FixHub is a gadget, and an 888 is an appliance. FixHub has several design decisions that compromise its sole purpose: soldering stuff. Direct heating elements are great, don't get me wrong. But if you're soldering frequently enough that a direct heating element would meaningfully boost your productivity, then a high-end RF induction iron would serve you much better. I wouldn't accept such a compromised tip mount and cable at any price point, let alone ~$350.

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