5mo ago

iFixit wants to fix the soldering iron

www.engadget.com iFixit wants to fix the soldering iron

iFixit has made a smart soldering iron to improve everyone's repair work.

126 comments

Have they not heard of the TS100 or the Pinecil?
Both run an open-source firmware and work with any USB-C PD battery pack and still allow you to configure the temperature.
- Considering that they sell one of those, I’m going to assume they’ve heard of it. ;)
  
  It's very likely existing smart soldering pens were the inspiration.
  iFixit even mentions they didn't include a screen like the Pinecil because most people don't actually mess with the settings that much when they are on the go.
- Those look pretty cool.
  But I'm confused about the marketing around the cpu/ram, etc. Does that really matter for a soldering iron? (Serious question, not being snarky).
  I get they're using that tech to make it adjustible/smart, but it's a soldering iron, not a pocket computer.
  Is there some way those specs genuinely matter? Or is it just to say "we're using the latest tech to provide controls"?
  
  Smart soldering irons have been around a while, so yes. It is now like a PC and specs matter a little.
  One advantage smart irons have is being able to give you a readout of the exact temp of the tip of your soldering iron, something a traditional iron cannot do.
  It also needs chips and sensors to do things like auto-off when it is set down.
  So the quality and speed of chips affects performance.
- Have they not heard of the TS100 or the Pinecil?
  Of course they have.
  An iFixit co-founder has been responding to questions over on Hacker News:
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41521919
- I love my Pinecil V2. It was cheaper than my 40W entry level Weller station and heats up way faster. I run it off my Anker USB power supply and also my Anker USB power bank. The power bank only outputs 30 or 40 watts though so I might upgrade that in the future. High wattage power banks are expensive though :/
- That Pinecil has a 30 day warranty? Not a lot if confidence in the longevity of their product.
  
  Here in Europe it is sold with a 2 year warranty, but it also cost nearly three times as much (65 euro vs 25,99)
  
  My pinecil has lasted for years.
- It very much sounds like ifixit are actively asking influencers/reviewers to compare it to at least one of those in the videos.
  
  Which is a little odd to me, since I don't think it compares favorably vs either. Maybe against the ts80p because it's significantly lower wattage and more expensive than the other two.
- Ts80 that runs on qc3 is also very good. It keeps up with my large soldering station in real world use

Pinecil is 26$ and has a screen.
- You're probably adding $25-35 to that for a USB-C power supply that can handle it, but yes, it's cheaper than this. $50-75 if you want it battery powered.
  But yeah, I'm not sure what iFixit is bringing to the market that's better than what exists.
  
  The Pinecil uses a standard tip as well. So, you can get cheap ones on aliexpress. That'll pay for it for me tbh.
  
  It's 80$ and doesn't include a battery. But the ifixit one does include a USB cable and a bevel tip (cone tips are bad)
  So it's more like $26 plus $4 for pine USB cable, plus $6-11 for a ts100 bevel tip. $41 vs $80
- I use a pinecil and it’s great. Tips are cheap and a standard size, it takes usb-c power and has a good user interface.
  Not really sure what ifixit is trying to accomplish with this overpriced iron.
- Pine have so many neat things.

Tying a rechargeable battery to a single function device seems off-brand for iFixit.
- It’s a multi-use battery.
  The battery can be used to charge whatever you want. A phone, laptop, headphones, or anything else with USB. Also, the battery is user replaceable and the product repair diagrams are posted online.
  IMHO, it looks like they’re practicing what they preach, and it’s all designed for longevity and right to repair.
  
  I edited my original post. Thanks for bringing the pie!

For 250 dollars. iFixit is turning to the Apple of repair.
- That is pricey... However, as someone who has an ifixit toolkit that contains just about every shape and size of screwdriver bit ever imaginable (and several that defy explanation), it has been the most useful tool I have ever purchased. I can't even count how many times I've used it.
  And the quality is outstanding.
- I'll gladly pay a premium for something that will be "buy it for life" or at least last decades. Phones and computers have inherent obsolescence, but most tools don't. I don't buy chinesium tools, I buy reputed European, American, or Japanese tools, the lifetime stuff.
  
  same. no more knuckle busters for me. I've got spanners that are 20 years old that I bought, not inherited.
- Soldering stations that are fixed to an outlet are also expensive. It's not a cheap tool kit. If it is cheap, it's a garbage iron that will likely do the job but you will struggle.
  I'm trying to buy one for work and every station worth considering is easily over 200 dollars US.
  
  The pinecil is an excellent iron that is not expensive in the slightest
- Does it matter if the products last longer than an apple product and can likely be repaired?
  
  Of course it does, I was talking more about price than repairability.

What I want from a battery soldering iron is a field-replaceable 18650 in the handle, not Webserial.
- Build a 18650 battery bank and plug in a pinecil or ts100. A solder iron with a 18650 would be heavy and uncomfortable for soldering.
  
