New tool, Aoyue 8800! Desoldering just got easy!

[tom66]

SOGA doesn't work in the US of A....

[lookimback]

Nope. In the good ole USA you can sell any crap you want and if it doesn't last and has no warranty, well, that's just too bad. Personally, I think there should be mandatory warranties on everything sold. That would cut down on companies like Aoyue selling shoddy products.

[tom66]

I thought you had a minimum 90 day warranty, or is that just what most retailers offer?

[lookimback]

I'll look into that. I'm really not sure.

[lookimback]

Doesn't look like it. I can find laws requiring companies to abide by the terms of their warranties, but none that mandate they offer them in the first place.

[capkid]

Maybe I missed something in the thread, but it sounds like you're giving in too easily. Did you actually contact SRA? Policies are guidance, not always strictly followed.

[splitcrete]

Check this site out...Hakko on sale.
http://www.tequipment.net/Hakko/FR-3...ing-Equipment/
Hope this helps.

[lookimback]

I contacted them to ask if they have the element. I didn't even bother trying to return it. I'm just really put off by this and think I'm probably better off fixing this than taking my chances with a third unit. I doubt I could get a refund now because it's been over 60 days since the original purchase.

[capkid]

Originally Posted by lookimback

I contacted them to ask if they have the element. I didn't even bother trying to return it. I'm just really put off by this and think I'm probably better off fixing this than taking my chances with a third unit. I doubt I could get a refund now because it's been over 60 days since the original purchase.

If you don't ask, you don't get. There's no harm in asking. Why try fixing something that has already broken twice in such a short span? I'd either get a refund or cut my losses and buy a Hakko.

[kaboom]

Originally Posted by lookimback

Doesn't look like it. I can find laws requiring companies to abide by the terms of their warranties, but none that mandate they offer them in the first place.

Forget the warranty, whatever that is to them.

Those heaters are defective. The cheep 40-watt irons, with poor heater-to-tip contact, aka PCB burners, from back in the day, weren't even this bad.

I'll be the nichrome wire is getting pinched or kinked when they wind the heaters.

This is a latent defect that shows up after several thermal excursions; they cannot defer to the "warranty" for this.

Just as with antec and the fuckhyoo BS- when you did get a replacement power supply, you still had crapcaps.

Demand a full refund. That station has cost you more in aggravation and lost work than you ever paid for it.

Forget trying to make this work. One day, it's the heater, then it's the poor soldering or brittle wires.

How "iron"-ic, to put it "punny"-ly.

[retiredcaps]

Originally Posted by capkid

If you don't ask, you don't get. There's no harm in asking.

Agreed.

Point to this thread as evidence that the 2nd unit is broken.

If SRA is a reputable company and want to stay in business, I would think they would want to know about bad unit/design so they can either bring this to Aoyue's attention or stop carrying their products.

If I'm reselling products, I would want to know what is good and what is bad and keep customers happy.

From their own website at

http://sra-solder.com/about-us/

HOURS OF OPERATION

Our sales and customer service specialists are available Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 pm (EST). Don't expect a recording or automated menus, our team is here to help you, in person, every time you call. Should you need to leave a message after hours; a customer service representative will call you back promptly the next business day.

[goontron]

try the unit with a mains voltage of 1200v, it should work well!

[keeney123]

Lookimback if the company that sold this to you is in the USA find out which state they are in. The next thing is to look up the Attorney General's Office of that State online. Many Attorney General's Office have online complaint forms you can fill out, some you have to mail in. Either way I have had every complaint form looked at and answered. Many times recapturing all of my money and some times only a part of the money, but I think it might be worth a try.

[kaboom]

Originally Posted by retiredcaps

Agreed.

Point to this thread as evidence that the 2nd unit is broken.

If SRA is a reputable company and want to stay in business, I would think they would want to know about bad unit/design so they can either bring this to Aoyue's attention or stop carrying their products.

I couldn't have said it any better.

Originally Posted by retiredcaps

If I'm reselling products, I would want to know what is good and what is bad and keep customers happy.

Exactly. Just as when one of us works on a device for a customer or friend, we have a sort of duty to "weed out" any bad advice and bull$hit, so that we may effect a proper repair. And that's after proper fault-finding, not by being a parts-monkey.

Of course, with a motherboard of "cheezy" Cchsis, Wendells, or whatever, there's no problem "monkey-ing" around and changing them all. But that's another story... As to fault-finding, those blown caps are rather obvious.

Lookimback, you can also observe the blown-heater trend in the amazon reviews of various Aoyue items. It seems like people either get heaters that work for a year or so (which is also lousy), or they don't last beyond a few hours or uses. The replacements sometimes don't last longer than a week.

Perhaps the "replacement" heaters are ones that failed visual QC (nichrome kinks or improper termination?) , and didn't make it into complete iron/gun assemblies?

Originally Posted by SRA homepage

WARRANTY

All products carry a 1 year warranty unless stated on the page. Wear items are not included in the warranty like soldering tip, heating element and IR bulbs. Customer will be responsible for return shipping to our service center. We cover the return shipping back to you.

That sounds like an "Ebay importer" policy, having their own policy regarding heaters rather than letting their customers have recourse thru the manufacturer. Like an importer with surplus stock, having to implement a "warranty" policy because the source of the particular item only "produces" it.

It's like the lower-end Robinair vacuum pumps. They are the exact same item as those cheep ones on ebay, except that SPX imports them in bulk and presumably cleans, aligns, and tests them. Units that don't meet spec are not sold as "Robinair" units. Parts can be swapped between these and the "China-shop" ones.

The same is true of whoever is behind Aoyue; identical-looking stations, irons, and guns show up under various names, some of which are/were private-labels for catalogs, etc.

It's enough of a problem that SRA should take some heaters apart and examine the windings. They cannot fail to stand behind a poor design which they knowingly sell.

[kaboom]

Never mind.

It seems that the 8800 has a "PTC" heater. On the assumption that there is no nichrome heater, you'll have to look into this more, lookimback.

Sorry for any confusion.

[stj]

PTC is the sensor.

[retiredcaps]

I asked the OP of the Aoyue 474a++ desoldering to have a read over this thread due to both being Aoyue branded and purchased from SRA.

http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=45800

I have no idea if the 474a++ is an upgrade of the 8800 or how they are positioned in the market and I have no desire to research as I see no Aoyue products in my future.

[alex987]

Originally Posted by lookimback

I contacted them to ask if they have the element. I didn't even bother trying to return it. I'm just really put off by this and think I'm probably better off fixing this than taking my chances with a third unit. I doubt I could get a refund now because it's been over 60 days since the original purchase.

Did you repair your unit?

[lookimback]

Originally Posted by alex987

Did you repair your unit?

Not yet. Still waiting on availability of the part. Should be soon.

[lookimback]

I got your message Alex, but couldn't respond to it. To answer your questions though, no, none of the parts from the 808 are compatible. They just made it look the same to lure people in. While it worked, it worked great. That was about 6 days. Even then though, I was noticing that it was poorly made. It's just not designed to last. If you want my advice, and others here will say the same, buy the Hakko. It's about $100 more but we'll worth it, and you'll never have to worry about the availability of replacement parts.