Hakko FK-888D

Hakko FX-888D standing ready on the corner of the workbench.

If you're going to build something, you need a soldering iron.

My original soldering iron was a crappy Radio Shack unit that got way too hot and burned tips up on a regular basis. I hated it.

At some point, I upgraded to a Weller WP-25 soldering iron. I'm not certain when I bought it. It's been at least 30 years, perhaps 40 years. I can't remember if I used it to build my SWTPc 6800 computer system in 1977 (and that's another story). But it did a fine job putting together the venerable Elecraft K2/100.

The ancient WP-25, still going strong.

While the Weller WP-25 has gotten long in the tooth, it keeps on going. A couple of decades ago, I dropped it and cracked the black plastic hand guard. It has since been held together with electrical tape. I have purchased two soldering iron holders for it, and worn one out completely. Despite the age and abuse, the iron still works quite well. Plus, I have enough replacement tips for a lifetime. I think I'm on my second or third -- they last forever.

So, how did I end up with the Hakko FK-888D? Dumb luck.

Every year, I share a Christmas list with my extended family. This year, I decided I'd like a soldering station, but not something too expensive. I found that the Hakko FK-888D could easily be had for less than $100. So, I put it on my list.

Lo and behold, my Dad purchased one for Christmas.

While I can't say I'm thrilled with the bright blue and yellow colors, the unit does sit well on the desk. The soldering pencil is slim, but it goes easily into the holder. The holder has both a scraping wire and a sponge -- great tools for maintaining a clean tip.

The station unit sits rather tall, but is so heavy there's no danger of it falling over. It's virtually all metal transformer inside. The user interface is a bit awkward: Three 7-segment LEDs and two buttons are it. You'll have to run back to the manual to figure out how to configure anything.

First turning it on, I was surprised at how fast it warmed up. The old Weller took at least 3-5 minutes before it was ready. The Hakko was ready to solder in less than a minute!

The default temperature is 750 degrees F. I backed this off a bit to 700 degrees F. That's plenty hot enough to melt solder.

I've only used this iron a little bit, but I'm amazed at how well it works. It heats up the work quickly, melting the solder soon after application, even on junctions with large terminals or lots of wires. I used it to desolder an old piece of equipment, and the job went very quickly.

I'm looking forward to building something with the Hakko. I think I'm going to like it.