  I would accept a bit of an awkward balance for being self-contained.
- I haven't done the math, how much runtime could you get out of a single 18650? They're pretty stout, but it seems like they'd be a bit underpowered.
  Milwaukee 12v batteries are 3 cells (I think they're a little smaller than 18650), and you can run through a battery pretty quick (I believe they're 1.5AH). Though I don't know how efficient their heating design is.
  
  Assuming the M12 CP1.5 battery pack, it's probably three 18650s. Specifically, it's probably three LG HB series 18650s, which handle high burst loads well, but hold only 1500 mAh. A single Sony VTC6 holds 2/3 the energy of one of those packs. Wait... why am I speculating? Youtubers tear down power tool battery packs on video all the time, and someone did that one. They're Samsung 15Ms, which are a little worse than HBs.
  Anyway, short runtimes are fine for most field repairs, which is the whole point of something entirely self-contained. Spare batteries can extend it indefinitely, but a battery soldering iron is probably not what I'd pick for extended soldering sessions.

The Smart Soldering Iron will set you back $80, while the Soldering Station, which includes the soldering iron and the battery pack, costs $250.
Most interesting to me is that they put the display on the soldering station/battery pack thingy instead of the iron itself.
- Temperature is measured in Farads.
  Very non-standard
- I bought my soldering station with air solderer and iron solderer for about 40$ from AliExpress, the ones with IR bottom heater cost around 90-100$
  
  What's the IR bottom heater for?

So basically a copy of the battery pack T12 devices from China. Well done. You fixed an already fixed problem.

I love my ifixit precision screwdriver, so I'd be a fan and would try this out.
The thing is once I switched to a butane iron (portable, hot in 20 seconds, awesome fire) I don't have any interest in anything with a wire coming off of the back of it. battery or no, the wire being in the way is ass and is also crap
edit: maybe it doesnt have a wire?
edit 2: maybe I shoulda read the article before typing? 5 second heat-up time, wow.. seeing as I am a fucking idiot and am also very tired, can someone who is smart tell me if the iron has a battery itself? the pack is for recharging the small battery in the pen?
- It does not have an internal battery but can use any battery pack that can do 100W output.
  I pre-ordered this for a few reasons. One, my experience with butane irons was very different than yours I guess. I hated how long they took and how finicky they were. Then I had to find a safe place to put it while it cooled. This has a cap that can handle the high temp with no issue.
  When I need a portable iron it's to do small quick soldering with long waits in between. This seems perfect for that.
  
  This Antex is about 30 years old, has a heat resistant cap and is still going strong :) Don’t know what they’re like these days but I’d recommend on my experience.
  
  fair enough, thanks for the response.
  my 'extra hands' station w/ the two alligator clips to hold the subject, magnifying glass w/ led also has a holster for a hot iron, so I pop the hot iron in that after soldering.
  the wire coming from the iron, whether it goes to a battery pack or the 250 eur smart battery is still the hangup for me. I build large things with nicrocobntrollers in them, so I need to soldier in super awkward places. a wire connecting the iron to anything is a massive liability.
  Id be interested to hear how you get on with it though
- Electronics usually wants to control the temperature range more tightly than a butane soldering iron could do. Fine for plumbing work, though. Electronics soldering irons usually don't have the thermal mass to handle plumbing work.
  My biggest complaint about the ts100, Pinecil, and the iFixit station is that the tips are specialized and rather expensive.
  
  Pinecil tips are standardized and third party options are extremely cheap on aliexpress or amazon

Having used an expensive Metcal, I would like someone to develop that level of performance for less. I want the precise thermostat and high quality tips, but I don't solder enough to justify the expense. I am happy to see iFixit driving innovation in this market though. Weller needs some real competition.
- Love my Hakko. Paid a little over $100 for it several years ago. It costs 10x as much as the cheapest option but is 100x better.
- How precise are you talking? Usually, cheaper soldering stations get that way by not having a lot of thermal mass, which is particularly needed for desoldering. Otherwise, the PID control tends to keep things good enough. Tuning the PID parameters can make a difference, but once you have a heater and a heat sensor, the software is more or less the same for everyone.

