RE: Possible REALLY GOOD BUY on T/C Soldering Stn

[w9gb]

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[John Payne-6]

I had the Circuit Specialists 976 station, that is until it literally
went up in smoke(apparently the transistor failed in order to protect
the fuse).  That's when I discovered that it's not transformer isolated
from the AC line!  This may not be important to some, but it is to me.

Just bought the CSI-Station 2 from Circuit Specialists and it's a great
little unit.  Heats fast, isolated from the line, nice slim iron and no
trouble at all.  Even comes with a spare heater!  Temp control appears
to work quite well, and heats fast.  All in all a great deal for $49.95.
  Ordered several tips, and all look fine.

I'm not in any way connected with Circuit Specialists, yadda yadda
yadda, just another satisfied customer.

73 de John N4FLJ

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[Mike S-8]

At 07:13 AM 11/22/2004, G. Beat wrote...
>I have a couple of additional comments on the Circuit Specialists Haako-clone offering.
>
>1.  This offering has been noticed by US authorized Haako dealers.  I can't repeat what they side here.  This dealer believes that the Far East mfg. is second sourcing this product to CSI.

In addition to the Aoyue brand, these also appear to be sold under the Sunkko label. Some places sell the Sunkko with a choice of "China made" or "Hakko" heaters ( http://www.mobile-repairing.com/shopping/index.php?page_number=2&id=53 ). The Sunkkos appear to use the same connectors as the Hakkos.

Do you know these to be from the same OEM as Hakkos? I've also found opinions that they're clones.

It would be interesting to know how closely the Aoyue 936 PCB ( http://www.aoyue.com/engproducts/af/936%20PCB.jpg ) compares to one from a real Hakko 936. Anyone want to tear their Hakko apart?

I'll provide a report after I get my 701 rework station. I'll be ecstatic if it's a Hakko OEM, but I'll still be happy if it's a knock off which follows the 80/20 rule (80% the performance of a real Hakko, at 20% of the price), and accepts Hakko spare parts.


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[Bob - W5BIG]

Circuit Specialists also has a hot air soldering tool:
http://web-tronics.com/hotairgunwdi.html

Has anyone tried this for surface mounted parts?

73/ Bob - W5BIG
 


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[Bill W4ZV]

W9GB wrote:
 >1.  This offering has been noticed by US authorized
Haako dealers.  I can't repeat what they side here.
This dealer believes that the Far East mfg. is
second sourcing this product to CSI.

         These are going fast.  Last night CSI had 10 in stock...6 now.

 >2.  The iron connector to the base apparently is a bit
different.  I would be interested in hearing from Bill Tippett,
Tom Hammond or an Elecraft list member.

         I only have the CSI unit so I have nothing to compare it to.

 >4.  As Tom, N0SS has mentioned before -- soldering iron tip
availability and prices can be difficult at times.  I have
noticed this problem with all mfg. over past 5 months.  Make a
list of the tips that you will need for you kit building -- their
are sales on tips that occur (such as Wassco's half-price tip
sale -- 11 months ago).

         I noticed "sellerlin" (e-Bayer from Hong Kong) selling two
different sets of 10 tips each for $15 plus $9.50 S&H.  Since CSI charges
$4.95 each, this may be a good deal if you need that many.  Feedback
ratings for "sellerlin" appear to be excellent, but I have no personal
experience with him.

http://search.ebay.com/TIPS_W0QQsofocusZbsQQsbrftogZ1QQsorecordsperpageZ50QQfromZR10QQsacategoryZ-1Q26catrefQ3DC6QQsotrtypeZ1QQsotrvalueZ1QQsellerZ1QQsassZsellerlinQQsosortpropertyZ1Q26sosortorderQ3D1QQcoactionZcompareQQcopagenumZ1QQcoentrypageZsearch

                                                 73,  Bill  W4ZV


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[Tom Hammond-3]

Hi Greg:

Yes, I also noticed the difference in the connector which a attaches the
cord for the soldering iron to the base unit.

And you could be VERY correct that these stations are being
second-sourced... certainly not the first time 'clones' of a device have
appeared stateside. The cord connector and the 40W (vs. 50W) heater might
be good indicators of this as well.

Hopefully, we'll find someone who actually HAS one and who can tell us a
bit more about theirs. Hopefully, Gary will be able to actually lay an eye
on these products within the next week or so... if they look good, they
might be some really nice Xmas presents for some lucky builder(s).

Thanks for your additional comments.  And I'd love to hear (off-reflector)
the comments you referred to in point #1 of your comments.

73,

Tom   N0SS


At 06:13 AM 11/22/04, you wrote:

>I have a couple of additional comments on the Circuit Specialists
>Haako-clone offering.
>
>1.  This offering has been noticed by US authorized Haako dealers.  I
>can't repeat what they side here.  This dealer believes that the Far East
>mfg. is second sourcing this product to CSI.
>
>2.  The iron connector to the base apparently is a bit different.  I would
>be interested in hearing from Bill Tippett, Tom Hammond or an Elecraft
>list member.
>
>3. Dollar versus foreign currencies.  I have noticed over the last 6 weeks
>price changes for the Haako.  At Fry's / Outpost.com -- the Haako 936-9
>(non-ESD/white unit) and 936-12 (ESD/black unit) use to be the "best buy"
>-- but I have noticed price changes -- up and down.  The Haako desoldering
>gun is $ 159 (price decrease), but the replacement Haako 907 irons OR
>replacement heaters are now both $ 45 (this is a price increase).
>Shop carefully as it appears the US Dollar's fall is causing changes in
>foreign mfg. (US import) pricing.  Of course "end-of-year holidays" is
>usually the best time to pick-up
>
>4.  As Tom, N0SS has mentioned before -- soldering iron tip availability
>and prices can be difficult at times.  I have noticed this problem with
>all mfg. over past 5 months.  Make a list of the tips that you will need
>for you kit building -- their are sales on tips that occur (such as
>Wassco's half-price tip sale -- 11 months ago).
>
>Have fun kit building during holidays and winter months !
>
>Greg
>w9gb
>
> > Hi Folks:
> >
> > Bill Tippett, W4ZV writes regarding the Circuit Specialists soldering
> > station I recently wrote about:
> >
> > >Hi Tom,
> > >
> > >N0SS wrote:
> > >>T/C soldering station (analog)...
> >
> > ><http://www.circuitspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7307>http://www.circui
> > tspecialists.com/prod.itml/icOid/7307
> >
> >
> > >  at $34.95, this looks virtually identical to the Hakko 936-12 T/C
> > >  soldering station. The one thing I have noted is that this device
> > >  draws only 40W of power, implying that it probably offers a 40W
> > >  heater, rather than the 60W heater available on the Hakko 936-x
> > >  <http://www.kiesub.com/hakko936.htm>http://www.kiesub.com/hakko936.htm
> > for >$82.
> >
> >I bought this unit in February this year to build my K2 and a
> >roofing filter kit (using SMD caps) for my Orion.
> >
> >The invoice I got from Circuit Specialists describes this unit as:
> >
> >CSI-STATION1    $34.95
> >CSI936 SOLDER STATION/CERAMIC
> >HEAT ELEMENT & STAND
> >
> >Looks like you nailed the source of this product since "936"
> >appears in its description.  I've been very pleased with this unit
> >in building my K2, filter kit and KD1JV's AT Sprint 2 (mostly SMD).
> >A spare heating element was also included with it.  If of any
> >identification help, all tips' model #'s are all preceded by the
> >word "AOYUE".
> >
> >73,  Bill  W4ZV
>
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