HakkoFX-901 - Cordless Soldering Iron

The Overall: I purchased this soldering iron so that I could use it at my home workbench, then toss it in a bag and bring it to work or shops that I'm building in. So far, I've been really impressed by the convenience and functionality of this iron. I'm using it for hobbyist electronics and it works well for that purpose. I highly, highly recommend using rechargeable batteries with it (I use Enerloop Pros) so that you're not burning through disposables since it does use a lot of juice.The Good: This is a dead simple soldering iron. It's made of plastic but feels really solid, has a secure plastic cover for the iron that prevents accidental power-on in transport, and operates off of 4 AA batteries. The tip is a fine point, so it's ready out of the box for use with basic electronics. It heats up quickly, and as long as you don't keep it running constantly it lasts a few days of regular use before recharging the batteries.The Bad: The two weak points of this soldering iron are the battery life and ability to sustain tip temperature. With heavy use, I definitely notice the tip getting cooler than my traditional iron, and I need to wait between soldering joints to let it heat back up sometimes. This isn't really a problem for smaller hobby electronics jobs, but for any larger projects you'll want something with more power. Another issue is that it goes through disposable batteries pretty quickly, so I highly, highly recommend using rechargeable batteries with this. Investing in rechargeable batteries for this will save you dozens, if not hundreds of dollars in the long-term.The Neutral: The handle is a bit chunkier and has a different shape than most soldering irons due to the battery arrangement. I actually like this since it shifts the weight away from the soldering iron tip and feels very stable when I'm holding it without a cable out the back, but it's definitely going to be a personal preference thing.

If you have tried a battery powered soldering iron, you probably use the Cold Heat iron and know that it just doesn't work well. This iron works differently, the GOOD kind of different. I have worked with electronics as a hobby for more than 20 years, and I am also an amateur radio operator. We should discuss what this iron does well, how to use it well, and what it will not do.This iron works very well for small wires, up to 16 gauge or maybe a bit thicker. It also works well for components on PCB for projects or repair. It heats quickly and has a cone tip that gets in where it is needed; just what you would expect from a Hakko or other quality soldering iron.The behavior of the iron varies greatly between Alkaline and Ni-MH batteries. If you use Alkaline, it will get a bit too hot when the batteries are new, work perfect through the middle, then does not get hot enough at the end of the life, resulting in cold solder joints. The life with Alkaline batteries was about 75 minutes.Replace the batteries with rechargeable Ni-MH and like magic, the iron is a dream. It heats evenly across two hours of use (120 minutes!), and when the batteries get low, it stops working. No cold solder joints. With decent Ni-MH batteries, they will hold a charge in your bag for a year, and with a 2 hour cycle time you can charge the first set while you use the second set.I use 63/37 eutectic solder, so I have less motion induced cold solder joints. This also means I have not tested this iron with Silver Solder which typically must get hotter to get a good bond. My 11 year old daughter has soldered a number of projects with this iron as well.And I haven't even mentioned that it will stand and be stable with the flat back end on the table, standing up right. You will never be surprised again when you bump the power cord right before the iron rolls of the table!The only limitation I have found? You will not be soldering thick power carrying cables or large RF lines. It just doesn't deliver enough heat to the location to solder 12 gauge wire.

Great for quick jobs, especially if you're like me and don't have a work bench where you can leave your FX-888D set up all the time. I used it to replace the coin cell batteries used for saves in some of my old game cartridges and it worked really well. With the T11-D4 chisel tip, it took about 20-25 seconds to heat up enough to melt 60/40 solder. Certainly not as fast as a corded unit, but not too shabby for something powered by AA batteries.

So my cheap, Yahuan brand soldering station died on me one night and I had to run to WalMart for a $10 P.O.S. to finish a Bluetooth speaker build for my grandson. Well you get what you pay for and it was a matter of time.I replaced my station with two of these and a small air gun and am glad I did.This little guy heats quickly, stays HOT for far longer than I need at any given time and is easy on the batteries. It also is designed so you can just lay it down anywhere and it won't burn up the surface. So I can solder, set it down, solder, set it down and so on...It runs on AA batteries. I long ago converted to rechargeable only so I didn't even have to buy any, but I'd strongly urge you to spend $20 on batteries and charger; you'll be glad you did. Anyway, it runs for what seems like hours on 4 batteries. In reality, it's probably a full hour or more of continuous use but I don't use it that way. It heats up so quickly that I work in batches and turn it off in between burn times of about 10 minutes.It has a cover that comes with it and you can put it on even when the iron is hot (but I don't).I bought two of them so if one goes out I'll have a spare. I do wish there was a finer tip than the one provided and I've looked a bit but not enough to say with certainty that they don't make them. Having said that, the one that is provided is fine overall for most work.All in all, this is a thoughtfully designed, well-built piece of kit that has liberated me from a wall outlet. Love it.