Ah any reason why Firefox decided not to include WebSerial?
Maybe you don’t want to buy the Station, or you left it at home. In either event, you can simply plug the iron into your computer and configure it via WebSerial.
You’ll need a browser based on Chrome to pull this trick off, as Mozilla has decided (at least, for now) to not include the capability in Firefox. In testing, it worked perfectly on both my Linux desktop and Chromebook.
Unfortunately, plugging the iron into your phone won’t work, as the mobile version of Chrome does not currently support WebSerial. But given the vertical layout of the interface and the big touch-friendly buttons, I can only assume that iFixit is either banking on this changing soon or has a workaround in mind. Being able to plug the iron into your phone for a quick settings tweak would be incredibly handy, so hopefully it will happen one way or another.
The WebSerial interface not only gives you access to all the same settings as plugging the iron into the Power Station does, but it also serves as the mechanism for updating the firmware on the iron.
- I believe this is one of those Google "F it I am going to make this protocol my own way without anyone else's input" which results in security concerns and also Mozilla prioritizes it being a browser more.
  Searching serial looks like this is still the case. There are security and privacy concerns over it.
  https://mozilla.github.io/standards-positions/
  
  For those not wanting go search:
  Mozilla's Position
  Devices that offer serial interfaces often expose powerful, low-level functions over the interface with little or no authentication. Exposing that sort of capability to the web without adequate safeguards presents a significant threat to those devices. A user deliberately installing a site-specific add-on may be adequate, given sufficiently understandable consent copy.
  Seems reasonable to me.
- Good news, I guess?
  https://github.com/kuba2k2/firefox-webserial
  I've only used it to do some esp32 stuff with homeassistant, but it does work.
  
  I've also used this for the esp32 and firefox and it worked just fine in that case

I'll give it a shot. Seems interesting to have something USB powered that can solder.
- I've been using a Pinecil which is USB-C powered. It heats up in seconds and the temp can be adjusted easily. The big plus to me is how small it is. It's so much easier to handle than a standard iron, and the tips are push-in and can be locked with a screw so they're easy to swap.
- Let us know how it works. It sounds pretty cool, but ive been disappointed with battery powered soldering irons.
  
  pinecil can be battery powered too and I've had a good time with mine. granted the battery is either a laptop power bank or a drill battery, but it's still portable enough for me

I always thought the "fix" to a traditional soldiering iron was a hot air pencil.
- Do those exist?
  
  Yep, for decades. They used to be much larger consuming the space of a large table. Now they are small units like this:
  
  Just search for "surface mount rework" or the nickname "hot air pencil".

Review:
https://hackaday.com/2024/09/12/review-ifixits-fixhub-may-be-the-last-soldering-iron-you-ever-buy/

I wonder if you can run it off any USB C PD that will do 100w+ without buying the battery pack. I know my MBP USB C power supply does at least 100, if not more on MagSafe.
- The article seems to say it can, though they're promoting their own, of course
- USB C PD is a standard so yes, as long as the device you purchase to power it supports 100w PD via USB C then will work.
  
  Cool, thanks!

Spam.
- I just blocked OP, "Ghostal Media", but I liken it more as essentially an adblock
  
  Look at their post history. They arent a spammer by trade. The article posted does read like a paid review, though. And the other posters here have done similar while offering counterpoints.

Why this instead of an industry-standard station like an entry level Weller? The Wellers got replacement parts, especially tips which are consumables. I have the pervious 50W model and it has worked well in any job that can be done with that power level.
In my experience with soldering, the quality of the tip is the most important part. Then the quality of the solder and flux. Then having a set of soldering tools like wick, pump, stripper, and most of all - a third hand. Then temp adjustability. I had a digital solder station before I had those tools and I did almost as shitty solder jobs as I did with the basic Weller soldering iron I had before it. Once I got the ability to keep the parts stable so I can hold the solder in one hand and the iron in the other, introduce the solder at the joint and melt it in-place with the iron, like the manuals say, the quality went way up. I could even do some functional SMD work using my phone's macro cam as a microscope.
- I think it's as much about getting a soldering iron into every home the way that a hammer, multibit screwdriver seem to be. It's potentially a huge market to tap into. When I was doing this particular shopping I bought a usb-c powered soldering iron with an open source OS.
  
  Oh I'm not questioning their motivation. I'm wondering if it's a good deal for prospective buyers, given the price, compared to known good tools.

I have one of these https://webcat.cornwelltools.com/JP213123-Cornwell%C2%AE-Cordless-Soldering-Iron-p371692246 as well as a traditional wired soldering iron. While I like the cordless soldering iron's portability and it's fine for solder cups or solder splicing wire, it's not adaptable enough for me to use on a PCB or for micro solder and if I'm honest I'd want a micro solder setup for that anyway. I've owned expensive soldering irons and cheap ones (my current corded model I believe is one of ifixit's), the general problem is that I have too many random tips lying around that I don't know which iron they go to. Some are junk (because the iron broke etc). Some probably could be used interchangeably.
At least with the cordless one the tips are replaceable, and pretty unique in appearance so I know exactly which iron they go to.
The problem with the cordless one is the heat it can generate and the fact that it's not adjustable. The problem with the corded one is that I have to lug a 50' extension cord up to every plane to use it, and often there's not a safe place to put it down while it's hot so I have to prep every solder cup, joint, splice etc and then plug it in and turn it on. I've got stands galore and none of them is the safest.
I'd be willing to try this out just for the sake of the added protections it provides.