prefered solder paste and 858D review

[clearchris]

I just bought a 858D off ebay and apparently, I cant find solder paste in town for love or money.

Considering it goes bad and i wont use much, does anyone have a good source for small quantities or something relatively cheap?

858D review:

Surprisingly, the case is metal. It towers over my hakko 888d, shaming the hakko's plastic shell. Controls are easy, up and down for temp and a dial for air speed. The handpiece looks heavy, but it doesnt feel that way. The handle is well balanced and the sound is not loud. The air warms up quickly, usually by the time it takes me to get into position. The first time you use it, it will smoke lightly, probably burning off oil from the construction of the unit. Point it away from the work until it stops. Auto shutoff of the heat when placed in the holder is a nice feature, one i didnt expect at this price point. Fan still runs until the unit cools off.

Using it is amazingly simple. I pulled some pc133 ram chips off a laptop dimm (destined for a linksys router upgrade). It was nearly effortless. I was amazed because I remember the mess a had made in the past with a cheap iron and some chip-quik.

As far as durability goes, it looks like a simple unit. The trasformer seems small, but there's lots of room in the box to upgrade if required. The only thing that looks like it may be a problem to repair is the handle, and I think replacements are available for those.

Anyway, great purchase for the hobbyist.

Mine is an unbranded 858d from ebay seller dddera.

Pictures to follow.

[clearchris]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review



Picture inside from back.



858d next to hakko 888.



3 chips desoldered. I may have scorched the first one I tried. Its remarkable how they came off so clean.

[mariushm]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

You can get solder paste from farnell.com, newark.com in US, digikey.com , mouser.com . It will last for a few months in the fridge... seal it in a bag to last long time.

(edit : for some reason, maybe cause i'm tired, i read under your name "i'm a hardcore greek" and i assumed you're in Greece, hence why i mentioned greek distributor and now I edited it)

ex.
for cheap and good : http://uk.farnell.com/multicore-sold...-25g/dp/149968
for quantity and quality : http://uk.farnell.com/multicore-sold...00g/dp/5091111

You can search for same stuff on newark.com, it should be there.

It mostly degrades by drying out. If it's too dry, you can buy some quality isopropyl alcohol (IPA, 99.5%+) and put about a spoon or two of IPA in the bottle and let it mix by itself.
If you keep adding ipa when needed, it can last more than a year.

I have the Atten 858d+ and it's similar.... I agree, it's a good device for the money.

[clearchris]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Thanks! For some reason i didnt think of digikey, etc.

Btw, one thing that surprised me was that the fuse was on the neutral line. Arent fuses supposed to go on the hot leg?

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Btw, one thing that surprised me was that the fuse was on the neutral line. Arent fuses supposed to go on the hot leg?

Since when AC plugs have polarity restrictions?

[budm]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

The fuse should not be on the Neutral side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_pow...gs_and_sockets

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

The fuse should not be on the Neutral side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_pow...gs_and_sockets

wikipedia is the source of the non professionally knowledgeable.

But yes, in order to keep every one happy, you need to add double fuses, so no matter of how you will plug your cable, you will have compliance with wikipedia.

[budm]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

You do not know about AC plug, why don't you do some research before posting stupid answer since you are professional.
The US per UL does not require fuse on both Hot and Neutral (Neut is tied to ground in the panel. Double insulated units can have no polar two-pin plug without ground prong. The Euro requires to have have DPST power switch (our products are sold Euro with TUV/ETL testing) and fuse since Schuko plug without ground pin can be plug in in either direction. UK plug has fuse in the plug itself.

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

You do not know about AC plug, why don't you do some research before posting stupid answer since you are professional.

When I am not getting payed I am pretending the knowledge seeker.

[budm]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Is that the best you can do? Like you also know so much about creepage and clearance.
Must be feeding time for the TROLL again, LOL.

stop feeding the troll and it will go away.only reason kirakos is not on ignore here is because i am a moderator charged with enforcement of forum rules.

And what source did you use for this?

Since when AC plugs have polarity restrictions?

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Is that the best you can do? Like you also know so much about creepage and clearance.
Must be feeding time for the TROLL again, LOL.

Τhe best that I can do is under payment, but it works best for you to skip reading words, than opening your wallet.

Dear Kiriakos GR,

You have received an infraction at Badcaps Forums.

Reason: Beating the Dead Horse
-------
its getting real old.
and repetitive.
-------
All the best,
Badcaps Forums

I bet that you are the dead horse.

[budm]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

"Dear Kiriakos GR, You have received an infraction at Badcaps Forums." Hmm, who is the dead one here? You cannot even read your name now?

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Game over .... Insert coin
Dead horses should insert two coins.

[mariushm]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Go and read about UK mains plugs and why historically it was and is important to have a fuse on the live wire and in the plug, instead of just polluting the thread here.

Just because most of the Europe uses Schuko sockets or has plugs compatible with Schuko sockets, doesn't mean that polarity is not important in all countries around the world.

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Yes we in Europe and in USA plus Japan and ASIA, we are stupid.
UK is exluded even if they are driving in the wrong side of the road.

[tom66]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

What does driving on the other side of the road have to do with anything?!
(Nothing wrong with it -- you have to make a choice one way or the other!)

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

Hahahaha Tom welcome aboard... LOL

[tom66]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

You still haven't answered my question?

[Kiriakos GR]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

You better make a phone call to Greece, it is easier for me to talk.
After finishing typing 13 pages of an AWG product review, my energy regarding further typing is low.

[momaka]

Re: prefered solder paste and 858D review

858D review:
...The handpiece looks heavy, but it doesnt feel that way.

Yeah, there really isn't much in the handpiece (aka the hot air wand). Just a single fan, metal tube to hold the heater, and the nichrome wire heater itself. That said, there is also a small board in the wand - but dare not look at the soldering and wires - they are horribly undersized! I'm not sure if all of these hot air wands with the fan built-in are like that, but I've opened two of these so far and they both had wires that were way too tiny for the rated output wattage of the station. IIRC, they were 22 AWG 300V rated for the mains and 24 or 26 AWG for the fan.

The older units like the Kada 852D+ which have an air pump in the station itself are much better built IMO. They used 20 AWG wiring IIRC - still too thin IMO, but definitely better 22 AWG.

Auto shutoff of the heat when placed in the holder is a nice feature, one i didnt expect at this price point.

It actually costs almost nothing to implement. There's just a simple magnetic switch in the hot air wand and a magnet in the holder. When you put it in the holder, the switch closes and tells the station to put the hot air wand in sleep after it cools off.

The trasformer seems small, but there's lots of room in the box to upgrade if required.

You won't really need it, though. The transformer is only used for powering the controls. Usually 9 to 10V, 0.3A if even that. This voltage is then usually brought down to 5V with a 7805 for the MCU. The handle is powered from the mains and controlled through a triac.

Anyway, great purchase for the hobbyist.

Indeed.
I used mine to replace the RAM chips on two dead E-VGA 7600 GT graphics cards. One came back to life, but I think the RAM chips I put on there need to be underclocked.

Since when AC plugs have polarity restrictions?

In the US, they sort-of do. Depends on the appliance/device really. Things like lamps, hair dryers, space heaters, toaster ovens, toasters, coffee makers, and etc. will usually use a keyed 2-prong cord (not sure if that is the correct term here) - i.e. prong can be inserted only one way in the plug. Things like small cell phone chargers, non-grounded laptop chargers, and other small, fully-isolated electronics will usually have a non-keyed 2-prong cord (Live and Neutral can be swapped). And then there are the appliances/devices that use the 3-prong grounded cord. Like the keyed 2-prong cord, you can insert the plug only one way. This allows manufacturers to use a SPST switch and place the fuse on the Live rather than the Neutral.

With the Schuko plug, it's a different story, particularly the one used in Southern and Eastern Europe, because Live and Neutral can be reversed on both grounded and non-grounded plugs.